Consumer Dummies - Catholicism all-in-one for dummies

Catholicism All-In-One For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America 1964, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission.

Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal 2011, International Commission on English in Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of Rites of Baptism for Children 1969, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of Rite of Marriage 1969, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of Rite of Confirmation (Second Edition) 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of Pastoral Care of the Sick; Rites Anointing and Viaticum 1982, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of Order of Christian Funerals 1985, ICEL. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015941000

ISBN 978-1-119-08468-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-08470-9 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-119-08469-3 (ePDF)

1. Table of Contents

Three great religions trace their roots to the prophet Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And one of those religions, Christianity, is expressed in three different traditions: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. You may already know that. You may also already know that, currently, more than 1 billion Catholics occupy the earth. Thats approximately one-fifth of the worlds population.

Whether youre Catholic or not, you may be totally clueless about or just unaware of some aspects of Catholic tradition, history, doctrine, worship, devotion, or culture. No sweat. Regardless of whether youre engaged, married, or related to a Catholic; your neighbor or co-worker is a Catholic; or youre just curious about what Catholics really do believe, this book is for you.

Catholicism All-In-One For Dummies realizes that youre smart and intelligent, but maybe you didnt attend Blessed Sacrament Grade School, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, or Catholic University of America. This books goal is to give you a taste of Catholicism. Its not a Catechism or religion textbook but a casual, down-to-earth introduction for non-Catholics and a reintroduction for Catholics. It gives common-sense explanations about what Catholics believe and do in plain English, with just enough why and how thrown in to make solid sense.

This book doesnt cover everything about Catholicism, but you do get all the basic stuff so that the next time youre invited to a Catholic wedding, baptism, funeral, confirmation, or First Communion, you wont be totally confused. And you may have an edge on other people in your life who are less informed about Catholicism than you.

This book covers plenty of material on Catholicism from doctrine to morality and from worship and liturgy to devotions but you dont need a degree in theology to comprehend it. Everything is presented in an informal, easy-to-understand way.

This book is also a reference, unlike the schoolbooks you had as a kid. You dont have to read the chapters in order, one after the other, from front cover to back cover. You can just pick the topic that interests you or find the page that addresses the specific question you have. Or you can indiscriminately open the book and pick a place to begin reading.

This book uses icons to point out various types of information:

This icon draws your attention to information thats worth remembering because its basic to Catholicism.

This icon alerts you to technical or historical background stuff thats not essential to know. Feel free to divert thine eyes whenever you see this icon.

This icon points out useful tidbits to help you make more sense out of something Catholic.

This icon points out cautionary areas of Catholicism, such as the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or Saturday evening. (Not doing so without a legitimate excuse, such as illness or severe weather, is a grave sin.)