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504 • Conclusion and Appendices
gations of the previous union are
discharged (cf. CCC, 1628-1629;
CIC, cann. 1095-1107; CCEO,
cann. 1431-1449).
ANOINTING OF THE SICK,
SACRAMENT OF:
This Sacrament
of healing is given to a person who
is seriously ill or in danger of death
due to sickness or old age. Elderly
people may be anointed if they are
in a weak condition though no
dangerous illness is present.
APOSTASY:
The term applied to
a baptized person who has aban-
doned the Christian faith.
APOSTLE:
The title traditionally
given to those specially chosen by
Jesus to preach the Gospel and to
whom he entrusted responsibil-
ity for guiding the early Church.
The names of the Twelve are Peter,
Andrew, James, John, Thomas,
James, Philip, Bartholomew (or
Nathaniel), Matthew, Simon, Jude
(or Thaddeus), and Matthias (who
replaced Judas Iscariot after Judas
betrayed Jesus and then took his
own life). St. Paul, though not one
of the Twelve, was also called later
by the Lord to be an Apostle.
APOSTLES’ CREED:
A statement
of the Christian faith, developed in
the early centuries of the Church
and used in the Sacrament of
Baptism. It expresses the
faith passed down to us from
the Apostles.
APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION:
The
passing on of the office of bishop
from the Apostles to bishops, and
from them to other bishops down
each generation, by means of
ordination. This office includes the
sanctifying, teaching, and governing
roles within the Church.
APOSTOLIC TRADITION:
Jesus
entrusted his revelation and teach-
ings to his Apostles. They passed it
on by their preaching and witness.
Along with others, they began
writing the message down in what
became the New Testament.
ARIANISM:
The heresy in Church
history that was widely spread by
a man named Arius (AD 250-336),
who argued that Jesus was not fully
divine, but that God the Son was a
kind of lesser God who became the
man Jesus. His heresy was refuted
by the Councils of Nicea (AD 325)
and Chalcedon (AD 451).
ASCENSION:
The entry of Jesus’
humanity into divine glory to be at
the right hand of the Father; tra-
ditionally, this occurred forty days
after Jesus’ Resurrection.