Appendix A. Glossary • 509
National Conference of Catholic
Bishops (now the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops),
the Vatican’s Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline
of the Sacraments published an
indult (Prot. 1589/96/L) giving to
each diocesan bishop in the United
States of America the right to allow
for the presence of the cremated
remains of a body at the full course
of Catholic funeral rites. Each dio-
cesan bishop has the right whether
or not to allow this practice.
-D-
DEACONS:
Men ordained by the
bishop to serve. They receive the
Sacrament of Holy Orders but
not the ministerial priesthood.
Through ordination, the deacon is
conformed to the Christ who said
he came to serve, not to be served.
Deacons in the Latin Church may
baptize, read the Gospel, preach the
homily, assist the bishop or priest
in the celebration of the Eucharist,
assist at and bless marriages, and
preside at funerals. They dedicate
themselves to charitable endeavors,
which was their ministerial role in
New Testament times.
DECALOGUE:
Another name for
the Ten Commandments.
DEISM:
A worldview that admits
that God created the world but
denies that he has any further
providential care or concern for it.
(See also “Providence.”)
DEPOSIT OF FAITH:
The heri-
tage of faith contained in Sacred
Scripture and Tradition, handed
on in the Church from the time
of the Apostles, from which the
Magisterium draws all that it pro-
poses for belief as divinely revealed.
DEVILS:
Angels who, in pride,
turned away from God and have
fallen from grace are named
demons or devils, and they tempt
human beings to sin.
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER:
Devotional prayer refers to the
numerous forms of personalized
prayer that have grown up outside,
but complementary to, the liturgical
prayer of the Church. (See Chapter
22 on “Sacramentals and Popular
Devotion.”) These devotions
include the rosary; the Stations of
the Cross; pilgrimages to shrines in
the Holy Land and Rome, Marian
shrines, and those dedicated to
saints; novenas; litanies; and similar
expressions of faith.
DISCIPLE:
Name given in the New
Testament to all those men and