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fantasyfan · 04-27-2025, 01:14 PM

The New Catholic Dictionary
The Universal Knowledge Foundation
New York, 1929

The Dictionary is a superb abridgment of the enormous 15 volume Catholic Encyclopedia but is far easier to use and still covers a great deal of ground. It is filled with excellent black and white illustrations and has fold-out maps.

The preface opens:
“This Dictionary is not an ordinary compilation of knowledge but a book of life, of Catholic life, past and present, in every part of the world.”

It covers “Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism.” There are articles on “historical events and personages.” It deals with philosophy, psychology, ethics and the Arts.
I was amazed at the sheer variety of vestments used by Clerics from the Pope down to the subdeacon. Further, each individual vestment gets a separate entry to itself. There are entries for the crucifix, the cross, relics, rosaries and liturgical implements.

The Irish Church has an extended article as does St Patrick. The editors cannot resist the St Patrick and shamrock tale, but they do preface it with “St Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock—“ thereby leaving open the assumption that it is a fable (which it almost certainly is).

The Catholic Dictionary can help one get an historical overview of a specific period. For instance, The Beaufort Tapestry witnessed one of the most turbulent and confusing periods in Church History. Clement VI conceived The Tapestry as a celebration of the Avignon Papacy as well as for the marriage of his nephew. The work portrays symbols of strength, stability and divine and earthly protection. When Clement’s other nephew, Gregory XI, died in Rome the Twin Papal elections led to the Western Schism. Between 1389 and 1417 there were 9 claimants to the papacy—all significant and as many as three simultaneously claiming to be the true Pope.

Fortunately, The Dictionary has entries for both Avignon and The Western Schism. It lists all the papal claimants and gives biographical material for each. Hence, one can get reasonable historical sequence of the events and the main players during the schism.. From there one can go to other sources and in fact, the various articles end with suggestions for further reading.

The one problem of the book lies in its age. The Church has gone down significant new paths since the orthodoxy of 1929. There is a tendency to be defensive and distrustful of ideas we find quite reasonable now (e.g. read the article on Socialism). But the impressive factual material outweighs these limitations. This useful reference book can be downloaded free from Internet Archive.

04-27-2025, 01:14 PM	#32231
fantasyfan Wizard Posts: 1,376 Karma: 28116892 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Oasis 3, iPad 9th gen. IPhone 11	The New Catholic Dictionary The New Catholic Dictionary The Universal Knowledge Foundation New York, 1929 The Dictionary is a superb abridgment of the enormous 15 volume Catholic Encyclopedia but is far easier to use and still covers a great deal of ground. It is filled with excellent black and white illustrations and has fold-out maps. The preface opens: “This Dictionary is not an ordinary compilation of knowledge but a book of life, of Catholic life, past and present, in every part of the world.” It covers “Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism.” There are articles on “historical events and personages.” It deals with philosophy, psychology, ethics and the Arts. I was amazed at the sheer variety of vestments used by Clerics from the Pope down to the subdeacon. Further, each individual vestment gets a separate entry to itself. There are entries for the crucifix, the cross, relics, rosaries and liturgical implements. The Irish Church has an extended article as does St Patrick. The editors cannot resist the St Patrick and shamrock tale, but they do preface it with “St Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock—“ thereby leaving open the assumption that it is a fable (which it almost certainly is). The Catholic Dictionary can help one get an historical overview of a specific period. For instance, The Beaufort Tapestry witnessed one of the most turbulent and confusing periods in Church History. Clement VI conceived The Tapestry as a celebration of the Avignon Papacy as well as for the marriage of his nephew. The work portrays symbols of strength, stability and divine and earthly protection. When Clement’s other nephew, Gregory XI, died in Rome the Twin Papal elections led to the Western Schism. Between 1389 and 1417 there were 9 claimants to the papacy—all significant and as many as three simultaneously claiming to be the true Pope. Fortunately, The Dictionary has entries for both Avignon and The Western Schism. It lists all the papal claimants and gives biographical material for each. Hence, one can get reasonable historical sequence of the events and the main players during the schism.. From there one can go to other sources and in fact, the various articles end with suggestions for further reading. The one problem of the book lies in its age. The Church has gone down significant new paths since the orthodoxy of 1929. There is a tendency to be defensive and distrustful of ideas we find quite reasonable now (e.g. read the article on Socialism). But the impressive factual material outweighs these limitations. This useful reference book can be downloaded free from Internet Archive.