P
1,512 articles · English index · Indice italiano-
Proverbs, Book of (PROVERBI, LIBRO DEI)
Third (after Job and the Psalms) of the didactic books of the Old Testament, first of the "sapiential" books. Ecclesiasticus (v.) drew inspiration from it not… -
Providence (PREVIDENZA)
PREVIDENZA : V. ASSICURAZIONE; PREVENZIONE; RISPARMIO. -
Providence (PROVVIDENZA)
I. NOTION AND EXISTENCE. - It indicates in general the divine government of the world insofar as the divine intelligence embraces the entire development of… -
Providence, Diocese of (PROVIDENCE, DIOCESI DI)
City and diocese in the State of Rhode Island (U.S.A.), suffragan of Boston, today it covers a territory of 1,085 square miles with a total population (1950… -
Providentissimus Deus
Encyclical letter of Leo XIII (18 Nov. 1893) directed at promoting and regulating the study of Sacred Scripture (Acta Leonis XIII, 13 [1893], pp. 326-64; Acta… -
Prudence (PRUDENZA)
I. NATURE. - It was defined by Aristotle (Ethics, I, VI, ch. 5; Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃ, q. 47, a. 2, arg. Sed contra) as right discernment concerning what is to be… -
Prudentius (PRUDENZIO)
Latin Christian poet (b. 348, d. after 405). Between Saragossa and Calahorra, which both claim the honor of his birth, preference goes to Calahorra because the… -
Prudentius of Troyes (PRUDENZIO DI TROYES)
Theologian and writer of Spanish origin, d. at Troyes on 6 April 861, he changed his name from Galindo to P. and was educated in France, where he became court… -
Prudenzani, Simone (Simone di Golino di Prudenzano)
From Prodo (Orvieto), he took part in the public life of Orvieto from 1387 to about 1440. He is known only for his literary activity. The Sollazzo (Liber… -
Prümmer, Dominikus
Dominican moral theologian, b. at Kalterherberg on 3 Sept. 1866, d. at Fribourg (Switzerland) on 9 June 1931. A religious from 1884, he studied at Venlo and… -
Pruner, Johann Evangelist
Moral theologian, b. in Nuremberg on 25 February 1827, d. in Eichstätt on 11 July 1907. Having completed his theological studies in Rome at the Collegio… -
Przemyśl (PRZEMYSL)
PRZEMYSL: V. PREMISLIA. -
Przemyśl of the Latins, Diocese of (PREMISLIA (PRZEMYSL) DEI LATINI, DIOCESI DI)
Diocese of the Latin rite in Poland. As early as the 13th century there is record of an episcopatus Russiae comprising the vast territory of Ruthenia, or… -
Przemyśl of the Ruthenians (PREMISLIA DEI RUTENI)
With the united titles of Sanok and Sambor (in Ukrainian Peremysl-Sanok i Sambor; in Polish Przemysl-Sanok-Sambor), a Ruthenian diocese of the Byzantine-Slavic… -
Psalmody (SALMODIA)
I. DEFINITION. - The singing of the psalms and canticles of the Church is called p. Liturgical tradition indicates three ways of singing the psalms, whence… -
Psalms (SALMI)
Poetic compositions, of prayer or instruction, used in both Israelite and Christian worship, whose collection of 150 forms the book of Psalms or Psalter (v.)… -
Psalms of S. (SALMI DI S)
An apocryphon comprising a group of 18 brief religious compositions, inserted among the "Solomonic" books in certain codices of the Greek translation of the… -
Psalter (Psaltery) (SALTERIO (SALTERO))
This was the name given (from ψαλτήριον, psalterium, a stringed musical instrument, and hence, by analogy, the collection of hymns to be sung to the… -
Psellos (Psēllas), Constantine (Michael) (PSELLO (ΨΈΛΛΑΣ), COSTANTINO (MICHELE))
Politician at the court of Byzantium and polygraph, b. in 1018 at Constantinople, d. in 1078 (?). Endowed with an immensely vast culture, he first held… -
Pseudepigrapha (PSEUDEPIGRAFI)
This is the name given (Gr. φεσθειάγραφος "with a false title") by Protestants to the books called apocrypha (v.) of the Old Testament by Catholics. Even… -
Pseudo-Boccaccino
Name created by criticism to designate an unknown Lombard painter, whose only dated work of 1500 is the Washing of the Feet, of the Accademia in Venice (no.… -
Pseudo-Egesippus (EGESIPPO, PSEUDO)
Under the name of E. there is handed down a very free translation of the Jewish War of Flavius Josephus, written in the 4th century. The name E. is a simple… -
Pseudo-Isidore (PSEUDO-ISIDORO)
Under this name is hidden a personality, or rather a group of persons of the 9th century, whose identity is still not established today and to whom one of the… -
Psichari, Ernest
French writer, b. 29 Sept. 1883 in Paris, d. in the war on 22 Aug. 1914 at Rossignol (Belgium), nephew of Ernest Renan. An essentially modern and profoundly… -
Psychasthenia (PSICASTENIA)
PSICASTENIA: V. PSICOSI OSSESSIVA. -
Psychic Abnormals (ANORMALI PSICHICI)
ANORMALI PSICHICI: v. FRENASTENICI; MINORATI PSICHICI. -
Psychic Dissociation (DISSOCIAZIONE PSICHICA)
DISSOCIAZIONE PSICHICA: v. SCHIZO-FRENIA. -
Psychic Minors (MINORATI PSICHICI)
The term m. p. (or mentally abnormal) has a medico-pedagogical value and is in use in school medicine and in remedial pedagogy. Some authors prefer that of… -
Psychoanalysis (PSICANALISI)
It is a system of dynamic psychology, that is, one that studies in particular the forces of propulsion and direction of psychic activity, conceived and… -
Psychologism (PSICOLOGISMO)
It indicates, in general, «the tendency to let the psychological point of view (that is, the empirical analysis and scientific observation of facts and their… -
Psychology (PSICOLOGIA)
From the Greek ψυχή, λόγος, it is the "doctrine or science of the soul," of its nature and its operations. The term p. comes from C. Wolff (v.), who was the… -
Psychology of Jesus Christ (PSICOLOGIA DI GESÙ CRISTO (COSCIENZA PSICOLOGICA DI G.))
In a generic sense, psychological consciousness is the perception that an intelligent being has of its own acts, but in a more determinate sense it is the… -
Psychoneuroses (PSICONEVROSI)
Term first used by Dubois (1904) to designate, within the vast group of the neuroses, the forms in which mental representations play a preponderant part. Most… -
Psychopathic Personalities (PSICOPATICHE, PERSONALITÀ)
By this are meant those abnormal personalities that suffer and make society suffer (K. Schneider). In the last century people readily spoke of moral insanity… -
Psychophysics (PSICOFISICA)
PSICOFISICA: V. PSICOLOGIA SPERIMENTALE. -
Psychosomatic Medicine (PSICOSOMATICA, MEDICINA)
At the basis of psychosomatic medicine is the conception that emotional states can condition particular somatic manifestations of a general character… -
Psychotechnics (PSICOTECNICA)
Psychotechnics is, as it were, the synthesis of everything that, with an eye to the human factor, has been done by physicians, psychologists and sociologists… -
Psychotherapy (PSICOTERAPIA)
P. is therapy by psychological means. Its field of action is essentially represented by those psychic and somatic disorders in which emotional psychological… -
Ptolemaeus and Lucius, Saints, Martyrs (TOLOMEO E LUCIO, SANTI, MARTIRI)
They died in 161 AD and are commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on September 19. The only author who speaks of them is St. Justin, who took his cue precisely… -
Ptolemais (TOLEMAIDE)
A maritime city of northern Palestine, 16 km. northwest of Haifa, situated on a rocky promontory that bounds its bay to the north. Its original name was 'Akkô… -
Ptolemies (TOLOMEI)
Nine kings (of the "Lagid" dynasty) of Hellenistic Egypt, from 305 to 51 B.C., bore the name Πτολεμαίος; Dan. 11:4-29 alludes to them, referring to the first… -
Ptolemy of Lucca (TOLOMEO DA LUCCA)
TOLOMEO da LUCCA: v. BARTOLOMEO da LUCCA. -
Ptolemy (Ptolemaeus), Claudius (TOLOMEO (TOLEMEO), CLAUDIO)
Astronomer, geographer and mathematician, b. perhaps at Ptolemais in the Thebaid around 100 A.D., lived in Alexandria in Egypt and d. at Canopus around 178… -
Puberty (PUBERTÀ)
PUBERTÀ : v. ADOLESCENZA. -
Publicans (Telōnai) (PUBLICANI (ΤΕΛΏΝΑΙ))
Persons commissioned, by contract of lease, to collect the taxes of the State. In Rome a distinction was made between the p. (from publicum, with vectigal… -
Public Finance (FINANZA PUBBLICA)
The etymology of finance is customarily derived from the medieval term "finatio", "financia" (a corruption of "finire"), and it is understood as the act by… -
Public Honesty (PUBBLICA ONESTÀ)
It is a bond, analogous to affinity (v.), which, however, unlike the latter, does not derive from a valid marriage, but rather either from an invalid marriage… -
Public Morality (MORALITÀ PUBBLICA)
By morality is understood the manner of conducting oneself in relation to the laws that regulate custom, and it is taken for granted that the same principles… -
Public Official (FUNZIONARIO PUBBLICO)
FUNZIONARIO PUBBLICO: V. PUBBLICO OFFICIALE. -
Public Official (UFFICIALE, PUBBLICO)
Officialis, ab officio, is generally the natural person holding a public office. Their relationship with the State or generally with the public legal person… -
Public Opinion (PUBBLICA OPINIONE)
I. NOTION. - Public opinion is not simply the sum of individual opinions, but is rather a body of ideas, sentiments, judgments, and practical positions which… -
Public Powers (POTERI PUBBLICI)
The notion of p. p. [public powers], in modern public law scholarship, appears closely linked to the theory of the "classification of the functions of the… -
Public Sinners (PECCATORI PUBBLICI)
These are those who gravely and publicly offend the moral order; or more precisely those who by an act, known to the community, have gravely violated a norm of… -
Publius, Saint, Martyr (PUBLIO, SANTO, MARTIRE)
Bishop of Athens in the 2nd century; it is not established that he was venerated in antiquity. Florus was the first to introduce him into the Martyrology, and… -
Pucci, Antonio Maria, Blessed (PUCCI, ANTONIO MARIA, BEATO)
Servite, in the world Eustachio, b. at Poggiola di Vernio (diocese of Pistoia) on 16 April 1819, d. at Viareggio (diocese of Lucca) on 12 January 1892. Having… -
Puccini, Giacomo
Composer and conductor, b. at Lucca on 22 Dec. 1858, d. at Brussels on 19 Nov. 1924. He descended from a family of Lucchese musicians. His great-grandfather… -
Puchi [Chibi], Diocese of (PUCHI, DIOCESI DI)
In the southern part of the province of Hupeh, in central China. It was erected as an apostolic prefecture on 12 Dec. 1923 with four civil sub-prefectures from… -
Pudens and Pudentiana (Pudens, Poúdēs or Spoudēs) (PUDENTE E PUDENZIANA (PUDENS, ΠΟΎΔΗΣ O ANCHE ΣΠΟΎΔΗΣ))
A member of the Roman community, mentioned by St. Paul in II Tim. 4:21, during his second Roman imprisonment; Pudens, together with Eubulus (v.), Linus (v.)… -
Puebla de los Ángeles (PUEBLA DE LOS ANGELES)
PUEBLA DE LOS ANGELES : V. ANGELOPOLI. -
Pueblo, Diocese of (PUEBLO, DIOCESI DI)
Diocese and city in the State of Colorado (U.S.A.). The diocese has a territory of 51,289 square miles with a total population of 388,017 inhabitants, of whom… -
Puente, Luis de la, Venerable (PUENTE, LUIS DE LA, VENERABILE)
Jesuit, ascetical and mystical writer, b. at Valladolid on 11 Nov. 1554, d. there on 16 Feb. 1624. Having entered the Society in 1574, he was professor of… -
Puerto Maldonado, Apostolic Vicariate of (PORTO MALDONADO, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO DI)
In Peru, it was erected as an apostolic prefecture of St. Dominic of Urubamba on 5 February 1900, together with the other two apostolic prefectures of St. Leo… -
Puerto Montt, Diocese of (PUERTO MONTT, DIOCESI DI)
Diocese of Chile in South America, suffragan of the Most Holy Conception. The diocese has an area of 25,000 sq km and a population of 145,000 inhabitants, of… -
Puerto Rico (PORTORICO)
Island of the West Indies, belonging to the group of the Greater Antilles, discovered by Christopher Columbus on 17 Sept. 1493 and by him named S. Juan… -
Puerto Rico
PUERTO RICO: v. SAN GIOVANNI DI PORTOBICO. -
Puerto Viejo, Diocese of (PORTO VECCHIO (PUERTO-VIEJO), DIOCESI DI)
Diocese and capital city of the province of Manabí in Ecuador. It has an area of 18,923 sq km with a population of 400,000 inhabitants, of whom 380,000 are… -
Puerto Viejo, Prelature Nullius of (PORTO VECCHIO, PRELATURA NULLIUS DI)
City and prelature nullius in the State of Amazonas in Brazil. It has an area of 270,000 sq km with a > (phot. Zancolli) (14th cent.). PORTO VENERE, SHRINE of… -
Pufendorf, Samuel von
Historian, philosopher and jurist, b. at Dorfchemnitz in Saxony on 8 Jan. 1632, d. at Berlin on 26 Oct. 1694. After completing his studies at Leipzig and Jena… -
Puginier, Paul-François
Born on July 4, 1835 at Saix (Tarn, France), he entered the Seminary of the Foreign Missions of Paris on July 1, 1854. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1858, he… -
Pujati, Giuseppe Maria
Jansenist, b. at Polcenigo on 3 Aug. 1733, d. at Venice on 5 Feb. 1824. Having entered the Somaschi at a young age, in 1748 he taught letters at the College of… -
Pula, Diocese of (POLA, DIOCESI DI)
POLA, DIOCESI di: v. PARENZO, DIOCESI di. -
Pulati, Diocese of (PULATI, DIOCESI DI)
It is located in the interior of northern Albania, a suffragan of Scutari. From 877 to 1032 it was subject to the archdiocese of Dioclea. When this was… -
Pulcheria, Saint (PULCHERIA, SANTA)
She is commemorated by the Greek and Latin Martyrologies on September 10. Daughter of the emperor Arcadius, born on January 19, 399, she consecrated her… -
Pulci, Luigi
Poet, b. in Florence on 15 Aug. 1432, d. in Padua in Nov. 1484. He soon entered into personal relations of affectionate patronage with the Medici and was an… -
Puliti, Alessandro
Piarist, b. in Florence on 10 July 1679, d. there on 25 July 1752. Cultured in > (phot. Ist. Arti Grafiche, Bergamo) > PULPIT - P. of the cathedral of Bitonto… -
Pulpit (PULPITO)
I. ARCHAEOLOGY. - The pulpit, also called tribunal, pyrgus, analogius, was introduced quite early into buildings of worship, modeled on the oratorical tribune… -
Pulvino
The name itself (cushion) indicates its function; it is a marble element generally placed above the capital to support the weight of the architraves or of the… -
Pumbeditā (PUMBÉDITÀ)
City in Babylonia, near the Euphrates; for about eight centuries it was the seat of a famous Talmudic academy, founded around 260 A.D. The persecutions of the… -
Punctuation, Signs of (INTERPUNZIONE, SEGNI DI)
Already in the ancient grammarians there are hints of the punctuation of texts, but in the literary codices handed down to us from antiquity one finds only… -
Punishment and Reward (PUNIZIONE E PREMIO)
Punishment is the chastisement or penalty inflicted for the violation of a duty. Reward is the recognition of a service rendered or of a duty fulfilled. The… -
Puno, Diocese of (PUNO, DIOCESI DI)
City and diocese in the department of the same name in Peru (South America), suffragan of the archdiocese of Arequipa. It has an area of 67,703 sq km with a… -
Punta Arenas, Diocese of (PUNTA ARENAS, DIOCESI DI)
City and diocese of Chile, capital of the province of Magallanes, suffragan of the archdiocese of the Most Holy Conception. It has an area of 135 sq km and a… -
Puntasecca (PUNT'ASECCA)
By p. is meant that engraving obtained by the artist working the metal plate directly with a burin having a conical point or, where a particular fineness of… -
Puntatori (PUNT'ATORI)
This is the name given to those who in each Chapter, cathedral or collegiate, must be elected, with the task of marking those chapter members who do not attend… -
Pupienus (Marcus Clodius Pupienus), Roman Emperor (PUPIENO (M. CLODIUS PUPIENUS), IMPERATORE ROMANO)
Of his life before his election as emperor, it is known that he was praetor, suffect consul, ordinary consul (236) and prefect of Rome. After the death of the… -
Purāṇa (PURĀŅA)
The P., "ancient stories," are encyclopedic works which, according to a notice handed down by the most important P., should treat of these five subjects: 1)… -
Purcell, John Baptist
American prelate, b. at Mallow (County Cork, Ireland) on 26 Feb. 1800, d. in the Ursuline convent, in Brown County (Ohio, U.S.A.), on 4 July 1883. Ordained a… -
Pure Love, Controversy on (AMORE PURO, CONTROVERSIA SULL')
Famous theological-mystical debate concerning one of the most important subjects of Catholic spirituality. For the historical side see the entries: PÉNELON… -
Pure Nature (NATURA PURA)
A theological expression used at least from the 16th century onward, to signify the hypothetical state in which God could have created and left man, had He not… -
Purgation of Mora (PURGAZIONE DELLA MORA)
The culpable delay in performing an obligation is commonly called default. This is therefore spoken of only when the obligation is still capable of being… -
Purgatory (PURGATORIO)
An otherworldly state, lasting until the last judgment, in which the souls of those who have died in Grace, but with imperfections or venial sins or temporal… -
Purification (PURIFICAZIONE)
It has the same general meaning as lustration (v.) and, like that, its purpose is to make things and persons fit to enter into contact with what is sacred… -
Purification (Candlemas), Feast of the (PURIFICAZIONE (CANDELORA), FESTA DELLA)
A Marian solemnity, celebrated on 2 February as a double of the second class, to which is added the blessing of the candles with the subsequent solemn… -
Purificatorio (Abstensorium, Exstorsorium)
A small rectangle of linen (25/30 cm. x 40/50 cm.) used at Mass to dry the fingers, the lips and the chalice after the second ablution, to purify the paten… -
Pūrīm (from Pûr «lot»: Esther 9, 26) (PŪRĪM (DA PÛR « SORTE »: ESTH. 9, 26))
A semi-feast celebrated by the Jews on the 14th of the month of 'ādhār in memory of Israel's deliverance from the snares of Haman (v.). At the conclusion of… -
Purism (PURISMO)
The term and the attribute "purist" have been transferred into the field of the figurative arts from that of literature, in which they undoubtedly have a very… -
Puritans and Puritanism (PURITANI E PURITANESIMO)
I. HISTORY. - The Puritans never formed a church, but a party, exponents of a psychological attitude within the various confessions of England and Scotland in… -
Purity and Legal Impurity (PURITÀ E IMPURITÀ LEGALE)
From the ritual or legal point of view, most non-Christian religions consider "pure" whatever they regard as close to God and full of his power; "impure"… -
Purpose (PROPOSITO)
Here it is to be understood as an act of the penitent, and it is the will not to sin in the future. It must not, therefore, be a mere wish, nor, on the other… -
Purwokerto, Apostolic Vicariate of (PURWOKERTO, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO DI)
Located in the central part of the island of Java (Indonesia), it comprises the civil districts of Tegal, Pekalongan, Wonosobo, Bagelen, and northern and… -
Pusey, Edward Bouverie, called (PUSEY, EDWARD BOUVERIE, DETTO)
Anglican theologian, b. at Pusey (Berkshire, southwest of Oxford) on 12 Aug. 1800, d. at Ascot Priory (Oxford) on 16 Sept. 1882. Second son of James Bouverie… -
Pusillanimity (PUSILLANIMITÀ)
Etymologically (animus pusillus) it denotes a weak mind, a small spirit; it is used at times in a good moral sense (Is. 35:4; 1 Thess. 5:14); but generally it… -
Putiphar (PUTIFARE)
Name of two Egyptian figures who appear in the story of the patriarch Joseph. A double Hebrew name corresponds to them: Pōṭlphar and Pōṭl-phēra', Greek… -
Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre
Painter, b. in Lyon on 14 Dec. 1824, d. in Paris on 24 Oct. 1898. Raised in an environment dominated by the great personalities of French Romantic painting, he… -
Pygmies (PIGMEI)
This is the name given, from a Greek term (πυγμῶς = men as tall as a fist) already known to Homer, to the representatives of a highly primitive human race, who… -
Pyong-Yang, Apostolic Vicariate of (PYONG-YANG, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO DI)
Located in the north-western part of Korea and separated from Manchuria by the Yalu River, it was erected as an apostolic prefecture of Hpeng-yang on 27 March… -
Pyrker von Hohenwart, Johann Bapt
Cistercian monk, b. at Nagy-Lángh (Hungary) on 2 Nov. 1772, d. at Vienna on 2 Dec. 1847; successively parish priest of Türnitz, bishop of Zips, patriarch of… -
Pyrrhonism (PIRRONISMO)
It is the school of thought that traces back to the skeptical doctrine of Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-270 B.C.). It was summed up in the thesis that nothing can be… -
Pyrrhus I, Patriarch of Constantinople (PIRRO I, PATRIARCA DI COSTANTINOPOLI)
Successor of Sergius in the patriarchate (639), died at Constantinople between 19 and 23 May 655. A fickle spirit, he began by favoring the Ekthesis of… -
Pythagoras (PITAGORA)
The historical figure of P., philosopher and founder of the school that bears his name, was so distorted by later legends that it is difficult, amid the… -
Pyxides (PISSIDE)
A liturgical vessel for the reservation of the Eucharist for Communion, from πυξις, πύξος, Latin pyxis, a box, a small round or polygonal jar for medicines… -
Płock, Diocese of (PLOCK, DIOCESI DI)
City and diocese in Poland, founded in 1000-50. It is now a suffragan of Warsaw, and until 1818 of Gniezno. The first (certain) bishop was Paschalis, d. in…