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What's Your Catholic IQ?

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by Joe Paprocki

Use this exercise as a fun review. Circle the letter next to the word or phrase that correctly completes each statement. Then check your answers with the answer key at the bottom.

Use this exercise as a fun review. Circle the letter next to the word or phrase that correctly completes each statement. Then check your answers with the answer key at the bottom.

1. To whom did Jesus say, “…upon this rock I will build my church”?
(a) Pilate; (b) Peter; (c) John; (d) Mary

2. The abbreviation Phil represents which book of the Bible?
(a) Philemon; (b) Philistines; (c) Phillip; (d) Philippians

3. In the Gloria, we say that Jesus alone is the following except
(a) Holy One; (b) God from God; (c) Lord; (d) Most High

4. Between 1377 and 1415, how many men claimed to be the pope at the same time?
(a) 12; (b) 2; (c) 7; (d) 3

5. The acronym CCD stands for
(a) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; (b) Catholic Christian Doctrine; (c) Confiteor Confirmandi Doctrinus; (d) Can’t Comprehend Doctrine

6. Which of the following saints was not one of the Twelve Apostles?
(a) Matthew; (b) Mark; (c) Andrew; (d) John

7. Creation is the common work of
(a) the Father; (b) the Holy Trinity; (c) the Son; (d) the Holy Spirit

8. In the Roman Catholic Church, which sacrament is always presided over by a bishop?
(a) holy orders; (b) confirmation; (c) baptism; (d) anointing of the sick

9. Mortal sin involves all of the following except
(a) serious matter; (b) full knowledge; (c) acedia; (d) deliberate consent

10. In the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, we pray to be made a channel of God’s
(a) peace; (b) grace; (c) holiness; (d) cable listings

11. At the beginning of the Rosary, we recite the
(a) Nicene Creed; (b) Gloria; (c) Apostles’ Creed; (d) Hail, Holy Queen

12. Which feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of the Church year?
(a) Holy Trinity; (b) Corpus Christi; (c) New Year’s Eve; (d) Christ the King

13. In the hymn “How Great Thou Art,” we sing, “…when I in awesome wonder, consider all the _____ thy hands have made.”
(a) plans; (b) worlds; (c) squirrels; (d) stars

14. World Youth Day 2008 was held in
(a) Fairbanks, Alaska; (b) Denver, Colorado; (c) Beijing, China; (d) Sydney, Australia

15. Throughout most of the Church year, the paschal or Easter candle is located next to the
(a) baptismal font; (b) ambo; (c) tabernacle; (d) dining room table

16. Which of the following is considered a sacramental by Catholics?
(a) scalpel; (b) scapular; (c) amulet; (d) scallop

17. Which of the following is not a color of a season of the liturgical year?
(a) green; (b) white; (c) orange; (d) violet/purple

18. The Latin phrase Dominus vobis cum means
(a) Peace be with you; (b) Go in peace; (c) Thanks be to God; (d) The Lord be with you

19. Angelo Roncalli was the original name of
(a) Pope John Paul I; (b) Pope John XXIII; (c) Pope Paul VI; (d) Pope Benedict X

20. A cross with a body of Jesus on it is called a
(a) crucifix; (b) ciborium; (c) crucible; (d) cincture

Now compare your answers with the key below.

Joe Paprocki, D.Min. is Managing Editor of Parish Life Resources at Loyola Press in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of many books including A Well-Built Faith, The Catechist’s Toolbox, God’s Library, Living the Mass (Loyola Press) and Bringing Catechesis and Liturgy Together (Twenty-Third Publications). Joe writes from Evergreen Park, Illinois, where he lives with his wife and two children and serves as an eighth-grade catechist.

ANSWERS to WHAT’S YOUR CATHOLIC IQ?

1. (b) Jesus says these words to Peter (whose name means “rock”) in Matthew 16:18.
2. (d) In the New American Bible, “Phil” is the abbreviation for Philippians while “Phlm” is the abbreviation for Philemon.
3. (b) We refer to Jesus as “God from God” in the Nicene Creed.
4. (d) This period of time, during which up to three men claimed to be pope at the same time, is known as the Great Schism.
5. (a) The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine was established in Rome in 1562. Today the term “CCD” has generally been replaced by terms such as “religious education,” “faith formation,” or “catechesis.”
6. (b) Mark was one of the Evangelists (a writer of one of the four Gospels) but not one of the Twelve Apostles.
7. (b) “Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity” (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 292).
8. (a) Holy orders is always presided over by a bishop. Confirmation, while usually reserved for the bishop, can, with permission, be presided over by a priest at the Easter Vigil.
9. (c) Acedia, another word for sloth, is one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
10. (a) The Prayer of St. Francis is often called the Peace Prayer.
11. (c) Traditionally, the Rosary begins with the Sign of the Cross followed by the recitation of the Apostles’ Creed.
12. (d) The Church’s liturgical year ends (as far as Sundays go) with the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King.
13. (b) The hymn “How Great Thou Art” expresses our belief that all of creation (“all the worlds”) comes from God.
14. (d) WYD 2008 took place in Sydney, Australia, July 15-20. World Youth Day, initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1984, is celebrated annually, usually in Rome, although every second or third year it is held in another international location.
15. (a) The paschal candle stands next to the baptismal font except during the Easter Season, when it stands near the altar in the sanctuary.
16. (b) Scapulars worn by the laity are a miniature imitation of the garment worn by monastic religious orders.
17. (c) With regards to the major seasons of the Church year, green reflects Ordinary Time; violet or purple reflects Advent and Lent; and white reflects Christmas and Easter.
18. (d) In the Latin Mass, the priest’s greeting of Dominus vobis cum (The Lord be with you) is responded to by the assembly with Et cum spiritu tuo (And with your spirit).
19. (b) Angelo Roncalli became Pope John XXIII on October 28, 1958.
20. (a) The word “crucifix” comes from the Latin cruci fixus which means “one fixed to a cross.” Traditionally, crucifixes are found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches, while most Protestant churches display a cross (without the corpus or body of Jesus).

Source: CATECHIST Magazine, November/December 2008

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