Handling God-, Church-, and Jesuit-talk
Thumbing your noses at the gurus
The editors of the Chicago Manual of Style note the following when referring in one way or another to religion:
In few areas is an author more tempted to overcapitalize or an editor more loath to urge a lowercase style than in that of religion. That this is probably due to unanalyzed acceptance of the pious customs of an earlier age, to an unconscious feeling about words as in themselves numinous, or to fear of offending religious persons is suggested by the fact that overcapitalization is seldom seen in texts on the religions of antiquity or latter-day primitive religions. It is in the context of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism that we are tempted and fail.
The editors of the University of Chicago Press urge a spare, down style in this field as in others: capitalize what are clearly proper nouns and adjectives, and lowercase all else except to avoid ambiguity.
For every yin there is a yang, so this tendency is counter-balanced by various ecclesiastical traditions and praxis, local and denominational usages, and just plain orneriness. Thus many of our publications would eschew the very formal, often pompous, titles associated with some members of the clergy – flying in the face of recommendations of CMS or AP. Tread lightly here since what one considers acceptable for a local clergy person might come across as flippant when referring to a member of another ecclesial community.
So, Now What?
An overarching principle might be something like: “Consider the medium; consider the context; consider the audience!” There are innumerable variations on these and therefore there might be variations in your style between documents, but at least consistency within any given document.
God
Almost all authorities follow what one reads in modern English translations of the scriptures and the liturgy. Today, almost no pronoun or adjective referring to the Deity is capitalized. However referring to God as “he” (i.e. masculine) is another issue which transcends theology. Ironically, god-talk seems the easiest to decide at least at the level of uppercase versus lowercase.
Events, Writings, Services
Many Roman Catholics grew up seeing words such as Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Mass, Baptism, Eucharist always capitalized. This practice is waning. Several questions to ask: (1) does your choice (up- or down-casing) confuse the reader or help them?; (2) is someone offended by your practice? (3) and if so, what is the price of the offence? A totally unscientific survey seems to indicate that most of us feel that it should be ‘the Mass’ rather then ‘the mass’ . Here the issue deals with the Mass and the sacraments. Read the possible approaches before deciding.
Titles
This can be a problem area, even locally. Many of the “authorities” prefer not to use the term ‘Father’ or the corresponding abbreviation ‘Fr.’ They prefer some variation of ‘Reverend’ or even ‘the Reverend’. Addressing the president of the university at a commencement is “reverend president” is one thing; referring to him that way in written prose is another. On some occasions the more formal term is nice, but remember that it is exactly that, formal. At most of our institutions we think in terms of colleagues or collaborators or co-workers. The implied hierarchical level is absent or minimized. So a question for our publications: should our writing reflect that reality. There also may be differences between the first references and second and subsequent references. Often the first mention is fuller or more explicit whereas subsequent references are allowed to be short and more colloquial.
Anyone one of the following might be possible for a first reference:
the Reverend President Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
Reverend Presidend Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
Father President Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
Father Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
President Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
Fr. Clayton O’Toole, S.J., President
Fr. Clayton O’Toole, S.J., president
Fr. Clayton O’Toole, S.J.
Fr Clayton O’Toole SJ
Fr O’Toole, president
President O’Toole
Subsequent references are usually simpler. Let your mind wander, I will not list them.
Religious and Affiliations
More and more, one sees publications dropping internal (and sometimes terminal) periods in abbreviations and acronyms. This has an impact on the way you indicate a person’s affiliation with a religious group. The major items to be dealt with have to do with separating commas, internal periods, and capital letters versus small capitals. Thus it is possible to adopt one of the following styles for your publication. They may all be acceptable; just decide.
Paul Wembley, O.F.M. comma, periods, standard caps
Paul Wembley O.F.M. no comma, periods, standard caps
Paul Wembley, OFM comma, no periods, standard caps
Paul Wembley OFM no comma, no periods, standard caps
Paul Wembley, o.f.m. comma, periods, small caps
Paul Wembley o.f.m no comma, periods, small caps
Paul Wembley, ofm comma, no periods, small caps
Paul Wembley ofm no comma, no periods, small caps
One often distinguishes what happens in running text as opposed to tables or captions. Additionally there may be some question whether it is possible to use small caps even if they are desired – often a problem in e-mail.
The Spiritual Exercises
This phrase is used in at least three senses:
Do you have a copy of Fleming’s translation of The Spiritual Exercises?
Each Jesuit makes the Spiritual Exercises for 30 days in the novitiate.
Her daily regimen of spiritual exercises included the Divine Office.
Does your style sheet reflect any such differences?
Sacred Books, Parts Thereof, and Celebrations
Usually the standard style guides agree on spelling and capitalization of the various components. They are safe and consistent guides. You might want to decide between:
Koran or Quran or Qu’ran
Kwanzaa or Kwanza
Hanukkah or Chanukah or Hanukah
Isaiah or Isaias (the latter is a relic of the old Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible)
Dick VandeVelde, SJ
Loyola University of Chicago
Company Magazine
Updated: July 21, 2005