Question: Why do the Catholic Church and Catholic Bibles not capitalize pronouns when speaking about the persons of the Trinity? Doesn’t the Lord’s Prayer state, “hallowed be Thy name?”
— Joseph Krueger, Divide, Colorado
Answer: Capitalizing pronouns — such as he, him, his, you, your, and so forth — that pertain to the Blessed Trinity has not been a common custom in Christian tradition. In reality, these pronouns are never given capital letters in the original documents. They remain uncapitalized in the Greek version of the Scriptures. Likewise, St. Jerome did not capitalize them when he rendered these texts into the Latin Vulgate.
Even as the biblical writings were converted into English, the pronouns stayed in lowercase. This applies to both Catholic and Protestant versions of the Bible. The Douay-Rheims Bible did not employ them, nor did the King James version. More than 30 contemporary or historical translations that I checked online also do not use them.
Beyond the Scriptures, the English version of the Catechism of the Council of Trent employed lowercase pronouns, a practice also found in the present Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Therefore, we observe the application of lowercase letters for pronouns that denote the Divine Persons in scriptural passages.
Several years ago, particularly in English-speaking nations, there existed a devout custom of employing uppercase letters for pronouns that pertain to individuals of the Trinity. Nevertheless, this custom was not common nor was it historically rooted.
Concerning the holiness of God’s name, this is entirely correct. Therefore, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are written with capital letters, as is the name Jesus.
However, pronouns are not classified as proper names — they are, by their very nature, terms that represent or refer back to proper nouns.
It can certainly be contended that those pronouns ought to be capitalized; however, considering the long-standing and prevalent tradition to the contrary, one should exercise caution in attributing motives of irreverence to those who refrain from doing so.
Disposing of a Bible
Question: Is there an appropriate method for disposing of a Bible that has become worn out? It doesn’t feel right to simply throw it in recycling.
— Joyce Larson, Phoenix, Arizona
Answer: Typically, worn-out and unusable Bibles are set aflame, and the ashes are preferably spread in a garden. Many parishes periodically incinerate frayed vestments, holy texts, and Bibles, so if you find it difficult to burn them yourself, you might want to ask your parish about it. Some individuals are taken aback by the idea of burning sacred items. Nonetheless, as you mention, it’s a more respectful option than ending up in the garbage or landfill.
Jesus’ genetics
Question: As each human child inherits half of their chromosomes from their father and half from their mother, what did the Church suggest regarding the source of the other half of Jesus’ chromosomes, given that he had no earthly father?
— Peter Stein, Everett, Washington
Answer: I have no knowledge of any formal Church doctrine on this subject. Understanding of DNA, among other things, is quite recent and continually evolving. Therefore, it would not be reasonable to anticipate a comprehensive theological discussion on this issue at this time.
Nonetheless, one principle must undoubtedly hold — specifically, the instruction from both Scripture and Tradition that Jesus, as a divine individual, possessed a fully developed, unblemished human nature and was like us in this aspect in every way except for sin.
Therefore, he possessed the full and correct count of chromosomes. The specifics of how God contributed the component typically provided by a human father are not disclosed. We are confronting miracles and enigmas.
Yet this fact remains evident: Jesus, although a single entity, is completely divine and entirely human.
Msgr. Charles Pope is the pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian in Washington, D.C., and writes for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. at blog.adw.org. Send questions to msgrpope@osv.com.
