Introduction: The General Concept of Angels in Catholic Doctrine
             Angels are integral to the Catholic experience, doctrine, and cosmology. Defined most simply as a "pure spirit created by God," Angels were mentioned in the Old Testament as well as the New ("Angel Pages"). However, the meaning and connotation of the term angel has changed significantly throughout Christian history. The original Hebrew word angel denoted a messenger of God who could either be divine or human (Pope). Subsequent Latin translations of the Hebrew Bible linguistically distinguished between divine and human messengers of God, referring to the former as angelus and the latter as either nuntius or legatus (Pope). At the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, the Catholic Church officially defined angels as being explicitly created by God, a concept rooted in Old Testament teachings. The Church subsequently clarified the cosmological hierarchy through the Firmiter decree, declaring that God created the angels before He created human beings: a relatively controversial stance given the wording of Ecclesiasticus 18:1: "He that liveth for ever created all things together." According to the Dei Filius Vatican Council, the passage does not refer to temporal togetherness but rather to the equality of God's esteem (Pope).
             In addition to their mission as messengers of God, angels have also assumed a role as "ministers" of God's will, "employed" by God to carry out His will on Earth ("Angel Pages"). Daniel 7:10 describes the litany of Angels that serve at God's side: "thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him." Yet Angels are not ministers in the sense that they might begrudgingly carry out God's will; Angels administer God's will because they are innately His instruments (Pope). At the same time, Angels have free will and ca...