ABSTRACT
The Maynooth Catechism, the Irish catechism which both Stephen Dedalus and James Joyce were taught, emphatically makes clear that union with God is impossible when the individual is in a state of mortal sin, which strips one of grace altogether. The sinner is immediately condemned to eternal punishment without hope for salvation. Since salvation is only possible through the Church, mortal sin can only be removed through the sacrament of confession, in a heartfelt and genuine act of contrition before a priest. Any Catholic who believes or who once believed devoutly will recognize the claustrophobia of the fear of hell here. Indeed, Joyce borrowed not only from Pinamonti but from an entire Roman Catholic tradition which Pinamonti himself and others drew on. The Catholic response to this debate was also divided between "liberals" and "dogmatists", but most of the Roman Catholic clergy at the time were conservative dogmatists led by the Jesuits.
