Capitalization of Religious Terms

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Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with telling me which of these terms are or are not capitalized. Some of these are variations of themselves used in slightly different ways from what I’m writing. They are:

a doctorate in Catholic Theology?
your First Confession?
your First Communion?
First Communion?
Communion?
Confession?
Confession Booth?
Catholic Theology?
Theological Studies?

If anyone could help me with this, I would appreciate it 🙂
 
It really depends on the style guide governing where you’re using the terms. Is this an article, a school paper? In general use, only Communion is capped.

And yes, it’s a confessional, not a confession booth.
 
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This is for a novel I’ve completed a rough draft of. I can’t afford an editor, so I’m doing it all myself.

When you say only Communion is capped, does that include a person’s first Communion as well?
 
Yes, capitalize Communion, but not first. Capitalize Church when you are referring to the Church as an institution. Do not capitalize He, Him, etc. when referring to God or Christ. Do not capitalize any of the other sacraments. Capitalize events relating to Christ’s life only when his name does not already appear in the sentence. So, the Passion. But Christ’s passion.

Good luck.
 
Your best bet is to refer to a style guide (e.g. Oxford or Chicago). The most important thing is consistency. The trend over recent decades has been toward using capital letters as infrequently as possible (e.g. the president of the United States, the duke of Westminster, a PhD in history). Of the examples you give, I would capitalize “Catholic” and “Communion” (also “Holy Communion”). If in doubt, you can also check works recently published by reputable publishers.
 
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