Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with over one billion adherents.[1] It comprises one of the three great divisions of Christianity, together with Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Church consists of those Christians who are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, who is generally called the Pope, currently Pope Benedict XVI. The Church teaches that the Pope is the successor of St. Peter, whom Catholics regard as the original leader of Christ's apostles and as the first Bishop of Rome.
The Pope and the rest of the international leadership of the Church are based in Vatican City in Rome. Vatican City is an independent state in its own right, and is the smallest state in the world in terms both of geography and of population.
The split between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy dates to the eleventh century. The split between Catholicism and Protestantism occurred some time later, in the sixteenth century. It is generally known as the "Reformation", though Catholics sometimes refer to it as the "Protestant Revolt". The principal issues of contention between Catholics and Protestants are known as sola scriptura (the doctrine that the Bible alone is the final authority for Christians, which denies the authority of the Church) and sola fide (the doctrine, popularized by Martin Luther, that faith alone, as opposed to faith expressed in good works, is sufficient for salvation).
The Catholic Church has a complex hierarchy of clergy, including:
"Roman Catholic" versus "Catholic"
The term "catholic" (from the Greek katholikos) means "universal", and its roots in ecclesiastical parlance go back to the early years of Christianity. Some Protestants believe that (Roman) Catholics do not have the right to monopolize the term, and so prefix it with the adjective "Roman". Some Catholics object to this nomenclature, precisely because it denies the status of the (Roman) Catholic Church as the universal Church of Christ. Historically speaking, the term "Roman Catholic" was coined in nineteenth-century Britain as a euphemism to replace insulting terms such as "papist" that had previously been in use.
The Catholic Church is made up of thirty-one distinct branches or "rites", including the Byzantine Rite, the Ambrosian Rite (only in Lombardy, a northern Italian region) and the Maronite Rite. By far the largest Rite, and the most prevalent in the West, is the Latin Rite, and Catholics sometimes use the term "Roman Catholic" to denote this component of the Church.
Sacraments
The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments:
See also
External links
- Prayers Catholic Online.
- Catholic News
- Catholic.net
- ↑ http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity
- ↑ Which sacraments are recognized is one of the important distinctions between the theology of different Christian denominations. Many Protestant denominations follow Luther and recognize only Baptism, Eucharist, and Penance.