Roman Catholic Church
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The Roman Catholic Church is the largest single religious denomination in the world today, with an estimated 1.1 billion adherents.
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[edit] The Pope
The Catholic Church considers itself to be the legitimate heir in unbroken apostolic succession to the early Church.[1] Its head is the Bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the Pope or Pontiff. The current Pope since 2005 is Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). Ideally, the Pope is a wise man well past normal retiring age, being instead chosen to relentlessly work for the well-being of humanity until God calls him to Heaven. (Or at least that's the plan. Some do, many across history have been in it solely for the power.) Usually, however, the realistic administrator-types have made better popes than the more saintly ones.
[edit] Relationship with other Christians
While most people in the West do not contest the idea that the Catholic Church is the oldest branch of Christianity, there are other Eastern branches that consider themselves as old as the Roman Catholic Church, which they claim has fallen into heresy. Recently, there has been a push by the Catholic Church to reconcile with some of these smaller churches, with some success. Despite the RCC's status as the largest branch of Christianity, however, some fundamentalist Protestants refuse to recognize it as Christian at all. The RCC recognizes that the Eastern Orthodox Churches have valid orders but it considers the orders of the Anglican Communion to be utterly null and absolutely void.
The Catholic Church considers all persons baptized with the Trinitarian formula to be members, but in various degress of communion. Latin Rite and Ukrainian Rite Catholics, for instance, are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Eastern Orthodox are considered to be very close indeed, but actual intercommunion between the two is currently not authorized (Catholics are not allowed to share the Eucharist at EO masses and vice versa). Lutherans and Methodists are acknowledged to be fellow Christians, but they are considered "separated brethren". Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Oneness Pentecostals are considered to be members of non-Christian sects due to what the Catholic Church holds to be their view of the Holy Trinity.
Neither is Catholicism a monolithic entity in and of itself; there are several branches, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, that are fundamentally part of the Catholic Church but do not consider themselves Roman Catholic, while splinter groups both liberal and traditionalist appear in some places, out of communion with the Roman church, over doctrinal differences such as gay rights, female priesthood, and the controversial Vatican II reforms of the 1960s. In addition, small groups such as Opus Dei and the Society of St. Pius X operate on the fringes of the Roman church (the latter is generally not on good terms with Rome, while the former, though a social fringe and according to some a cult, operates with the direct blessing of the Vatican).
[edit] Politics
Politically, the Catholic Church has long been a very conservative force, often supporting monarchies and fascist regimes against democracies and republics. This has recently changed, however. Through the 20th century, the Catholic Church has been a strong supporter of democracies against Communism. Also, while vehemently opposed to gay rights, abortion, and birth control, the Church has also taken a stand against the death penalty, unprovoked aggression, and torture. Unfortunately, in this day and age that makes them moderates. Oddly, in more developed countries, a great number of Catholic churchgoers are far more liberal than their church.
The Catholic Church is the only denomination to have full, unquestioned control of its own state, the Vatican City State in Rome.[2] Historically, from about the mid-7th century onwards, the Popes had controlled the Papal States, a territory covering a significant part of central Italy. In 1860, however, most of the Papal States were lost as part of the wars that led to the unification of Italy. Rome was finally occupied by Italy in 1870, leading to a 59-year conflict between the Popes and the government of Italy. This conflict that was finally resolved by the Concordat of 1929 that established the present-day Vatican City as a sovereign state.
[edit] Abuse
The child abuse cases by priests in the Roman Catholic Church are well known. The Magdalene laundries scandal is less well known outside Ireland, but was also awful.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, describing the fundamental doctrine of Catholicism.
- The 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rules and laws that govern the Catholic Church.
- Also available in Latin, for those who like such things.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ In particular, the Catholic Church claims to descend in unbroken succession from St. Peter, who they claim was the head of the early apostles. This claim is contested by other branches.
- ↑ Although the Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos also enjoy considerable political autonomy from the Greek state.
