Catholicism

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Catholicism usually refers to the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes it also refers to the Orthodox Churches, or other Churches that believe in the great lists of Christian beliefs called "creeds" (from the Latin word meaning "I believe"), such as the Anglican Church. The word "catholic" means everywhere or universal (belief that the Church is one big family). When "Catholic Church" is used, it means the Roman Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church was started by Jesus Christ who, it says, made its first head Saint Peter, called as the first pope after the start of Christianity. Today, the pope is Benedict XVI, who is the leader of the Church (like the male head of a family, or father). This is where the word "pope" comes from. That is why the pope is called the Holy Father.

The organisation of the Church was agreed in 325 at the First Council of Nicæa. It said the Church had five Patriarchs (patriarch also means a kind of father). They were the archbishops of Rome, Alexandria, Ephesus, and Antioch, each in charge of one fourth of the Christian world, with the Archbishop of Jerusalem at the centre, as a fifth Patriarch. The Patriarch of Rome, or "Pope", was honoured as "First among equals" because the diocese of Rome was started by Saint Peter. The third Patriarch later moved from Ephesus to Constantinople.

In time, the Church split apart with fights over who is right; these fights cause breaks in the Church called schisms. Most schisms happen because of people have different beliefs about what is true, but politics is often a big reason for these fights too.

In 451, a schism happened when the Pope (Patriarch of Rome) excommunicated (cut off) three of the other four patriarchs, the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, because they would not accept his idea that said Jesus' two natures were separated from each other. Of course, these three Patriarchs did not accept being excommunicated either, so the Churches under them are still known today as Oriental Orthodox Churches. This left only one other Patriarch (Constantinople) in communion with Rome.

The Catholic Church split into the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Orthodox) Churches in 1054. The Orthodox Church was later divided into national churches, making the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, and so on. The Roman Catholic Church kept the idea of one united Church with the pope as head. Some Orthodox Churches believe the Emperor or King is the head of the Church as well as the country. In England, Anglican Church is like the Orthodox about this too.

The next big schism was the Protestant Reformation, which protested against the central authority of the Church in Rome and against what it thought were wrong ways of doing and believing things about God in the Catholic Church. It started in Germany, where Martin Luther sent his demands for change to the Church. Because of politics in Europe, many nations supported Luther. The Lutheran Church was started. Later the Calvinist or Presbyterian Church started.

One of the most famous people in this period is King Henry VIII of England, who started the Anglican church because he wanted to divorce his first wife and the Pope said no. First his Church, the Church of England, was like the Catholic Church, but with the king as leader instead of the pope. Later, under his son, King Edward VI, and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, the Anglican Church became more reformed or Protestant, but Anglicans still believe they are reformed Catholics, as well as Protestants.

In the Reformation, other Churches also split off from the Catholic Church and became Protestant. Even inside Protestant churches, disagreements over beliefs result in more splits. This is why there are so many Protestant churches. Some of these Protestant or Reformed churches are: Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Methodist, Baptist, to name just a few. Later on, some people split again to make new kinds of churches which most Protestants do not believe are Christian at all, like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalist, and many others.

If a child refuses to obey his/her father, the father punishes his child; in church-talk this is called excommunication. In the Roman Catholic Church, if believers disobey the pope, they can also be punished or excommunicated. There is only one way of belief for Catholics who want to be with the pope. This is why Roman Catholics believe there is only one Catholic Church.

[edit] What is the same as other mainstream Christians

• The Word of God is infallible
• The Ten Commandments are the same (but numbered differently)
• God knows everything
• Christians believe that Jesus Christ died, rose again, and one day “will come again to judge the living and the dead.” (Apostles’ Creed)
• Jews did not put Jesus on the cross; the sins of all humans did

[edit] What is different from other mainstream Protestants

• Catholics believe God can forgive sins through the sacrament of reconciliation (penance) done by a priest, while most Protestants do not believe the priest is needed
• Catholics believe it is important to live by scriptures and traditions, while most Protestants believe in Sola Scriptura (by Scripture Alone)
• Catholics believe the papal authority and the Bible are infallible, while most Protestants believe that they have to interpret infallible word of God from fallible documents (the Bible)
• Catholic bibles are bigger than most Protestant bibles for this reason, as each protestant denomination varies in what they like to interpret and what is not favourable (so protestant bibles may differ as well)
• Catholics venerate saints, especially Virgin Mary (Mother of God); most Protestants mistaken it as worship and some protestants do not think any veneration is even necessary
• the interpretation of "Mother of God" differs

[edit] What is different from other mainstream Orthodox Christians

• They are different from followers of the Orthodox Church in that they have a different approach to the Trinity. Christians believe that God has three aspects: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Orthodox Churches believe these are three different persons (hypostases) of one divine essence (ousia); Catholics believe God is of one substance in three persons (consubstantiation).
• the Filioque clause (Nicene creed)
• Caesaropapism

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