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The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see Roman Catholic Church#Terminology below) is the Christianity Ecclesia (church) in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the Christian Church founded by Jesus and spread by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter.Matthew 16:17-18"St. Peter - Founder of the Catholic Church" ( MSN encarta Encyclopedia, 2007).

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, representing around half of all Christians, and is the largest organized body of any world religion. According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Catholic Church's worldwide recorded membership at the end of 2005 was 1,114,966,000, approximately one-sixth of the world's population.. See below on what constitutes Roman Catholic Church#Membership of the Catholic Church.

The worldwide Catholic Church is made up of one Latin Rite and 22 Eastern Catholic Churches particular church, all of which look to the Bishop of Rome, alone or along with the College of Bishops, as their highest authority on earth for matters of faith, morals and church governance. Lumen gentium, chapter III It is divided into jurisdictional areas, usually on a territorial basis. The standard territorial unit, each of which is headed by a bishop, is called a diocese in the Latin church and an eparchy in the Eastern churches. At the end of 2006, the total number of all these jurisdictional areas (or "Sees") was 2,782.

Terminology The church described in this article has, throughout its history, used many names to describe itself.Catechism of the Catholic Church 748–810 It has not formally declared any of these names to be the name by which it should be known. However, in view of the sensibilities of other Christians, it refers to itself in its relations with them as either "the Catholic Church"Instances of the Catholic Church: ; ; or "the Roman Catholic Church".Instances of the Roman Catholic Church: ; ; ; ;

Divergent usages attach a certain ambiguity to each of the terms Roman Catholic Church and Catholic Church. Some, especially Eastern Catholic Churchess,Not the Holy See, which has never used the term Roman Catholic Church to mean the Western particular church. Official documents such as the papal encyclicals Divini illius Magistri and Humani generis use the term Roman Catholic Church to refer to the whole church in communion with the See of Rome, never to the Western part alone. The term appears repeatedly in this sense in official documents concerning dialogue between the Church as a whole and groups outside her fold. Examples of such documents can be found at the links on the Vatican website under the heading Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Pope John Paul II too treated "Roman Catholic Church " as equivalent to "Catholic Church" in his talk at the general audience of 26 June 1985 ( actual text in Italian, Spanish translation). In the First Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution de fide catholica, the phrase the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church (in Latin, Sancta catholica apostolica Romana ecclesia) also refers to something other than the Latin-Rite or Western church. apply the term Roman Catholic Church only to the Latin Rite church,The term "Latin Rite" or "Latin Church" refers not to a liturgical rite (such as the Roman Rite, the Ambrosian Rite or the Mozarabic Rite, or, for that matter, the Byzantine Rite) but to the Western particular church, which is analogous to, for instance, the Maronite church. excluding the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches.These particular churches too are in Full communion Communion (Christian) with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. As for the term Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran, Anglican, Old Catholic Church, and other Christians claim to be, or to be part of, the catholic Church (often writing "catholic" with a lower-case 'c' to distinguish it from the Roman Catholic Church). For their understandings of the term, see Catholicism, Catholic, and One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (unabridged), "Roman Catholic is the designation known to English law, but 'Catholic' is that in ordinary use on the continent of Europe, especially in the Latin countries; hence historians frequently contrast 'Catholic' and 'Protestant', especially in reference to the continent; and in familiar, non-controversial use, 'Catholic' is often said instead of 'Roman Catholic'".

According to the New Oxford Dictionary quoted in the article Roman Catholic of the Catholic Encyclopedia, "the use of this composite term (Roman Catholic) in place of the simple Roman, Romanist, or Romish, which had acquired an invidious sense, appears to have arisen in the early years of the seventeenth century. For conciliatory reasons it was employed in the negotiations connected with the Spanish Match (1618-1624) and appears in formal documents relating to this printed by Rushworth (I, 85-89). After that date it was generally adopted as a non-controversial term and has long been the recognized legal and official designation, though in ordinary use Catholic alone is very frequently employed."

The Catholic Encyclopedia considers this statement correct in substance, but identifies earlier uses of the term Roman Catholic by two Anglican theologians, one in 1581, the other in 1588. It says that for long after the Spanish Match negotiations, in official government use "the term Roman Catholic continued to be a mark of condescension, and language of much more uncomplimentary character was usually preferred." It also cites documentary evidence of use of the term by Catholics themselves in 1630, 1632, 1659 and 1661, and says that, later, Catholic associations adopted it as part of their name. It interprets the form "Catholic Roman", used by some Catholic writers from as early as 1575 (sic) as "simply a translation of the phraseology common both in Latin and in the Romance languages 'Ecclesia Catholica Romana', or in French 'l'Église catholique romaine'." The date 1575 would indicate that the Latin and French equivalents of "Roman Catholic Church" were in "common" use even before the phrase began to be used in English. It appears therefore that "1575" may be a misprint for "1675". Even this indicates that from an early stage the use of "Roman Catholic Church" was by no means a phenomenon limited to the English language.

Many Catholics dislike the term "Roman Catholic", because some use it to posit a distinction between "the Roman Catholic Church" and "the catholic Church".For example, proponents of the "Branch theory" say that "Each National Church ... still remains a 'branch' of the Catholic Church as it was before. At the present day the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Greek Churches are each of them a branch of the Universal Church" ( The Church in Catholic Encyclopedia] When in dialogue with other Christians, the Church uses either "Catholic Church" or, if this term is not acceptable to the partner in dialogue, "Roman Catholic Church".Partners who do not accept the term "Catholic Church" include the World Council of Churches (e.g. Final Communiqué of the Joint Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches) and the Anglican Communion (e.g. Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC): The Seattle Statement. On the other hand, the term "Catholic Church" has been accepted by the Assyrian Church of the East ( Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East) and the Lutheran World Federation (e.g. Official Common Statement by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church) Except in such dialogue, the Church most commonly refers to itself as "the Church", and uses "the Catholic Church" far less commonly, and "the Roman Catholic Church" extremely rarely.Examples of the use of "Roman Catholic Church" by Popes, even when not addressing members of other churches, are the encyclicals Divini illius Magistri and Humani generis, and the talk by Pope John Paul II at the general audience of 26 June 1985 ( actual text in Italian, Spanish translation) in which he treated "Roman Catholic Church " as synonymous with "Catholic Church". The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an example: in it, "the Church" appears many hundreds of times, compared to 24 uses of "the Catholic Church" (including the title of the book) and no use of the term "the Roman Catholic Church". (Also see and )

The name "Catholic Church" for this church is formally accepted by some other Christian churches, as shown in the joint documents referenced above, but most of these groups use "Roman Catholic Church" instead. In informal use, however, members even of the latter groups commonly understand "Catholic Church" as referring to it. As far back as 397, Saint Augustine of Hippo remarked that the term was generally thus understood even by those whom he qualified as heresy: … the name itself of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house.

The term "Catholic Church" is freely used within this article without suggesting acceptance of any claims implicit in that term, while "Roman Catholic Church" is used without endorsing the view that this church is merely part of some larger "Catholic Church"; both terms are used here as alternative names for the entire church that describes itself as "governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."

Origins and history dom of Ignatius of Antioch, bishop of Antioch appointed by St. Peter.The Church traces its history to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, and sees the bishops of the Church as the successors of the Apostles in general, and the Pope as the successor of Saint Peter, leader of the Apostles, in particular. The first known use of the term "Catholic Church" was in a letter by Ignatius of Antioch in 107, who wrote: "Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." para. 8.

Additionally, Catholic writers list a number of quotations from early Church Fathers suggesting the See of Rome had jurisdictional authority or primacy over other churches,
Primacy of the Apostolic See, Corunum Catholic Apologetic Web Page, retrieved Nov. 30, 2006 while Orthodox Church writers dispute this claim which was one of the main issues behind the East-West Schism, historically considering the Pope primus inter pares. Although, numerous pre-schism Eastern Church leaders appear to contradict the concept.

Central to the doctrines of the Catholic Church is Apostolic Succession, the belief that the bishops are the spiritual successors of the original twelve apostles, through the historically unbroken chain of consecration (see: Holy Orders). The New Testament contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as Christianity,; ; ; and shows how reference was made to the leaders of the church to decide what was true doctrine. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the continuation of those who remained faithful to the apostolic and episcopal leadership and rejected false teachings.

Constantinian Era and Christological Councils After an initial period of sporadic but intense Persecution of early Christians by the Romans, Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, when Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan in 313. Constantine was instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to address the Arianism heresy and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still currently used by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglican Communion, and various Protestant churches. In 326, Pope Sylvester I consecrated the first Basilica of St. Peter built by Constantine.

On 27 February 380, Emperor Theodosius I enacted a law establishing Catholic Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire and ordering others to be called heretics."It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our clemency and moderation should continue to the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. ... We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give their conventicles the name of churches." This time period in history also marked the rise in Christological Councils which determined much of the theology of the Church. In 382, the Council of Rome set the Canon of the Bible, listing the accepted books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Also, the Council of Ephesus in 431 declared that Jesus existed both as Man and God simultaneously, clarifying his status in the Trinity. The meaning of the Nicene Creed was also declared a permanent doctrine of the Church.

Medieval Period Following the decline of the Roman Empire, the Church underwent a time of missionary activity and expansion. In 480, St. Benedict began his Monastic Rule, setting out regulations for the establishment of monasteries. Monasticism was highly successful, and gave rise to various centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland and Gaul, and contributed to the Carolingian Renaissance. Later, cathedral schools developed into Universities (see University of Paris, University of Oxford, and University of Bologna), the direct ancestors of modern Western institutions of learning.

In 452, Pope Leo I met Attila the Hun, and dissuaded him from sacking Rome. However, in 455, the Vandals sacked Rome.

Catholicism spread among the Germanic peoples (initially in competition with Arianism), the Celts, the Slavic peoples; the Vikings and other Scandinavians; the Hungarians, the Baltic peoples and the Finns.

The Middle Ages brought about major Church changes and statements. Pope Symmachus, in 502, ruled that the laity should no longer vote for new popes, and that only higher clergy (now cardinals) should be allowed. Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed ecclesiastical structure and administration. When iconoclasm became a divisive issue throughout eastern Europe in the early eighth century, the Church established the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) to determine its stance on the subject.

Crusades at the Council of Clermont, where he preached the First Crusade.Beginning in 1095 the Crusades, a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, sanctioned by the Papacy, began under the pontificate of Urban II in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turk expansion. This and the subsequent crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islam aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking and occupation of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.

East-West Schism Through a gradual process over a number of centuries, the church underwent a great schism (religion) that divided the church into a Western (Latin) branch, which has been known as the Catholic Church, and an Eastern (Greek) branch, which has become known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. These two churches disagree on a number of administrative, liturgical, and doctrinal issues, most notably the Filioque clause and papal primacy. The Great Schism: The Estrangement of Eastern and Western Christendom

The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases the Orthodox refused to accept the decisions. The two churches remain in schism to the present day, although Catholic-Orthodox joint declaration of 1965 mutually between Rome and Constantinople in 1965, and efforts to end the schism continue. Some Eastern churches have reunited with the Roman Catholic Church, acknowledging papal primacy, and others claim never to have been out of communion with the Pope. (See Eastern Catholic Churches.) Milton V. Anastos, Constantinople and Rome

Inquisition Beginning around 1184, and continuing through the Protestant Reformation, a number of historical movements involving the Catholic Church, broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were aimed at securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through religious conversion, and sometimes prosecution, of alleged Heresy. A conviction of heresy, seen as treason against Christendom, could involve penalties ranging from a fine to a sentence of capital punishment such as Execution by burning administered by the state. Historians distinguish between the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Roman Inquisition, and the Portuguese Inquisition as distinct historical events. The extent of the Inquisition's activity, and particularly the exact number of deaths, has been the subject of much subsequent propaganda. (See Black Legend.)

Renaissance and Reformation The Renaissance brought about the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492, and the Catholic Church sought to spread the faith throughout the colonies. Pope Alexander VI awarded sole colonial rights over most of the New World to Spain.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, which protested some key points of Catholic doctrine and the sale of indulgences. His efforts against the Church developed into a movement called the Protestant Reformation. Other repudiated issues included the papal primacy, clerical celibacy, the seven sacraments and various other Catholic doctrines and practices, as well as abuses (such as simony and the sale of indulgences) that were common at the time.

In 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy making the King of England Supreme Head of the Church of England Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales, and Ireland were Dissolution of the monasteries. Pope Paul III, reacting to this and other schismatic issues, excommunicate King Henry VIII in 1538, marking a decisive schism between the Catholic Church and England.

Reformers within the Catholic Church launched the Counter Reformation or Catholic Reformation, a period of doctrinal clarification, reform of the clergy and the liturgy, and re-evangelization begun by the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent was convened by Pope Paul III in 1545, and its reforms provided the central theme for the next 300 years of Catholic history. The period emphasized catechesis and missionary work, in which the Jesuit and Franciscan orders were prominent. Catholicism spread worldwide, at pace with European colonialism: to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Modernity Throughout the centuries, the Church has responded to people or groups attempting to change core beliefs. Some of these opponents were declared heresies. The 18th and 19th century church found itself facing not only the teachings of Protestantism, but also Age of Enlightenment and Modernist teachings about the nature of the human person, the state, and morality. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, and the increased concern about the conditions of urban workers, 19th and 20th century popes issued encyclicals (notably Rerum Novarum) explicating Catholic social teaching. The First Vatican Council (1869-1870) affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility which Catholics hold to be in continuity with the history of Petrine supremacy in the church.

Second Vatican Council Reforms , opening the Second Vatican Council in 1962

The Catholic Church undertook a comprehensive reform during and immediately after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which was convened by Pope John XXIII. The Council stressed what it saw as positive rather than what it saw as negative in other Christian communities, other religions, and the aspirations of human beings in general. It was a primarily pastoral but authoritative council,"In view of the pastoral nature of the Council, it avoided any extraordinary statement of dogmas that would be endowed with the note of infallibility, but it still provided its teaching with the authority of the supreme ordinary Magisterium. This ordinary Magisterium, which is so obviously official, has to be accepted with docility, and sincerity by all the faithful, in accordance with the mind of the Council on the nature and aims of the individual documents" (Pope Paul VI, at General Audience of 12 January 1966 called to make the historical teachings of the Catholic Church clear to the modern world.

It issued documents on a number of topics, including the nature of the church, the mission of the laity, and religious freedom. It also issued directions for a revision of the liturgy, including permission for the Latin liturgical rites to use vernacular languages as well as Latin in the Mass (liturgy) and the other sacraments."The use of the Latin language, with due respect of particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites. But since the use of the vernacular, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or in other parts of the liturgy, may frequently be of great advantage to the people, a wider use may be made of it, especially in ... It is for the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority ... to decide whether, and to what extent, the vernacular language is to be used" ( Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36) For consequent changes in the liturgy, see Mass of Paul VI.

Beliefs , a cross with corpus, a symbol used in Catholicism in contrast with some other Christian communions, which use only a cross.

The Church's catechesis makes use of the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, summaries of the main points of Catholic belief. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a "systematic presentation of the faith" and a "complete exposition of Catholic doctrine".John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Laetamur Magnopere The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 2005 and in English in 2006, is a more concise version of the Catechism, in question and answer form.

In addition to all of the main points of orthodox trinitarian Christianity, Catholics place particular importance on the Church as an institution founded by Jesus and kept from doctrinal error by the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and as the font of salvation for humanity. The seven sacraments, of which the most important is the Eucharist, are of prime importance in obtaining salvation.

Sources: Scripture and Tradition The teachings of the Catholic Church are derived from two sources, firstly the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible) and secondly the Sacred Tradition. Both are ultimately governed and interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church.

In his 1943 encyclical letter, Divino Afflante Spiritu, Pope Pius XII encouraged Biblical scholars to study diligently the original languages of the books of the Bible (Hebrew language, Greek language, and Aramaic language for the Old Testament; Greek language for the New Testament) and other cognate languages, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of the meaning of these texts, stating that "the original text ... having been written by the inspired author himself, has more authority and greater weight than any even the very best translation, whether ancient or modern." para. 16. The canonical list of sacred books, and their contents, accepted by the Catholic Church are those as contained in the old Latin Vulgate edition.Council of Trent Session IV; here an "edition" should not be confused with a "translation"

There is a variety of sources for knowledge of Sacred Tradition, taught by the Church to be originally passed from the apostles in the form of oral tradition. Many of the writings of the early Church Fathers reflect teachings of Sacred Tradition, such as apostolic succession. Sacred Tradition, unlike man-made traditions, is understood to be the lived experience of the teachings of Christ in the early Church.

Nature of God Catholicism is monotheism: it believes that God is one, eternal, all-powerful (Omnipotence), all-knowing (Omniscience), all-good (Omnibenevolence), and Omnipresence. God exists as distinct from and prior to his creation (that is, everything which is not God, and which depends directly on him for existence) and yet is still present intimately in his creation. In the First Vatican Council the Church taught that, while by the natural light of human reason God can be known in his works as origin and end of all created things, God has also chosen to reveal himself and his will supernaturally in the ways indicated in the Letter to the .

Catholicism is also Trinity: it believes that, while God is one in nature, essence, and being, this one God exists in three divine persons, each identical with the one essence, whose only distinctions are in their relations to one another: the God the Father's relationship to the Son of God, the Son's relationship to the Father, and the relations of both to the Holy Spirit, constitute the one God as a Trinity.

Catholics are baptism in the Name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit — not three gods, but one God subsisting in three Persons. While sharing in the one divine essence, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct, not simply three "masks" or manifestations of one Person. The faith of the church and of the individual Christian is based on a relationship with these three Persons of the one God.

The Catholic Church believes that God has revealed himself to humanity as Father to his only-begotten Son, who is in an eternal relationship with the Father: "No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

Catholics believe that God the Son, the Divine Logos, the second of the three Persons of God, became incarnation as Jesus Christ, a human being, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He remained truly divine and was at the same time truly human. In what he said, and by how he lived, he taught all people how to live, and revealed God as Love, the giver of unmerited favours or Graces.

After Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, his followers, foremost among them the Twelve Apostles, spread more and more extensively their faith with a vigour that they attributed to the presence of the Holy Spirit, the third of the three Persons of God, sent upon them by Jesus.

Original sin Human beings, in Catholic belief, were originally created to live in union with God. Through the disobedience of the first humans (Adam and Eve), that relationship was broken and sin and death came into the world. The Fall of Man left humans in a state called original sin, that is, separated from their original state of intimacy with God which carried into death through the idea of the individual human soul being immortal. But when Jesus came into the world, being both God and man, he was able through his sacrifice to reconcile humanity with God. By becoming one in Christ, through the church, humanity was once again capable of intimacy with God but also offered a much more amazing gift: participation in the divine life on Earth, which will reach its fullness in heaven in the beatific vision. The sacrament of baptism is the ordinary means for the remission of original sin.

The church (Ecclesiology) printed in 1455. By the end of the 1400s, Catholics such as Johann Gutenberg were operating 250 print shops all over Europe.

The Church is, as scripture states, "the body of Christ,"; cf. and Catholics teach that it is one united body of believers both in heaven and on earth. There is therefore only one true, visible and physical church, not several. And to this one church, originally founded by Jesus on Peter and the Apostles, Jesus gave a mandate to be the authoritative teacher and guardian of the faith. To transmit Christ's divine revelation, the apostles were given the mandate to "preach the Gospel," which they performed both orally and in writing, and which they preserved by leaving bishops as their successors. Thus, the Catechism states "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time. This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it." Catechism of the Catholic Church, 77–78 The Church is also a fount of divine grace which is administered through the sacraments (see below). The Church claims infallibility in teaching the faith, based on Jesus' scriptural promises to remain with his church always, and to maintain it in truth through the Holy Spirit,; so that the church is, in the words of , "the pillar and the ground of the truth". Furthermore, Jesus promised divine protection to the teachings and judgements of the Apostles,; and those who succeeded them in their teaching office (i.e. the bishops). Moreover, Jesus set up the church as the final arbiter between all believers: "And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer."In this, it bases its doctrines both on the written Apostolic record, The New Testament, and upon the oral traditions passed down from the Apostles to their successors (the bishops) through the continuous witness of the church.; ; ; ;

, cathedral of the diocese of Rome and therefore of the Pope.Section 8 of the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium states that "the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" subsists "in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him." (The term successor of Peter refers in to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope; see Petrine theory).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 85 states that authentic interpretation of the Word of God is entrusted to the living Magisterium of the Church, namely the bishops in communion with the successor of Saint Peter.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 85 Catholic theology places the authoritative interpretation of Scripture in the hands of the consistent judgment of the Church down the ages (what has always and everywhere been taught) rather than the private judgment of the individual. The Magisterium does, however, encourage its flock to read Sacred Scripture.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "the Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God." Thus the Church's "structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members."Catechism of the Catholic Church, 773, 775

Salvation The Church teaches that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people, and that God grants it to sinners as a free gift, a grace, through the sacrifice of Christ. "With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator." Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2007 It is God who justifies, that is, who frees from sin by a free gift of holiness (sanctifying grace, also known as habitual or deifying grace). We can either accept the gift God gives through faith in Jesus Christ and through baptism, or refuse it. Human cooperation is needed, in line with a new capacity to adhere to the divine will that God provides. The faith of a Christian is not without works, otherwise it would be dead. In this sense, "by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone," and eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for good works and merits.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1987–2016 Faith, and subsequently works, are a result of God's grace - thus, it is only because of grace that the believer can be said to "merit" salvation.

The Church teaches that a person must be in a state of Sanctifying Grace at the moment of death in order to be saved. Sanctifying Grace is conferred at Baptism, and is lost when a soul commits a mortal sin. A mortal sin is a deliberate and serious transgression of God's law. Sanctifying Grace is regained when a person confesses his or her sin in the Sacrament of Penance. If a person repents of his or her sin before he or she dies but is unable to obtain the actual Sacrament of Penance before death due to reasons outside of the person's control, the person's sin is forgiven by nature of the person's desire to receive it.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that through the graces Jesus won for humanity by sacrificing himself on the cross, salvation is possible even for those outside the visible boundaries of the Church. Christians and even non-Christians, if in life they respond positively to the grace and truth that God reveals to them through the mercy of Christ, may be saved (an attitude often referred to, in the case of non-Christians, as "baptism of desire"). This may sometimes include awareness of an obligation to become part of the Catholic Church. In such cases, "whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved."

According to doctrine, a devout Catholic will be saved. However, the church does not claim that those outside of the church will necessarily be condemned. In fact, the claim that only Catholics will be saved is considered heretical and is known as Feenyism, after Father Feeney, who was excommunicated from the church for this belief. Catholics believe that God will not deny the help necessary for salvation to those outside of the Church.

Catholic life Catholics are obliged to endeavour to be true disciples of Jesus. They seek forgiveness of their sins and follow the example and teaching of Jesus. They believe that Jesus has provided seven sacraments which give Grace from God to the believer.

s in a Catholic churchIf a person dies in unrepented mortal sin, which can be forgiven through the Sacrament of Penance, he loses God's promise of salvation and goes to Hell. However, if the sinner truly regrets his or her actions before the moment of death, then he or she can undergo a purification, known as Purgatory, and eventually enter Heaven.

concelebrated Divine Liturgy, "the eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life." Catholics believe that God works actively in the world. Catholics grow in grace through participation in the sacramental life of the Church, and through prayer, the work of mercy, and spiritual disciplines such as fasting and pilgrimage. The Catholic laity also grow in grace when they fulfill their secular duties and try to imbue society with Christian values by being a model of Christ and his teachings.

Prayer for others, even for enemies and persecutors is a Christian duty. Catholics say there are four types of prayer: adoration, thanksgiving, contrition, and supplication. Catholics may address their requests for the intercession of others not only to people still in earthly life, but also to those in heaven, in particular the Virgin Mary and the other Saints. As Mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary is also considered to be the spiritual mother of all Catholics.

Social teaching Catholic social teaching emphasizes love, forgiveness, charity towards others, especially those most in need, and respect for the sanctity of life. Catholics were pacifists in the earliest days of the church, as witnessed by the fact that Christians were forbidden to join the Roman army. This was part of the cause of their political persecution in the empire. Today, however, only some Catholics hold that position, with various analyses of the "just war" theory more widely held. It should be noted that the purpose of the Catholic "just war" criteria is to prevent and limit war rather than to justify it.

Capital punishment, though it has not been wholly condemned by the Church, has come under increasing criticism by theologians and church leaders. Pope John Paul II, for instance, opposed capital punishment in all cases except those in which it is absolutely necessary for the defense of a society (found almost exclusively in developing nations). After four years of consultations with the world's Catholic bishops, John Paul II wrote that execution is only appropriate "in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent." This position is also held today by Avery Cardinal Dulles, Msgr. William Smith, Germain Grisez and other Catholic moral theologians, who oppose all "intentional killing," as philosophers term it.

Human life 's The Creation of Adam. Pope John Paul II taught that, "by means of his corporality, his masculinity and femininity, (man) becomes a visible sign of the economy of truth and love, which has its source in God himself."The Catholic Church affirms the sanctity of all human life, from conception to natural death. The Church believes that each person is made in the "image and likeness of God," and that human life should not be weighed against other values such as economy, convenience, personal preferences, or social engineering. Therefore, the Church opposes activities that it believes destroy or devalue divinely created life, including euthanasia, eugenics, abortion and the death penalty.

Sexuality The Catholic Church teaches that human life and human sexuality are both inseparable and sacred. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2331–2400The Church teaches that Manichaeism, the belief that the spirit is good while the flesh is evil, is a heresy. Therefore, the Church does not teach that sex is sinful or an impairment to a grace-filled life. As God created the human body in his own image and likeness, and because he found everything he created to be "very good," then the human body and sex must likewise be good. The Catechism teaches that "the flesh is the hinge of salvation."Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1015 Indeed, the Church considers the expression of love between husband and wife to be a most elevated form of human activity, joining as it does, husband and wife in complete mutual self-giving, and opening their relationship to new life. “The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, ‘noble and worthy.’” "Humanae Vitae, no. 11" It is in cases in which sexual expression is sought outside sacramental marriage, or in which the procreative function of sexual expression within marriage is deliberately frustrated, that the Catholic Church expresses her grave moral concern.

Pope John Paul II's first major teaching was on the Theology of the Body. Over the course of five years he elucidated a vision of sex that was not only positive and affirming but was about redemption, not condemnation. He taught that by understanding God's plan for physical love we could understand "the meaning of the whole of existence, the meaning of life." "The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus to be a sign of it."

However the Church teaches that sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful because it violates the purpose of human sexuality to participate in the "conjugal act" before one is actually married. The conjugal act "aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul" (Catechism 1643) since the marriage bond is to be a sign of the love between God and humanity (Catechism 1617).

Masturbation, fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution, rape, homosexual acts,Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2351–2357 and birth control are regarded by the Catholic Church as, objectively speaking, gravely disordered actions.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2370 (Whether in concrete cases they also constitute a mortal sin depends also on other factors.) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1854-1861 The procurement or assistance in abortion can carry the penalty of excommunication,Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2272 as a specific offence.

The Church has been criticized for its teaching on fidelity, sexual abstinence and its opposition to promoting the use of condoms as a strategy to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, and Sexually transmitted infection. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, has stated that Pope Benedict XVI asked his department to study the question of condom use as part of a broad look at several questions of bioethics. However, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, in an interview reported by Catholic News Agency on May 4, 2006, said that the Church "maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms", and added that the Pope had "not ordered any studies about modifying the prohibition on condom use."

Practices: prayer and worship In the Catholic Church, there is a distinction between Liturgy, which is the formal public and communal worship of the Church, and personal prayer or devotion, which may be public or private. The Liturgy is regulated by church authority and consists of the Eucharist (the Mass), the other Sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours. All Catholics are expected to participate in the liturgical life of the Church, but personal prayer and devotions are entirely a matter of personal preference.

Liturgy The Catholic Church is fundamentally liturgical in its public life of worship. Liturgy is derived from the Greek for "work of the people." The Second Vatican Council stated "for the liturgy, 'through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,' most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church."; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1068–69

Eucharist . The chalice is displayed immediately after the transubstantiation of the wine into the Blood of Christ.Catholics see the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life, and believe that the bread and wine brought to the altar are transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and the true Blood of Christ. The Holy Mass is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.

Sacraments The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131 teaches: "The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions."

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1113, "The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation (Catholic Church) or Chrismation, Eucharist (Catholic Church), Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church), Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders (Catholic Church), and Catholic marriage."For a discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Biblical foundation of the Sacraments, go to Aquinas and the Sacraments.

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours, at least in the simple form of morning prayer and evening prayer, is the daily liturgy of all the Catholic faithful. It is intended as a communal experience, just as the Eucharist or the celebration of the other Sacraments, but is often recited by individuals.

Devotional life/Personal Prayer In addition to the liturgy of the Church there is a variety of spirtual practices, devotions, and pietistic practices that Catholics may participate in, either communally or individually. Aside from the Mass, Catholics consider personal and communal prayer to be one of the most important elements of Christian life.

Important examples are blessings of people and of objects, as well as dev

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