62 Facts About Catholic Christianity

1.

The Catholic Christianity Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the pope is the successor to Saint Peter, upon whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,125
2.

Catholic Christianity social teaching emphasises voluntary support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,126
3.

The Catholic Christianity Church operates thousands of Catholic Christianity schools, universities and colleges, hospitals, and orphanages around the world, and is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,127
4.

Catholic Christianity Church has profoundly influenced Western philosophy, culture, art, music and science.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,128
5.

The Catholic Christianity Church shared communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly the authority of the pope.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,129
6.

The "Catholic Christianity" notion was further stressed in the edict De fide Catolica issued 380 by Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire, when establishing the state church of the Roman Empire.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,130
7.

The name "Catholic Christianity Church" is used in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the First Vatican Council, the Council of Trent, and numerous other official documents.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,131
8.

Catholic Christianity theology teaches that the contemporary Catholic Christianity Church is the continuation of this early Christian community established by Jesus Christ.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,132
9.

Catholic Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire, despite persecutions due to conflicts with the pagan state religion.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,133
10.

The Catholic Christianity Church teaches that its public ministry began on Pentecost, occurring fifty days following the date Christ is believed to have resurrected.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,134
11.

The Catholic Christianity Church teaches that the college of bishops, led by the bishop of Rome are the successors to the Apostles.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,135
12.

The Catholic Christianity Church considers the bishop of Rome, the pope, to be the successor to Saint Peter.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,136
13.

Unlike most religions in the Roman Empire Catholic Christianity required its adherents to renounce all other gods, a practice adopted from Judaism.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,137
14.

Western Catholic Christianity, particularly through its monasteries, was a major factor in preserving classical civilisation, with its art and literacy.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,138
15.

Catholic Christianity Church was the dominant influence on Western civilisation from Late Antiquity to the dawn of the modern age.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,139
16.

Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Christianity Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilisation".

FactSnippet No. 2,382,140
17.

Catholic Christianity's theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences, and along with the Leipzig Debate this led to his excommunication in 1521.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,141
18.

Catholic Christianity attempted to mediate between the powers and established a Vatican relief office, to assist victims of the war and reunite families.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,142
19.

Catholic Christianity expressed concern against race killings on Vatican Radio, and intervened diplomatically to attempt to block Nazi deportations of Jews in various countries from 1942 to 1944.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,143
20.

Nazi persecution of the Catholic Christianity Church was at its most intense in Poland, and Catholic Christianity resistance to Nazism took various forms.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,144
21.

Some 2,579 Catholic Christianity clergy were sent to the Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp, including 400 Germans.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,145
22.

Catholic Christianity clergy played a leading role in the government of the fascist Slovak State, which collaborated with the Nazis, copied their anti-Semitic policies, and helped them carry out the Holocaust in Slovakia.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,146
23.

Jozef Tiso, the President of the Slovak State and a Catholic Christianity priest, supported his government's deportation of Slovakian Jews to extermination camps.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,147
24.

Catholic Christianity gave SS General Wolff a corresponding order to prepare for the action.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,148
25.

Many Catholic Christianity priests continued to be sent to prison for refusing to renounce allegiance to Rome.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,149
26.

Several teachings of the Catholic Christianity Church came under increased scrutiny both concurrent with and following the council; among those teachings was the church's teaching regarding the immorality of contraception.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,150
27.

Catholic Christianity instituted World Youth Day as a "worldwide encounter with the pope" for young people; it is held every two to three years.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,151
28.

Catholic Christianity travelled more than any other pope, visiting 129 countries, and used television and radio as means of spreading the church's teachings.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,152
29.

Catholic Christianity emphasised the dignity of work and natural rights of labourers to have fair wages and safe conditions in Laborem exercens.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,153
30.

Catholic Christianity emphasised several church teachings, including moral exhortations against abortion, euthanasia, and against widespread use of the death penalty, in Evangelium Vitae.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,154
31.

Catholic Christianity was known for upholding traditional Christian values against secularisation, and for increasing use of the Tridentine Mass as found in the Roman Missal of 1962, which he titled the "Extraordinary Form".

FactSnippet No. 2,382,155
32.

Catholic Christianity's resignation has caused controversy among a minority of Catholics who say Benedict did not fully resign the papacy.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,156
33.

Pope Francis, the current pope of the Catholic Christianity Church, succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 as the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first Pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,157
34.

Catholic Christianity's installation was attended by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 that the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has attended a papal installation.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,158
35.

Catholic Christianity Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,159
36.

Hierarchy of the Catholic Christianity Church is headed by the pope—currently Pope Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013 by a papal conclave.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,160
37.

The Catholic Christianity Church holds that Christ instituted the papacy upon giving the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,161
38.

Eastern Catholic Churches follow the traditions and spirituality of Eastern Christianity and are churches that have always remained in full communion with the Catholic Church or who have chosen to re-enter full communion in the centuries following the East–West Schism or earlier divisions.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,162
39.

Some Eastern Catholic Christianity churches are governed by a patriarch who is elected by the synod of the bishops of that church, others are headed by a major archbishop, others are under a metropolitan, and others are organised as individual eparchies.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,163
40.

Catholic Christianity ministers include ordained clergy, lay ecclesial ministers, missionaries, and catechists.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,164
41.

Catholic Christianity doctrine has developed over the centuries, reflecting direct teachings of early Christians, formal definitions of heretical and orthodox beliefs by ecumenical councils and in papal bulls, and theological debate by scholars.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,165
42.

Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 books of the Catholic Christianity Bible, consisting of 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament writings.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,166
43.

Catholic Christianity doctrine is authoritatively summarised in the Catechism of the Catholic Christianity Church, published by the Holy See.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,167
44.

Catholic Christianity Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a perichoresis of three hypostases, or "persons": God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit, which together are called the "Holy Trinity".

FactSnippet No. 2,382,168
45.

Catholic Christianity Church teaches dogmatically that "the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles but as from one single principle".

FactSnippet No. 2,382,169
46.

The New Testament records several events considered integral to the establishment of the Catholic Christianity Church, including Jesus' activities and teaching and his appointment of the apostles as witnesses to his ministry, suffering, and resurrection.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,170
47.

Catholic Christianity belief holds that the church "is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth" and that it alone possesses the full means of salvation.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,171
48.

Catholic Christianity Church teaches that, immediately after death, the soul of each person will receive a particular judgement from God, based on their sins and their relationship to Christ.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,172
49.

Catholic Christianity Church teaches that it was entrusted with seven sacraments that were instituted by Christ.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,173
50.

Catholic Christianity Church sees the sacrament of confirmation as required to complete the grace given in baptism.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,174
51.

The ceremony in which a Catholic Christianity first receives the Eucharist is known as First Communion.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,175
52.

The Eastern Catholic Christianity Churches are groups of faithful who have either never been out of communion with the Holy See or who have restored communion with it at the cost of breaking communion with their associates of the same tradition.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,176
53.

Rites used by the Eastern Catholic Christianity Churches include the Byzantine Rite, in its Antiochian, Greek and Slavonic varieties; the Alexandrian Rite; the Syriac Rite; the Armenian Rite; the Maronite Rite and the Chaldean Rite.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,177
54.

Eastern Catholic Christianity Churches have the autonomy to set the particulars of their liturgical forms and worship, within certain limits to protect the "accurate observance" of their liturgical tradition.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,178
55.

However, in recent years Eastern Catholic Christianity Churches have returned to traditional Eastern practices in accord with the Vatican II decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,179
56.

Catholic Christianity social teaching, reflecting the concern Jesus showed for the impoverished, places a heavy emphasis on the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy, namely the support and concern for the sick, the poor and the afflicted.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,180
57.

Catholic Christianity Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,181
58.

Catholic Christianity Church calls all members to practise chastity according to their state in life.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,182
59.

Similarly, the Catholic Christianity Church opposes artificial insemination regardless of whether it is homologous or heterologous and in vitro fertilisation, saying that the artificial process replaces the love and conjugal act between a husband and wife.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,183
60.

Certain dissenting Catholic Christianity groups oppose the position of the Catholic Christianity Church and seek to change it.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,184
61.

In defiance of these rulings, opposition groups such as Roman Catholic Christianity Womenpriests have performed ceremonies they affirm as sacramental ordinations which, according to canon law, are both illicit and invalid and considered mere simulations of the sacrament of ordination.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,185
62.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded by issuing a statement clarifying that any Catholic bishops involved in ordination ceremonies for women, as well as the women themselves if they were Catholic, would automatically receive the penalty of excommunication, citing canon 1378 of canon law and other church laws.

FactSnippet No. 2,382,186