All about the ancient tribes
As a branch of Christianity, Roman Catholicism can be traced to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in Roman-occupied Jewish Palestine about 30 CE. According to Roman Catholic teaching, each of the sacraments was instituted by Christ himself.
Catholic Church | |
---|---|
Founder | Jesus, according to sacred tradition |
Origin | 1st century Holy Land, Roman Empire |
Members | 1.329 billion (2018) (baptized) |
Clergy | Bishops: 5,304 Priests: 415,656 Deacons: 45,255 |
The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world. It can trace its history back almost 2000 years.
Catholics are Christians, and historically were the first Christians. But if by Christianity you mean Anglicans and all their divisions, then Catholics are like 1500 years older. The term Catholic was first used at the end of the first century, the term Catholic means “Universal”.
The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म: “the Eternal Way “), which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.
Prayers. “Because of Mary’s singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray in communion with the Virgin Mary, to magnify with her the great things the Lord has done for her, and to entrust supplications and praises to her.
Roman Catholic is a term sometimes used to differentiate members of the Catholic Church in full communion with the pope in Rome from other Christians who also self-identify as ” Catholic “.
Catholics believe that Jesus is God incarnate, “true God and true man” (or both fully divine and fully human).
Like other Christians, Catholics believe Jesus is a divine person, the Son of God. They believe that because of his love for all people, he died so that all people will live forever in heaven. The Catholic Church also recognizes the Trinity; that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are together the only God.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholic ecclesiology professes the Catholic Church to be the “sole Church of Christ ” – i.e., the one true church defined as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” in the Four Marks of the Church in the Nicene Creed.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Cenacle (the site of the Last Supper) in Jerusalem was the ” first Christian church.” The Dura-Europos church in Syria is the oldest surviving church building in the world, while the archaeological remains of both the Aqaba Church and the Megiddo church have been considered to
The Great Schism came about due to a complex mix of religious disagreements and political conflicts. One of the many religious disagreements between the western (Roman) and eastern (Byzantine) branches of the church had to do with whether or not it was acceptable to use unleavened bread for the sacrament of communion.
Of course, Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues.