Catholicism
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
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 credo, 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 often means the Roman Catholic Church, but it can also mean the Eastern Churches.
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[change] How it was started
The Catholic Church was started by Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who was crucified by the Romans ca. 33 AD. The church says he was resurrected by God the Father. One of his followers, Saint Peter, became the first Pope, or Bishop of Rome, soon after that. 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 also called the Holy Father.
In 325, the First Council of Nicaea agreed on how to organise the church. The council 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 center, as a fifth patriarch. The Patriarch of Rome, or "Pope", was honored as "first among equals" because the diocese of Rome was started by Saint Peter. The third patriarch later moved from Ephesus to Constantinople.
[change] Quarrels within the church
In time, the Church split apart with fights over who is right; these fights caused 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, the Anglican Church is like the Orthodox about this.
[change] Protestantism
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 he was not allowed to do that. 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, Edward VI, and his daughter, 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 resulted 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.
[change] What is the same as other mainstream Christians
- The belief that the Word of God is infallible.
- The Ten Commandments in Catholicism are the same although numbered differently from Protestant Christians.
- The belief that God knows everything.
- The belief that Jesus Christ died, rose again, and one day "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead."
- The act of worshipping God.
[change] 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
[change] 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 Scripture, Tradition, and the teaching of the Church's Magisterium (the bishops in communion with the Pope), while most Protestants believe in Sola Scriptura (the Bible alone)
- Catholics believe that papal authority and the Bible are infallible, while most Protestants believe in an infallible Bible but not an infallible Pope.
- Catholic bibles include the Apocrypha whereas Protestant bibles do not.
- Catholics venerate saints, especially the Virgin Mary (Mother of God). "Venerating saints" means that Catholics give special honor to saints (people in heaven) because they believe that saints can pray for them directly to God. Many Protestants do not believe this because they mistake "venerating saints" as "worshiping saints". Because they believe that only God should be worshipped, they do not venerate. Many Protestants also simply do not believe that any veneration is necessary
- the interpretation of "Mother of God" differs
