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Introduction

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The Diocese of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, which is a small, independent city-state and enclave within the city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state and absolute elective monarch.

The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic 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. It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith taught by the apostles, preserving the faith infallibly through scripture and sacred tradition as authentically interpreted through the magisterium of the church. The Roman Rite and others of the Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic liturgies, and institutes such as mendicant orders, enclosed monastic orders and third orders reflect a variety of theological and spiritual emphases in the church.

Of its seven sacraments, the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated as the Perpetual Virgin, Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven; she is honoured in dogmas and devotions. Catholic social teaching emphasizes voluntary support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church operates tens of thousands of Catholic 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. Among its other social services are numerous charitable and humanitarian organizations. (Full article...)

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Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo, the roof of which was removed in an attempt to speed up the election
Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo, the roof of which was removed in an attempt to speed up the election

The papal election from November 1268 to September 1, 1271, following the death of Pope Clement IV, was the longest papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. The election of Tebaldo Visconti as Pope Gregory X, the first example of a papal election by "Compromise," was effected by a Committee of six cardinals agreed to by the other remaining ten, occurred more than a year after the magistrates of Viterbo locked the cardinals in, reduced their rations to bread and water, and legendarily removed the roof of the Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo.As a result of the length of the election, during which three of the twenty cardinal-electors died and one resigned, Gregory X promulgated the apostolic constitution, Ubi periculum, on July 7, 1274 (or 16), during the Second Council of Lyon, establishing the papal conclave, whose rules were based on the tactics employed against the cardinals in Viterbo. The election itself is sometimes viewed as the first conclave.
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Credit:Click picture for information

6th century mosaic in Ravenna portrays Jesus dressed as a philosopher king in a cloak of Tyrian purple. He appears as the Pantokrator enthroned as in the Book of Revelation, with the characteristic Christian cross inscribed in the halo behind his head.

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Thurstan, or Turstin (c. 1070–February 6, 1140) was a medieval Archbishop of York. The son of a priest, he served King William II of England and King Henry I of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his consecration was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert authority over York. Eventually, he was consecrated by the pope and allowed to return to England. While archbishop, he secured two new suffragan bishops for his province. When King Henry I died, Thurstan supported Henry's nephew Stephen of Blois as king. Thurstan also defended the northern part of England from invasion by the Scots, taking a leading part in organizing the English forces at the Battle of the Standard. Shortly before his death, Thurstan resigned from his see and took the habit of a Cluniac monk.Thurstan was the son of a canon of St Paul's in London named Anger or Auger who held the prebend of Cantlers. Another son of Anger, Audoen, was later Bishop of Évreux.
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St. Robert Bellarmine, Burbank
St. Robert Bellarmine, Burbank

Feast Day of February 19



Barbatus of Benevento (Italian: San Barbato) (c. 610 – February 19, 682), also known as Barbas, was a bishop of Benevento from 663 to 682. He succeeded Ildebrand in this capacity. He assisted in a church council called by Pope Agatho in Rome in 680 and in 681 attended the Third Council of Constantinople against the Monothelites. (Full article...)


Attributes: Crozier
Patronage: Benevento

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Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas


News



21 January 2025 –
Pope Francis announces that nun Raffaella Petrini will be appointed President of the Governorate, becoming the first woman head of government of Vatican City. She will assume the office on March 2025. (Catholic News Agency)
6 January 2025 –
Pope Francis appoints Sister Simona Brambilla as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, becoming the Vatican's first female prefect of the Roman Curia. (Vatican News)

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