Portal:Catholic Church

Catholic Church Portal

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.

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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The Papal conclave of 2005 was convened due to the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005. After his death, the cardinals who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect John Paul's successor. The conclave began on April 18, 2005 and ended on the following day after four ballots. Eligible members of the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church (those who were less than 80 years of age at the time of the death of Pope John Paul II) met and elected Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as the new Pope. After accepting his election, he took the regnal name Pope Benedict XVI.Proceedings on April 18 consisted of a morning Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff (Latin Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice). In the afternoon the Cardinal electors assembled in the Hall of Blessings in St Peter's Basilica and from there went in solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel, where, after the singing of the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, each Cardinal took the prescribed oath.
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Oil-on-panel portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)
Thomas More was a lawyer and political figure in 16th century England, best remembered as Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor.

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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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Did you know...

... that after Pope Alexander III absolved Gilbert Foliot's excommunication, Thomas Becket (pictured) exclaimed that "Satan is unloosed for the destruction of the Church"?
... that Jose C. Abriol was the first person to translate the Catholic Bible into Tagalog?
... that William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux was imprisoned and fined £1,000 by Queen Elizabeth for harbouring the Jesuit Edmund Campion?

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Feast Day of November 21

Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 19 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Some scholars have argued that his predecessor Felix III may have employed him to draft papal documents, although this is not certain. (Full article...)

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“

Praise consists in the love of God, in wonder at the goodness of God, in recognition of the gifts of God, in seeing God in all things He gives us, ay, and even in the things that He refuses to us; so as to see our whole life in the light of God; and seeing this, to bless Him, adore Him, and glorify Him.

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— Henry Edward Cardinal Manning

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