The Roman Catholic Church is a direct descendant of the original Christian Church in Rome. The first pope of this church was Peter, one of Jesus' original disciples. For about 300 years in this fledgling religion, followers of Jesus were persecuted. It wasn't until the rule of emperor Constantine that Christianity became legal to practise in the Roman Empire.
When the persecution of Christians ended, this religion became divided. One rift began to separate to the East and the other to the West of the new Christian kingdom. Eventually it broke down into two main groups; the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Christians. The center of faith for the Orthodox Christians became Constantinople and for the Roman Catholics it became Rome.
The next big split occurred for Christianity after the Reformation when King Henry VIII declared the church of England separate from Rome. This happened because the Roman Catholic Pope wouldn't let Henry divorce his wife Catherine. Henry declared that the monarchy would be the reigning sovereign over his new church, which lead to the beginnings of the Anglican church. In the mean time, Roman Catholicism remained the main Christian religion of its day and still is.
The word "Catholic" means "universal". This religion is found in just about every country in the world. In the early church, this faith spread through merchants traveling to other lands to sell their goods. In more recent years the faith has spread more because of religious orders such as the nuns and the brothers and their mission all over the world. There are about 740 million Roman Catholic worldwide. Catholics make up three quarters of the world's Christian population.
Roman Catholicism came to Canada in the sixteenth century. By the eighteen hundreds most Catholics were living in the province of Quebec.
In Newfoundland at this time there were about 3000 Catholics. This was due to the great influx of Irish immigrants that stayed on the island. By the end of the 1700's the Catholic population of the province had reached almost 20 000. With this increase in population a bishop was appointed in 1784. With the bishop came other orders such as nuns, brothers; many of these such as the Jesuits, the Presentation Nuns and the Christian Brothers were all teaching orders.
The hierarchy of the church begins with the Pope, who at present is John Paul II. Beneath the pope in authority are the cardinals then the archbishops and then the bishops. A bishop in the head of a diocese. Within each diocese there are several parishes; each parish usually has its own priest. Helping the priests in each parish are the deacons, the nuns, the bothers, the lay ministers and the general congregations.
There are three creeds used in the Catholic Church. These are the Nicene Creed, the Apostle's Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds outline the basic beliefs that all Catholics have in common with one another. One belief that is somewhat different that some other Christian religions is the belief that there are three places in the "after life" not two. This group believes that there is heaven, hell and an in-between place called "purgatory". This is a waiting place for those who have not perfected themselves yet for heaven. Catholics also believe in celebrating seven sacraments. These are Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.
The church follows the Christian Calendar beginning with Advent onto the Sundays past Trinity.
The church is very rich in the use of symbolism and visual images. Catholic use the fourteen stations of the cross and rosary beads as aids to worship.
The greatest act of worship for Catholics is through the Mass. The Mass is modeled after the events of the Last Supper. It combines the ideas of sacrifice and a meal. Bread is symbolic of the body of Christ while wine symbolizes his blood. During the service the priest blesses the bread and wine during the act of consecration. Mass is celebrated every Sunday and also on most weekdays.
Since Vatican II (1962-65) Catholics have tried to bridge relationships with other Christian religions as part of an ecumenical movement. Vatican II put this into writing in "The Decree of Ecumenism". This document outlines the ways that Catholics can stand firm in their own beliefs while still encouraging Christian Unity.
Areas for concerns in beliefs for the Catholic Church in recent years lie in the Church's stance on matters relating to the sanctity of marriage and of human life. The Catholic Church does not believe in abortion nor does it believe in divorce. The only method of birth control it stands behind is the rhythm method. Annulments are sometimes given but it takes a really long time and can only be given under extenuating circumstances. None of the members of religious orders are allowed to marry either. These issues have even entered the news on occasion in recent years.