Christianity: Difference between revisions
→Roman Catholic Church
(→Basics) |
|||
Line 94:
The largest sect in raw numbers (about one in six human beings are Catholic) and one of the many types of Christianity hailing from about AD 300. The leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope, is the Bishop of Rome just as St. Peter was; in practice, the real authority of the Church is with its Bishops, each of whom is responsible for passing on the teachings of the church intact within their dioceses. It should be kept in mind that Catholicism is comprised of diverse segments of believers and that inevitably, there's bound to be some arguments amongst themselves, and let's leave it at that.
Catholicism is generally best known for its rituals and a rather authoritarian approach to religious and moral doctrine. It is believed that the church's teachings on these subjects are "infallible" - without error - because the Holy Spirit will not allow the Church to be in error; debate remains, however on how to interpret this infallibility. There are three sources of infallible teachings, two of which are not controversial. First, there is the "Magisterium" of the Church: the teachings of the church that are considered universal by the Pope and Bishops. Second are the teachings of Church Councils - meetings of all the bishops within the Church, called by the Pope to settle in a democratic fashion questions of an extraordinary nature. The Catholic Church recognizes 21 Councils as having occured in its history, the most recent of which was the Second Vatican Council held from 1962-1965 (which, among many other mostly procedural changes, allowed Mass to be said in languages other than Latin). The last source, and the most controversial, is the Pope himself; Catholics believe the Pope is infallible when he speaks on matters of faith or morals, leaving no wiggle room. This circumstance is known as ''ex cathedra'', which literally means "from the chair." When the Pope solemnly defines a doctrine or dogma, he is speaking ''ex cathedra''. In the grand scheme of the Church it is a very new idea, first officially pronounced in 1870, and which modern theologians recognize as having been exercised only seven times in the history of the church, most recently in 1950. Many people debate just how solemnly, and what language a pope has to speak to be doing so, however, if the term anathema (a bad thing, as in "let him be anathema") shows up, you're probably in ''ex cathedra'' territory. As a note, infallibility has nothing to do with impeccability, that is, sinlessness (Peter the Apostle, considered to be the first Pope by Catholics, denied Christ three times in The Bible).
Infallibility is viewed as a negative power, that means the pope is incapable of speaking falsely when speaking ''ex cathedra'' on faith and morals. This does not extend to private letters, most public discourses, theological musings and what not, though they are to be accorded respect. Note that due to the principle of ''doctrinal development'' in Catholicism (the belief that new dogmas are simply ''existing'' beliefs that have been better understood and now ''explicitly'' defined, as opposed to doctrinal ''innovation'' which means coming up with new doctrine or changing existing ones), this rule applies ''retroactively''. But in practice, infallible teachings from the Pope are very rare; the Church doesn't keep a list, [[wikipedia:Papal infallibility#Instances of papal infallibility|but by one theologian's count, there have only been seven in the entire 2000-year history of the Church, the most recent in 1950]].
Catholicism recognizes seven "sacraments," signs of God's grace: Baptism, Communion (a remembrance of the Last Supper, and where Catholics believe Jesus acting through the priest turns the bread and wine into Himself), Confirmation (when people choose to become full members of the Church as adults), Marriage, Holy Orders (where clergy take their vows), Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick (sometimes, and not quite correctly, called "[[Last Rites (trope)|Last Rites]]"; Last Rites often includes the sacraments Anointing of the Sick, Reconciliation, and
An important difference between Catholicism and some Protestant sects is that Catholics do not believe the Bible is entirely literal, only "divinely inspired." For example, Popes have endorsed the theory of evolution as both plausible and consistent with Catholic teaching, referring to the Creation story of Genesis as a metaphor or a poetic way of describing the creation of man by God. This reflects the greater emphasis that Catholicism puts on human reason and philosophy in terms of theological learning. Scholasticism, popularized by St. Thomas Aquinas, is a major influence on this way of thinking.
Another important Catholic tradition is the remembrance of Canonical Saints: people who have been found by the Church to have led holy lives, are considered examples for Catholics to follow, and are believed to have demonstrated they are in Heaven and have God's favor by granting what the church considers miracles (usually, healings without a certain medical explanation) to those who ask saints to "intercede" for them with God. There are at least 5,000 Canonical Saints (the most important being "The Virgin" Mary, who was Jesus' earthly mother), though some of them may be more legends than real people. Note that the word "saint" is often misinterpreted to mean an especially good person. In Catholic theology, anyone currently in heaven is a "saint" (hence the fact that the Church does not Canonize living people); thus, anyone who died in a state of grace is a saint, regardless of what sort life they led. When people talk about "saints", they usually mean ''Canonical Saints''. When the Catholic Church formally declares that someone is a saint, that person is said to be "canonized", and someone who has been canonized is a Canonical Saint. Whether someone has been canonized, however, is irrelevant to whether they are a saint. Despite common usage, the Pope does not "make" people saints; only God can do that. The Pope is merely reporting on current events.
==== Traditional Catholicism ====
| |||