Portal:Roman_Catholic_Church

Portal:Catholic Church

Portal:Catholic Church


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Introduction

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2022. 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 located 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, a small independent city-state and enclave within the Italian capital 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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Holy Name Cathedral on State Street in Chicago
Holy Name Cathedral on State Street in Chicago

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The Archdiocese of Chicago is one of the largest dioceses in the nation by population and comprises Cook and Lake counties, covering 1,411 square miles (3,653 km²) of Illinois. The original Diocese of Chicago was created on November 28, 1842, and was elevated to the status of an archdiocese on September 10, 1880. On September 27, 1908, the Diocese of Rockford was broken off from the Archdiocese, and to create the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois on December 11, 1948, territory was taken from the Peoria, Rockford and Chicago dioceses. The Archbishop of Chicago concurrently serves as the metropolitan bishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Chicago, whose suffragan bishops are the bishops of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield.
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Credit: Chowells

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (usually shortened to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool, England. It replaced the Pro-Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Copperas Hill. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Liverpool, the mother church of Liverpool's Catholics, and the metropolitan church of the ecclesiastical Northern Province.

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Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; German Benedikt XVI.; Italian: Benedetto XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on 16 April 1927) was the 265th Pope, the spiritual head of the Catholic Church, and as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, until his resignation was effective, on 28 February 2013. He was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his papal inauguration mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who died on 2 April 2005 (and with whom he had worked before the Sede vacante). Benedict XVI was also the Bishop of Rome. Benedict XVI is a well-known Catholic theologian and a prolific author, a defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values.
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A portrait of John Tuohill Murphy

Feast Day of May 31



Painting of Saint Petronilla
Petronilla (Aurelia Petronilla) is an early Christian saint. She is venerated as a virgin by the Catholic Church. She died in Rome at the end of the 1st century, or possibly in the 3rd century. (Full article...)


Attributes: Depicted being healed by Saint Peter the Apostle; early Christian maiden with a broom; lying dead but incorrupt in her coffin with flowers in her hair as the coffin is opened during renovations; receiving the newly dead into heaven; set of keys; spurning a marriage proposal, represented by a ring, being offered by a king; standing with Saint Peter; woman holding a set of keys; woman with a dolphin
Patronage: The dauphins of France; mountain travellers; treaties between Popes and Frankish emperors; invoked against fever
See also: Camilla Battista da Varano

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Thomas Babington Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay


News



May
"Mary, mother of Jesus"
Painting by
Herman Richir
23 May 2024 –
Pope Francis and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints approves the canonization of Carlo Acutis, who will become the first millennial saint. (Holy See) (BBC News)
12 May 2024 –
Forty-nine Vatican Museums employees start an unprecedented labor dispute over unfair and poor working conditions against the Vatican's Pontifical Commission. (Reuters)
10 May 2024 – Demographics of Italy
Amid record low birth rates and an aging population, Pope Francis urges Italians to have more children. The Italian government also expands a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033. (AP)
21 March 2024 –
Pope Francis laicizes Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe due to allegations of abuse. (NOS)

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