How do you join the Catholic Church?
Personal ordinariate
If membership by reception of the sacraments of initiation within an ordinariate is open not only to the Catholics mentioned in the 2013 amendment but to others also who have no Anglican background - something on which no express statement has been issued - anyone who has not yet received all three sacraments of initiation may join. This includes non-Christians, those who, in the view of the Catholic Church, do not have valid baptism (such as Mormons), and those who, again in the view of the Catholic Church, have valid baptism but not valid confirmation or Eucharist. Protestants in general are seen as lacking valid confirmation, but the Eastern churches and some Western ones, such as some Old Catholic churches and the Polish National Catholic Church, are recognized as having valid sacraments.
Catholic Church in the United States
Catholics gather as local communities called parishes, headed by a priest, and typically meet at a permanent church building for liturgies every Sunday, weekdays and on holy days. Within the 196 geographical dioceses and archdioceses (excluding the Archdiocese for the Military Services), there are 17,651 local Catholic parishes in the United States. The Catholic Church has the third highest total number of local congregations in the US behind Southern Baptists and United Methodists. However, the average Catholic parish is significantly larger than the average Baptist or Methodist congregation; there are more than four times as many Catholics as Southern Baptists and more than eight times as many Catholics as United Methodists.
Orthodox Church of France
, Roman Catholic priest, was a Modernist. 
Winnaert, along with a group of parishioners, separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1918 and joined the Anglican Church.
Winnaert and his adherents then separated from the Anglican Church and joined the Old Catholic Church in 1921.
Winnaert and his adherents then separated from the Old Catholic Church and joined the Liberal Catholic Church in 1922. Their group, "" (Free Catholic Church of France), was registered as a religious association in April 1922.
Bishop James Ingall Wedgwood, of the Liberal Catholic Church, consecrated Winnaert as bishop.
Winnaert renounced the Liberal Catholic Church in 1924 over its occult Theosophical nature after the publication of Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa's "The Early Teachings of the Masters 1881–1883".
After Winnaert and his adherents separated from the Liberal Catholic Church, they established the "" (Evangelical Catholic Church) in 1924.
According to "The Tablet", at the time of application to come into full communion with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in 1932, Winnaert's group had a membership of 1500 adherents, ministered by six priests and one deacon, in parishes located in Paris, Rouen, Brussels, Holland, and Rome.
The agreed to receive Winnaert and his group into full communion in 1936. 
The episcopal ordination of Winnaert was declared doubtful.
Winnaert was received into full communion as a priest in 1936 with the condition "that his irregular marriage be dissolved, and that he shall not be raised to the episcopate" but was raised to the rank of archimandrite in the .
Winnaert became administrator of those parishes that were received into full communion with and was supervised by the ordinary of the Russian Churches in Western Europe.
Mass in the Catholic Church
The Mass, known more fully as the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the central liturgical ritual in the Catholic Church where the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is consecrated. The Church describes the Holy Mass as "the source and summit of the Christian life". It teaches that through consecration by an ordained priest the bread and wine become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace (Catholics who have recently confessed all mortal sins) to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
Apostolic Faith Church
Membership is not by formally joining the church but when you are Saved you are considered a member.
Society of Catholic Priests
In the SCP NA, membership is open to all Anglican clergy who a) believe that the churches of the Anglican Communion are part of the one holy and catholic and apostolic church; b) are members of The Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada; c) embrace as colleagues all those admitted to holy orders in the same; d) believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; e) embrace the sacramental life of the Church as means of God's grace; f) and keep the rule of life of the society. In the SCP NA, professed but unordained members of religious communities may also be admitted as full members. Seminarians and seminary graduates preparing for ordination may be admitted as "provisional members", becoming full members automatically upon their diaconal ordination.
Lapsed Catholic
From 1983 a "formal act of defection from the Catholic Church" was recognised in the Code of Canon Law, making defectors ineligible for the privileges of membership of the Church, such as marrying in church. This form of defection was removed from the Code in 2009, and it was no longer possible to defect formally from the Catholic Church.
R. R. Reno
A theological and political conservative, Reno was baptized into the Episcopal Church as an infant and grew up as a member of the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore, Maryland. As an adult he was an active participant in the Episcopal Church, serving as Senior Warden of the Church of the Resurrection in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1991 to 1995, as deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1993, 1996, and 1999, and as a member of the Theology Committee of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops from 2001–2003. On September 18, 2004, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He explained his conversion in this way: "As an Episcopalian I needed a theory to stay put, and I came to realize that a theory is a thin thread easily broken. The Catholic Church needs no theories."
In addition to his academic pursuits, Reno has been an avid rock climber and mountaineer from a young age.
History of the Catholic Church in Germany
Adolf Hitler was raised as a Catholic, a faith which he rejected as an adolescent, only receiving confirmation unwillingly and never receiving the sacraments again after leaving home. Even before he rose to power, the Catholic Church was in opposition to Nazism, because this ideology was deemed incompatible with Christian morals. Therefore, under threat of excommunication Catholics were forbidden to join the Nazi Party (NSDAP) or its organizations. The leaders of the NSDAP for their part shared the church's view about the incompatibility of national socialism and Christianity. Indeed, Hitler had a general covert plan, which some say existed even before the Nazis' rise to power, to destroy Christianity within the Reich, which was to be accomplished through control and subversion of the churches and to be completed after the war.
Open communion
The Catholic Church does not practise or recognise open communion. In general it permits access to its Eucharistic communion only to baptized Catholics. In lieu of Holy Communion, some parishes invite non-Catholics to come forward in the line, with their arms crossed over their chest, and receive a blessing from the priest. However, Canon 844 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church and the parallel canon 671 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches also recognizes that in certain circumstances, by way of exception, and under certain conditions, access to these sacraments may be permitted, or even commended, for Christians of other Churches and ecclesial Communities.
Homosexual clergy in the Catholic Church
The canon law of the Catholic Church requires that clerics "observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven". For this reason, priests in Roman Catholic dioceses make vows of celibacy at their ordination, thereby agreeing to remain unmarried and abstinent throughout their lives. In 2005 a senior Vatican official confirmed a report in "Corriere della Sera" that gay men who are closeted and chaste (abstain from sexual activity) for at least three years will still be allowed to become priests, and others have argued that the church would be unable to enforce an outright ban.
Priest
In these traditions, only men who meet certain requirements may become priests. In Roman Catholicism the canonical minimum age is twenty-five. Bishops may dispense with this rule and ordain men up to one year younger. Dispensations of more than a year are reserved to the Holy See (Can. 1031 §§1, 4.) A Catholic priest must be incardinated by his bishop or his major religious superior in order to engage in public ministry. In Orthodoxy, the normal minimum age is thirty (Can. 9 of Neocaesarea) but a bishop may dispense with this if needed. In neither tradition may priests marry after ordination. In the Roman Catholic Church, priests in the Latin Rite, which covers the vast majority of Roman Catholicism, must be celibate except under special rules for married clergy converting from certain other Christian confessions. Married men may become priests in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches, but in neither case may they marry after ordination, even if they become widowed. Candidates for bishop are chosen only from among the celibate. Orthodox priests will either wear a clerical collar similar to the above mentioned, or simply a very loose black robe that does not have a collar.
Herbert Ratner
Another phenomenon was also taking place at the University of Chicago among Ratner’s friends and acquaintances. Impressed with the writings of Thomas Aquinas, many were becoming attracted to the Catholic Church. One psychiatrist friend and medical school classmate became a Trappist monk. Having been raised with no religion by an atheist father, Ratner, too, felt this attraction and entered the Catholic Church in 1938. He remained a committed Catholic throughout his life, becoming an active, long-time member of the Chicago Catholic Physicians’ Guild, as well as serving a term as president of the National Federation of Catholic Physicians Guilds, which later was renamed the Catholic Medical Association.
Augustana Catholic Church
On May 15, 2009, and again in 2014, the Augustana Catholic Church officially filed a formal petition to enter the Roman Catholic Church "as a unified body" in whichever form the Pope and the Curia decides is the most appropriate. The ACC's petition was filed with the Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and is before the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It is a separate petition from that of the Traditional Anglican Communion.
Church of Cognizance
To become a "registered member" of the COC, a candidate must read a pamphlet titled "The Church Of Cognizance Introduced". The pamphlet includes the below stated beliefs, description of organization, and the membership pledge of the church. If the candidate is in agreement with the beliefs, organization, and pledge, they then must then fill out, and sign their PLEDGE and return it to the designated address.
Liberal Catholic Church International
Both the ordained and the laity may enter the religious life as friars or sisters. A candidate takes vows confirming their desire to follow the order's common rule.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
Inquirers who have already been validly baptized in a non-Catholic ecclesial community, or baptized Catholic but not catechized as a child (have not received first Eucharist), are welcomed to this next stage via the "Rite of Welcoming the Candidates". They enter this Rite known as 'Candidates', and they are known by this title from now on. Their rite of welcoming the candidates often does not take place at the same time as the Catechumen’s rite of acceptance.
Company of Mary
A simple profession is made at the end of the novitiate and the person officially becomes a member of the Congregation for “By religious profession, members assume the observance of the three evangelical counsels by public vow, are consecrated to God through the ministry of the Church, and are incorporated into the institute with the rights and duties defined by law.”As part of the ceremony, the new member is clothed in the Montfortian habit which consists of a fold-over black cassock, cord from which hang a 15 decade set of rosary beads.
Conversion to Christianity
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teach that baptism is the first sacrament, called an ordinance in LDS theology, following conversion and is required for membership in the LDS Church. Baptism, according to the LDS theology, requires that the convert be accountable (credobaptism), that it be by immersion, and that it be performed by an authorized priesthood holder. As the LDS Church does not recognize the priesthood authority of other churches, all converts, even those from other Christian denominations, are required to be baptized. Following baptism, a convert is confirmed a member of the LDS Church and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands of a Melchizedek Priesthood holder.
Catholic Church
In the first thousand years of Catholic history, different varieties of Christianity developed in the Western and Eastern Christian areas of Europe. Though most Eastern-tradition churches are no longer in communion with the Catholic Church after the Great Schism of 1054, autonomous particular churches of both traditions currently participate, also known as "churches "sui iuris"" ("). The largest and most well known is the Latin Church, the only Western-tradition church, with more than 1 billion members worldwide. Relatively small in terms of adherents compared to the Latin Church, are the 23 self-governing Eastern Catholic Churches with a combined membership of 17.3 million .
Catholic Church
Church membership, defined as baptised Catholics, was 1.272 billion at the end of 2014, which is 17.8% of the world population. Catholics represent about half of all Christians.
Vocational discernment in the Catholic Church
For men there are a number of vocations in the Catholic Church. The best known is the vocation to the priesthood, as either a diocesan or a religious priest. A diocesan priest serves in a particular diocese and is under the local bishop. A religious priest (in this sense) is a member of a specific religious institute such as the Trinitarians, Holy Cross Fathers and Brothers or Jesuits. Diocesan and religious priests may also serve for a time in specific apostolates such as military chaplains or the maritime apostolate.
Kimberly Hahn
Scott Hahn was received into the Catholic Church at Easter 1986. His reception caused a great deal of distress to Hahn, as described in their book, "Rome Sweet Home". However, after struggling for a few more years with issues such as transubstantiation and, in particular, the veneration of Mary, she was herself received into the Catholic Church at Easter 1990. She is now a well-known Catholic apologist, a homeschooling mother of six children, and author of three books. She gives talks about Catholicism, feminism, and contraception, both nationally and internationally.
Infant baptism
According to legal professor and former Irish president Mary McAleese, as outlined in her doctoral thesis, infant baptism amounts to "enforced membership of the Catholic Church", which violates fundamental rights of children. These "infant conscripts (...) are held to lifelong obligations of obedience" without their understanding or consent. "Parents can guide and direct [their children] but they can't impose, and what the church has failed to do is to recognise that there has to be a point at which our young people, as adults who have been baptised into the church and raised in the faith, have the chance to say ‘I validate this’ or ‘I repudiate this’. You and I know, we live now in times where we have the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of belief, freedom of opinion, freedom of religion and freedom to change religion. The Catholic Church yet has to fully embrace that thinking."
Catholic Church
For Catholics, the Eucharist is the sacrament which completes Christian initiation. It is described as "the source and summit of the Christian life". The ceremony in which a Catholic first receives the Eucharist is known as First Communion.
Conversion to Christianity
Eastern Christians (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrians), are only asked to make a simple profession of faith and then begin participation in the Eucharist without having to be confirmed due to the Catholic Church recognizing eastern Christian sacraments. Eastern Christians who convert to the Catholic Church are automatically enrolled into the eastern rite corresponding to the Church they originated from regardless of what sui juris Church they entered the Catholic Church through.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (; commonly called the Catechism or the CCC) is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It sums up, in book form, the beliefs of the Catholic faithful.
Catholic Association Pilgrimage
As at December 2014, the membership of the PMC consists of:The Catholic Association Hospitalité of Our Lady of Lourdes – CA Hospitalité for short – exists to bind together the volunteer pilgrims, known in French as Hospitalier(e)s, who help in the service of all pilgrims – especially 'sick pilgrims' – during the Pilgrimage; doctors, nurses, handmaids (female helpers), brancardiers (male helpers), chaplains, and praying members. The Hospitalité is a religious sodality in the Catholic Church, with a strong social and spiritual element and it is affiliated to the Hospitalité Notre Dame de Lourdes (the central Hospitalité coordinating most volunteers in Lourdes throughout the year).
Catholic theology
Men become bishops, priests or deacons through the sacrament of Holy Orders. Candidates to the priesthood must have a college degree in addition to another four years of theological training, including pastoral theology. The Catholic Church, following the Apostolic tradition, ordains only males. The Church teaches that, apart from ministry reserved for priests, women should participate in all aspects in the church's life and leadership
Personal ordinariate
Latin Rite priests can receive Orthodox Christians, who then belong not to the Latin Church but to the respective Eastern Catholic particular church. To be ascribed to the Latin Church (e.g. if the person intended to join the ordinariate), or to an Eastern Catholic church "sui iuris" other than the one of the same rite as the non-Catholic Eastern church from which the Christian arrives, permission of the Apostolic See may be necessary, although it may also occur with the permission of the respective Eastern and Latin ordinaries who have jurisdiction. Priests of a personal ordinariate are not excluded from this authority: "Anyone who is not already a Catholic can be received into the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate."
Baptists
Membership policies vary due to the autonomy of churches, but the traditional method by which an individual becomes a member of a church is through believer's baptism, which is a public profession of faith in Jesus, followed by water baptism.
Confirmation in the Catholic Church
The sacrament is customarily conferred only on people old enough to understand it, and the ordinary minister of Confirmation is a bishop. Only for a serious reason may the diocesan bishop delegate a priest to administer the sacrament (canon 884 of the Code of Canon Law). However, a priest may confer the sacrament when he baptizes someone who is no longer an infant or admits a person already baptized to full communion with the Catholic Church, or if the person (adult or child) to be confirmed is in danger of death (canon 883). Priests typically administer the sacrament during the Easter Vigil Mass to adults becoming members of the Catholic Church. It is the conclusion of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program. Priests customarily ask for and are granted permission for this occasion. (Canon 882-888).
Personal ordinariate
On 1 January 2011, Broadhurst, Burnham and Newton, their wives (except Burnham's wife, who is Jewish) and three former Anglican nuns of a convent at Walsingham, were received into the Catholic Church. The three men were ordained to the Catholic diaconate on 13 January and to the priesthood on 15 January.
Evangelical Catholic Church (Independent Catholic)
The Evangelical Catholic Church uses two creeds: the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. Its theology differs from that of the Roman Catholic Church in that it permits both men and women, married as well as unmarried, to become deacons, priests and bishops; accepts gay marriage; encourages divorced and remarried worshipers to receive Communion; and allows birth control.
Catholic Church in the United States
By far, most Catholics in the United States belong to the Latin Church and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Rite generally refers to the form of worship ("liturgical rite") in a church community owing to cultural and historical differences as well as differences in practice. However, the Vatican II document, "Orientalium Ecclesiarum" ("Of the Eastern Churches"), acknowledges that these Eastern Catholic communities are "true Churches" and not just rites within the Catholic Church. There are 14 other Churches in the United States (23 within the global Catholic Church) which are in communion with Rome, fully recognized and valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. They have their own bishops and eparchies. The largest of these communities in the U.S. is the Chaldean Catholic Church. Most of these Churches are of Eastern European and Middle Eastern origin. Eastern Catholic Churches are distinguished from Eastern Orthodox, identifiable by their usage of the term Catholic.
Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites
The word "church" is applied to the Catholic Church as a whole, which is seen as a single church: the multitude of peoples and cultures within the church, and the great diversity of gifts, offices, conditions and ways of life of its members, are not opposed to the church's unity. In this sense of "church", the list of churches in the Catholic Church has only one member, the Catholic Church itself (comprising Roman and Eastern Churches).
Catholic Church in England and Wales
The Catholic Church in England and Wales () () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope. It traces its history to the apostles through Catholic Christendom, the Western Latin Church, particularised and recorded in Roman Britain, as far back as the 1st century. Later, in the 6th century, the church was judicially bonded to the Apostolic See of Rome, when Gregory the Great through his Benedictine and Roman missionary, Augustine of Canterbury, established a direct link from the Kingdom of Kent to the Holy See in 597 AD. This ancient link to Irenaeus's source of Christian guidance, the See of Rome, has enriched its inter-church identity, not only across Britain and continental Europe, but also and especially globally within what is sometimes referred to as the "Catholic Communion of Churches".
Conversion to Christianity
Depending on which of these denominations one enters, the sacrament of Confirmation, also known as Chrismation by eastern Christians, may be immediately administered after the baptism. In the Latin Catholic Church, infants who are baptized are not confirmed, but instead must wait until they're in their teens to be confirmed. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many Eastern Catholic Churches, infants are Chrismated and communed by a priest or bishop immediately after they are baptized. When an adult convert enters the Catholic or Orthodox Church, they are immediately confirmed after baptism, upon which, a clergy member will anoint the forehead with olive oil (or in the case of Byzantine Christians, the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet), calling upon the Holy Spirit to seal the convert with his gifts. After confirmation ensues, the convert is invited to partake of first communion. These rites usually occur on Easter Vigil.
Clerical celibacy
Within the Roman Catholic Church, clerical celibacy is mandated for all clergy in the Latin Church except in the permanent diaconate. Exceptions are sometimes admitted for ordination to transitional diaconate and priesthood on a case-by-case basis for married clergymen of other churches or communities who become Catholics, but ordination of married men to the episcopacy is excluded (see Personal ordinariate). Clerical marriage is not allowed and therefore, if those for whom in some particular Church celibacy is optional (such as permanent deacons in the Latin Church) wish to marry, they must do so before ordination. Eastern Catholic Churches either follow the same rules as the Latin Church or require celibacy for bishops while allowing priestly ordination of married men.
Catechumen
The Roman Catholic Church revived the catechumenate with its Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) wherein being a catechumen is one of a number of stages leading to receiving the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist). This was a result of the Second Vatican Council, explicitly stated in point 64 of the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium":
Marriage in the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church also has requirements before Catholics can be considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. A valid Catholic marriage results from four elements: (1) the spouses are free to marry; (2) they freely exchange their consent; (3) in consenting to marry, they have the intention to marry for life, to be faithful to one another and be open to children; and (4) their consent is given in the canonical form, i.e., in the presence of two witnesses and before a properly authorized church minister. Exceptions to the last requirement must be approved by church authority. The Church provides classes several months before marriage to help the participants inform their consent. During or before this time, the would-be spouses are confirmed if they have not previously received confirmation and it can be done without grave inconvenience (Canon 1065).
Ecumenism
One problem with the larger numbers is that single denominations can be counted multiple times. For example, the Catholic Church is a single church, or communion, comprising 24 distinct self-governing particular churches in full communion with the bishop of Rome (the largest being the Latin Church, commonly called "Roman Catholic"). Further, the Catholic Church presence in each country is counted as a different denomination—though this is in no way an ecclesiologically accurate definition. This can result in the one Catholic Church being counted as 242 distinct denominations, as in the "World Christian Encyclopedia".
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
The passage from membership of the laity to that of the clergy occurs with ordination to the diaconate. Previously, the Latin Church rule was that one became a cleric on receiving clerical tonsure, which was followed by minor orders and by the subdiaconate, which was reckoned as one of the major orders. By his motu proprio "Ministeria quaedam" of 15 August 1972, Pope Paul VI decreed: "The orders hitherto called minor are henceforth to be spoken of as 'ministries'." The same motu proprio also decreed that the Latin Church would no longer have the major order of subdiaconate, but it permitted any episcopal conference that so desired to apply the term "subdeacon" to those who hold the ministry (formerly called the minor order) of "acolyte". Even in those societies within the Latin Church that, with the approval of the Holy See, continue to administer the rites of tonsure, minor orders and subdiaconate, those who receive those rites remain lay people, becoming clerics only on being ordained as deacons.
Catholic Church in the United States
The number of Catholics grew from the early 19th century through immigration and the acquisition of the predominantly Catholic former possessions of France, Spain, and Mexico, followed in the mid-19th century by a rapid influx of Irish, German, Italian and Polish immigrants from Europe, making the Catholic Church the largest Christian denomination in the United States. This increase was met by widespread anti-Catholicism in the United States, prejudice and hostility, often resulting in riots and the burning of churches, convents, and seminaries. The Know Nothings, an anti-Catholic nativist movement, was founded in the mid 19th century in an attempt to restrict Catholic immigration, and was later followed by the Order of United American Mechanics, the Ku Klux Klan, the American Protective Association, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Primitive Catholic
While the Roman Catholic Church is not in communion with Primitive Catholic churches, Primitive Catholics are permitted under the Roman Catholic Church's 1983 Code of Canon Law to receive the sacraments of Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick from Roman Catholic priests under Canon 844,3.
An ecclesiastical jurisdiction known as the Primitive Catholic Church lays claim to having spiritual and historical connections with the church of the first century and to its clergy having valid apostolic succession, but its acceptance of women clergy and the remarriage of divorcees have called the claim into question by some in the movement.
Catholic laity
Catholic laity are the ordinary members of the Catholic Church who are neither clergy nor recipients of Holy Orders or vowed to life in a religious order or congregation.
The laity forms the majority of the estimated over one billion Catholics in the world.
Catholicity
The Catholic Church's doctrine of infallibility derives from the belief that the authority Jesus gave Peter as head of the church on earth has been passed on to his successors, the popes. Relevant Bible verses include ; "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches together form the "Catholic Church", or "Roman Catholic Church", the world's second largest religious denomination after Sunni Islam, and the largest Christian denomination, as well as its largest Catholic church, comprising over half of all Christians (1.27 billion Christians of 2.1 billion) and nearly one-sixth of the world's population. Richard McBrien would put the proportion even higher, extending it to those who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome only in "degrees". It comprises 24 component "particular Churches" (also called "rites" in the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches and in the Code of Canon Law), all of which acknowledge a primacy of jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and are in full communion with the Holy See and each other.
William Kurelek
At Maudsley, Margaret Smith, Kurelek's occupational therapist would change the course of Kurelek's spiritual life. One day, she brought him a book of poems, wrapped in a dust jacket that she had made herself out of a Catholic newspaper. "I was a staunch atheist at the time…," Kurelek recalled, and upon discovering her Catholic faith, teased her about it. Later, he asked her if she was praying for him, and she answered, "Yes, I am." From here, they began to attend church services together. He took a correspondence course from the church, and met with Father Edward Holloway, a theologian trained at the English College in Rome, who helped him over some final stumbling blocks. In February 1957, Kurelek entered the Roman Catholic Church by a ceremony of conditional baptism, a procedure called for because of his infant baptism in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada. Margaret Smith, and his friend David John, a sculptor who did work for the church, were his godparents.
Catholic theology
The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus. Concerning non-Catholics, the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" has this to say:"Outside the Church there is no salvation."Reformulated positively, this statement means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.
List of people excommunicated by the Catholic Church
In Roman Catholic canon law, excommunication is a censure and thus a "medicinal penalty" intended to invite the person to change behavior or attitude that incurred the penalty, repent, and return to full communion. Excommunication severs one from communion with the Church; excommunicated Catholics are forbidden from receiving any sacrament and refused a Catholic burial, but are still bound by canonical obligations such as attending Mass or fasting seasonally. Excommunicated Catholics, however, are barred from receiving the Eucharist or from taking an active part in the liturgy (reading, bringing the offerings, etc.). They are still Catholics per se, but are separated from the Church.
Catholicisation
In 1439 in Florence, the Declaration of Union was adopted, according to which "the Roman Church firmly believes that nobody, who does not belong to the Catholic Church, not only unbelievers, but Judeans (Jews), nor heretics, nor schismatics, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, but all will go to the eternal fire, which is saved for devils and their angels, if they not before death turn to that church". The Council of Trent (1545–63) had the mission to gain, apart from "stray" Protestants, also the numerous "schismatics" in southeastern Europe.
Religious conversion
Membership into a Latter Day Saint church is granted only by baptism whether or not a person has been raised in the church. Latter Day Saint churches do not recognize baptisms of other faiths as valid because they believe baptisms must be performed under the church's unique authority. Thus, all who come into one of the Latter Day Saint faiths as converts are baptized, even if they have previously received baptism in another faith.
Vocational discernment in the Catholic Church
For women, vocational discernment would consist of feeling called to marriage, the life of a religious sister or nun, a consecrated member of a Secular Institute, a hermit, or a Consecrated Virgin. The Catholic Church does not consider possible ordination of women to the priesthood. Religious sisters are similar to active religious brothers. Nuns, in the strict sense of the word, correspond to monks.
Catholic points-based admission school
Catholic points-based admission schools are certain over-subscribed Roman Catholic comprehensive schools in London and the English home counties which have adopted admissions criteria based on adherence to the Catholic faith. In order to attend these schools candidates must come from practising Catholic families, or those which are active in the Catholic Church.
Interfaith marriage in Christianity
The Roman Catholic Church requires a dispensation for mixed marriages. The ordinary of the Catholic party has the authority to grant them. The baptized non-Catholic partner does not have to convert. Previously, the baptized non-Catholic partner had to agree to raise the children Catholic, but under current rules only the Catholic spouse must promise to do all that is in his or her power to do so. The non-Catholic partner must be made 'truly aware' of the meaning of the Catholic party's promise. Both parties must be instructed about the 'purposes and essential properties' of marriage, none of which can be excluded by either of the parties (thus neither party, including the non-Catholic, may exclude the permanence, exclusivity or openness to having children in the marriage, which is a standard condition of the validity of all marriages in Catholicism). It is forbidden to have a second religious ceremony in a different religion or one ceremony performed together by ministers of different religions. However, it is possible to waive the requirement of form (by granting a dispensation), so that for example one ceremony performed by the minister of another religion or a civil magistrate will be sufficient. Marriages with members of Eastern rites are valid but illicit without proper observance of the form or dispensation from it, as long as a sacred minister is present and other canonical requirements are observed. Yet, some Christian non-Catholics have a Catholic father or mother due to lack of honesty.
Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
Depending on their existing provincial statutes and with the approval of their local council, their communities accept Catholics in good standing in the Church who meet the age requirement into formation. Admission into formation depends on a clear indication of a Carmelite vocation and maturity in faith in the opinion of the local council of the community petitioned, and permission to profess the Promise of the Seculars requires a number of years spent in spiritual formation and the study of contemplative prayer under the direction of the community's formators. Catholics begin by discovering a community of Seculars which they visit for monthly meetings and may eventually join. Communities are listed in online provincial directories (see bibliography below).
Ecumenical Catholic Church
The Ecumenical Catholic Church (ECC) is a denomination within the universal Christian Church. It teaches the faith of the Nicene Creed, that one God exists in three coequal and coeternal persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and that Jesus is the Son of God and redeemer of humanity, uniting Christians through the rebirth of Baptism and the fellowship of the Eucharist. The liturgy of the ECC is similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church, but it is politically independent and not under the jurisdiction of the Vatican or the Roman hierarchy and thus is one of the "Independent Catholic Churches". While the ECC shares the core Christian beliefs with the Roman Church and most Protestant and Orthodox denominations, it is more liberal on many social issues.
Catholic Church
Catholic belief holds that the church "is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth" and that it alone possesses the full means of salvation. Through the passion (suffering) of Christ leading to his crucifixion as described in the Gospels, it is said Christ made himself an oblation to God the Father in order to reconcile humanity to God; the Resurrection of Jesus makes him the firstborn from the dead, the first among many brethren. By reconciling with God and following Christ's words and deeds, an individual can enter the Kingdom of God. The church sees its liturgy and sacraments as perpetuating the graces achieved through Christ's sacrifice to strengthen a person's relationship with Christ and aid in overcoming sin.
Legion of Mary
Membership is open to all baptised Catholics. After visiting a Praesidium a few times, one can join the legion as a probationary member for three months. Then, a decision is made on whether to join the legion as an active member permanently. During the probationary period, probationary members learn about the legion system by reading the "Handbook of the Legion of Mary" and its active works by listening to reports of active works undertaken by fellow legionaries. At the end of probationary period, members say an oath of "Legion promise", a pledge of allegiance to the Holy Spirit and to Mary, and become apermanent active members.
Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus
The Council also said that even those who do not believe in Christ are related to the Church: "All men are called to be part of this catholic unity of the people of God which in promoting universal peace presages it. And there belong to or are related to it in various ways, the Catholic faithful, all who believe in Christ, and indeed the whole of mankind, for all men are called by the grace of God to salvation." However, it added immediately that those who, "knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved". In this way, the Catholic Church teaches that any person who knows that the Catholic Church is necessary for eternal salvation and knowingly rejects the Church with deliberate consent cannot be saved. On the other hand, "those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life."
Conversion to Christianity
Before conversion takes place, converts, also called "catechumens", must undergo a period of instruction. In the Catholic Church, this usually involves spending a few months preparing in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), where catechumens spend time learning about the Christian faith and the teachings of the Bible and the Church. In the Orthodox Church, it can take up to a full year of studying and participation before one is baptized. Protestant denominations and other Christian groups have various other ways of instructing converts which may focus heavily on the Bible.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), or Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum (OICA) is a process developed by the Catholic Church for prospective converts to Catholicism who are above the age of infant baptism. Candidates are gradually introduced to aspects of Catholic beliefs and practices. The basic process applies to adults and older children, with younger children initiated through an adapted version sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Children (RCIC).
Conrad Black
"My family", Black wrote in 2009, "was divided between atheism and agnosticism, and I followed rather unthinkingly and inactively in those paths into my twenties." By his early thirties he "no longer had any confidence in the non-existence of God." Thereafter, he "approached Rome at a snail's pace," and began to study the writings of Roman Catholic thinkers such as St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman, and Jacques Maritain. Having accepted the possibility of miracles and thus of the Resurrection of Christ, Black was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 18 June 1986 by Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter, Archbishop of Toronto, at the Cardinal's residence. He had a dispensation to receive the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, from Cardinals Léger and Carter, starting in 1974.
Universal Catholic Church
The Universal Catholic Church (UCC) is a Christian church formed in 2007 with headquarters in the United States. The Church traces its founding to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles and regards the bishops to be the literal successors of the Apostles, holding their keys of authority. The Universal Catholic Church considers itself to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and to be both Catholic and Liberal. While it derives its apostolic succession from the Old Catholic Church, the UCC is not in full communion with either the Utrecht Union, or the Roman Catholic Church, and differs with them theologically in several important respects.
Catholic Church in the United States
In a 2015 survey by researchers at Georgetown University, Americans who self identify as Catholic, including those who do not attend Mass regularly, numbered 81.6 million or 25% of the population. 68.1 million or 20% of the American population are Catholics tied to a specific parish. About 25% of US Catholics say they attend Masses once a week or more, and about 38% went at least once a month. The study found that the number of US Catholics has increased by 3 to 6% each decade since 1965, and that the Catholic Church is "the most diverse in terms of race and ethnicity in the US," with Hispanics accounting for 38% of Catholics and blacks and Asians 3% each. The Catholic Church in the US represents perhaps "the most multi-ethnic organization of any kind, and so is a major laboratory for cross-cultural cooperation and cross-cultural communication completely within the nation's borders." It is as if it wishes to forge a broader ecclesial identity to give newcomers a more inclusive welcome, similar to the aspirations of 19th century church leaders like Archbishops John Ireland and James Gibbons who "wanted Catholic immigrants to become fully American, rather than 'strangers in a strange land.'" Only 2 percent of American Catholics go to confession on a regular basis, while three-quarters of them go to confession once a year or less often.
Criticism of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church holds that, "if a non-Catholic Christian, for reasons of conscience and having been convinced of Catholic truth, asks to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church, this is to be respected as the work of the Holy Spirit and as an expression of freedom of conscience and of religion. In such a case, it would not be a question of proselytism in the negative sense that has been attributed to this term. ... This perspective naturally requires the avoidance of any undue pressure: 'in spreading religious faith and introducing religious practices, everyone should refrain at all times from any kind of action which might seem to suggest coercion or dishonest or improper persuasion, especially when dealing with poor or uneducated people'." The Church does not see that as proselytism but rather as evangelism.
Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands
The main bodies of the Old Catholics are theologically progressive. The Dutch Old Catholics since 1998 have allowed women to enter the priesthood and, for a long time, have allowed divorce. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some Catholic priests who have been unable to accept certain Catholic disciplines or doctrines have joined the Old Catholic Church, often in order to marry.
Personal ordinariate
A 2013 modification of the norms governing personal ordinariates made it clear that membership of an ordinariate is open to those who are Catholics by baptism but have not received both of the other two sacraments of initiation, if evangelising by an ordinariate brings them back to the faith and practice of the Catholic Church. Although they lack an Anglican background, they acquire membership of an ordinariate by receiving within it some of the sacraments of initiation. Other Catholics cannot "for purely subjective motives or personal preference" be enrolled in an ordinariate. However, all Catholics may regularly attend and receive communion at ordinariate services, as they can in any Latin or Eastern Catholic parish.
Catholic Church in the United States
The fuller integration of Catholics into American society was hastened by the election of John F. Kennedy as President in 1960. Since then, the percentage of Americans who are Catholic has fallen slowly from about 25% to 22%, with increases in Hispanics, primarily Mexican Americans, and to a lesser degree, in more than six million former Protestants, who have balanced losses of self-identifying Catholics. In absolute numbers, Catholics have increased from 45 to 72 million. About 10% of the population as of 2010 are former Catholics or non-practicing, almost 30 million people. People have left for a number of reasons, which factors have also affected other denominations: loss of belief, disenchantment, disaffiliation for another religious group or for none, indifference. Other reasons for departure are the Church's teaching on homosexuality, women's role in the Church, abortion and birth control. The Catholic Church sexual abuse cases have had a negative effect as well, if not significant, especially in the northeast. The geographic center of US Catholicism is also shifting southward and westward; although compared with other religious groups, Catholics are fairly evenly dispersed throughout the country.
Full communion
The Catholic Church makes a distinction between full and partial communion. Where full communion exists, there is but one church. Partial communion, on the other hand, exists where some elements of Christian faith are held in common, but complete unity on essentials is lacking. For instance, the Roman Catholic Church sees itself as in partial communion with Protestants and in much closer, but still incomplete, communion with the Orthodox churches. It has expressed this distinction in documents such as "Unitatis redintegratio", the Second Vatican Council's decree on ecumenism, which states: "... quite large communities came to be separated from "full communion" with the Catholic Church ... men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this "communion is imperfect"".
Independent Catholicism
Many independent Catholic clergy and their communities are "those who have felt themselves excluded from the mainstream liturgical churches due to gender, sexuality, race, culture, style of worship...or theology." Plummer notes that within the independent sacramental movement, which includes independent Catholicism, "ordination is often open to a much larger percentage of the membership than in mainstream churches. Thus, those who want to become priests can generally do so. In the case of women and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons, there is a redemptive reversal in which those who were denied a public role in the church's sacramental life have assumed the previously forbidden place at the altar. Persons from ethnic or cultural minority groups who have been denied leadership positions, or who feel that their culture has been stifled, can work to more fully integrate their cultural identity and their faith...Thus, we have those who have been excluded from the church's sacramental life, for whatever reasons, taking ownership of the liturgical traditions, and creatively innovating to form new communities." Many independent Catholics see this spirit of inclusiveness as being in line with St. Paul's vision of an inclusive community and with Jesus' reconciliation of all on the cross, with the subsequent rending of the Temple veil, thus granting access by "all" to the Holy of Holies. As a result, an increasing number of independent Catholics find it difficult to justify how a church following in the footsteps of Jesus might justify withholding the sacrament of Holy Orders from women and sexual minorities, and the sacrament of Marriage from same-sex spouses.
Couples for Christ
Any validly married Catholic couple can become members of CFC. Although a Catholic movement/organization, CFC remains open to having non-Catholic Christians as members.
Catholic Church in England and Wales
As in other English-speaking countries such as the United States and Australia, the movement of Irish Catholics out of the working-class into the middle-class suburban mainstream often meant their assimilation with broader, secular English society and loss of a separate Catholic identity. The Second Vatican Council has been followed, as in other Western countries, by divisions between traditional Catholicism and a more liberal form of Catholicism claiming inspiration from the Council. This caused difficulties for not a few pre-conciliar converts, though others have still joined the Church in recent decades (for instance, Malcolm Muggeridge, Alec Guinness, and Joseph Pearce), and public figures (often descendants of the recusant families) such as Paul Johnson; Peter Ackroyd; Antonia Fraser; Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC; Michael Martin, first Catholic to hold the office of Speaker of the House of Commons since the Reformation; Chris Patten, first Catholic to hold the post of Chancellor of Oxford since the Reformation; Piers Paul Read; Helen Liddel, Britain's High Commissioner to Australia; and former Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, have no difficulty making their Catholicism known in public life. The former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2007. Catherine Pepinster, editor of "Tablet", notes: "The impact of Irish immigrants is one. There are numerous prominent campaigners, academics, entertainers (like Danny Boyle the most successful Catholic in showbiz owing to his film, "Slumdog Millionaire"), politicians and writers. But the descendants of the recusant families are still a force in the land."
Old Catholic Church
In November 2006, the "bishops who remained engaged" met in Los Angeles and agreed on a Unity Statement, rules of order, and criteria for joining the . The Unity Statement, "to which all members subscribe" "incorporated the ecclesiological understanding of the" .
Keith Newton (prelate)
In 2008 Newton met officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to discuss the possibility of joining the Roman Catholic Church.
Formal act of defection from the Catholic Church
In late August 2010, the Holy See confirmed that it was no longer possible to defect "formally" from the Catholic Church. However, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin declared on 12 October 2010 that it intended to keep a register of those who expressed the wish to defect. Since this fell short of making an annotation in the baptismal register, "CountMeOut" (an association in the archdiocese that had been promoting formal defections from the Catholic Church) thereupon ceased to provide defection forms.
Catholic catechesis
Catechists are often deployed to teach candidates who are preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation, First Holy Communion, Confirmation and Baptism (after completing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA). Various age-appropriate religious education texts and materials are used for instruction in addition to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
Baptismal regeneration
Section 1215 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "This sacrament [baptism] is also called 'the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,' for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one 'can enter the kingdom of God.' (Titus 3:5)" Quoting the Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity:14(para 1), Christopher J. Walsh comments that the Second Vatican Council reaffirms the traditional understanding of Christian initiation as a unity and a process. "It is not something achieved with a trickle of water one Sunday afternoon, but a progressive entry into a commitment and a relationship ... Becoming a Christian is a conversion a growing adherence to Christ in faith and sacrament over an extended period of time." (See also Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1229–31)
Catholic school
Like other Christian-affiliated institutions, Catholic schools are generally nondenominational, in that they accept anyone regardless of religion or denominational affiliation, race or ethnicity, or nationality, provided the admission or enrollment requirements and legal documents are submitted, and rules & regulations are obeyed for a fruitful school life. However, non-Catholics, whether Christian or not, may need to participate in or be exempted from required activities, particularly those of a religious nature. These are in keeping with the spirit of social inclusiveness.
Personal ordinariate
In a letter in September 2013, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, explained that, through the canonical structure of the ordinariate, "Anglicans who wish to enter the full communion of the Catholic Church, bringing with them some of the traditions and beauty of the Anglican heritage in which they were nurtured, may do so."
Catholic Church in the United Kingdom
Since the establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, over 3000 former Anglicans have been received into the Catholic Church via it.
Catholic Church and ecumenism
In many areas on the United Kingdom where there is only one Christian church (such as Anglican, Baptist, Methodist or United Reformed), it may "extend a Declaration of Ecumenical Welcome and Commitment to Christians of other denominations inviting them to be part of the life and witness of that worshipping congregation." The following guidelines were offered by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales for the faithful:
Maronite Church
The six major traditions of the Catholic Church are Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Chaldean, Constantinopolitan (Byzantine), and Latin (Roman). The Maronite Church follows the Antiochene Tradition. A Roman Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic Liturgy and fulfill his or her obligations at an Eastern Catholic Parish. That is, a Roman Catholic may join any Eastern Catholic Parish and receive any sacrament from an Eastern Catholic priest since all belong to the Catholic Church. Maronites who do not reside within a convenient distance to a local Maronite Church are permitted to attend other Catholic churches while retaining their Maronite membership.
Homosexuality and religion
The Catholic Church teaches that those who are attracted to persons of the same sex are called to practice chastity, just like everyone else has to before they get married. The Catholic Church does not regard homosexual activity as an expression of the marital sacrament, which it teaches is only possible within a lifelong commitment of a marriage between a man and a woman. According to the Church's sexual ethics, homosexual activity falls short in the complementarity (male and female organs complement each other) and fecundity (openness to new life) of the sexual act. In essence this actually translates as a life of celibacy on the part of the homosexual person as, unlike his/her heterosexual counterpart, there is no release from the life of ‘chastity’ thereby turning the homosexuals life into one of ‘celibacy’. To say otherwise, as many Catholics try to assert is merely to play semantic word games to make the homosexual person not feel singled out, which is exactly what this teaching does.
Christianity in the 21st century
On 28 April 2017, Pope Francis and Coptic Pope Tawadros ll agreed that they would not require re-baptism for Roman Catholics who seek to join the Coptic Orthodox Church, and vice versa. The Roman Catholic Church baptizes by sprinkling and the Coptic Orthodox Church baptizes by immersion, but this declaration opens the way for the two churches to recognize each other’s baptism sacrament.
Personal ordinariate
Ordinariate membership as an entry to full communion with the Catholic Church is not limited solely to members of churches in the Anglican Communion. The founding document of personal ordinariates stated that their members would either be people "originally belonging to the Anglican Communion and now in full communion with the Catholic Church" (former Anglicans) or those "who receive the Sacraments of Initiation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate". (The sacraments of initiation are baptism, confirmation, and eucharist.) Moreover, the personal ordinariates have extended the meaning of the word "Anglican" in this context to include members of any "Protestant Church linked to the Church of England, such as the Lutheran or Methodist Church" in Great Britain or to anyone who has ever been an "Anglican, Episcopalian, Methodist, or AME" in the United States. Therefore, many individuals who have never formally been part of a church in the Anglican Communion may become Catholic through an ordinariate, just as they might through any diocesan parish.
Holy orders in the Catholic Church
For Catholics, the church views typically that in the last year of seminary training a man will be ordained to the "transitional diaconate." This
distinguishes men bound for priesthood from those who have entered the "permanent diaconate" and do not intend to seek ordination as a priest. Deacons, whether transitional or permanent, receive faculties to preach, to perform baptisms, and to witness marriages. They may assist at the Eucharist or the Mass, but are not the ministers of the Eucharist. After six months or more as a transitional deacon, a man will be ordained to the priesthood. Priests are able to preach, perform baptisms, witness marriages, hear confessions and give absolutions, anoint the sick, and celebrate the Eucharist or the Mass. Some priests are later chosen to be bishops; bishops may ordain priests, deacons, and bishops.
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization. The Catholic League states that it "defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination." The Catholic League states that it is "motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment ...to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened." According to the "Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics", the League "is regarded by many as the preeminent organization representing the views of American lay Catholics."
Catholic theology
Catholics believe that the Catholic Church is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth. Jesus told his disciples "Abide in me, and I in you. … I am the vine, you are the branches". Thus, for Catholics, the term "Church" refers not merely to a building or exclusively to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but first and foremost to the people of God who abide in Jesus and form the different parts of his spiritual body, which together composes the worldwide Christian community.
Anglican Diocese of Brisbane
Through a motion that was passed at the 2014 synod, all priests in the diocese are encouraged to join the Brisbane chapter of the liberal Anglo-Catholic factional group, the Society of Catholic Priests. According to the synod minutes, to be a member, priests must, amongst other things, belong to a church that is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, "believe that... the church should ordain... all those whom the church discerns as being called by God... regardless of ethnicity, gender, disability or sexual orientation", believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and use and practise the seven [Catholic] sacraments.
Fundamental articles (theology)
The Catholic Church's one and only one test, to determine the question of membership in Christ's body, does not lie in the acceptance of this or that particular doctrine, but in communion with the Apostolic hierarchy. It argues that the theory that finds the one requisite in the acceptance of a series of fundamental articles is a novelty without support in the Church Fathers.
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Holy See's "Annuario Pontificio" gives the following list of Eastern Catholic churches with the principal Episcopal See of each and the countries (or larger political areas) where they have ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to which are here added the date of union or foundation in parenthesis and the membership in brackets. The total membership for all Eastern Catholic Churches is at least 16,336,000 people. Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) gives the same list, except that it does not place the liturgical traditions in the alphabetical order in which they are given by both the "Annuario Pontificio" and canon 28, and, as noted below, it treats the Apostolic Exarchate for Byzantine-Rite Catholics in the Czech Republic, which for the Holy See is part of the Ruthenian Catholic Church, as if it were a separate autonomous church.
Holy orders in the Catholic Church
Since 1896 many Anglican bishops have been consecrated by bishops of the Old Catholic Church. Nevertheless, all Anglican clergymen who desire to enter the Catholic Church do so as laymen and must be ordained in the Catholic Church in order to serve as priests. Catholics are, according to and Cardinal Ratzinger, obliged to hold the position that Anglican orders are invalid.
Catholic Church
The sacrament of Holy Orders consecrates and deputes some Christians to serve the whole body as members of three degrees or orders: episcopate (bishops), presbyterate (priests) and diaconate (deacons). The church has defined rules on who may be ordained into the clergy. In the Latin Church, the priesthood is generally restricted to celibate men, and the episcopate is always restricted to celibate men. Men who are already married may be ordained in certain Eastern Catholic churches in most countries, and the personal ordinariates and may become deacons even in the Western Church (see Clerical marriage). But after becoming a Catholic priest, a man may not marry (see Clerical celibacy) unless he is formally laicised.
Catholic Church and politics in the United States
In 1776 Catholics comprised less than 1% of the population of the new nation, but their presence grew rapidly after 1840 with immigration from Germany, Ireland, and later from Italy, Poland and elsewhere in Catholic Europe from 1840 to 1914, and also from Latin America in the 20th and 21st centuries. Catholics now comprise 25% to 27% of the national vote, with over 68 million members today. 85% of today's Catholics report their faith to be "somewhat" to "very important" to them. From the mid-19th century down to 1964 Catholics were solidly Democratic, sometimes at the 80–90% level. From the 1930s to the 1950s Catholics formed a core part of the New Deal Coalition, with overlapping memberships in the church, labor unions, big city machines, and the working class, all of which promoted liberal policy positions in domestic affairs and anti-communism during the Cold War.
Independent Catholicism
Independent Catholicism is a movement comprising clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic and who form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacraments," despite a lack of affiliation with the main Catholic Church itself. It is difficult to determine the number of jurisdictions, communities, clergy and members who make up independent Catholicism, particularly since the movement "is growing and changing in every moment." Many choose independent Catholicism as an alternative means to live and express their catholic faith outside the Catholic Church. The structures, beliefs and practices of independent Catholicism often closely align with those of other Catholic and Christian churches.
Ecumenical Catholic Communion
The Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC) is an American independent Catholic church. Its members understand themselves as following the Catholic tradition without being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. The ECC is a confederation of independent communities based in the United States and Europe. The membership of the ECC is about 10,000, including seven bishops, and more than 50 communities across 20 states In 2009, the Ecumenical Anglican Church (EAC), an independent church joined the ECC. The ECC is a member of the National Council of Churches (NCC).
Society of Catholic Priests
Membership in the SCP UK is open to all Anglican priests who accept the Anglican Communion as part of the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church", who recognise the ordination of women priests, believe in the real presence and who uphold the traditional view of the seven sacraments. Priests keep a rule of life which includes the daily offices of Mattins and Evensong, Eucharistic-centred spirituality, use of a spiritual director, the sacrament of confession and praying for and ministering to other SCP members. Deacons may become associate members. The Society of Catholic Priests is associated with the Dearmer Society, for ordinands who aspire to full membership of SCP, and the Company of Servers, for lay people who serve at the altar.
Fate of the unlearned
The Catholic Church believes that Jesus Christ attained salvation "for all people by his death on the cross, but that some may choose to reject it." It teaches that salvation comes from "God alone", but that the Church is the "mother" and "teacher" of the faithful. Thus, "all salvation comes through the Church", and the Catholic Church mediates Christ's salvation through the sacraments. Specifically, it teaches that Christian baptism is necessary for salvation, and that the Catholic Church is also necessary as "the universal sacrament of salvation", but that some may be joined to the Church by baptism of desire or by baptism of blood (martyrdom) in absence of ritual baptism, and thus attain salvation also through the Church. "Divine and Catholic faith", untainted by willful heresy, and love are also necessary for salvation, as is dying in a state of grace. Catholic teaching allows for the salvation of one with genuine ignorance of the Catholic Church, who "seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it". Unbaptized catechumens can be saved, in the Catholic view, because the desire to receive the sacrament of baptism, together with sincere repentance for one's sins, together with the attainment of "divine and Catholic faith", assures salvation. In the case of the righteous unlearned, "It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity" and, by extension, God may permit them to attain salvation.
Sex and gender roles in the Catholic Church
In the Catholic Church, only men may become ordained clergy through the sacrament of Holy Orders, as bishops, priests or deacons. (see Catholic Church hierarchy) All clergy who are bishops form the College of Bishops and are considered the successors of the apostles.
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
The Eucharist, also called the Blessed Sacrament, is the sacrament (the third of Christian initiation, the one that the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" says "completes Christian initiation") by which Catholics partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and participate in his one sacrifice. The first of these two aspects of the sacrament is also called Holy Communion. The bread (which must be wheaten, and which is unleavened in the Latin, Armenian and Ethiopic Rites, but is leavened in most Eastern Rites) and wine (which must be from grapes) used in the Eucharistic rite are, in Catholic faith, transformed in their inner reality, though not in appearance, into the Body and Blood of Christ, a change that is called transubstantiation. "The minister who is able to confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in the person of Christ is a validly ordained priest alone." The word "priest" here (in Latin "sacerdos") includes both bishops and those priests who are also called presbyters. Deacons as well as priests ("sacerdotes") are ordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and lay people may be authorized in limited circumstances to act as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The Eucharist is seen as "the source and summit" of Christian living, the high point of God's sanctifying action on the faithful and of their worship of God, the point of contact between them and the liturgy of heaven. So important is it that participation in the Eucharistic celebration (see Mass) is seen as obligatory on every Sunday and holy day of obligation and is recommended on other days. Also recommended for those who participate in the Mass is reception, with the proper dispositions, of Holy Communion. This is seen as obligatory at least once a year, during Eastertide.