Portal:Catholic Church

Catholic Church Portal

Introduction

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.378 billion baptized Catholics worldwide 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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The capture of Jerusalem marked the First Crusade's success

The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of liberating the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims and freeing the Eastern Christians from Muslim rule. What started as an appeal by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for western mercenaries to fight the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia quickly turned into a wholesale Western migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe.Both knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other Crusader states. Although these gains lasted for less than two hundred years, the First Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power, as well as the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
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6th century mosaic in Ravenna portrays Jesus dressed as a philosopher king in a cloak of Tyrian purple. He appears as the Pantokrator enthroned as in the Book of Revelation, with the characteristic Christian cross inscribed in the halo behind his head.

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Thomas is the first known Bishop of Finland. Only a few facts remain about his life. He resigned in 1245 and died in Visby three years later.The only reference to Bishop Thomas during his episcopate in Finland is a letter signed by him in Nousiainen in 1234, which granted certain lands around the parish to his chaplain, Wilhelm .The letter is the first surviving letter ever written in Finland.No further information on bishop's activities has survived before he was granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV on 21 February 1245. According to the Pope, Thomas had admitted committing several felonies, like torturing a man to death and forging a papal letter. Church representatives to oversee the resignation were the Archbishop of Uppsala and the Dominican prior of the Dacian province. Thomas donated his books to the newly established Dominican convent in Sigtuna and went on to live his last years in the Dominican convent in Visby, Gotland. He died there in 1248, shortly before the Second Swedish Crusade which cemented the Swedish rule in Finland for more than 550 years.
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Did you know...

... that the idea for the Red Scapular of the Passion (pictured), approved by Pope Pius IX, is said to have been given to a French nun by visions of Jesus and Mary in 1846?
... that Father Nicolas Sarrabat, SJ, a French scientist and Jesuit, conducted experiments on the circulation of plants, argued that magnetism was caused by a fire at the Earth's centre, and discovered the largest comet ever recorded?
... that Father Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic priest in Minnesota, was responsible for renaming the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from its previous name of Pig's Eye?

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Feast Day of April 25

Mark the Evangelist also known as John Mark or Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Modern Bible scholars have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than an identifiable historical figure. According to Church tradition, Mark founded the episcopal see of Alexandria, which was one of the five most important sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion. (Full article...)

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Patronage: Barristers, Venice, Egypt, Mainar
See also: Giovanni Battista Piamarta; Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur

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Sharing in solicitude for all the Churches, bishops exercise this episcopal office of theirs, received through episcopal consecration, in communion with and under the authority of the Supreme Pontiff. All are united in a college or body with respect to teaching the universal Church of God and governing her as shepherds.

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— Robert Bellarmine Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office

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News

21 March 2024 –: Pope Francis laicizes Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe due to allegations of abuse. (NOS)
25 February 2024 – Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso: Fifteen people are killed and two more injured during an attack on a Catholic Church in the village of Essakane, Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso. (BBC News)
14 February 2024 –: One person is killed and 53 others are injured when a church balcony collapses during an Ash Wednesday Mass in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Philippines. (WION)
28 January 2024 – Turkey–Islamic State conflict: A Turkish man is shot dead by two masked gunmen at an Italian Roman Catholic church in Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey. The Islamic State claims responsibility. (AP)