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Facts about the Catholic Church is an interesting topic. There are some rather intriguing facts about every church and religion of the world, but when it comes to the Catholic Church, not many people are familiar with some important ones. Here in the article, we will cover nine of them. Read on to find out about nine facts about the Catholic Church!
Nine interesting facts about the Catholic Church:
1. Catholics read the Bible
Although many believe Catholics depend only on the missal or bulletin, rather the Bible, they read their Bible during mass and privately, just like Protestants. What is more, many of the prayers they address come straight from the Bible.
2. Catholics do not worship Mary and the Saints
People mistakenly think that the Catholics also worship Mary and the Saints. This is not true, as there is not a single official document on the teaching of this practice in the Catholic world. They actually believe that only God should be worshiped alone. The Catholics do honor Mary and the Saints, however.
3. The Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church
After years following the death of Jesus Christ, the church thought it necessary to have books people would trust. During the Catholic Church councils in Rome, God allegedly inspired 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books. Approximately 1200 years later, Martin Luther and the Protestants reformed the church and removed seven books from this Old Testament. This is the difference between the two religions.
4. Catholic means universal
This is true, “universal”, as the Latin word Catholics and the Greek word katholikos, both mean “on the whole, according to the whole or in general.” Therefore, when something is Catholic, it is universal.
5. The first non-denominational Church
Because of the definition above, the Catholic Church is the first original non-denominational church. In comparison, during the early 2nd century, there were 23 churches under the original Roman Catholic Church.
6. Any Catholic can baptize
The church is happy when people are baptized so that they can have salvation. Therefore, it allows anyone to baptize someone if there is an emergency, even if they are not baptized themselves.
7. Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world
Since it is so small, the crime rate does not have to be large to be considered the highest. Most of it includes pickpockets and purse snatching since there are a lot of crowds and tourists in the small city-state inside Rome every day.
8. The church recognizes over 10,000 saints
Over 10,000 people are considered to be saints in the Catholic religion. There are countless reasons for it, most considered great deeds in some shape or form. Some of the most famous and widely worshiped saints include St. Peter, St. Paul of Tarsus, St. Dominic de Guzman, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick of Ireland, Pope St. John XXIII, and Pope St. John the Great.
9. The oldest Christian Church
The Roman Catholic Church is the oldest church in the history of Christianity. According to many, it was established during and after the events od the death of Jesus Christ around 30 AD. Some also believe it was at the first council at Nicea, in 325 AD. The Roman Catholic Church people know today really started in 1054 AD, formed by the Great Schism. Today, it is also the largest Christian Church with approximately 1.3 billion baptized Catholics all around the world.
There you have it, nine important facts about the Catholic Church, the biggest Christian religion in the world. Which ones did you know, and which were unfamiliar to you?
