Portal:Catholic Church

Catholic Church Portal

Introduction

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. 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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Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States.Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the State of New Jersey. The university is known for its programs in business, law, education, nursing, and diplomacy, as well as its basketball team.Seton Hall is made up of nine different schools and colleges with an undergraduate enrollment of about 5,200 students and a graduate enrollment of about 4,500. Its School of Law, which is ranked as one of the top law schools in the nation,has an enrollment of about 1,200 students. The Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry was acquired by the state in 1965, and is now the New Jersey Medical School, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.Like many Catholic universities in the US, Seton Hall arose out of the Plenary Council of American Bishops, held in Baltimore in 1844, with the goal of bringing Catholicism to higher education in order to help propagate the faith.
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Credit: Diliff

Saint Peter's Square, or Saint Peter's Piazza (Italian: Piazza San Pietro), is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome (the Piazza borders to the East the rione of Borgo). The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII.

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Saint William of York, (d. 1154) also known as William FitzHerbert, William I FitzHerbert and William of Thwayt, was an English priest and Archbishop of York. FitzHerbert is unusual in having been Archbishop of York twice, both before and after his rival Henry Murdac. He was a relative of King Stephen of England, and the king helped secure FitzHerbert's election to York after a number of candidates had failed to secure papal confirmation. FitzHerbert faced opposition from the Cistercians who, after the election of the Cistercian Pope Eugenius III, managed to have the archbishop deposed in favor of the Cistercian Murdac. From 1147 until 1153, FitzHerbert worked to secure his restoration to York, which he finally achieved after the deaths of both Murdac and Eugenius. He did not retain the see long, as he died shortly after returning to York, allegedly having been poisoned. After his death miracles were reported at his tomb, and in 1227 he was declared a saint.
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Did you know...

... that the crypt of St. Paulinskirche (pictured) in Trier allegedly contains the remains of approximately one dozen of the martyred soldiers of the legendary Theban Legion?
... that in 1128 Geoffrey, Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, became the first Abbot of Dunfermline?
... that the depictions of fish on the medieval statue of St. Christopher in Norton Priory, Cheshire, England, are so realistic that five different species can be identified?

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Feast Day of July 20

Thorlak Thorhallsson (Icelandic: Þorlákur Þórhallsson; 1133 – 23 December 1193) is the patron saint of Iceland. He was Bishop of Skálholt from 1178 until his death. Thorlak's relics were translated to the Cathedral of Skalholt in 1198, not long after his successor, Páll Jónsson, announced at the Althing that vows could be made to Thorlak.

His status as a saint did not receive official recognition from the Catholic Church until 14 January 1984, when John Paul II canonized him and declared him the patron saint of Iceland. His feast day is 23 December, when Thorlac's Mass is celebrated in Iceland. (Full article...)
Attributes: -
Patronage: Iceland, fishermen, Catholics of Scandinavia
See also: Apollinaris of Ravenna
See also: Elijah

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“

We are compelled, our faith urging us, to believe and to hold—and we do firmly believe and simply confess—that there is one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is neither salvation nor remission of sins.

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— Pope Boniface VIII

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