Rex
Founder
Structure and organization of the Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church is one of 24 sui juris churches part of a communion known as the Catholic Church. Traditionally, the Catholic Church claimed to be exclusively the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church or the Church of Christ; however, since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church recognized that the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Church, the Protestant Churches, and all other Christian denominations are all legitimate parts of the Church of Christ.
The churches of the Catholic Church are united in full communion, with the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, as the head of the communion. When distinguishing the Roman Catholic Church from the other Catholic Churches, it often known as the Latin Church.
Of the 24 churches, the Latin Church is by far the largest and most visible. Because of this, the Latin Church is often mistakingly referred to in common usage as the "Catholic Church." Properly, though, the term Catholic Church referrs to the entire communion (see also entry "Catholic").
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Organization by office
The Roman Catholic Church, like the other churches in the Catholic Church, is organized on basically the same lines. There is the ordained clergy, which consists of deacons, priests, and bishops. There is also a patriarch, or head of the church, as well as a permanent synod and patriarchal curia. However, while the structures are the same, the interaction between them is very different in the Roman Catholic Church than in the other Catholic Churches.
The Roman Catholic Church is essentially non-democratic. Structurally it is one of the world's most centralised religious faiths. The Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope. He rules from the Vatican City, an independent state in the centre of Rome. His principal advisors are the Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals, his permanent synod, whose members make up most of the curia. The Pope alone selects and appoints all bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as members of the College of Cardinals. All members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are answerable to the Pope, in his capacity as Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, and his Curia. The Pope with his Curia are known collectively as the Holy See.
The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, generally from their own ranks (the process of election, held in Sistine Chapel, is called a Conclave). Each Pope continues in office until death or until he resigns (which has happened only twice, and never since the Middle Ages).
The Pope's Patriarchal authority (head of the Roman Catholic Church) and Papal authority (head of the Catholic Church communion) are not controversial. What is controversial is his claim to the head of the entire Church of Christ on Earth. This is known as his claim to Petrine Authority or Papal Primacy. Part of this claim is the exercise of what is called Papal Infallibility, that is the right to define definitive statements of teaching on matters of faith and morals binding on all Christians. In reality, since its declaration in the First Vatican Council in 1870, papal infallibility has only definitively been used once, by Pope Pius XII in the 1950s. Supporters of the Pope's Petrine authority offer several sources as justification. Paramount is the belief held that he is the lineal successor of St. Peter, and as such the Vicar of Christ on earth.
The Roman Catholic Church has a hierarchical structure of offices or titles, in descending order:
The Pope, the Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinals
Metropolitan Archbishops, who are the heads of provinces and reside in important cities. They have no direct influence over the other bishops in the province, but they can call special all-province councils.
Diocesan Bishops, who are heads of dioceses.
Pastor or Parish Priest is the head of a parish and responsible for direct pastoral care of that community of the faithful.
There are other offices in the Roman Church, but many of these are honorary or do not carry jurisdiction. Examples are the titles primate and monsignor.
Three other Roman Catholic bishops use the title Patriarch, the Patriarchs of Venice, Lisbon, and the West Indies, but they are not patriarchs in the strict sense, that is the head of a church, and are thus honorary patriarchs. The other churches in the Catholic Church have their own patriarchs, as do the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These are patriarchs in the strict sense. Technically, in the precedence of the Catholic Church, patriarchs in the strict sense would outrank all other bishops except for the Pope. This of course is contested in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, as many see their patriarchs as equal to the Pope or even above him.
There are also several more minor offices: Lector, Acolytes (since the Second Vatican Council, the office of Sub-deacon no longer exists). Religious orders have their own hierarchy and titles.
A curious aspect of the Roman Catholic Church which is different from the other Catholic Churches is clerical celibacy. All Roman Catholic bishops and, with very few exceptions, priests are required by law to remain celibate. The other Catholic Churches do not follow this practice, as most of their parish priests are married. On rare occasions married priests converting from other Christian groups have been permitted to be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church as of recent has revived the married diaconate, where married men may be ordained deacons but they may not remarry if their spouse dies or if the marriage is annulled.
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Global organisation
The Catholic Church exists in virtually every nation on earth, and is the largest single religion in the world.
It is organised in national hierarchies with diocesan bishops subject to archbishops. Colleges, or National Conferences, of bishops co-ordinate local policy within countries or within groups of countries.
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Sacraments
The practice of the Catholic Church consists of seven sacraments (see also Catholic sacraments):
Baptism,
Confession,
Eucharist,
Confirmation,
Holy Matrimony,
Holy Orders, and
Anointing of the Sick.
Within the Catholic faith, sacraments are spiritual gifts of Christ that impart sanctifying grace on the receiver. Baptism is given to infants and to adult converts who have not previously been validly baptised (the baptism of most Christian denominations is accepted as valid by the Catholic Church since the effect is thought to come straight from God regardless of the personal faith, but not intention, of the minister). Confession or reconciliation involves admitting sins to a priest and receiving penance (a task to complete in order to achieve absolution or forgiveness from God). The Eucharist (Communion), is the sacrifice of Christ, marked by partaking in the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ which are believed to replace in everything but appearance the bread and wine used in the ceremony. The Roman Catholic belief that bread and wine are turned into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is called transubstantiation. In the sacrament of Confirmation, the gift of the Holy Spirit conferred in baptism is "strengthened and deepened" (see Catechism of the Catholic Church para. 1303 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a2.htm)) by the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. In the majority Roman Catholic church, this sacrament is presided over by a bishop, and takes place in early adulthood. Holy Orders is the entering into the priesthood and involves a vow of chastity; the sacrament of Holy Orders is given in three degrees: that of the deacon (since Vatican II a permanent deacon may be married before becoming a deacon), that of the priest, and that of the bishop. Anointing of the Sick used to be known as "extreme unction" or the "last rites"; it involves the anointing of a sick person with a holy oil blessed specifically for that purpose and is no longer limited to the seriously ill or dying.
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Organization by region
The fundamental geographical and organizational unit of the Catholic Church is the diocese. This is generally a defined geographical area, centered on a principal city, headed by a bishop. The primary church of a diocese is known as a cathedral from the cathedra or chair of the bishop that is one of the main symbols of his office. Within a diocese, a bishop exercises what is known as ordinary, or primary administrative authority. (Houses of some religious orders are semi-independent of the dioceses they are in; the religious superior of that order exercises ordinary jurisdiction over them.) While the Pope appoints bishops and reviews their performance, and a variety of other institutions govern or supervise certain activities, a bishop has a great deal of independence in administering a diocese. Certain dioceses, generally centered around large and important cities, are called archdioceses and are headed by an archbishop. In large dioceses and archdioceses, the bishop is often assisted by auxiliary bishops, full bishops and members of the College of Bishops who do not head a diocese of their own. Archbishops, suffragan bishops (usually shortened to just "bishops"), and auxiliary bishops are equally bishops; the different titles indicate what type (if any) of ecclesiastical unit they head. Many countries have vicariates that support their militaries (see Military Ordinariate).
Almost all dioceses were organized into groups known as provinces, each of which is headed by a metropolitan archbishop. While provinces still exist, their role has largely been replaced by conferences of bishops, generally made up of all the dioceses of a particular country or countries. These groups handle a wide array of common functions, including supervision of liturgical texts and practices for the specific cultural and linguistic groups and relations with the governments in their area. The authority of these conferences to bind the actions of individual bishops is limited (traditional theologians consider this authority ultimately non-binding), however. Bishop's conferences started to appear early in the 20th century, and were officially recognized in the Second Vatican Council document Christus Dominus.
The College of Cardinals is the collection of Roman Catholic bishops who are special advisors to the Pope. Any priest can be appointed Cardinal, provided he "excelled in belief, morals and piety". If a cardinal is elected Pope who has not yet been ordained bishop he subsequently has to receive episcopal ordination. (C.f. Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis [1] (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/j...apc_22021996_universi-dominici-gregis_en.html)) All cardinals under the age of 80 have the right to elect a new pope upon the a pope's death; the cardinals who may elect are almost always members of the clergy; however, the Pope has sometimes in the past awarded outstanding members of the Catholic laity (e.g., theologians) with membership in the College after they have passed electing age. Each cardinal is given some church or chapel (thus, cardinal bishop, cardinal priest, and cardinal deacon) in Rome to make him a member of the clergy of Rome. Many cardinals serve in the curia, which assists the Pope in Church administration. All cardinals who are not resident in Rome are diocesan bishops.
Dioceses are divided into local districts called parishes. All Catholics are expected to attend and support their local parish church. While the Catholic Church has developed an elaborate system of global governance, day to day Catholicism is lived in the local community, tied together in worship in the local parish. Local parishes are largely self supporting; a church, often in a growing or poor community, that is being supported by a diocese is known as a mission.
The Roman Catholic Church supports many orders (groups) of monks and nuns living lives specially devoted to serving God. These are people who have grouped together under a certain system for the purpose of the perfection of virtue. This sometimes involves separation from the world for meditation and sometimes exceptional participation in the world, often in medical or educational work. Almost universally the Monks and Nuns take vows of poverty (no or limited personal ownership of property and money), chastity (no use of the sexual mechanisms), and obedience (to the superiors).
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Beliefs and practices
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Distinctive doctrines
Catholics believe in the Trinity of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the divinity of Jesus, and the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and through loving God above all things. Catholic views differ from Orthodox on several points, including the nature of the Petrine Ministry (the papacy), the nature of the Trinity and how that should be expressed in the Nicene Creed, and a juridical and relational understanding of salvation and repentance. Catholics differ from Protestants in several points, including the necessity of penance, the meaning of communion, the composition of the canon of scripture, purgatory, and the means of salvation: Protestants believe that salvation is by faith alone (sola fide), while Catholics believe that faith is exhibited in good works. Stereotypically, this has led to a conflict over the doctrine of justification (the Reformation taught that "we are justified by faith alone"). Modern ecumenical dialogue has led to a number of consensus statements on the doctrine of justification between Roman Catholics and Lutherans, Anglicans, and others.
Catholics hold as central that the Christian Church is one visible organisational body, founded by Jesus Christ on Saint Peter and the Apostles, and that this one church has existed continuously from that moment to the present day. That one church is the Catholic Church spanning Latin Rite and Eastern Rite sui iuris churches, whose pope at a given point in time is the direct successor to St Peter. The church has the duty of teaching and maintaining the truths handed down to it by the Apostles, and of administering the graces of the sacraments to the faithful. This ministry and its spiritual authority has been handed down directly and continuously from the Apostles by apostolic succession.
Catholics, like the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental and Coptic Churches, believe in the Communion of Saints, and the consequent efficacy of prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints' - who are accorded honour and praise, but not the worship of latria.
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Liturgy and worship
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Eucharist
The most important act of worship in the Roman Catholic Church is the Eucharistic liturgy, usually called the Mass. Mass is celebrated every Sunday morning in most Roman Catholic parishes; Catholics can however fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending a Mass on Saturday night. Catholics must also attend Mass on approximately ten additional days every year, known as the Holy Day of Obligation. Additional Masses can be celebrated on any day of the liturgical year except for Good Friday. Most churches have daily Mass. The contemporary Mass is composed of two major parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. During the Liturgy of the Word, one or more passages are read aloud from the Bible, this action is performed by a Lector (a member of the laity) or the priest/deacon. The priest or deacon always reads the Gospel reading(s) and may also read from other parts of the bible (during the first, second, third, etc. reading). The Lectionary (the book being read from) is standardly a larger print edition of the New American Bible designed for such purposes. After the readings are done a homily (like the Protestant sermon) is orated by a priest or deacon. At Masses on Sundays and feast days, the Nicene Creed, which states the orthodox beliefs of Catholicism, is professed by all Catholics present. The Liturgy of the Eucharist includes the presentation of the gifts of bread and wine, the Eucharistic Prayer, during which the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and the communion procession.
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Liturgy of the Hours
Also important in the Catholic liturgy is the daily common prayer of the psalter, which is called Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office (see also Breviary. It consists of psalms, canticles and hymns to be sung (or read) at different hours of the day and night. The most important hours are morning and evening (called Lauds and Vespers respectively) and at the end of the day (Compieta or Compline). Over the course of centuries the Divine Office gave impetus to the development of major musical compostions, from the ancient and medieval Gregorian Chant to Renaissance and Baroque era music. It is regarded as the expression of the duty of the Church to offer praises to God in the form of public prayer (SC §83101 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html)). There is a primary text typically available as a one- or four-volume set of books, yet other approved texts akin to the official Divine Office are considered equivalent, such as the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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The liturgical reform movement
The liturgical reform movement has been responsible over the past forty years for a significant convergence of Latin Rite worship practices with that of Protestant churches, and away from the other non-Latin Catholic rites. One feature of the new liturgical views has been a "return to the sources" (ressourcement), claimed to result from the rediscovery of ancient liturgical texts and practices, along with many new practices. The post-conciliar (post-Vatican II) reforms of the liturgy included the use of the vernacular (local) language, a greater emphasis on the Liturgy of the Word, and the clarification of symbolism. The most visible feature of the reforms is the posture of the priest. In the past, the priest usually faced the altar, with his back to the congregation. The reforms have turned the priest to face the people, with the altar between. This symbolises the desire for the Mass to become more people centered. Critics however have complained about the nature of the post-Vatican II Mass (known sometimes as the Novus Ordo Missae). In 2003, it was revealed that the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass was again being celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica (though not on the main altar) and that Pope John Paul II had begun celebrating Tridentine Masses in his private chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
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Issues facing contemporary Catholicism
The Catholic Church, like most Christian faiths, has experienced a steep decline in its worldwide influence in western society in the late 20th century; its male leadership structure and strict doctrinal beliefs on matters to do with human sexuality have less appeal to some in a more secular western world where diversity in sexual practices and gender equality are often the norm. The church itself has generally accepted some of the ideas of secularism and attempted to increase its separation from the state. In places where it once played a primary role, such as Quebec, Ireland, and Spain, it holds only a fraction of its former influence. At the same time, however, Roman Catholicism is experiencing a dramatic rise in membership in Africa and parts of Asia. While western missionaries once served as priests in African churches, by the late 20th century a growing number of western nations began to recruit African priests to balance their dwindling numbers of local clergy.
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Pressure on traditional mores and practices
birth control & pre-marital chastity
homosexuality
celibacy of the ordained
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Ordination of women
As a result of feminism and other social and political movements that have removed barriers to the entry of women into professions that were traditionally male strongholds, in the latter quarter of the twentieth century many women in a handful of countries sought ordination into the Roman Catholic priesthood.
The historic Roman Catholic position (as well as that of the Orthodox and other ancient churches), is that women cannot be priests or bishops, because priests and bishops are successors to the Apostles, and that in the sacrifice of the Eucharist the priest acts in representation of Christ. Jesus chose only men to be the twelve apostles, hence only men can become priests and bishops. Further, this has been the clear teaching of the Church since the time of the Apostles. On May 22, 1994, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Priestly Ordination) which reaffirmed the traditional position, and concluded:
Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.
Within Roman Catholicism itself, debate on the subject now focuses on whether this statement is meant to invoke extraordinary papal infallibility (see the concept of the extraordinary magisterium) and raise the rule that women cannot be Roman Catholic priests to the level of an irreformable dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. That disagreement as to the status reached to the heart of the Church. While some elements around Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger implied strongly that the statement had invoked infallibility (in fact ordinary magisterium infallibility, essentially meaning that it already is an unchangeable dogma and that the Pope is merely repeating it), many other elements, notably the Vatican's own press office, explicitly stated it was not, and should not be seen as, an infallible statement. (Disagreements between Ratzinger and official Vatican policy are a regular occurrence. His Dominus Iesus statement, for example, disagreed in tone and content with Pope John Paul II's own encyclical on ecumenism. While it was stated that the Pope agreed with and approved Ratzinger's document, a dissenting senior Vatican official discovered on meeting the Pope that John Paul II had not fully read Ratzinger's document.)2
Critics accused some of those attached to Ratzinger's Congregation of trying to make the document sound infallible to try to kill off the debate, in effect spinning a fallible document as infallible. Such an accusation has been made in the past, notably Pope Paul's encyclical, Humanæ Vitæ about which one conservative curial cardinal stated "the Holy Father has spoken. The issue is forever closed." However the refusal of Pope John Paul's own press spokesman, himself a conservative, to describe the statement as "infallible" has led to a general though not universal presumption that the document is not so. In addition, the Vatican itself formally states that since 1870, only one infallible teaching has been issued by a pope, namely Pope Pius XII's 1950 statement about the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. By implication, neither Humanæ Vitæ nor Ordinatio Sacerdotalis are infallible.
What is missed in the debate is that "what has always been taught" is as infallible as a solemn definition that springs from the Pope's Infallible Magisterium. That which has always been taught by the Church is a part of its Universal Magisterium, which is as infallible as such solemn definitions as that used to define the Assumption of Mary. In fact a mere layperson is considered to be infallible when he would simply repeat what the church has always taught.
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Opposition to birth conrol
Roman Catholic opposition to birth control has been criticized as adding to overpopulation, poverty and destitution. Others also argue that their refusal to allow missionaries to discuss condoms in Africa has added to the AIDS epidemic there.
In response, many in the Church claim that there are enough food and other resources on the planet for everyone, and that there is no correlation between population density and wealth or poverty. Some of the richest countries in the world have the densest populations, and vice versa. Supporters of birth control argue that economic growth which allows for a high population density without poverty is a direct function of the availability of birth control, as it leads to smaller families (as is the case in all nations which allow birth control), which in turn have more purchasing power to support themselves and provide their children with education, which is universally recognized as necessary for sustainable growth.
While many people in third world countries regard children as their only defense against destitution, supporters of birth control argue that the dependency on child labor is a vicious circle. A higher availability of children as labor forces pushes down wages; more children require more food, which in turn requires the employment of children to bring in the food.
The Church has repeatedly stated its position that condoms are not adequate prevention for sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, claiming that they are expensive, fallible and liable to provide a false sense of security. Instead the Church argues for sexual abstinence and non-promiscuous sexual relationships. Many scientists dispute the Church's position on condom security, and argue for a mixed approach of preventive measures instead. Some utterly reject sexual abstinence education as misleading (see sex education, sexual abstinence).
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Criticism
The Church is criticized by some for not announcing what are seen by detractors to be mistakes. Some claim that they have not taken sufficient responsibility for their alleged (but strongly denied) "complacency" in the Holocaust, for their persecution of Galileo Galilei, or for their actions during the Inquisition.
The Church response is that these incidents are misconstrued or exaggerated, and that in 2000 years of Church history there have indeed been some wrongs done within the church, but that the evils that have been committed have too-often been overemphasized, at the expense of the good that has been done in terms of preserving learning, establishing education and health care, charity, scientific and technical advancement and providing a moral basis for western law and society.
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Abuse scandals
In 2002, a major scandal erupted in the U.S. Catholic Church when a wealth of allegations of priests sexually abusing children surfaced. Adding to the furor were revelations that the Church was aware of some of the abusive priests, and simply shuffled them from congregation to congregation instead of taking action. The scandal led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law from the Boston archdiocese.
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Notes
1 Early lists of popes stated that the first pope was St. Linus. Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Nota Bene, 2002) Appendix A.
2 ibid.
3 Technically each diocese operates separately of its neighbours, while religious orders in each diocese are not answerable to or under the control of the local bishop. As a result suspicions about the behaviour of secular priests (priests belonging to the diocese) were not always reported to other dioceses or to religious order-run schools or hospitals, while abuse by religious priests (priests belonging to a religious order) was not always relayed by his order to the diocese and its schools. The most notorious example involved Fr. Brendan Smyth, a Norbertine Order priest in Ireland, whose activities (known about since 1945) were not reported to diocesian clergy let alone the police. In 1994, Brendan Smyth pleaded guilty to a sample set of 17 charges of sexual abuse of children in Belfast from a far longer list. A number of dioceses, the Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh and Smyth's own order publicly blamed each other and accepted no responsibility themselves for the failure to stop Smyth over 47 years.
The Roman Catholic Church is one of 24 sui juris churches part of a communion known as the Catholic Church. Traditionally, the Catholic Church claimed to be exclusively the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church or the Church of Christ; however, since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church recognized that the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Church, the Protestant Churches, and all other Christian denominations are all legitimate parts of the Church of Christ.
The churches of the Catholic Church are united in full communion, with the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, as the head of the communion. When distinguishing the Roman Catholic Church from the other Catholic Churches, it often known as the Latin Church.
Of the 24 churches, the Latin Church is by far the largest and most visible. Because of this, the Latin Church is often mistakingly referred to in common usage as the "Catholic Church." Properly, though, the term Catholic Church referrs to the entire communion (see also entry "Catholic").
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Organization by office
The Roman Catholic Church, like the other churches in the Catholic Church, is organized on basically the same lines. There is the ordained clergy, which consists of deacons, priests, and bishops. There is also a patriarch, or head of the church, as well as a permanent synod and patriarchal curia. However, while the structures are the same, the interaction between them is very different in the Roman Catholic Church than in the other Catholic Churches.
The Roman Catholic Church is essentially non-democratic. Structurally it is one of the world's most centralised religious faiths. The Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope. He rules from the Vatican City, an independent state in the centre of Rome. His principal advisors are the Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals, his permanent synod, whose members make up most of the curia. The Pope alone selects and appoints all bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as members of the College of Cardinals. All members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are answerable to the Pope, in his capacity as Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, and his Curia. The Pope with his Curia are known collectively as the Holy See.
The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, generally from their own ranks (the process of election, held in Sistine Chapel, is called a Conclave). Each Pope continues in office until death or until he resigns (which has happened only twice, and never since the Middle Ages).
The Pope's Patriarchal authority (head of the Roman Catholic Church) and Papal authority (head of the Catholic Church communion) are not controversial. What is controversial is his claim to the head of the entire Church of Christ on Earth. This is known as his claim to Petrine Authority or Papal Primacy. Part of this claim is the exercise of what is called Papal Infallibility, that is the right to define definitive statements of teaching on matters of faith and morals binding on all Christians. In reality, since its declaration in the First Vatican Council in 1870, papal infallibility has only definitively been used once, by Pope Pius XII in the 1950s. Supporters of the Pope's Petrine authority offer several sources as justification. Paramount is the belief held that he is the lineal successor of St. Peter, and as such the Vicar of Christ on earth.
The Roman Catholic Church has a hierarchical structure of offices or titles, in descending order:
The Pope, the Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinals
Metropolitan Archbishops, who are the heads of provinces and reside in important cities. They have no direct influence over the other bishops in the province, but they can call special all-province councils.
Diocesan Bishops, who are heads of dioceses.
Pastor or Parish Priest is the head of a parish and responsible for direct pastoral care of that community of the faithful.
There are other offices in the Roman Church, but many of these are honorary or do not carry jurisdiction. Examples are the titles primate and monsignor.
Three other Roman Catholic bishops use the title Patriarch, the Patriarchs of Venice, Lisbon, and the West Indies, but they are not patriarchs in the strict sense, that is the head of a church, and are thus honorary patriarchs. The other churches in the Catholic Church have their own patriarchs, as do the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These are patriarchs in the strict sense. Technically, in the precedence of the Catholic Church, patriarchs in the strict sense would outrank all other bishops except for the Pope. This of course is contested in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, as many see their patriarchs as equal to the Pope or even above him.
There are also several more minor offices: Lector, Acolytes (since the Second Vatican Council, the office of Sub-deacon no longer exists). Religious orders have their own hierarchy and titles.
A curious aspect of the Roman Catholic Church which is different from the other Catholic Churches is clerical celibacy. All Roman Catholic bishops and, with very few exceptions, priests are required by law to remain celibate. The other Catholic Churches do not follow this practice, as most of their parish priests are married. On rare occasions married priests converting from other Christian groups have been permitted to be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church as of recent has revived the married diaconate, where married men may be ordained deacons but they may not remarry if their spouse dies or if the marriage is annulled.
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Global organisation
The Catholic Church exists in virtually every nation on earth, and is the largest single religion in the world.
It is organised in national hierarchies with diocesan bishops subject to archbishops. Colleges, or National Conferences, of bishops co-ordinate local policy within countries or within groups of countries.
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Sacraments
The practice of the Catholic Church consists of seven sacraments (see also Catholic sacraments):
Baptism,
Confession,
Eucharist,
Confirmation,
Holy Matrimony,
Holy Orders, and
Anointing of the Sick.
Within the Catholic faith, sacraments are spiritual gifts of Christ that impart sanctifying grace on the receiver. Baptism is given to infants and to adult converts who have not previously been validly baptised (the baptism of most Christian denominations is accepted as valid by the Catholic Church since the effect is thought to come straight from God regardless of the personal faith, but not intention, of the minister). Confession or reconciliation involves admitting sins to a priest and receiving penance (a task to complete in order to achieve absolution or forgiveness from God). The Eucharist (Communion), is the sacrifice of Christ, marked by partaking in the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ which are believed to replace in everything but appearance the bread and wine used in the ceremony. The Roman Catholic belief that bread and wine are turned into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is called transubstantiation. In the sacrament of Confirmation, the gift of the Holy Spirit conferred in baptism is "strengthened and deepened" (see Catechism of the Catholic Church para. 1303 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a2.htm)) by the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. In the majority Roman Catholic church, this sacrament is presided over by a bishop, and takes place in early adulthood. Holy Orders is the entering into the priesthood and involves a vow of chastity; the sacrament of Holy Orders is given in three degrees: that of the deacon (since Vatican II a permanent deacon may be married before becoming a deacon), that of the priest, and that of the bishop. Anointing of the Sick used to be known as "extreme unction" or the "last rites"; it involves the anointing of a sick person with a holy oil blessed specifically for that purpose and is no longer limited to the seriously ill or dying.
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Organization by region
The fundamental geographical and organizational unit of the Catholic Church is the diocese. This is generally a defined geographical area, centered on a principal city, headed by a bishop. The primary church of a diocese is known as a cathedral from the cathedra or chair of the bishop that is one of the main symbols of his office. Within a diocese, a bishop exercises what is known as ordinary, or primary administrative authority. (Houses of some religious orders are semi-independent of the dioceses they are in; the religious superior of that order exercises ordinary jurisdiction over them.) While the Pope appoints bishops and reviews their performance, and a variety of other institutions govern or supervise certain activities, a bishop has a great deal of independence in administering a diocese. Certain dioceses, generally centered around large and important cities, are called archdioceses and are headed by an archbishop. In large dioceses and archdioceses, the bishop is often assisted by auxiliary bishops, full bishops and members of the College of Bishops who do not head a diocese of their own. Archbishops, suffragan bishops (usually shortened to just "bishops"), and auxiliary bishops are equally bishops; the different titles indicate what type (if any) of ecclesiastical unit they head. Many countries have vicariates that support their militaries (see Military Ordinariate).
Almost all dioceses were organized into groups known as provinces, each of which is headed by a metropolitan archbishop. While provinces still exist, their role has largely been replaced by conferences of bishops, generally made up of all the dioceses of a particular country or countries. These groups handle a wide array of common functions, including supervision of liturgical texts and practices for the specific cultural and linguistic groups and relations with the governments in their area. The authority of these conferences to bind the actions of individual bishops is limited (traditional theologians consider this authority ultimately non-binding), however. Bishop's conferences started to appear early in the 20th century, and were officially recognized in the Second Vatican Council document Christus Dominus.
The College of Cardinals is the collection of Roman Catholic bishops who are special advisors to the Pope. Any priest can be appointed Cardinal, provided he "excelled in belief, morals and piety". If a cardinal is elected Pope who has not yet been ordained bishop he subsequently has to receive episcopal ordination. (C.f. Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis [1] (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/j...apc_22021996_universi-dominici-gregis_en.html)) All cardinals under the age of 80 have the right to elect a new pope upon the a pope's death; the cardinals who may elect are almost always members of the clergy; however, the Pope has sometimes in the past awarded outstanding members of the Catholic laity (e.g., theologians) with membership in the College after they have passed electing age. Each cardinal is given some church or chapel (thus, cardinal bishop, cardinal priest, and cardinal deacon) in Rome to make him a member of the clergy of Rome. Many cardinals serve in the curia, which assists the Pope in Church administration. All cardinals who are not resident in Rome are diocesan bishops.
Dioceses are divided into local districts called parishes. All Catholics are expected to attend and support their local parish church. While the Catholic Church has developed an elaborate system of global governance, day to day Catholicism is lived in the local community, tied together in worship in the local parish. Local parishes are largely self supporting; a church, often in a growing or poor community, that is being supported by a diocese is known as a mission.
The Roman Catholic Church supports many orders (groups) of monks and nuns living lives specially devoted to serving God. These are people who have grouped together under a certain system for the purpose of the perfection of virtue. This sometimes involves separation from the world for meditation and sometimes exceptional participation in the world, often in medical or educational work. Almost universally the Monks and Nuns take vows of poverty (no or limited personal ownership of property and money), chastity (no use of the sexual mechanisms), and obedience (to the superiors).
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Beliefs and practices
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Distinctive doctrines
Catholics believe in the Trinity of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the divinity of Jesus, and the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and through loving God above all things. Catholic views differ from Orthodox on several points, including the nature of the Petrine Ministry (the papacy), the nature of the Trinity and how that should be expressed in the Nicene Creed, and a juridical and relational understanding of salvation and repentance. Catholics differ from Protestants in several points, including the necessity of penance, the meaning of communion, the composition of the canon of scripture, purgatory, and the means of salvation: Protestants believe that salvation is by faith alone (sola fide), while Catholics believe that faith is exhibited in good works. Stereotypically, this has led to a conflict over the doctrine of justification (the Reformation taught that "we are justified by faith alone"). Modern ecumenical dialogue has led to a number of consensus statements on the doctrine of justification between Roman Catholics and Lutherans, Anglicans, and others.
Catholics hold as central that the Christian Church is one visible organisational body, founded by Jesus Christ on Saint Peter and the Apostles, and that this one church has existed continuously from that moment to the present day. That one church is the Catholic Church spanning Latin Rite and Eastern Rite sui iuris churches, whose pope at a given point in time is the direct successor to St Peter. The church has the duty of teaching and maintaining the truths handed down to it by the Apostles, and of administering the graces of the sacraments to the faithful. This ministry and its spiritual authority has been handed down directly and continuously from the Apostles by apostolic succession.
Catholics, like the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental and Coptic Churches, believe in the Communion of Saints, and the consequent efficacy of prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints' - who are accorded honour and praise, but not the worship of latria.
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Liturgy and worship
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Eucharist
The most important act of worship in the Roman Catholic Church is the Eucharistic liturgy, usually called the Mass. Mass is celebrated every Sunday morning in most Roman Catholic parishes; Catholics can however fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending a Mass on Saturday night. Catholics must also attend Mass on approximately ten additional days every year, known as the Holy Day of Obligation. Additional Masses can be celebrated on any day of the liturgical year except for Good Friday. Most churches have daily Mass. The contemporary Mass is composed of two major parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. During the Liturgy of the Word, one or more passages are read aloud from the Bible, this action is performed by a Lector (a member of the laity) or the priest/deacon. The priest or deacon always reads the Gospel reading(s) and may also read from other parts of the bible (during the first, second, third, etc. reading). The Lectionary (the book being read from) is standardly a larger print edition of the New American Bible designed for such purposes. After the readings are done a homily (like the Protestant sermon) is orated by a priest or deacon. At Masses on Sundays and feast days, the Nicene Creed, which states the orthodox beliefs of Catholicism, is professed by all Catholics present. The Liturgy of the Eucharist includes the presentation of the gifts of bread and wine, the Eucharistic Prayer, during which the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and the communion procession.
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Liturgy of the Hours
Also important in the Catholic liturgy is the daily common prayer of the psalter, which is called Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office (see also Breviary. It consists of psalms, canticles and hymns to be sung (or read) at different hours of the day and night. The most important hours are morning and evening (called Lauds and Vespers respectively) and at the end of the day (Compieta or Compline). Over the course of centuries the Divine Office gave impetus to the development of major musical compostions, from the ancient and medieval Gregorian Chant to Renaissance and Baroque era music. It is regarded as the expression of the duty of the Church to offer praises to God in the form of public prayer (SC §83101 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html)). There is a primary text typically available as a one- or four-volume set of books, yet other approved texts akin to the official Divine Office are considered equivalent, such as the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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The liturgical reform movement
The liturgical reform movement has been responsible over the past forty years for a significant convergence of Latin Rite worship practices with that of Protestant churches, and away from the other non-Latin Catholic rites. One feature of the new liturgical views has been a "return to the sources" (ressourcement), claimed to result from the rediscovery of ancient liturgical texts and practices, along with many new practices. The post-conciliar (post-Vatican II) reforms of the liturgy included the use of the vernacular (local) language, a greater emphasis on the Liturgy of the Word, and the clarification of symbolism. The most visible feature of the reforms is the posture of the priest. In the past, the priest usually faced the altar, with his back to the congregation. The reforms have turned the priest to face the people, with the altar between. This symbolises the desire for the Mass to become more people centered. Critics however have complained about the nature of the post-Vatican II Mass (known sometimes as the Novus Ordo Missae). In 2003, it was revealed that the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass was again being celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica (though not on the main altar) and that Pope John Paul II had begun celebrating Tridentine Masses in his private chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
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Issues facing contemporary Catholicism
The Catholic Church, like most Christian faiths, has experienced a steep decline in its worldwide influence in western society in the late 20th century; its male leadership structure and strict doctrinal beliefs on matters to do with human sexuality have less appeal to some in a more secular western world where diversity in sexual practices and gender equality are often the norm. The church itself has generally accepted some of the ideas of secularism and attempted to increase its separation from the state. In places where it once played a primary role, such as Quebec, Ireland, and Spain, it holds only a fraction of its former influence. At the same time, however, Roman Catholicism is experiencing a dramatic rise in membership in Africa and parts of Asia. While western missionaries once served as priests in African churches, by the late 20th century a growing number of western nations began to recruit African priests to balance their dwindling numbers of local clergy.
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Pressure on traditional mores and practices
birth control & pre-marital chastity
homosexuality
celibacy of the ordained
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Ordination of women
As a result of feminism and other social and political movements that have removed barriers to the entry of women into professions that were traditionally male strongholds, in the latter quarter of the twentieth century many women in a handful of countries sought ordination into the Roman Catholic priesthood.
The historic Roman Catholic position (as well as that of the Orthodox and other ancient churches), is that women cannot be priests or bishops, because priests and bishops are successors to the Apostles, and that in the sacrifice of the Eucharist the priest acts in representation of Christ. Jesus chose only men to be the twelve apostles, hence only men can become priests and bishops. Further, this has been the clear teaching of the Church since the time of the Apostles. On May 22, 1994, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Priestly Ordination) which reaffirmed the traditional position, and concluded:
Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.
Within Roman Catholicism itself, debate on the subject now focuses on whether this statement is meant to invoke extraordinary papal infallibility (see the concept of the extraordinary magisterium) and raise the rule that women cannot be Roman Catholic priests to the level of an irreformable dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. That disagreement as to the status reached to the heart of the Church. While some elements around Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger implied strongly that the statement had invoked infallibility (in fact ordinary magisterium infallibility, essentially meaning that it already is an unchangeable dogma and that the Pope is merely repeating it), many other elements, notably the Vatican's own press office, explicitly stated it was not, and should not be seen as, an infallible statement. (Disagreements between Ratzinger and official Vatican policy are a regular occurrence. His Dominus Iesus statement, for example, disagreed in tone and content with Pope John Paul II's own encyclical on ecumenism. While it was stated that the Pope agreed with and approved Ratzinger's document, a dissenting senior Vatican official discovered on meeting the Pope that John Paul II had not fully read Ratzinger's document.)2
Critics accused some of those attached to Ratzinger's Congregation of trying to make the document sound infallible to try to kill off the debate, in effect spinning a fallible document as infallible. Such an accusation has been made in the past, notably Pope Paul's encyclical, Humanæ Vitæ about which one conservative curial cardinal stated "the Holy Father has spoken. The issue is forever closed." However the refusal of Pope John Paul's own press spokesman, himself a conservative, to describe the statement as "infallible" has led to a general though not universal presumption that the document is not so. In addition, the Vatican itself formally states that since 1870, only one infallible teaching has been issued by a pope, namely Pope Pius XII's 1950 statement about the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. By implication, neither Humanæ Vitæ nor Ordinatio Sacerdotalis are infallible.
What is missed in the debate is that "what has always been taught" is as infallible as a solemn definition that springs from the Pope's Infallible Magisterium. That which has always been taught by the Church is a part of its Universal Magisterium, which is as infallible as such solemn definitions as that used to define the Assumption of Mary. In fact a mere layperson is considered to be infallible when he would simply repeat what the church has always taught.
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Opposition to birth conrol
Roman Catholic opposition to birth control has been criticized as adding to overpopulation, poverty and destitution. Others also argue that their refusal to allow missionaries to discuss condoms in Africa has added to the AIDS epidemic there.
In response, many in the Church claim that there are enough food and other resources on the planet for everyone, and that there is no correlation between population density and wealth or poverty. Some of the richest countries in the world have the densest populations, and vice versa. Supporters of birth control argue that economic growth which allows for a high population density without poverty is a direct function of the availability of birth control, as it leads to smaller families (as is the case in all nations which allow birth control), which in turn have more purchasing power to support themselves and provide their children with education, which is universally recognized as necessary for sustainable growth.
While many people in third world countries regard children as their only defense against destitution, supporters of birth control argue that the dependency on child labor is a vicious circle. A higher availability of children as labor forces pushes down wages; more children require more food, which in turn requires the employment of children to bring in the food.
The Church has repeatedly stated its position that condoms are not adequate prevention for sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, claiming that they are expensive, fallible and liable to provide a false sense of security. Instead the Church argues for sexual abstinence and non-promiscuous sexual relationships. Many scientists dispute the Church's position on condom security, and argue for a mixed approach of preventive measures instead. Some utterly reject sexual abstinence education as misleading (see sex education, sexual abstinence).
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Criticism
The Church is criticized by some for not announcing what are seen by detractors to be mistakes. Some claim that they have not taken sufficient responsibility for their alleged (but strongly denied) "complacency" in the Holocaust, for their persecution of Galileo Galilei, or for their actions during the Inquisition.
The Church response is that these incidents are misconstrued or exaggerated, and that in 2000 years of Church history there have indeed been some wrongs done within the church, but that the evils that have been committed have too-often been overemphasized, at the expense of the good that has been done in terms of preserving learning, establishing education and health care, charity, scientific and technical advancement and providing a moral basis for western law and society.
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Abuse scandals
In 2002, a major scandal erupted in the U.S. Catholic Church when a wealth of allegations of priests sexually abusing children surfaced. Adding to the furor were revelations that the Church was aware of some of the abusive priests, and simply shuffled them from congregation to congregation instead of taking action. The scandal led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law from the Boston archdiocese.
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Notes
1 Early lists of popes stated that the first pope was St. Linus. Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Nota Bene, 2002) Appendix A.
2 ibid.
3 Technically each diocese operates separately of its neighbours, while religious orders in each diocese are not answerable to or under the control of the local bishop. As a result suspicions about the behaviour of secular priests (priests belonging to the diocese) were not always reported to other dioceses or to religious order-run schools or hospitals, while abuse by religious priests (priests belonging to a religious order) was not always relayed by his order to the diocese and its schools. The most notorious example involved Fr. Brendan Smyth, a Norbertine Order priest in Ireland, whose activities (known about since 1945) were not reported to diocesian clergy let alone the police. In 1994, Brendan Smyth pleaded guilty to a sample set of 17 charges of sexual abuse of children in Belfast from a far longer list. A number of dioceses, the Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh and Smyth's own order publicly blamed each other and accepted no responsibility themselves for the failure to stop Smyth over 47 years.
