Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: How do you join the Catholic Church?
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.
Mass is the central act of divine worship in the Catholic Church. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a "Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy". Roman Catholic devotions are "external practices of piety" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. They do not become part of liturgical worship, even if conducted in a Catholic church, in a group, in the presence of a priest.
In 2001, about 74% of Austria's population were registered as Roman Catholic, while about 5% considered themselves Protestants. Austrian Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, are obliged to pay a mandatory membership fee (calculated by income—about 1%) to their church; this payment is called "Kirchenbeitrag" ("Ecclesiastical/Church contribution"). Since the second half of the 20th century, the number of adherents and churchgoers has declined. Data for 2018 from the Austrian Roman Catholic Church list 5,050,000 members, or 56.9% of the total Austrian population. Sunday church attendance was 605,828 or 7% of the total Austrian population in 2015. The Lutheran church also recorded a loss of 74,421 adherents between 2001 and 2016.
On 13 January 2017 the Catholic Church released its Preparatory Document for its Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, whose theme was to be ‘Young people, faith, and vocational discernment’. In it, the Vatican stated that their aim was to address issues facing “all young people, without exception” – i.e. not just Catholics - and to consult directly with them in preparation for the Synod itself, rather than solely via episcopal conferences. This was unprecedented, as while the Vatican's preparation for a synod generally includes developing a questionnaire and soliciting input from bishops' conferences, dioceses and religious orders, for the first time the Vatican's synod organizing body sought direct input from the public, even going so far as to put a questionnaire online.
Any priest from a Catholic faction has a chance of becoming Pope if they are accepted into the college of cardinals and then made one of the Preferati. When the incumbent Pope dies, the college of cardinals will elect a new Pope from the Preferati, with each cardinal having one vote; factions with multiple cardinals will, therefore, have much more influence on the election. The new Pope will leave their original faction and become the faction leader of the Papal States. Popes, upon being elected into office, will generally think highly of factions who supported them.
The CIA Factbook lists Honduras as 97% Catholic and 3% Protestant. Commenting on statistical variations everywhere, John Green of Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life notes that: "It isn't that ... numbers are more right than [someone else's] numbers ... but how one conceptualizes the group." Often people attend one church without giving up their "home" church. Many who attend evangelical megachurches in the US, for example, attend more than one church. This shifting and fluidity is common in Brazil where two-fifths of those who were raised evangelical are no longer evangelical and Catholics seem to shift in and out of various churches, often while still remaining Catholic.
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Church. Catholics trace the origins of the office of bishop to the apostles, who it is believed were endowed with a special charism by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Catholics believe this special charism has been transmitted through an unbroken succession of bishops by the laying on of hands in the sacrament of holy orders.
The Iglesia ni Cristo adheres to the teachings of the Bible and they denounce those who practice homosexual acts, as they are seen as immoral and wicked. The organization has been called by international human rights organizations as one of the most homophobic religious sects operating in the Philippines. These acts include having sexual affairs and relations with partners of the same sex, cross-dressing, and same-sex marriage. Also, in the Iglesia ni Cristo, men are not allowed to have long hair, for it is seen as a symbol of femininity and should be exclusive to women only. LGBT citizens born from INC families suffer the greatest as their gender existence are branded explicitly as wicked by their own family and the pastor of their locality. Numerous cases have shown that INC members who shift religious beliefs away from INC's beliefs have faced massive backlash from family members, pastors, and other INC members locally and abroad, making it hard for INC members to get away from the church. Hate crimes and forced conversion therapy committed by family members towards INC LGBT teenagers have also surfaced and are backed by the Templo Sentral, the central establishment of the INC church. The INC has been widely known to the Filipino LGBT community as the most dangerous and discriminating religion for LGBT Filipinos. The church believes that no matter what a person does, if the person is homosexual, he or she will still burn in hell.
The Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, also known as the Havana Declaration, was issued following the first meeting in February 2016 between Pope Francis, who as the Bishop of Rome is the pontiff of the Catholic Church, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was the first time leaders of the Roman Church and the Moscow Patriarchate had met. While the meeting was also seen as a symbolic moment in the history of relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches as a community, which had split in the Great Schism of 1054, centuries before the Moscow Patriarchate was constituted, it was not expected to lead to any immediate rapprochement between them.
Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the universal church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church; one then may join a fellowship of other local believers. Some evangelical groups describe themselves as interdenominational fellowships, partnering with local churches to strengthen evangelical efforts, usually targeting a particular group with specialized needs, such as students or ethnic groups. A related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. (Conversely, "denominationalism" can also refer to "emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive", similar to sectarianism).
Byzantine Rite Catholicism is the religion of 9.4% of the population of Ukraine as of 2016. This church is largely concentrated in western Ukraine, where it gathers a significant proportion of the population (39.7%). Latin Rite Catholicism, instead, is the religion of 0.8% of the population of Ukraine, mostly in western (1.3%) and central (1.2%) regions. Catholicism is largely absent in eastern Ukraine and non-existent in Donbass.
Catholicism can be described as all of the following:
History of the Catholic Church – the church says that its bishops are the successors to the Apostles of Jesus, and that the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope, is the sole successor to Saint Peter, who is believed to have been appointed head of the church in the New Testament and who is said to have ministered in Rome.
Catholic Church hierarchy – the Catholic Church is composed of dioceses, each overseen by a bishop. Dioceses are divided into individual communities called parishes, each staffed by one or more priests. Priests may be assisted by deacons.
The Great Schism of 1054 split Christianity between Greek East and Latin West. Attempts were made over the subsequent centuries to heal the rift, such as the 1274 Second Council of Lyon and the 1439 Council of Florence, but these failed. More recent attempts to foster closer relations between the churches included the Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965 following the 1964 meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in Jerusalem. Following that meeting and declaration, a number of meetings, visits and symbolic events had taken place involving Catholic and Orthodox leaders (including visits by Pope John Paul II, and especially between several popes and Bartholomew I of Constantinople), but never a meeting between a Pope and a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first time a Pope visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country was in 1999 when Pope John Paul II visited Romania. Since 1980, regular plenary sessions of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, the latter being led by the Church of Constantinople, had been held.
In Catholic practice the person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is an ordained priest. The exorcist recites prayers according to the rubrics of the rite, and may make use of religious materials such as icons and sacramentals. The exorcist invokes God—specifically the Name of Jesus—as well as members of the Church Triumphant and the Archangel Michael to intervene with the exorcism. According to Catholic understanding, several weekly exorcisms over many years are sometimes required to expel a deeply entrenched demon.
Catholicism became the state religion when the Spanish government signed the Concordat of 1851 with the Vatican. " The 1851 concordat had Catholicism as ' the only religion of the Spanish nation' but by ratifying the status quo, including disentail ["desamortización" or sale of entailed lands created a free market in land], the concordat itself represented an accommodation with the liberal state. The experience of disentail had, however, replaced the Church's assumption of privilege with a sense of uncertainty. Though it would be many years before it ceased to look to the state for protection and support - not least in denying freedom of worship to Spaniards until 1931 - the Spanish Church now accepted the secular jurisdiction of the state and some idea of national sovereignty."
Within Catholicism, the Bible comprises the whole 73-book canon recognized by the Catholic Church, including the deuterocanonical books. It is sometimes referred to as the Catholic Bible.
Catholicism is the largest religion in Austria, representing 57.9% of the total population in 2017. The Catholic Church's governing body in Austria is the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of the two archbishops (Wien, Salzburg), the bishops and the abbot of territorial abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. Nevertheless, each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Schönborn belongs to the Central European noble family of Schönborn. Although Austria has no primate, the archbishop of Salzburg is titled "Primus Germaniae" (Primate of Germany).
The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" defines virtue as "a habitual and firm disposition to do the good." Traditionally, the seven Christian virtues or heavenly virtues combine the four classical cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and courage (or fortitude) with the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. These were adopted by the Church Fathers as the seven virtues.
The Catholic Church in Germany () or Roman-Catholic Church in Germany () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope, assisted by the Roman Curia, and of the German bishops. The current "speaker" (i.e., the chairperson) of the episcopal conference is Cardinal Reinhard Marx, metropolitan Archbishop of Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. It is divided into 27 dioceses, 7 of them with the rank of metropolitan sees. All the archbishops and bishops are members of the Conference of German Bishops. Due to a church tax compulsory for those who register civilly as Catholics, it is the wealthiest part of the Catholic Church in Europe.
The Catholic Church in Ireland () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Holy See. With 3.7 million members, it is the largest Christian church in Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland's 2016 census, 78% of the population identified as Catholic, which represents a decrease of 6% from 2011. By contrast, 45% of Northern Ireland identified as Catholic at the 2011 census, a percentage that is expected to increase in the coming years. The Primate of All Ireland is the Archbishop of Armagh. The Church is administered on an all-Ireland basis. The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference is a consultative body for ordinaries in Ireland.
The pope is the man who possesses the sacrament of Holy Orders as a bishop and who has been chosen to be Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church holds that the College of Bishops as a group is the successor of the College of Apostles. The Church also holds that uniquely among the apostles Saint Peter was granted a role of leadership and authority, giving the Pope the right to govern the Church together with the bishops, and making his leadership necessary for the completion of the College. Hence, Catholicism holds that the Bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, possesses this role: the Pope, uniquely among bishops, may speak for the whole Church, and a council of bishops is incomplete without the approval of the pope. Papal pronouncements which meet the requirements of the decree on papal infallibility of the First Vatican Council, and no others, even in matters of faith and morals, are deemed to be infallible. Papal infallibility has been invoked only twice since the doctrine was instituted and both are about Mary: her Immaculate Conception (declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and grandfathered in after the First Vatican Council’s declaration of papal infallibility in 1870) and her bodily Assumption into heaven (declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950).
On July 23, 2006 Bolivia's Cardinal Julio Terrazas told Catholics they needed to stop being "passive" and defend the faith. He warned them that “Great wars began with small theories ... with this discourse of hate, rancor, of unforgiveness.” Patzi then came out against the Catholic hierarchy stating, "They are saying we are going to destroy the Church and its beliefs. How untrue! Excellencies, do not lie to the people, give them the whole truth, the hard truth. The truth does not destroy. Hypocrisy sooner or later will become visible.” By July 25, 2006 Catholic organizations had led street marches in cities including Santa Cruz and Tarija. After these protests Patzi went further in his claims, saying "The Church is now showing her true face. The Church is now on the side of the oligarchy, because for 514 years the Church has been at the service of the oligarchy and the rich. Nobody can deny it." Morales then came out in support of Patzi accusing the bishops of acting “as if this were the Inquisition.” He claimed that the bishops were “still seeking a certain vestige of power.” Morales explained his comments to reporters, saying "I want to ask the (church) hierarchies that they understand freedom of religion and beliefs in our country. It's not possible to impose their views. …[I am] worried by the behavior of some Catholic Church leaders who are acting like in times of the Inquisition."
The scholarship of Polish-Catholic Churches does not depart from the faith and tradition of the Catholic Church. In the exercise of those sacred functions, the liturgical calendar of the church year is used. The Church offers the highest honour to God in the Holy Trinity. The church venerates angels, apostles, martyrs and saints – among them the Virgin Mary in a special way. The Church recognizes the traditional seven sacraments in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Eucharist is celebrated in two forms: the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Church two forms of confession are celebrated: Individual (otic in the confessional) and overall (exercised as a ceremony in front of the altar or in combination with Holy Mass – called as Universal Confession). Children and young people are obliged to join the sacrament of Confirmation. Polish-Catholics do not recognize the dogma of papal infallibility.
Devotions are prayers or pious exercises used to demonstrate reverence for a particular aspect of God or the person of Jesus, or for a particular saint. Catholic devotions have various forms, ranging from formalized prayers such as novenas to activities which do not involve any prayers, such as Eucharistic adoration, the veneration of the saints, and even horticultural practices such as maintaining a Mary garden. Common examples of Catholic devotions include the Rosary, the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Face of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the veneration of various saints, etc. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a "Directory of devotions and pious practices". The Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary.Sister Lucia dos Santos said:"The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary."
The rite of reception of baptized Christians into the Communion of the Catholic Church states that "one who was born and baptized outside the visible communion of the Catholic Church is not required to make an abjuration of heresy [publicly] but simply a profession of faith. Today, normally, an abjuration of heresy is made in the privacy of the confessional, though in the past it was often a public matter. After joining with the congregation in reciting the Nicene Creed, the person being received into the Catholic Church makes the following profession of faith:
As indicated in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, adults joining the Catholic Church were formerly asked to abjure the previous faith to which they belonged ("Hebrew superstititon", the Islamic "sect of the infidel", or "the heretical errors of the evil sect" from which they came). The profession of faith used was the Tridentine Profession of Faith.