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 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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Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded on All Saints' Day November 1, 1776 by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order. Named for a 15th-century theologian and "warrior priest" who resided in the Abruzzo region of Italy, San Juan Capistrano has the distinction of being home to the oldest building in California still in use, a chapel built in 1782; known alternately as "Serra's Chapel" and "Father Serra's Church," it is the only extant structure wherein it has been documented that the padre officiated over mass. One of the best known of the Alta California missions (and one of the few missions to have actually been founded twice — others being Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and Mission La Purísima Concepción) — the site was originally consecrated on October 30, 1775 by Father Fermín Lasuén, but was quickly abandoned due to unrest among the indigenous population in San Diego.
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Credit: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, self-portrait

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and a prominent figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was a successor to Michelangelo as the architect of Saint Peter's Basilica; his design of the Piazza San Pietro in front of the Basilica is one of his most innovative and successful architectural designs.

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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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The church of the sanctuary of Chalma with hills in the background in Chalma, Malinalco, Mexico State

... that apart from the Basilica of Guadalupe, the Sanctuary of Chalma (pictured) in Malinalco is the most visited shrine in Mexico?
... that the Chapel of St Non in Pembrokeshire is unusual in that it is aligned north / south rather than the usual east / west?
... that Italian architect Donato Bramante was nicknamed il Ruinate for the destruction of the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica?

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Feast Day of September 19

Januarius (/ˌdʒæn.juˈɛəriəs/ JAN-yoo-AIR-ee-əs; Latin: Ianuarius; Neapolitan and Italian: Gennaro), also known as Januarius I of Benevento, was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Great Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in 305.

Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, where the faithful gather three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of what is claimed to be a sample of his blood kept in a sealed glass ampoule. (Full article...)
Attributes: cloth of a bishop, vials of blood, palms, Mt. Vesuvius
Patronage: blood banks; Naples; volcanic eruptions
See also: Alonso de Orozco Mena, Spain; Émilie de Rodat, France; Francesco Maria da Camporosso