Roman Catholicism

Christianity is an important world religion that stems from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus. Roman Catholicism is the largest of the three major branches of Christianity. Thus, all Roman Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Roman Catholic. Of the estimated 2.3 billion Christians in the world, about 1.3 billion of them are Roman Catholics. Broadly, Roman Catholicism differs from other Christian churches and denominations in its beliefs about the sacraments, the roles of the Bible and tradition, the importance of the Virgin Mary and the saints, and the papacy.

As a branch of Christianity, Roman Catholicism can be traced to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in Roman-occupied Jewish Palestine about 30 CE. According to Roman Catholic teaching, each of the sacraments was instituted by Christ himself. Roman Catholicism also holds that Jesus established his disciple St. Peter as the first pope of the nascent church (Matthew 16:18). Centuries of tradition, theological debates, and the wiles of history have shaped Roman Catholicism into what it is today.

In Roman Catholicism and certain other Christian churches, the sacraments are a key and essential part of the faith. In Roman Catholic teaching, the sacraments serve to perpetuate the union of God and humankind. They are “the visible form of an invisible grace,” as St. Augustine famously described them. Roman Catholicism celebrates seven sacraments: baptism, the Eucharist, confirmation, reconciliation (confession), marriage, anointing of the sick, and holy orders. Some, such as baptism, confirmation, marriage, and ordination, are generally only to be received once in a Roman Catholic’s life. For others, such as the Eucharist and reconciliation, frequent participation is encouraged.

Roman Catholicism is the major religion of nearly every country in Latin America. This can be attributed in large part to the lingering effects of Spanish and Portuguese colonization of the region and the Roman Catholic missions that accompanied those endeavours. Often, the missions served as convenient tools for the suppression of indigenous peoples, forcing “civility” in the form of the Spanish or Portuguese language, Western dress, and a Europeanized agricultural lifestyle. However, sometimes Roman Catholic mission work stood opposed to the colonizing forces and protected native peoples from enslavement and helped them achieve a certain level of economic autonomy (which was a major factor in the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Americas in 1767). Although the countries of Latin America eventually gained independence from Spain and Portugal, the religious legacy of colonialism has persisted.