There are 2,942 Catholic Denominations, Maybe more

[eliasaph99]

Well I’m not sure you got my point now. I wasn’t giving numbers I was asking people to stop doing so since they are so inaccurate. In order to prove their inaccuracy, I had to post the numbers they were getting their info from.

OK.

I’ll stop giving numbers.

From now on, when I want to make a point about the disunity spawned by the Protestant Reformation, I’ll write “the uncountably many denominations of Protestantism.”

I hope that’s better.

 

[Syele]

Sorry Syele. I was joking with a play on words-- protest ant–get it?

I was not referring to you. You are usually most charitable.

When participating on forums you must grow a thick skin sometimes. I have seen evangelicals bashing Catholic, Catholics bashing evangelicals, Orthodox bashing Catholics, Catholic bashing Orthodox—it is all quite common on the medium of forums. If someone is relentless, the best thing to do is to put them on your ignore list–which you did.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about truth working in love. This is something we must rememeber. Truth without love is empty logic. Love without truth is only sentimental and emotional. But truth working in love is synonymous with the mind in the heart–and this is where we find peace—this is where we find Christ.

Blessings to you,
Mickey

the pic did make me laugh, I just try not to get angry online… it really serves no purpose.

 

[Sixtus]

Anyone who says there is only one catholic church is wrong!!!

I know of at least two: ONE ON EARTH AND ONE IN HEAVEN

 

[lak611]

In the letter to the Ephesians, St Paul talks about truth working in love. This is something we must remember. Truth without love is empty logic. Love without truth is only sentimental and emotional. But truth working in love is synonymous with the mind in the heart–and this is where we find peace—this is where we find Christ.

Blessings to you,
Mickey

That’s something we all need to take to heart.

 

[eliasaph99]

Anyone who says there is only one catholic church is wrong!!!

I know of at least two: ONE ON EARTH AND ONE IN HEAVEN

I have to disagree with you.

We are one with the Church in Heaven. This is the doctrine of the Communion of the Saints.

 

[Syele]

OK.

I’ll stop giving numbers.

From now on, when I want to make a point about the disunity spawned by the Protestant Reformation, I’ll write “the uncountably many denominations of Protestantism.”

I hope that’s better.

How high can you count? That will help me determine if it’s better.

 

[eliasaph99]

How high can you count? That will help me determine if it’s better.

I’m a graduate student in mathematics. Pretty high!

 

[distracted]

I think the point being made was, that if you apply the same criteria that is applied to come up with 30,000 protestant denomnations, to Catholicism, you come up with over 2,000 Catholic denominations.

Personally, I don’t see how the number of denominations affects the validity of any specific one.

All the Roman Catholic churches in the world teach and practice the same beliefs (If thye don’t, it is only because a particular priest is “liberal” or what have you… and that is not the fault of the bishop or the Pope. It is called: the Church is full of fallible human beings…)

 

[mikew262]

Just to let everyone know, I’m unabashedly pro-Catholic.

I don’t pull punches, I love Jesus, His Church, and I am upset that people offend Him by denying His Church.

As a “pro-Catholic”, you are presumbly also “pro-Christian”. Protestants are Christians. Get my point?

BTW, how do you know Christ is offended just because somebody isn’t a Catholic?

 

[distracted]

A post that more perfectly misses the point I can’t imagine:thumbsup:

i feel this Poster hits the mark right on target…

 

[distracted]

As a “pro-Catholic”, you are presumbly also “pro-Christian”. Protestants are Christians. Get my point?

BTW, how do you know Christ is offended just because somebody isn’t a Catholic?

Jesus is offended by anyone who rejects His Church. If they do it out of ignorance, He understands but He still wants them with HIm there… and I wonder about people who deliberately defy the Catholic religion just because, say, they don’t want to change thier lives? Or because they don’t like admitting they were wrong?? (pride) or whatever…

 

[lak611]

Jesus is offended by anyone who rejects His Church. If they do it out of ignorance, He understands but He still wants them with HIm there… and I wonder about people who deliberately defy the Catholic religion just because, say, they don’t want to change thier lives? Or because they don’t like admitting they were wrong?? (pride) or whatever…

The purpose of this thread was not to debate why Protestants do not convert to Catholicism. There is another thread on that topic. It is here. forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=139643

 

[IanS]

Sorry if this has already been used, but the CCC spells it out quite well, if you just take the time to read it:

I. THE CHURCH IS ONE
“The sacred mystery of the Church’s unity” (UR 2)
813 The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit."259 The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross, . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body."260 The Church is one because of her “soul”: "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church’s unity."261 Unity is of the essence of the Church:

What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her "Church."262
814 From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God’s gifts and the diversity of those who receive them. Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together. Among the Church’s members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life. "Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions."263 The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church’s unity. Yet sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. And so the Apostle has to exhort Christians to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."264
815 What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity “binds everything together in perfect harmony.”**265 But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion:

• profession of one faith received from the Apostles;
  -common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments;
• apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family.266

816 "The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter’s pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it. . . . This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."267 **

The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."268

 

[IanS]

more…

Wounds to unity
817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame."269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ’s Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism270 - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.271

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276

 

[Syele]

I’m a graduate student in mathematics. Pretty high!

Try using some real sources and I’ll be thrilled. Like A world religions census reported 2k Protestant Denominations. I’ll hunt it up for you if you care. If not, the words “too many” or “lots” wouldn’t bother most reasonable people.

 

[Syele]

Sorry if this has already been used, but the CCC spells it out quite well, if you just take the time to read it:

I’m confused. Where in the CCC does it say there are 30,000 Protestant Denominations? I read it, I really did, I still didn’t see that part.

 

[Titus]

All the Roman Catholic churches in the world teach and practice the same beliefs (If thye don’t, it is only because a particular priest is “liberal” or what have you… and that is not the fault of the bishop or the Pope. It is called: the Church is full of fallible human beings…)

1. Your suggestion that all the Roman Catholic churches in the world teach and practice the same beliefs is sadly laughable. Parishes where almost every family has 1 or 2 kids, masses where the wording is changed to create a sense of symbolic Eucharistic presence only, or where someone dressed as the Devil gives out communion…These parishes are not practising the same beliefs as more conservative and orthdox parishes. So let’s not trumpet our unity too loudly.
2. If thye don’t it is because a particular priest is ‘liberal’. Not the fault of the bishop. The bishop appoints the priests to their parishes and oversees them (episkopos= overseer) so it is a little bit his fault (see Bishop of OC, CA et al)

The Catholic Church is not perfect, nor is it totally united, apart from a few bonkers liberals, as you might have said. The reason we are one denomination is that we all accept the authority of the Pope as Head of the Church Militant. I wish we could say we were all one denomination because we all believed in the Real Presence, but we can’t, I’m afraid (because we don’t).

 

[MrS]

I dont think Jesus founded a Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church. It`s not really mentioned in the Bible which official name the church has to have.

Actually it is.

A number of times in ACTs, Paul refers to “The Way” in reference to those who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and who follow His teachings as presented by the 12, and by Paul … and eventually by those ordained (laying on of hands) by the Apostles and their successors.

The early Church did have “churches” in those places were a Bishop was in charge… and if and when the heresies arose, those churches which adopted the heresy(s) were no longer part of the Church.

In less than two generations, The Way, was referred to as Catholic, meaning it was open to all who choose to join… not open to all who choose to become selective once they join.

The number of denominations being discussed here is both interesting and boring.

In fact, the word Church should only be applied to the Catholic Church, The Way, and to none other… as it was first intended nearly 2000 years ago.

Personally I believe that our separated brethren are only separated by choice,… their choice. The are certainly part of the The Body of Christ through their valid Baptism… but they cannont posses the fullness of the Truth in the “faith community” they live in. It is not the Church.

.

 

[lak611]

1. Your suggestion that all the Roman Catholic churches in the world teach and practice the same beliefs is sadly laughable. Parishes where almost every family has 1 or 2 kids, masses where the wording is changed to create a sense of symbolic Eucharistic presence only, or where someone dressed as the Devil gives out communion…These parishes are not practising the same beliefs as more conservative and orthdox parishes. So let’s not trumpet our unity too loudly.
2. If thye don’t it is because a particular priest is ‘liberal’. Not the fault of the bishop. The bishop appoints the priests to their parishes and oversees them (episkopos= overseer) so it is a little bit his fault (see Bishop of OC, CA et al)

The Catholic Church is not perfect, nor is it totally united, apart from a few bonkers liberals, as you might have said. The reason we are one denomination is that we all accept the authority of the Pope as Head of the Church Militant. I wish we could say we were all one denomination because we all believed in the Real Presence, but we can’t, I’m afraid (because we don’t).

When I said that we all need to pray for Christian unity, I meant that for ALL Christians: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. I really do not see unity happening without God’s intervention. Man is just too selfish and prideful.

 

[IanS]

I’m confused. Where in the CCC does it say there are 30,000 Protestant Denominations? I read it, I really did, I still didn’t see that part.

I never said it did. What it does tell us is that the ONE Church Christ founded is comprised of those who are in union with the successor of St. Peter and his ordained Bishops. Everyone else, although united in baptism, is a schismatic from that ONE Church. Whether its 3, 30, 30,000 or 30,000,000 churches doesn’t matter, more than ONE is ONE too many and not what Christ intended.