I know where I live some Catholic Chirches call themselves Roman Catholic and others don’t. The largetst Catholic Church in our community is St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and the only one to offer a Latin Mass is St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church. I think it must be hard to blame Protestants for saying Roman Catholic when Catholics themselves do.
If you speak about Catholics as a whole, we should be universally called Catholics. If we just call ourselves merely* Roman Catholic*, we would be neglecting our Eastern Rite Catholic (Byzantine) brethrens. They never refer to themselves as Roman Catholic. They do often address themselves as Byzantine Catholic.
how about merely in communion with the Roman Catholic church? If you only say catholic, in actuality it means universal and it describes (adjective) and therefore is not a proper noun. Roman Catholic would tell me that the church is in Rome and that it is indeed universal. Just a thought.
I do not blame all Protestants for anything—there is no such thing as “all Protestants” believing much of anything, as we see in the thread on the subject.
This is true, and it is also a mistake made by many Roman Catholics, who do not know about the other rites in the Catholic Communion. There are even some senior and very grounded Catholics on this board who post regularly with the mindset that Roman = Catholic. The Roman Rite is the most common in the West, and especially in the US.
I did except when citing the name of the churches and the confusion they can cause.
That’s great—thanks!
Thats why its good for me to be here.
So if a married catholic man wants to be a priest he can be?
I’m referring to priests, bishops, cardinals and popes. Are any of them married?
Your response to my previous quesition will help clear this up.
When a church document is finally signed by those in authority, are any of these men married?
For a church to be considered roman catholic, must it have the pope as its ultimate head?
Christ is the head of the Body, that is His Church. The pope is the successor of Peter to whom Christ gave the keys of the kingdom. The pope becomes the human representative of Christ on earth. It is Christ himself who entrusted the keys to a human.
So there must at least be a pope if you are to be considered roman catholic?
Peter was the first pope. Read Acts 2:14, 14
Can a person claim to be catholic as in Roman, Eastern etc and not believe the pope is the head of the church?
Part of being Catholic is recognizing the authority of the Pope. Maybe a better term is “Leader of the Church on Earth” rather than “head”, but more or less, yeah.
Yes, Orthodox. A Rite is usually under the Pope. It’s complicated, so I’ll send you a link
Those in the West are commonly referred to as Latin Rites. Many of Byzantine Catholics call us Latins or Roman. In all, both Byzantine and Latin Rite (Roman) are members of One Church, the Catholic Church.
It depends upon which Rite he is in, but generally, the Catholic Church recognizes that marriage is a full time vocation, and those called to it are not also called to the priesthood.
It is my understanding that the Jesuit order is very strict about celibacy for priests. I think they will accept a widower, but the order does not want to be responsible for supporting the priest’s family, or his offspring, so generally I think no.
There are some priests who are married. Very few in the Latin Rite. Bishops and Popes are usually called from celibate priests.
It is not that they are “dis” qualified. they are differently qualified. The Catholic Church considers marriage to be a Holy Sacrament, on the same level as the Holy Priesthood. those called to it are given the special graces and gifts to succeed in their vocation, just as priests are given the special graces and gifts to succeed their vocation. God has a calling for each person, and we are all responsible to fulfill the special calling or vocation that is made for us.
No, I think not. Most of the authorities are celibate bishops, cardinals, and the pope of course, all of whom have taken vows of celibacy. Are you thinking that they are not fit to administer the Church?
there are 22 Rites in the Catholic Church, only one of them is Latin (Roman). yes, all churches, to be Catholic, will be united with the Pope. He is the visible point of unity for us all.
No. Probably in many cases they are fit to serve. They do in protestant churches. To say a married man in the catholic church is not qualified becasue he is married and cannot truly be devoted to his minstry is not only unbiblical but has been proven false by protestant churches who have for the most part married men serving the church.
It depends upon which Rite he is in, but generally, the Catholic Church recognizes that marriage is a full time vocation, and those called to it are not also called to the priesthood.
It is my understanding that the Jesuit order is very strict about celibacy for priests. I think they will accept a widower, but the order does not want to be responsible for supporting the priest’s family, or his offspring, so generally I think no.
There are some priests who are married. Very few in the Latin Rite. Bishops and Popes are usually called from celibate priests.
In the past, especially in the Latin Rite, married clergy have presented more problems than they solved, so the preference is to choose priests from celibate orders.
It is not that they are “dis” qualified. they are differently qualified. The Catholic Church considers marriage to be a Holy Sacrament, on the same level as the Holy Priesthood. those called to it are given the special graces and gifts to succeed in their vocation, just as priests are given the special graces and gifts to succeed their vocation. God has a calling for each person, and we are all responsible to fulfill the special calling or vocation that is made for us.
No, I think not. Most of the authorities are celibate bishops, cardinals, and the pope of course, all of whom have taken vows of celibacy. Are you thinking that they are not fit to administer the Church?
Married men serve the church, and in fact, provide most of the leadership in the parishes. The Priests’ duties are very specific, and are sacramental primarily. Priests are welcome to provide leadership in other areas, but most times, they are so busy with sacramental duties they don’t have time to run all the parish programs.
According to whose authority? The Bible doesn’t say it is unbiblical. If the Bible did, surely Paul would not recommend celibate life like he did.