Christianity: Roman Catholicism FOUNDED: First century C.E.RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 17 percent Overview The term 1981). 5 vols. Wilmington, N.C.: McGrath, 1981. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed., revised in accordance with...

ROMAN CATHOLICISM [FIRST EDITION]. The first question in defining the scope of Roman Catholicism has to do with the term itself. There are Catholics who object to the adjective Roman because the community encompassed by the designation "Roman...

ROMAN CATHOLICISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS] A significant theme recurs in Roman Catholic studies at the turn of the twenty-first century: before nominally indicating a church or adjectivally describing a belief, Roman Catholicism denotes action. It is...

Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major branches of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to...

Roman Catholicism, one of the largest of all world religious sects, and with more adherents than any other Christian denomination, has in the past been enormously important in Western politics. As the original faith of medieval Europe the Roman...

Largest denomination of Christianity, with more than one billion members. The Roman Catholic Church has had a profound effect on the development of Western civilization and has been responsible for introducing Christianity in many parts of the world....

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