Joshua Bennett
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. Catholicism teaches the doctrines of Jesus Christ as transmitted in the New Testament of the Bible, as well as the teachings, Psalms, and histories of the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament. The Catholic Religion preserves a tradition of Priesthood, Monks, and Nuns that date back to the early middle ages and before. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, which is the largest of the Christian churches. The Catholic Church has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. |
| Followers | There are about 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, making them the largest Christian church. They are the majority in nearly every country in Latin America and one of the largest religious groups in the United States. |
| Beliefs | Catholics believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and the giver of life. They believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God and in the teachings of Jesus Christ as transmitted in the New Testament. They also believe in the importance of Mary as the mother of God and the church. |
| Practices | Catholics attend Mass, pray, and seek to follow the teachings of Jesus in their daily lives. They may also go to confession, which is considered a sacrament of healing. |
| Political Affiliation | In the United States, about half of Catholic registered voters identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while the other half affiliates with the Democratic Party. These proportions vary by race and ethnicity. |
| Age Demographics | Catholics tend to be older, with nearly six-in-ten Catholic adults (58%) being ages 50 and older. However, Hispanic and Asian Catholics tend to be younger than White Catholics. |
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What You'll Learn
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity
Catholicism is the major religion in nearly every country in Latin America, due to the historical influence of Spanish and Portuguese colonization and the accompanying Roman Catholic missions. In the 20th century, the Catholic Church's global reach continued to expand, despite the rise of anti-Catholic authoritarian regimes and the collapse of European empires, along with a general decline in religious observance in the West.
The Catholic Church is led by the Pope, the bishop of Rome, and the Holy See forms the central government, making decisions on faith and morality for Catholics worldwide. The Catholic Religion preserves the traditions of Priesthood, Monks, and Nuns that date back to the early Middle Ages and before. It is based on the entire Bible, especially the direct teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, and the doctrines of Jesus Christ as transmitted through the succession of Popes.
Catholicism is not just a denomination but the root from which all other Christian denominations have branched off. It was the first Christian denomination founded by Christ, and only Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy can trace apostolic succession back to Christ.
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The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ, who may be Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican, or Orthodox, or a follower of another branch of the religion. A Catholic is a Christian who follows the Catholic religion as transmitted through the succession of Popes.
The Pope, as the bishop of Rome, is the head of the Holy See, the Roman Catholic Church's central government, which is in turn assisted by the various departments of the Roman Curia. The Pope makes decisions on issues of faith and morality for Catholics throughout the world, a population of about 1.3 billion. The Pope is, as his age-old title "Vicar of Christ" reminds us, the "prime minister" of Christ. However, the Pope is only the spiritual Vicar of Christ, not the temporal Vicar of Christ. In the ages of faith, the temporal Vicar of Christ was the Emperor (or, more fully, the Holy Roman Emperor), and he was treated as such by the Church and by every Pope that reigned in those days.
The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, who gather in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The current Pope is Pope Leo XIV (formerly Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost), who was elected on 8 May 2025. Pope Francis was the previous Pope, reigning from 2013 to 2025.
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Catholic missionaries supported European imperialism in Africa
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Catholic is a Christian who follows the Catholic religion as transmitted through the succession of Popes. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, which is the largest of the Christian churches. Roman Catholicism has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization.
Catholic missionaries generally supported and facilitated European imperial powers' conquest of Africa during the late nineteenth century. According to the historian Adrian Hastings, Catholic missionaries were generally unwilling to defend African rights or encourage Africans to see themselves as equals to Europeans. In contrast to Protestant missionaries, who were more willing to oppose colonial injustices, Catholic missionaries often had the support of ardent colonialists, government officials, and military men who felt that they represented French civilization and culture.
During the Age of Discovery, the Catholic Church made significant efforts to spread Christianity in the New World and convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. Similarly, in Africa, missionaries attempted to convert as many native people as possible to Christianity. This division of Christian denominations into their own spheres of influence prevented competition among them. Among the Igbo, Catholic missionaries were particularly present.
The justification for colonization was that they were providing better education and healthcare to the natives. However, the exploitation of natural resources and the pillaging of counties contributed to the hostility of African natives towards European colonizers. While some missionaries were truly devoted to colonizing through peaceful means, others forcibly and violently converted the natives, doing much damage to the generations of lost culture and tradition of native religions across Africa.
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The Catholic Church opposed abortion
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ who may be a Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican, or Orthodox, or a follower of another branch of the religion. The Catholic Church is led by the Pope, as the bishop of Rome, and the Holy See forms the church's central government, making decisions on issues of faith and morality for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.
The Catholic Church has long opposed abortion, teaching that human life is sacred "from conception to natural death" and that unborn children have a "right to life". The official teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992, oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo, or fetus. The Church holds that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception". The Church considers the destruction of any embryo to be equivalent to abortion and thus opposes embryonic stem cell research. Catholics who procure a completed abortion are subject to a latae sententiae excommunication. Canon 1397 §2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law imposes automatic excommunication on Latin Catholics who procure an abortion, if they fulfill the conditions for being subject to such a sanction.
Catholic theologians trace Catholic thought on abortion to early Christian teachings such as the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the Apocalypse of Peter. The Didache asserted, "You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child." The Epistle of Barnabas also condemned abortion. In contrast, Catholic philosophers Daniel Dombrowski and Robert Deltete analyzed Church theological history and the "development of science" in "A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion" to argue that a position in favor of abortion rights is "defensibly Catholic".
According to surveys, American Catholics' views on abortion vary, with regular Mass attenders being the most opposed. A 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 47% of American Catholics believe that abortion should be legal in "all or most cases", while 42% believe it should be illegal in "all or most cases". When asked whether abortion was acceptable or unacceptable, 40% of American Catholics said it was acceptable, roughly the same percentage as non-Catholics. According to the National Catholic Reporter, 58% of American Catholic women feel they do not have to follow the abortion teachings of their bishop. Catholics who attend Mass regularly are among the country's strongest opponents of legal abortion, and they are also more likely than those who attend less frequently to believe that life begins at conception and that a fetus has rights.
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Catholics are one of the largest religious groups in the US
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ, who may be a Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican, or Orthodox, or a follower of another branch of the religion.
Catholics are one of the largest religious groups in the United States, outnumbering any single Protestant denomination. In the US, about 23% of the population are Catholics, and they are the largest religious group in many regions, especially in urbanized areas of the north Atlantic states and the Great Lakes, as well as in many industrial and mining towns. However, rural parts of the South have very few Catholics, except for Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, and the Hispanic community, both of which consist mainly of Catholics.
According to a 2016 Gallup poll, Islam is the third-largest religion in the US by numbers, after Christianity and Judaism. The US has more Catholics than all but three other countries – Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines – according to the Vatican's 2021 Statistical Yearbook of the Church.
About 29% of US Catholics say they attend Mass weekly or more often, and larger shares say they pray daily (51%) and consider religion very important in their lives (44%). About half of US Catholics who are registered voters (53%) identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while 43% affiliate with the Democratic Party. However, partisan affiliation varies by race and ethnicity. For instance, 61% of White Catholic registered voters say they identify with or lean toward the GOP, while 56% of Hispanic Catholics who are registered voters say they identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party.
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Frequently asked questions
Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ who may be a Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican or Orthodox.
The core beliefs of the Catholic faith are found in the Nicene Creed. Catholics believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. They also believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
While those who consider themselves Catholic can also be truly born again, one does not inherit eternal life by being a good Catholic. Catholic teaching has been criticised for departing from strict adherence to the Bible, adding human ideas and "teaching as doctrines the commandments of men". The Catholic Church has also been accused of creating a religion filled with laws, sacraments, and the undue adulation of other human beings, such as Mary and the Pope, which some believe contradicts the Word of God.
Catholicism is the major religion of nearly every country in Latin America, and it is one of the largest religious groups in the United States, outnumbering any single Protestant denomination. There are more Roman Catholics than all other Christians combined, and more than all Buddhists or Hindus.
