Who founded the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

The funny hat makers.

Answer 2

Nice try guys but the Apostle Peter was not the "founder". He is considered the first Pope. Jesus is supposedly the founder of the Catholic Church (although you would have to ask him if he thinks the current version of the Catholic Church is really what he had in mind when he started this little experiment).

Here is what the Catholic church says:
The Church defines itself as "the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter" — i.e. the Pope — "and the bishops in communion with him."[2] It teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church ("four marks of the Church") founded by Jesus Christ for the salvation of all people.

Answer 3

Paul. And I don't mean the Beatles!
Here is a further explanation from my book "The Plain Truth About God-101" (what the church doesn't want you to know!)

The Christian religion was at first, obviously, a Jewish religion.
It was a movement amongst the population in the immediate area of the land Jesus lived in. Its message aimed directly at a Jewish audience by Jews.
However, with the advent of the Prophet Paul the message changed and was geared towards a Gentile population that was eager for the “word” as well.
Onto this template, Paul of Tarsus would add a new emphasis - Jesus as a dead and risen God co-extensive with God. This developed into two branches, which we could call a Jewish Christian and a Pauline (Gentile) Christian.
They not only lived side by side, but also competed for the same converts. It was not until the Romans suppressed an uprising by the Jews in c A.D. 66-74 and again A.D. 132-135 that led to the destruction of Massada that the Pauline Christians gradually won out.
They became the defenders of the faith while the Jewish Christians were left by the wayside.
(Actually in the ashes of Massada!)

Answer 4

The early church was a catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church was founded by Constantine I.

Answer 5

It was Jesus, the first pope was Peter, not Paul. The name catholic was given to church in the year 107 by St. Ignatious of Antioch.

imacatholic2 has the perfect answer and reference for all the non believers, way to go!

Answer 6

St Paul...Catholics believe it was St. Peter, but History and the bible clearly says it's st paul.

fyi...for what it's worth, Catholic is an old latin word meaning 'universal'...It was one with all other universal churches including Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria...etc...there was no difference as they were all preached and founded by the apostles of Christ.

Answer 7

Jesus Christ...

Jesus said his Church would be "the light of the world." He then noted that "a city set on a hill cannot be hid" (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.

Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)

Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.

Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches that send out door-to-door missionaries are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established.

The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members— even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy.

Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.

And...

The Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13)

Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches with different beliefs (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.

The Church Is Holy (Eph. 5:25–27, Rev. 19:7–8)

By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as He is holy. This doesn’t mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt. 7:21–23).

But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (cf. Eph. 5:26).

The Church Is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10)

Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20).

For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).

Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

The Church Is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20)

The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition (2 Tim. 2:2).

These beliefs include the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through a priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary’s special role, and much more —even the doctrine of apostolic succession itself.

Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim.

more information...

Answer 8

Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church. Matthew, Peter, and other apostles further built it. Constantine established it in Rome.

Answer 9

Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:17-19)

The Catholic Church believes the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.

They didn't start calling it Catholic until about 70 years later.

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

Paris Hilton

Answer 11

Catholicism states that Jesus founded the Church.