whats the difference between Roman Catholics and other forms of Catholics?

Answer 1

You get 2 kinds of them, roughly:

1. These Catholics who are of Oriental Rites (mainly Orthodox) and recognize the Pope's authority. It would be the Greek Catholics, the Russian Catholics, the Maronites in Lebanon, and some other communities in Middle East. They celebrate the Mass using their traditional Byzantine or own Rite.

2. The Catholics who, for historical reasons had to go on their own national Catholic churches, like the Chinese Catholic Church who bends to the state and national authorities and refuse Rome's authority, or some dissident communities like the the Christian Catholics in Switzerland.

Answer 2

There are also Eastern Catholics (not talking about Orthodox Churches not connected to the Western church) that enjoy the Eastern traditions and submit to the authority of the Pope.

Western Catholics celebrate the Latin Rite, whereas there are other rites that were not affected by the changes of the second Vatican Council.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Rite_Catholic_Churches

Answer 3

All Catholics are "Roman" Catholic. Technically, if you don't accept the Pope's authority (from Vatican City in Rome), you're not really Catholic. Terms like "Roman" and "Popish" were an old way of denigrating Catholicism by Protestants, who were hostile to the Pope and his authority in recent centuries. It's a little confusing if you look up the meaning of "catholic", which means universal. But, of course, it isn't.

Answer 4

Roman Catholics are properly speaking either Catholics of the city of Rome itself, or broadly Catholics of the Roman patriarchate.

The other 23 types of Catholic Churches each have their own rules, theologies, practices, liturgical forms and structures.

It is difficult, at best, to lump the "Eastern Churches," into one lumped together group. They tend, as a group, to concern themselves less with causal logic and so in many respects could be thought of as the obverse of Protestants. They tend to emphasize meanings and so could be though of as the obverse of fundamentalists. They tend to hold tighter to early practice, but that means you tend not to see things like hymns. Hymns that are not part of the bible are really a Protestant idea.

Answer 5

There is only one kind of Roman Catholic

Answer 6

This should explain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church#Terminology

Answer 7

Each has their own Poop or Top dog.
There are at least four people who use the title people today.


Second most famous is Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria -the top dog of the COPTIC ORTHODOX.

Answer 8

thats really the only kind, i think