How many Catholic denominations are there? Do they each have their own pope?

Question

I understand there is the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Are there other denominations within Catholicism that claim to have God's authority traced back to Peter? Do the different Catholic denominations view each other as apostates, or do they consider the authority of other Catholic churches to be just as valid as the authority of their own church?

Answer 1

A caveat: There is a difference between Catholicism, which is a branch of Christian theology (as opposed to Reform or Evangelical), and Catholicity, which is much harder to describe but pertains to the unity of Christian believers in Christ Jesus.

A denomination is technically Catholic if it is in full communion with the Papal Office in Rome; ie, they recognize Benedict XVI as the successor to Peter the Apostle. The Latin Rite, aka "Roman" Catholic, is the most well-represented in the U.S., although there are small communities of the other Eastern Catholic churches present. Within the 6 rites of the Catholic Church (which include 23 "particular Churches"), there are doctrinal differences, but none view the other as apostate or lesser, and all view all Catholics as equal brethren and sestren. However, it is common to hear the churches accuse one another of causing the doctrinal schism in the first place. Note that this is not the same as heresy - it's a stronger-sounding term for "you disagreed".

Wikipedia notes (but does not cite) that about 98% of Catholics are of the Latin Rite, and only about 10% of the so-called "Eastern" Christians are Catholic, which the majority considering themselves either Orthodox or, more recently, Reform.

Note that there are churches calling themselves Catholic but that do not recognize the Papal Office in Rome - sedevacantists are one group, and there are the so-called "Old Catholics", etc. These are not considered by the Catholic Church to be Catholic in the denominational sense of the word (likewise, the 23 Catholic Churches aren't considered "Catholic" by the sedavacantists, etc). Note that several of these self-described Catholic churches adhere to their own Pope (considered anti-Pope by the Catholic churches in communion with the Papal Office in Rome).

Within those Catholic churches in full communion with Rome, it's not correct to say "denominations" - it's more apt to call them "rites" mostly because the substantial differences are not in theology but in ritual, ie the form of the Mass and some doctrines. The disputes arose over acceptance of the authority of the various councils (ie, Trent, Jerusalem, etc.)

Among the 6 Catholic Rites, none will disagree on the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the necessity of Baptism, sacramental practice, etc. But in some of the Eastern Rites, priests are allowed to marry, and the sacraments are given at different times (ie, Maronite infants receive Baptism and Confirmation, while Latin Rite - "Roman Catholic" to most of us - only baptizes infants, leaving confirmation for a later date).

The Latin Rite is the only so-called "Western Rite". The Eastern Rites and their attendant particular Churches include:
*Alexandrian:
--Coptic Catholic and Ethiopic Catholic
*Antiochan
--Maronite
--Syriac Catholic
--Syro-Malankara
*Armenian
--Armenian Catholic
*Byzantine
--Albanian Byzantine Catholic
--Belarusian Greek Orthodox Catholic
--Bulgarian Greek Catholic
--Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Krizevci
--Greek Byzantine Catholic
--Hungarian Greek Catholic
--Italo-Albanian Catholic
--Macedonian Greek Catholic
--Melkite Greek Catholic
--Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
--Russian Byzantine Catholic
--Ruthanian Catholic
--Slovak Greek Catholic
--Ukrainian Greek Catholic
*Chaldean
--Chaldean Catholic
--Syro-Malabar

Answer 2

Catholic Denominations

Answer 3

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RE:
How many Catholic denominations are there? Do they each have their own pope?
I understand there is the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Are there other denominations within Catholicism that claim to have God's authority traced back to Peter? Do the different Catholic denominations view each other as apostates, or do they consider the authority...

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Wow, I thought I knew the answer, but in researching, I found so many more than even I knew of.
You can find a selective list at http://www.concentric.net/~Cosmas/indcathjuris.htm

In general, each denomination is in, at least, partial communion with each other. However, there are exceptions. For a general description, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Catholic_Churches#Faith_and_practice

Only the RCC views the Pope as it's leader.
"Its own Bishops run each denomination. The Pope is a Bishop. The word bishop comes from the Greek for: “Overseer.” The Pope has been elected by his fellow bishops to be in effect the CEO of the Roman Catholic Church. There are variances but in general, the bishop of an independent Catholic church is elected by a synod or governing council of bishops to be the Patriarch, Matriarch, Presiding Bishop, the Archbishop, the Prime Bishop or leader of the denomination with a variety of titles. This person in general is considered the CEO of the denomination."
( http://www.churchofantioch.org/indepcath.html )

I'm sorry this isn't a complete answer, but it's the best I could do within a short amount of time.

God be with you.

Answer 6

"denominations" are false there is only one True Church of Christ= The Traditional Roman Catholic Church.( Matt16:18) that Christ conferred in St. Peter the first Pope.
The Catholic Church has 2 rites, Roman Rite(Latin Rite) and the Eastern Rite. The office of St. Peter( the Papacy) is occupied by every true and lawful Bishop of Rome validly elected and can not be a heretic. The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Catholic Church exercised by a pope when proclaiming dogma with the authority of the Papacy. This constitutes the deposit of Faith that all Catholics must submit, and is unchangeable and infallible. The Chair of St.Peter (Papacy) has been vacant at times and has had anti-popes throughout history.
With the institution of Vatican II , they have separated from the Catholic Church, it is a new religion that denies the Magisterium so it is not Catholic. Please go to www.vaticancatholic.com

Answer 7

There is only one Catholic Church which is the communion of the Pope of Rome.

There are many "particular churches" such as those of the Eastern Rites that have their own bishops' councils,canon law,liturgical,theological and spiritual traditions and liturgies,but which accept the dogmas,morals and doctrines of the Catholic Church and are in communion with the Pope and each other.

There are many groups and denominations that have "Catholic" in their titles like the Old Catholic and Orthodox Catholic and Anglican Catholic Churches,but they are not Catholic in communion with the Pope.

There are tiny unregognized sects that claim to be the real Catholic Church and have their own popes. The Coptic Orthodox Church,which is not Catholic or Chalcedonian Greek Orthodox , also calls its Patriarch of Alexandria Pope.

The Catholic Church only recognizes itself to be the full and true Catholic Church even though it recognizes many "elements' of the true faith in other Christian churches.
The only groups that would be apostate are those that reject the doctrines of the Nicene Creed.

Answer 8

The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Assyrian Church of the East, each consider themselves to be the universal and true Catholic Church.

They typically regard each other and Catholics as heretical and as having thus left the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

In Western Christianity the principal groups that regard themselves as "Catholic" without full communion with the Pope are the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and churches in the Anglican tradition. Smaller groups include the Old Catholics, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Aglipayans (Philippine Independent Church), and the Polish National Catholic Church of America. Their spiritual beliefs and practices are similar to those of Catholics of the Latin Rite, from which they emerged, but they reject the Pope's claimed status and authority.

Answer 9

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Must be there are over 38,000 denominations and non denominations of the Protestant religion and each with their own interpretation of the bible. Im glad Im a Christian and belong to Jesus Christ's Catholic Church . I would be all confused with all those different interpretations. I'll just stick with the original. Catholic Christian †

Answer 10

Protestantism is the collective term for what resulted out of the Reformation movement led by Martin Luther. It is derived from two Latin words 'pro' and 'testari' which means Testament referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ hence the word 'Protestantism' literally means 'advocate for the Gospel'. Unfortunately, it is a common misconception that every other Christian group outside the Roman Catholic Church is Protestant. Not all actually, only those who truly adhere to the original Reformers are. JWs, Mormons, the Iglesia ni Cristo and many others are but examples of groups that don't really belong to the Reformation movement.

Answer 11

The EOC is NOT a denomination of the Catholic Church...they have apostolic succession but Catholic is not in their name...that would be like saying the Lutheran church is a denomination because Martin Luther WAS a Catholic priest...

But there is Roman Catholic, American Catholic, the Free Catholic, the United Catholic, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic...and I'm sure there are more, but I dunno...

But Eastern Orthodox and the Anglican church do not consider themselves a denomination of the Catholic Church, but completely separate belief systems...