How can I explain to others that the Catholic Church is ONE, when there are about 20 different rites?

Question

How do I explain that it is different than the divisions in the Protestant and Orthodox churches?

Answer 1

Consider this...
The Apostles were neither Christian nor Catholic; they were Jewish, as was Jesus.
So, you practice a different religion that the person who supposedly started your religion.
You see no contradiction or problem with this?

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: the differences are cultural not dogmatic.

For example Greek Catholics use Greek and Maronite Catholics use Aramaic in their liturgical worship the same language that Christ used I might note. Now why don't Protestants do that being so much "in the Word" ???

addendum: just read several of the other answers and I must correct the errors of the person called "Jesus thinks I am cool"

the word Catholic is not some airy fairy idea of universal so as to imply Protestants can also be catholic (small c).

The word Catholic comes from two Greek words, cata and holos meaning according to the whole in it's original formulation Katolikos expresses a doctrinal unity and not merely some sort of geographical dimension of unity.


Augustine

"[T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15–17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house" (Against the Letter of Mani Called "The Foundation" 4:5 [A.D. 397]).

Answer 3

If you include the eastern orthodox churches then I guess we aren't one. Nevertheless the Roman church and the Eastern churches are so close in our beliefs that we even consider each other's communion (celebration with bread and wine) to be valid. This is at the center of our religion. Protestants don't even beleive in it, so I don't think they would care.

If you're just talking about the Roman Catholic church then there is only one. We have even gone as far to define all of our beliefs in the Catechism of the Catholic church. Something no other church would even dare to do. Also, if you go to any Catholic church on an Sunday, the readings will all be the same. How's that for unity?

There are thousands of protestant denominations.

Answer 4

the Catholic Church really is ONE, as Jesus the Lord intended His Church to be. The rites you speak of are not divisions, but different manners of celebrating the Liturgy.

The Catholic Church, which consists of the Latin (or Roman) Rite and the Eastern Rite, have the same Theology and look to the Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Pontiff and Successor to Peter, whom Jesus appointed as the head of His Church.

Disciplines and practices may differ between the Eastern and Latin Rites, but they are each Catholic.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church, by definition, is one. In the Nicene Creed that we recite each Sunday at Mass, we profess faith in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” There is only one Church. But within the one Catholic Church, there are many individual churches. So St. Paul could write to the Church in Corinth, the Church in Ephesus, the Church in Thessalonica, etc.. The Pope is the bishop of the Church in Rome. But all these churches are part of the one Catholic Church, because they are united with the visible head of the Church, the Pope, who represents the invisible head of the Church, Christ.

Individual Catholics will be members of their local parish church. Their parish church will be a part of a diocese. This is led by a local bishop, who is under the authority of the Bishop of Rome. As long as your particular church is in union with the Pope, it is part of the Catholic Church. (And if they are not in union with the Pope, they are consequently not Catholic, even if they use the word “Catholic” in their name, i.e. “Old Catholic” or “Anglo-Catholic.”)

Just as there are different individual churches within the Catholic Church, some of those churches practice different Rites. A Rite is a manner of religious observance. There are two ways we use the term in the Catholic Church. One is to describe a particular religious observance, such as the “rite of blessing the palms” on Palm Sunday. Or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) that converts to the Church participate in. But more broadly, we speak of a Rite as the entire system of services observed by a Church or a group of Churches. Most Catholics in America belong to the Roman Rite (also called the Latin Rite), which is the dominant Rite in the Western Church.

However, many other different Rites exist, especially among Eastern Catholics, chief of which is the Byzantine Rite. The language, prayers, liturgy, and customs may differ from Rite to Rite. For instance, in many Eastern Rites, the mass is called the “divine liturgy” and Holy Communion is received via a spoon. Greek is the ecclesial language, and married men are allowed to be ordained as priests.

What makes these various and diverse Rites part of the one Catholic Church is their unity in doctrine, and their unity with the successor of St. Peter.


To many Protestants today, “the Church” exists only as an invisible abstract, a body made up of all “true believers” of every denomination. Just who is and is not a true believer is known only to God. This view of the Church is favored among Protestants because it conveniently explains the many divisions within Christianity as a result of the Reformation. But the notion that the Church exists only as an invisible entity would have been foreign to any believer before that time.

Answer 6

The Church is one Body of Christ united under the earthly leadership of the Pope even though we respect the cultural differences of all people.

In addition to the Latin Rite (Roman) Catholic Church, the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches are in full communion with the Pope, and are part of the same worldwide Catholic Church.

Eastern Rite Catholic Churches include:

Alexandrian liturgical tradition
+ Coptic Catholic Church
+ Ethiopic Catholic Church

Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition
+ Maronite Church
+ Syrian Catholic Church
+ Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

Armenian liturgical tradition:
+ Armenian Catholic Church

Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition:
+ Chaldean Catholic Church
+ Syro-Malabar Church

Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition:
+ Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
+ Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
+ Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci
+ Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
+ Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
+ Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
+ Melkite Greek Catholic Church
+ Romanian Church
+ Russian Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Ruthenian Catholic Church
+ Slovak Greek Catholic Church
+ Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13121a.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 7

The first comment I want to make on this matter is that I believe the Catholic religion has so many false beliefs that a blind man could know them, just by listening.

Religion is nothing more than mankinds attempt to earn their way to Heaven through works, rules and regulations decreed by the church dictating the members should comply or else.

Christianity simply recieves the bible as the "only truth" where salvation is a free gift and Heaven is the destiny for those who live their lives according to the bible... not what or how others tell them to.

It's a shame that many would rather be followers than to take the lead... it's alot easier. The problem here is that millions will and are unknowingly being led away to an eternal burning hell because they trusted another with their soul instead of finding the REAL TRUTH for themselves as the Bible commands us, to work out our own salvation;

Philippians 2:12
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Then I find in John 14:6; Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

No man come unto the Father except through Jesus... Not through the Pope, the Saints, the Priest, or Mary. This alone is enough to convince me.

What about the Pope who is able to overide the Holy Bible based on his interpretations? We see the bible speaks out against the gay lifestyle that it is an abomination, yet the Pope embraces it allowing gay priest and many other abuses that can be found with a little invested time.

I find that the those who choose to be a follower believe that they are making the right decision because they know no better or haven't been led to the truth. I am not speaking out against these precious Catholic souls themselves... only that they easily accept this doctrine as the REAL TRUTH without doing their homework first

For anyone who cares to continue this discussion to debate or discover the REAL TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, please email me at [e-mail].

Answer 8

This question calls for historical evidence. A Christian organization (including the Catholic and Orthodox churches) that can trace its leaders to Jesus and the disciples is part of the one Church founded by Jesus under the leadership of Peter and his successors. This is apostolic succession, i.e., a string of appointments going back to Jesus himself.

We find that these branches of the original church maintain the teachings of Jesus and the interpretations of the apostles and fathers of the church. For example, they all practice infant baptism, and they all recognize that Jesus transforms the bread and wine into his body and blood. All branches of the original Church are pro-life and pro-marriage.

In contrast, the 30,000 plus rival organizations can only trace their history back a few hundred years. They reject the authority of the Church to interpret and safeguard Christ's teachings and arrogate to themselves the authority to devise interpretations they prefer.

Some Protestant organizations get mostly right answers, but some have decided that God wants child killing and sexual immorality. That's how far a group cut off from the Church can fall.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. . . . Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me" (John 15).

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 9

Very easily: Explain to them what the Church, when she met in the first two Ecumenical Councils, meant when she defined:

"One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic" Church.

St. Paul said it first: "ONE Lord, ONE Faith, ONE Baptism"...

ONE means whole. One means complete. One means "composite unity".

The word "catholic" itself gives you all you need to know...

KATH = "according to" HOLOS = "the whole" (in Greek)

THE (singular) WHOLE (constituting the total sum or undiminished entirety)

Jesus prayed that the Church (THE Body of Christ - not "one of many" - but THE Body) would be one. That is the plan. That's how God wants it.

The "divisions" are man-made.

Answer 10

It may seem ironic, but the strongest argument that Protestants have against the Roman Catholic Church, stems from where we must agree the most with the Catholic Church.

Protestants must begin by affirming two truths: (1) sola scriptura: that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of the living God, the only objective rule of faith and worship; that the Bible alone -- not the Roman Catholic Church, the pope, nor church dogma -- is infallible; and (2) catholic orthodoxy: that the God who inspired the Bible has preserved of the correct understanding of His Word in history by means of catholic orthodoxy. By catholic orthodoxy we mean the unifying truths of the Church which are found in the four ecumenical creeds of the patristic Church (Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian and Chalcedonian).

Catholicity means literally "unity" or "universality." The term Catholic with an upper-case "C" is used to denote the Roman Catholic Church, while catholic with a lower-case "c" is used in creeds and confessions to denote all Christians. All true believers in Jesus Christ are, in this sense, catholic, because they hold to the univeral faith.

Orthodoxy means literally, "right opinion," and is expressed by the body of biblical doctrines systematized by the creeds of the early Church. Orthodoxy is the basis for unity among Christians of widely different beliefs and practices.

Affirming both sola scriptura and historic orthodoxy at once may seem contradictory, but in actuality, we cannot have one without the other. The Bible itself would not have been passed down to us today had the Church not assembled the canon of Scripture and faithfully preserved the texts written by God's apostles and prophets. We cannot accept the canon of the Bible unless we accept the authority of the Church council which determined the canon.

Modern evangelicals are accustomed to hearing that the creeds are "Roman Catholic" and therefore bad. Therefore, the creeds are often neglected and not taught. But if we consider ourselves true Christians, then we must accept the creeds. We must also believe that certain biblical doctrines were faithfully preserved throughout the centuries by the Catholic Church, such as -- original sin; the Trinity; the human and divine natures of Christ; the virgin birth, the death burial and resurrection of Jesus; the Second Coming of Christ; the resurrection and judgment of the dead; and eternal heaven and hell.

In short, Protestants must agree with Roman Catholics in the area of historic orthodoxy.

For the answers to your questions, here is the article you will want to read:

http://forerunner.com/orthodoxy/X0007_6._ProtestantsRoman.html

Someone said there are 12 sects of Catholicism. I have never heard this before. Could you list them? Could that person be talking about the Eastern Orthodox national churches?

That is another discussion altogether. But suffice it to say that Protestants agree with the Orthodox Church on the issue of salvation by grace through faith alone, not of works, but BOTH Roman Catholics and Protestants disagree with the Orthodox over the "judicial" aspects of salvation: the doctrine of original sin and the substitutionary atonement -- which the Orthodox deny.

That may seem to non-Christians as splitting theological hairs. But these are basic doctrines having to do with what is the nature of sin and how we are saved.

Protestants believe though that since we are saved by grace through faith, that someone might be in error over the doctrine of salvation but still be saved by grace. So while we oppose the doctrines Romanism, we ought to embrace the believers in these churches.

The Protestant Reformers in the 1500s took what they felt was correct in both the Eastern and Western traditions and rejected what they believed were embellishments and errors. In many ways the Reformation was actually a RESTORATION of Catholic doctrine that existed until the fifth and sixth centuries.

I am Protestant, but I recognize that if Catholics and Orthodox believers trust in Christ alone for their salvation, then they are my brothers and sisters.

I've heard it said that Christianity is unique of all the religions of the world.

All religions of the world have several common denominators. One is the belief that the world we live in was created by a God or gods. But then something happened and the world we now live in is fallen and corrupted. Now human beings have to do something in order to atone for sin or to appease the gods through some type of sacrifice or living life according to a moral standard.

The Christian Gospel is unique in that it proclaims that people can never do anything to atone for or make up for past wrongs. Only Jesus could do that for us through His perfect life and His atoning death. Therefore salvation is a free gift. Every other major religion of the world allows that man has to DO something in order to EARN salvation. Only Christianity teaches that something has already been done.

It is possible that the theology of the church fathers and the later Puritan movement that developed covenantal theology does not always match that of the Bible.

I am not willing to throw away the consensus of the church in the past 2000 years in favor of a modern dispensational view that treats all history and tradition as anti-Christian. In fact, most modern views of the Bible are more deficient than the historic orthodox views. Covenant theology isn't perfect, but it better describes what Christians must believe than anything else I have come across.

I am not denying that there could be something better.

Answer 11

The view that the Catholic Church is some indivisible monolith of like-minded members who actually believe and agree on the exact same things is simply not true.