What are your typical associations with the word "Catholic"?
361349
Organized religion, rosary beads, St. Christopher's medals, school, nuns, pedophile priests...
755939
I was raised Catholic, although I do not practice this religion anymore.  I hope that doesn't disqualify me to answer.  The things I will talk about are among the most compelling reasons that I do not practice this religion anymore.\n\nI have major issues with the Church (capital C, I guess that means the Pope) opposing birth control in this time and age.  To me, that is criminal.\n\nGuilt and unworthiness as a basic premise for living.  I am not perfect, but I achieve my highest good when I stay focused on the good in myself, not on the evil, sinful parts.\n\nMale dominance model, God the father, God the son.  Hello, any women up there in the upper ranks?\n\nOh and how could I forget, the church's backward, hateful postion on homosexuality.  Give me a break.  How the heck can you claim to be a religion when you judge and exclude others?  The presumption of that makes my blood boil.\n\nWhat I miss: \n\n1.  The feeling of community with others (didn't have it at the time, but when I occasionally go to church now, I feel like others have it).\n\n2. The poetry of the services.  Those readings are literature, and I miss them.  I miss the beauty of churches, the sense of connection with the medieval past.  I miss chanting with others.  I miss the music and beauty of hymn.\n\n3.  I miss praying.  I don't do it really now, but then I would.\n\nUnfortunately, I feel that the Catholic Church is a political body that claims it is not political, and this is where my greatest opposition lies.  By telling people how to vote on issues, the massive Church deigns to act as if it has all the answers, all the CORRECT answers.  I have a real problem with that.\n\nNow I am much more a spiritual person who finds greatest and inspiration in nature, connection between people, acts of kindness, dance and music, etc.  I do think that Catholicsm gave me a foundation of love for good, which is something I do not regret.
987011
Guardian Angel, what the hell are you talking about?  Catholics are Christians.  By definition Chrsitian is a follower of Christ.  DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
962684
Christian is the tree. Catholic is the branch of the tree.
366939
A Christian is one who believes in Jesus as God and accepts Jesus as his/her personal saviour. As such, Catholics ARE Christians. The Roman Catholic church is said to have started with Peter, to whom Jesus said,\n\nMatthew 16:18-19\nAnd I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.\n\nRoman Catholics say they have a direct line of Popes starting from Peter, to the Pope of today.\n\nThen along came King Henry VIII, who liked to chop and change, as it were. He took issue with the Christian doctrine of not being allowed to divorce and remarry, so started his own church: the Church of England - the first form of Protestantism. "Protestant" comes from "protest" as they were protesting against the rules of the existing Church. According to my year eight history teacher (oh so long ago!) any Christian denomination that isn't Roman Catholic, *is* Protestant by definition due to the origins of the term "Protestant." And on the story goes, with different sects popping up along the way.\n\nCatholicism does tend to be a bit more "flowery" and ornate than other denominations of Christianity. I grew up in the Roman Catholic church and changed to Pentecostal fundamentalism later on. I did the rounds and tried nearly every denomination out there to see what felt right for me. My experience has been that while basically the same overall, the Catholic church tends to be far more formal where other churches are a little more laid back. Catholics have a set hierarchy, where many modern Christian denominations have lay people participating at higher levels than in the past, and women being more involved in church leadership. I'm not saying this is either good or bad; this is just an observation. Other than that, there aren't many differences in core beliefs. \n\nSome people do argue that Roman Catholics "aren't really Christians" because of different rituals and practices, such as confession and penance. However, it's not about receiving forgiveness from a Priest instead of God. It's about confessing your sins as the bible instructs Christians to do - it's about the act of confession and the Priest affirming forgiveness from God. Some people find this helpful; others don't. Certainly, praying specific prayers as a form of atonement may seem strange - but think for just a minute: who are the prayers really for? God can't benefit from anything we do. The prayers are for the benefit of the person who is praying, and no one else. There are reasons behind things that people who have never been Catholic won't understand. It may seem strange - but *anything* that isn't understood seems strange, whether that be religious ritual or otherwise. Scripture to support this is:\n\nJames 5:16\nConfess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.\n\n1 John 1:9\nIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\n\nAnother thing that can be seen as strange by non-Catholics is the fact that priests and nuns don't marry. The explanation for that is quite simple: they used to. Way back when, when priests had families and they died, they left everything to their families. Unfortunately, the Church at the time didn't like this. Priests usually lived on the church property, causing a problem for the Church. It was a question of financial gain, rather than anything religious, and so the church banned priests from marrying. This way, even if they had a child, it would be out of wedlock - making the child illegitimate (by their standards) and consequently the chil
1032466
A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and is baptized. A Catholic is a specific kind of Christian, one who also believes the Catholic Church was founded by Christ and accepts it as possessing the fullness of Christian truth and the means of salvation\n\nThe words Catholic and Christian were once interchangeable. The first Christians called the Church Catholic or universal, to distinguish it from heretical splinter groups that denied necessary Christian truths. Thus the early Christians came to be known as Catholics.
600880
Being the Pope of the Roman Catholic (Catholic means universal) Church ... All of them ;-)
109545
Male, and normaly, I don't pray, just talk to Him... Used to be catholic, but I no longer believe in organized religion and   I am now interested in Deism. I used to be catholic, but I refuse to believe that God's love is conditional and that he has the time to punish us individually for our sins, so I guess I have my own little religion right now.
605669
I think Catholics are cool but I am one. \n\nI think other Christians are cool too.\n\nWith love in Christ.
1118768
Worship, pray, and enjoy.\n\nThank you for showing respect in asking for advice.\n\nDo whatever feels right in your heart.\n\nStand and sit when others do. Catholics typically sit to listen to God's Word and stand to pray.\n\nCatholics kneel during the consecration of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). You may kneel or sit at this time, whichever you choose. \n\nAs a Methodist, your beliefs about the Eucharist is not the same as ours. We believe in the true presence of Christ. Out of respect for both of our faiths, please do not receive Holy Communion.\n\nAt this time, you may be invited to go up for a blessing from the priest. If you choose, go up with your arms crossed over your heart to receive the blessing.\n\nIf you are comfortable, pray along with the prayers and sing along with the songs.\n\nWith love in Christ.
630236
catholics are christians
880362
"I think god is dead"\n\n"Ah yes, the sign of a true catholic!"
644905
Marriage: A union between a man and a woman, based on love, etc...\n\nAbortion: It's wrong, you should only be having sex with people you love anyways, and after marriage.\n\nLiving together: It's frowned upon, because usually this signals sex, but it's not something the catholic church focuses on.\n\nTraditional marriage: In a catholic church, done by a catholic priest.
214526
We have the wrong idea about what the word "holy" means. The actual word means "set apart". Am I set apart? Yes. Am I a saint? Only because I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ--not of my doing.
956981
http://www.catholic.org/
29672
Actually, the honorary is "Holy Father." That's the custom of the Catholic Church ... "your grace" and "your emminence" are used for cardinals. Bishops and archbishops are "Bishop Smith," priests are "Father Smith" or "Father Tom," and monsignors are "Monsignor Smith."
558793
Specifically, Catholicism.