Essay on Religion Issue: The Events and Situations Proofing Catholic Is a World Church

Religion is an institution that has become paramount in the people from ancient times. Most people from all over the globe can be identified as part of one or the other religion. Although the people may have differences in what they believe in, the motive of faith can be identified with each individual. As the population of the earth increases, new churches too, emerge from across the world. Christianity taking the major share of the world population, it is recorded that there are more than 43,000 registered churches across the globe. This is enough proof for the increasing Christianity across the world. All the churches are struggling to have a large number of followers in its locality. The Seventh Day Adventist and The Catholic churches are the two churches considered to have spread worldwide across the five continents. These two churches have a large number of followers in at least each region in the world. The churches can, thus, be recognized as "wold-church." This article describes the events, characteristics, and situations that make the Catholic Church be recognized as a world church.

The leadership of the Catholic Church is in itself a proof that the church is a world Church. The Pope is the leader of the church in the world. Based in Rome, the Pope makes the decisions of the church at an international level. Apart from the political duties of the Pope, he has very many religious functions as a diplomat. The pope appoints the Bishops and archbishops of the church. The pope is chosen by the archbishops of the church who meet at the Vatican from all parts of the world. At the second Vatican Council (1961 1965), bishops from all over the world gathered in Rome, where, for the first time, they themselves realized in a graphic way the diversity and particularity of the Church, represented by the indigenous Church leadership (Mueller, p.331). At the grassroots, the bishops are the leaders of the church at their respective places. The church has an order of leadership from the Pope who is the head of the Church to the servants of the church in all parts of the world.

The existence of cultural diversity in the church is another proof that the church is worldwide. The Catholic Church has incorporated the people from different tribes, races, communities and even cultures in the church and is upholding their cultural diversity. According to Mueller, "the gospel is "translatable" within cultures is itself an important consequence of the doctrine of the incarnation" (p.331). The Catholic Church has united all the people of the different cultural divide and can be considered as a world church. Christianity, however, has seen new cultures and languages as potential sources for the expression of the central Christian message. This concept of identified theologically in the expression called inculturation." Inculturation is the interaction and adaptation of the gospel in various contexts, a practice modeled on the incarnation, the Christian belief that the Word of God become flesh in Jesus revealing Gos saving love to all (Mueller, p.331332).

It is during Christian holidays that one can confirm the worldwide spread of Christianity. Christian holidays like the Easter holidays and the Christmas holiday are celebrated in all parts of the world. During Easter, Catholics are on national TV news in all the regions for their celebration of the death of the savior, Jesus Christ, as they believe. Also, the Christmas days is celebrated by all parts of the world and is marked by going to church, feasting together and giving out of gifts to the poor.

References

Mueller, John J. Theological Foundations: Concepts and Methods for Understanding Christian Faith. Saint Mary's Press, 2007.