Ever seen a story about the Pope in the news? Or heard a friend mention going to mass?
These are some important elements of the Catholic faith. Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in the world!
Catholics believe that the head of their church, the Pope, is following in the footsteps of Peter, who led the Church after the death of Jesus Christ.
Their local leaders are called archbishops, bishops, priests, and nuns. These leaders take a vow of celibacy, promising to live a chaste life. Instead of getting married or having secular jobs, they devote all their time to helping their church and community.
Catholic worship services are called mass, and include a sermon, hymns, and the sacrament. You may also hear Catholic friends talk about going to confessional, where they confess their sins to a priest, and he helps them know how to repent.
If you have a friend who is Catholic, you might ask them if they have a rosary that they can show you. A rosary is a special strand of beads with a crucifix, with each section of beads representing a sequence of prayers. Some Catholics offer a daily prayer they call the rosary as a form of devotion to the Holy Trinity—God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost—who they believe is one single God.
Our prophet today, President Russell M. Nelson, has taught that respecting other religions and being “tolerant of neighbors with differences they hold sacred” is important.1 We can work together to make the world a better place! For example, here’s a story about the Church teaming up with Catholic Relief Services to provide hygiene kits in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tomorrow we’ll be learning about Judaism, so stay tuned!
To Think About
Notes
1. From “Teach Us Tolerance and Love,” Apr. 1994 general conference.
Learn more about Catholicism here.