Catholic religion

Catholicism (from Greek καθολικισμός, katholikismos, "universal doctrine") is a term which in its broadest sense refers to the beliefs and practices of Christian denominations that describe themselves as Catholic in accordance with the Four Marks of the Church.

The most frequent uses refer to the faith and practices of the Catholic Church, consisting of the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See of Rome. "Catholic" and "Catholicism" are also especially claimed by some other denominations, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and some Protestant denominations, notably Anglicanism, in addition to Independent Catholicism.

More generally, in the sense of indicating continuity of faith and practice from Early Christianity as delineated in the Nicene Creed, the term "catholic" occur in some MethodistLutheran,Moravian, and Reformed denominations in claiming to be "heirs of the apostolic faith", These denominations consider themselves to be catholic, teaching that the term "designates the historic, orthodox mainstream of Christianity whose doctrine was defined by the ecumenical councils and creeds" and as such, most Reformers "appealed to this catholic tradition and believed they were in continuity with it." For instance, within the Anglican Communion, the Oxford Movement of the 19th century promoted Anglo-Catholicism, which emphasized the importance of doctrines such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and apostolic succession, comparable to the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

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