9 interesting things you probably don't know about this church

The Roman Catholic church is known for a lot of things such as praying the rosary,

All of these make people feel like they know everything about this denomination. Still, I bet you don't know the following:

1. Catholics do read the Bible: Many people think Catholics only depend on the missal or bulletin, rather the Bible. This is not true. Catholics, just like Protestants, read their Bible during mass and at other times. Also, many of the prayers are taken from the Bible.

2. Catholics do NOT worship Mary or the Saints: For years, people have argued that Catholics actually worship Mary and the Saints. This is untrue. There is no official Church document that teaches or condones this practice. In fact, the Catholic faith teaches that God alone must be worshipped. However, Catholics honour them, and ask them to intercede on their behalf.

3. The Bible was compiled by the Catholic church: Years after the death of Jesus Christ, the church recognized the need for an official list of books (the Bible) that people could trust. At the Catholic Church councils in Rome, 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books were said to have been inspired by God. Approximately 1200 years later, Martin Luther and the Protestant reformers removed seven books from the Old Testament. Hence, the difference between the Catholic Bibles and the protestant ones.

4. Catholic means universal: The word "catholic" literally means "universal." The Latin word is catholicus, in Greek it is katholikos, meaning "on the whole, according to the whole or in general."

5. It was the first non-denominational Church: By the above definition, the Catholic church is the original non-denominational church. According to GotQuestions.org, there were 23 churches under the original Roman Catholic church in the early 2nd century.

6. Any Catholic can baptize: The church is very eager for people to be baptized in order to have salvation. Thus, the church permits anyone, even a non-baptized person to baptize someone in an emergency.

7. The Vatican City has the highest crime rate in the world: These crimes include pickpockets, and purse snatching.

8. The church recognises over 10,000 saints.

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9. The Roman Catholic Church is the oldest in Christian history!