Among the adherents of all religions, the three most numerous groups of believers stand out: Catholics, Orthodox, or, as they say, Christians, and Buddhists. Catholicism is a branch of Christianity. The meaning of the word "Catholic" is "integrity", it is this postulate that underlies Catholicism as part of the Christian belief.
Today Catholicism finds its followers in various countries, such as: Italy, France, Czech Republic, Cuba, USA and many others. People who adhere to this faith are usually called Catholics, they received this name from the Latin latholicismus - "universal, one", they consider Christ to be the head and founder of their church.
Dogmas
For Catholics, there are two basic truths in faith: the Bible, which is the Holy Scriptures, and sacred traditions. It is worth noting that it is customary to consider the following as characteristic dogmas in Catholicism: the doctrine of purgatory, faith in the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, the dogma about the non-sinfulness of the head of the church.
Sacraments
Catholics believe that through ablution, a person is cleansed from his original sin, by ablution with consecrated water, starting from the head.
After baptism, a procedure takes place, this rite is performed on children who have reached 7 years old. This procedure is a symbol of the purity received after baptism, by the way, for Orthodox Christians this procedure occurs immediately after baptism, this is another distinctive feature of the religious traditions of Catholics.
The next sacrament is called "communion" - this is a ceremony using bread and wine, symbolizing the flesh and blood of the son of God. By consuming a symbolic amount of bread and wine, a person joins the Lord, shares his share with him.
The sacrament of repentance in the generally accepted form of confession is the process of confessing one's sins, repentance for committed misdeeds. Catholics in churches have booths separating the confessing and the priest, so a person can repent and remain unrecognized. For the Orthodox, confession takes place face to face.
The sacrament of marriage for a Catholic is the main thing in family life. A feature of the wedding among Catholics is the wedding and public promises of the spouses - oaths. Oaths are taken before the face of God, and the priest bears witness to them.
The two last sacraments of Catholics are a distinctive feature of unction is the lubrication of the body of a sick person with a special sacred liquid called oil. Oil is like a gift from God, grace that is sent to man. The priesthood consists in the transfer from bishop to priest of special grace: Catholics believe that the priest is the image of Christ.
