The religion Roman Catholic Church is different with the other denominations acknowledged. This religion, is by far, the biggest. There are a lot of catholics in almost every country. Because it is a huge church, other churches or groups withdrew from it, making their own small church. To this day, the Catholic Church has carried on the tradition of the apostolic church. On the other hand, the recent Second Vatican Council established that all baptized Christians should be in a distinctive, although it has a flaw, communion with the Catholic Church.
Although it did not start at a specific mark in history like the Protestant denominations, in its long timeline of history, the Roman Catholicism has changed into a specific branch of Christianity with certain beliefs, practices and organization that are not similar with both Protestantism and Orthodoxy.
There more than one billion supporters, Catholics consists about half of the world’s Christians. It is also the major religion in Italy, Spain, and nearly all Latin American countries. In the year 2001, about 24% of Americans acknowledged themselves as Catholic. This made Catholicism as the biggest Christian denomination in America. Next to Catholics are the Baptists, and this was claimed by 16 percent of people in the continental US. However, many believe that if Protestants are acknowledged as one specific group, Catholics will be considered as a minor religion.
Distinctive Roman Catholic beliefs consist of the appointed authority of the pope, as the main leader of the religion. There are also other beliefs like the ability of saints to pray on behalf of believers. The idea of Purgatory as a place of afterlife purification before entering Heaven is also another belief made by Catholics. However, many people are considering this idea false because the purgatory was never mentioned in the Bible, nor the concept of “afterlife purification” before entering Heaven.