Are Catholics Christians?
Yes, Catholics are Christians.
As our Lord Jesus Christ teaches, and his Catholic Church affirms, one becomes his disciple through the sacrament of baptism—“in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” as our Lord prescribed in instituting the Trinitarian form (Matt. 28:19). So a valid baptism requires belief in the Holy Trinity, whether by the believer himself or by his parents if he is below the age of reason, and also that the Father sent his only begotten Son Jesus as the Savior of the world (John 3:16-17), redeeming us through his one sacrifice of Calvary. In addition, Catholics profess the Nicene Creed, so named from the earliest ecumenical (or general) council (Nicaea, A.D. 325), and which is a faithful development of the Apostles’ Creed, whose origin dates to the first century and thus the apostles’ teachings received from Jesus (Acts 2:42; Matt. 28:20). So both creeds summarize the core tenets of the Christian faith.
So why does this question keep coming up? One key reason is because many Christians view Catholics as idolaters, particularly because they think Catholics worship something and someone other than Jesus in offering the sacrifice of the Mass, although the devil and his earthly devotees know better.
What Does “Christian” Mean?
The first time followers of Jesus were called Christians was in Antioch, a city three hundred miles north of Jerusalem (Acts 11:26). The word “Christian” comes from the Greek word Christianos, which means “little Christ” or “little anointed one.”
Catholics believe in the one, true Christ Jesus (John 14:6), not a counterfeit version—the one Son of God who “became flesh” to redeem the world (John 1:1-3, 14).So we believe that he was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
What Does “Catholic” Mean?
The word Catholic comes from the Greek katholikos, meaning “universal” or “according to the whole.”
Early Christians used the word Catholic to describe the one Church Jesus founded precisely because it is synonymous with the global mission our Lord gave his apostles: to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18, emphasis added). The most ancient, extant use of the term is in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of our Lord through the witness of his apostles, around the year 110.
Being Catholic does not mean being something other than Christian. It means belonging to the one, universal Church Jesus founded, and into which he calls all of humanity.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) provides,
To believe that the Church is “holy” and “catholic,” and that she is “one” and “apostolic” (as the Nicene Creed adds), is inseparable from belief in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (CCC 750)
Who Founded the Catholic Church?
Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus clearly establishes a visible Church, founded on the apostles (Eph. 2:19-20), to whom he gives authority to guide, govern, and sanctify his people, including through baptism, the sacrament of confession after baptism (John 20:21-23), and offering anew his one sacrifice of Calvary “in remembrance” of him under the signs of bread and wine (Luke 22:19-20). To foster and maintain unity, Jesus gives St. Peter and his papal successors primacy in leading the Church, chiefly entrusting to them the keys of the kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19), the restored and fulfilled New Covenant kingdom of Israel; and he promises Peter and his other apostles—and, by extension, their successors—that the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth (John 16:13). Indeed, the Lord made provision for his apostles to have successors to safeguard his Church until his return at the end of the world (see Acts 1:15-26; Matt. 28:20).
So the Catholic Church traces its foundation directly back to our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles, whom he fully empowered by sending the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Therefore, the Catholic Church is a divinely ordained and sustained entity, not a manmade invention of subsequent centuries.
Are Catholics and Christians the Same?
Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic.
As noted, Jesus founded one Catholic Church. However, over time, some Christians in the East separated from full communion with the Church, yet have maintained the bonds of the seven sacraments. Centuries later, many other Christians broke from full communion with the Catholic Church, beginning in the 1500s with a German priest named Martin Luther, who initiated a revolt that has become known as the Protestant Reformation.
Because of this break, many in the United States employ the term “Christian” to describe only non-Catholic Protestants, even if they recognize Catholics as authentic Christians. That restrictive usage is, at best, misleading because it fosters the mistaken conviction that Catholics aren’t true Christians, or at least suffer from grave deficiencies in their beliefs.
Why Do Some Protestants Say Catholics Aren’t Christian?
As noted above, many Protestants base this conviction on a mistaken understanding of the sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments in general. In addition, many Protestants also define Christian discipleship in terms of whether someone has been “saved,” because they stress making a personal declaration of faith in Jesus, which they believe gives them “eternal security” or assurance of eternal salvation.
Because Catholics believe that faith must be lived out through obedience to Christ—as Jesus notes in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5—7), his words to the rich young man (Matt. 16:26-26), et al.— some Protestants infer that Catholics believe we can be saved through our good works. This inference is wrong, although the Church does teach, consistent with our Lord’s teaching in the Gospels, that we can reject or forfeit the gift of eternal salvation through mortal sin (see CCC 1854-1864).
The Catholic Church teaches that salvation is a free gift we receive from God, made possible by the merits of the one, atoning sacrifice of his divine Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To reaffirm, eternal salvation is a gift no one can merit on his own accord: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9). At the same time, Jesus calls us to grow in holiness and remain faithful to him, aided especially by the sacraments he instituted and in which we intimately encounter him.
What Do Catholics Believe About Salvation?
According to the Catechism,
Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. “Since ’without faith it is impossible to please (God)’ and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life .’But he who endures to the end.'” (CCC 161)
So the Catholic Church does teach that we are saved by grace through faith, but, contrary to what many Protestants believe, not through faith alone, i.e., not apart from living out our faith, and that includes the good thief whom the Romans crucified with Jesus.
Indeed, one can accept or reject the gift of salvation through his life choices. Salvation is a gift, but one must persevere in that gift as Jesus teaches (Matt. 7:21-23; 10:22), including through receiving the sacraments and otherwise abiding in God’s love (John 15:5-6, 10; Jas. 2:14-17).
Once we sin gravely, i.e., commit mortal sin, we no longer have the sanctifying grace conferred on us at our baptism and which is needed for our salvation (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21). Thus, we must repent and amend our lives to restore our relationship with God.
Do Catholics Believe in Jesus Christ?
Yes.
Catholics believe that:
- Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man to redeem mankind
- He is fully God and fully man
- He was born of the Virgin Mary
- He was crucified, died, and was buried
- He rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven
- He is the author of salvation, offering salvation to the whole world
- He will come again to judge the living and the dead
Catholics participate in the “source and summit of the Christian life” at Mass (CCC 1324); and it is that same offering anew of Jesus’ one sacrifice as he commanded us (Luke 22:19-20), and by also partaking of that same self-offering in the Holy Eucharist—receiving his body, blood, soul, divinity as the New Covenant Passover Lamb of God under the appearances of bread and wine—that we can partake of the eternal life he came to give us (John 6:53-58). Thus, to say Catholics do not believe in Jesus is false. Catholicism is the fullness of Christianity.
What About the Nicene Creed?
The Nicene Creed is one of the most important professions of Christian belief in history. At the Council of Nicaea in 325, Christian bishops hammered it out, in particular to defend the truth that Jesus Christ is true and true man—and thus to combat the heresy of Arianism which denied it.
In the Nicene Creed, Catholics profess:
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Catholics profess the Nicene Creed at Mass every Sunday, as do Eastern Orthodox churches in a slightly altered form in their Divine Liturgies. In addition, some Protestant ecclesial communities profess the Creed at their Sunday services, even though they are not in full communion with the Church.
Catholic vs. Christian: Is There a Difference?
The real difference is not between Catholic and Christian.
The difference is between the one Church our Lord Jesus Christ established and groups of Christians that later split from it, whether Eastern Orthodox churches or, centuries later, various Protestant denominations that have increasingly multiplied.
Those Christians in full communion with the Catholic Church enjoy fully the bonds of unity that our Lord has bestowed on his people:
What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity “binds everything together in perfect harmony.”265 But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion:
– profession of one faith received from the Apostles;
– common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments;
– apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family.266 (CCC 815)
This is why the Catholic Church is the original Christian Church, the one Church Jesus himself founded, as both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition attest, and as the Church’s Magisterium otherwise affirms in history. And we call all of our separated brothers and sisters into full communion with the Lord’s Church, not in a triumphalist or condescending manner, but out of obedience to Jesus (John 17:20-23)—and thus because of a joyful desire for them to fully experience the truth that sets us free, now and forever (John 8:31-32).
Roman Catholic: Does “Roman” Mean Something Different?
The term Roman Catholic is often misunderstood.
“Roman” refers to the Church’s connection to Rome, the city where St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred and where the Church, the Apostolic or Holy See, is consequently headquartered. It does not mean that Catholics are a regional denomination which splintered from the one true Church Jesus founded.
This term gained popularity following the Protestant Reformation as a means to marginalize the Church. Protestant leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin originally saw themselves as restoring the authentic Catholic Church Jesus founded. In time, though, they began referring to as “Roman Catholics” those Christians who professed the divinely safeguarded leadership of the pope, as they did so as a means to strip the Church of her claim to universality and thus divine foundation. “Roman Catholic” can accurately refer to one who is a member of the Roman (or Latin) Rite; and Eastern Catholics rightly describe themselves as being in full communion with Rome in recognition of the divine primacy of the pope, the Bishop of Rome. In contrast, the term is still spuriously used among some Protestant Christians as a pejorative to deny Catholicism of her four, divinely given marks or characteristics (see CCC 811-812).
Jesus Established the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church
Jesus did not establish a collection of separate Christian groups, nor did he ascend into heaven without giving his apostles a missionary mandate. He established a visible, hierarchical Church, so that his disciples “may all be one,” as he prayed to the Father (John 17:20-23).
Having a personal relationship with Christ is crucial, but this is only properly ordered when it is within the context of the one Church our Lord Jesus Christ established. All relationships have responsibilities, and our Lord has laid out clearly those required for his followers. God wills that we all become his children beginning in baptism, and that we also come into full communion together in his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church—not because Catholics leaders have necessarily been the holiest throughout history, they haven’t; but because he, our divine Savior, has founded and sustained his Catholic Church as his New Covenant kingdom of Israel and thus his universal instrument through which he offers salvation to the whole world.
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