The evergreen Church
Christ founded his one holy apostolic Church and guaranteed her existence until the end of time. The members of this Church were called Christians for the first time at Antioch. Sometime later, in the first century, St Ignatius of Antioch called this...
Christ founded his one holy apostolic Church and guaranteed her existence until the end of time. The members of this Church were called Christians for the first time at Antioch. Sometime later, in the first century, St Ignatius of Antioch called this same Church "Catholic", that is, universal.
Today the Catholic Church counts over one billion members. There are over 5,000 bishops and over 400,000 priests.
There are millions of converts who came into the Catholic Church in the last few years who were versed in the teachings of their previous churches, some who were even proudly anti-Catholic. However, in their quest to prove Catholicism wrong, many found the Catholic Church to be the one Jesus founded.
Often, converts say three things kept them from Catholicism: the Eucharist, Mary and the Papacy. When they are asked what brought them into the Catholic Church, they basically give the same answer: the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother and the Holy Father, or the magisterium. They knew little about these topics until they read the early Church Fathers and saw the continuum of 2,000 years of the Catholic Church's history and teachings.
The travels of John Paul II together with the setting up of World Youth Day continued to attract millions to the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI is likewise being warmly welcomed wherever he goes.
Never has there been such a growth in the life of the Catholic Church as is occurring today throughout the world.