Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church (Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܟܠܕܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ‎, ʿītha kaldetha qāthuliqetha), (Arabic: الكنيسة الكلدانية al-Kanīsa al-kaldāniyya) is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, under the Holy See of the Catholicos-Patriarch of Babylon, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church. The Chaldean Catholic Church presently comprises an estimated 500,000 people in northern Iraq, and adjacent areas in southeast Turkey and northwest Iran. There is a vigorous and often heated discussion about the ethnicity and ethnic self-identification of Chaldean Catholics.

History

The history of the Chaldean Church is the history of the Church of the East founded between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD in Assyria (Persian ruled Assuristan) — represented today by at least eleven different churches, (then ruled by the successive Parthian and Sassanid Empires, where it was known by derivative names for Assyria; Athura and Assuristan) — between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. The region of Assyria was also the birthplace of the Syriac language and Syriac script, both of which remain important within all strands of Syriac Christianity. The terms Syriac and Syrian originally being Indo-Anatolian derivatives of Assyrian.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.25 billion members worldwide. One of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation.Headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, its doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church is also notable within the Western Christian tradition for its celebration of the seven sacraments.

The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one true church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter. The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches and religious institutes such as the Jesuits, mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders, reflect a variety of theological emphases in the Church.

Catholic Church (disambiguation)

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the church in communion with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), the largest Christian church in the world.

Catholic Church, Catholic church, catholic Church and catholic church may also refer to: