The Roman Catholic Church is the world's oldest and largest Christian church. Jesus Christ is the center figure of the Catholic religion. The church first began their religious practices nearly 2000 years ago.http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..ro065500.a#FWNE.fw..ro065500.a Catholics look to the Pope as their authority in spiritual matters. Below him are cardinals, archbishops and bishops.

In May 2009, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, spoke out against the film Angels & Demons. Donahue said the film, starring Tom Hanks, mixes "fact with fiction" and said the movie wrongly depicts that the Catholic Church brutalized a secret society in the 1600s.http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/12/angels.demons.controversy/

Catholics believe that Christianity has its beginning from when Jesus declared Simon Peter as the "rock" of his Church.http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/thechurch.html At that point in time, it is believed that Peter was made the first Pope of the Catholic Church. After Peter, 265 different popes followed him as pope.

Beginning in the 800s A.D., different schisms began to come up over differences in beliefs in the Catholic Church. Divisions in the church continued to develop and would eventually hit a breaking point in 1517, when Martin Luther started the Lutheran Church, which was considered the first Protestant Church.http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/thechurch.html

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. He spent 40 days with his apostles in his resurrected body before ascending back to heaven. Catholics believe that when Jesus returns at the end of the world he will physically resurrect all who have died.Catholic Answers: Resurrection of the Body

1. Jesus was the son of Godhttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html
2. Holy Trinity: Three divine persons who are one Godhttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html
3. Transubstantiation: Bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus during Holy Communionhttp://www.catholic.com/library/who_can_receive_communion.asp
4. Immaculate Conception: Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virginhttp://www.ancient-future.net/basics.html

''There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church -- which is, of course, quite a different thing." —Archbishop Fulton J. SheenIs There Tea After Mass: Exploring the Treasures of Our Catholic Faith(May 31, 2008)