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The Catholic Church is one of the surviving Christian churches which has a continuous history going back to the time of the Apostles.

Along with the Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East, the Catholic Church is one of the 'ancient and apostolic' churches. While the divisions between these churches arose later, it is not accurate to say either side was created at the time of the schism.

The traditional 'birthday' of the Church is Pentecost, after Jesus had ascended into heaven... though it is not as if the Holy Spirit handed down a constitution and bylaws! The organization and structure of the Church has changed, sometimes radically, over the centuries, but the Church, being fundamentally the community of Christians, has existed in some form since the apostles.

The first record of the church being called 'Catholic' is from the first decade of the second century, but this is a description of a reality already in place.

The Catholic Religion, also known as Roman Catholicism, a denomination of Christianity dates back to the foundation of Christianity in approximately 33 CE. It split from the Orthodox Church in 1054 CE in the Great Schism.

Catholic Answer

The Catholic Faith started with the piercing of Jesus' side with a lance and blood and water flowed out - signifying the Eucharist and Baptism. It was then declared to the world on Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit, so just take whatever year it is now, and subtract 33 from it to get the age of the Catholic faith, i.e. 2014-33=1,981 years predating any of the other Churches: When Christ appointed Peter as His first Vicar He promised that the Church would be remain one and that the Holy Spirit would guide it into all truth until the end of the world. There have been various churches which have split from it, but it remains, as promised by Christ, as His Mystical Body, remains one, remains holy, remains apostolic, and remains catholic.

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11y ago

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