Catholic churches differ from the Orthodox in certain rites. Latin, eastern liturgical, and other western ones all have a place in this faith. The visible head of the Catholic Church is the Pope, who heads the Holy See and, of course, the Vatican in Rome. It is worth noting that the history of such architectural monuments as Catholic churches is very rich and diverse. Each of them differs in its features.
The most famous Catholic temples
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is located in Italy, in Florence. At the time when it was built, it was the largest cathedral in all of Europe. Today is the third largest. It is impossible not to note the unique dome, whose height reaches 91 meters, and in diameter - 42 meters. On its facade is the family coat of arms of the Demidovs, who have made a significant monetary contribution to the design of this cathedral. Also famous is the Cathedral of St. Peter, which is located in Rome. It is the largest Christian church in the world (height - 136 m, length - 218 m). It began to be built in 1506, where the ancient basilica used to be, where the remains of the notorious apostle Peter were located. It should be noted the Basilica of St. Stephen, which is the largest temple in all of Budapest. It can easily accommodate 8.5 thousand people. Its total area is about 4730 square meters. m. The plan of this basilica is somewhat reminiscent of the Greek cross. And, of course, the Basilica of St. Adalbert, which is located in Hungary, is widely known. This cathedral is the largest temple in the country and the fifth largest in the world.
Moscow Cathedrals
The Roman Catholic Church, located in Moscow, is the largest Catholic cathedral in all of Russia. It is designed for five thousand places. Tomash Iosifovich Bogdanovich-Dvorzhetsky, the architect of the temple, created a truly masterpiece. This cathedral was built from 1899 to 1917. The temple itself was consecrated in 1911. It should be noted that in 1938 the cathedral was taken from the Catholics. He was fully returned in the 1996th year. This temple is a neo-Gothic three-naved cruciform basilica. This is a cathedral in which masses are held in different languages. This is French, and English, and Polish, and Russian, and Spanish, and even Latin. It should be noted that there are even trident holy masses and services in accordance with Armenian rites. This church has one of the largest organ in all of Russia.
Temple history
If we talk about Catholic churches, as well as their history, it should be noted that this cathedral is associated with very interesting facts. This temple was allowed to be built only far from the very center of the capital and other significant churches. Moreover, it was forbidden to erect sculptures and towers outside the building. It was said a little earlier that the church was taken from the Catholics in the year 1938. Then he was looted and made a hostel from a sacred place. It should be noted that the Second World War affected the church: several spiers and turrets were destroyed due to the bombing. In the year 2002, in the spring, the temple was involved in prayer at the Rosary with Pope John Paul II and Catholics from all over the world. And in the 2009th year, on December 12th, the cathedral celebrated ten years from the moment it was renovated. A year and a half later, on September 4, 2011, the centenary of this stunning building was magnificently celebrated.
The fate of the temple
This Catholic church on Georgian street is never empty. It organizes catechesis, various youth meetings, music concerts that take place as part of any charity events, as well as much more. Church shop, library, the editorial board of the well-known to date magazine called the Catholic Herald - The Light of the Gospel, the office of a Christian charity, foundations - all this refers to the temple The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Temples of St. Petersburg
In Moscow there are quite a few different churches, which can be discussed for a long time. But the Catholic churches of St. Petersburg deserve special attention. For example, the church of St. Stanislav. The building itself was built in the years 1823-25 on the corner of the Workshop and Trading Street. The Catholic Church of St. Stanislav was erected on the very spot where the garden plot and the house of the Metropolitan named Stanislav Bogush-Sestrentsevich were located. He received his name in memory of him. It is worth noting that today a spiritual library operates near the temple. This building is the second Catholic cathedral of St. Petersburg. Before him, there was only the temple of St. Catherine. Despite the rather modest size of the cathedral, the parish was growing rapidly. By 1917, the number of parishioners exceeded 10 thousand people.
Temple development
In 1829, the Catholic Church of St. Stanislav opened a school named after Sestrentsevich. It should be noted that for a rather long time (from 1887 to 1921), a prominent figure and also the famous philanthropist of the Catholic Church of all Russia, Anthony Maletsky, who was a bishop, served in the cathedral. A beautiful memorial plaque reminds of this fact inside the temple.
Differences between Orthodox and Catholic Churches
This topic is quite popular in Christianity. It is worth noting that Catholic and Orthodox churches have both similarities and differences. The first, most important similarity is that the followers of both faiths are Christians. This is known to all. Catholic churches differ from Orthodox churches in both their appearance and generally accepted rites. Their understanding of the Church and its unity is somewhat different. The Orthodox share the sacraments and faith, but Catholics also consider it necessary to have a head - the Pope. The Catholic Church believes that the Holy Spirit emanates from the Father and the Son, confessing in the Creed. Orthodoxy is a little different. They profess the Holy Spirit, which comes only from the Father. In Catholicism, the sacrament of marriage must be concluded for life - divorce is prohibited. But the Orthodox Church in some cases allows divorce.
Catholics also adopted the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. And this means that even original sin supposedly did not touch her. Orthodoxy glorifies the holiness of the Mother of God, but believes that she was born with original sin, just like the rest of the people.
Similarities of Orthodoxy and Catholicism
It is worth noting that, despite the mass of differences, these two religions are similar to each other. Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism recognize all Christian sacraments, of which there are only seven. In the same way, they have common norms (in other words, canons) of church life and the main components of ritualism: the nature and amount of the performance of all the sacraments, the sequence and content of worship, the interior, and the layout of the church. There is one more similarity: services are conducted in national languages. In addition, Latin (as you know, a dead language) is used in Catholic and Old Slavonic (not used in everyday life) - in Orthodox churches. Despite all kinds of differences, Orthodox Christians, just like Catholics, profess the teaching of Jesus Christ all over the world. And here the most important thing to remember: let once the prejudices and mistakes of people have separated Christians, but faith in one God still unites us.