#23 Do We Need The Catholic Church?

The question “does global Christianity need the Catholic Church?” is a flawed question. A better question would be does the Catholic Church need global Christianity? Since globally the Catholic Church makes up 50% of world Christianity while the Protestant Church makes up 37% of world Christianity. Christianity is shrinking in most of the world except in the global south where Protestantism is growing. For the Catholic Church this is an issue since 40% of the Catholic Church lives in Latin America. The growth of the protestant Church in Latin America may harm Catholicism in Latin America. The Catholic Church needs the protestant Church. Because it provides an example of how Christianity can take many forms leading people to Christ without being overly dogmatic.

The Catholic Church needs to learn to understand and accept other forms of doctrine in order to survive in the 21st century. This is most evident with secondary dogmatic issues. Such as contraception, abortion, evolution, and approaches to LGBTQIA. The Catholic Church’s understanding of these issues hinders some people from being Christian in the Global north. The issue is not these doctrines but rather how the Catholic Church understands what is necessary for salvation. If the Catholic Church could learn to accept other forms of Christianity, then it would provide room for the protestant movement to grow within the Catholic Church preserving its relevance and authority. An example of how this could happen is given by Rocca when they say that the Catholic Church is allowing former Anglicans to preserve their identity through liturgies and prayers.

1 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/27/500-years-after-the-reformation-5-facts-about-protestants-around-the-world/

2 Ibid. point 1

3 https://www.panoramas.pitt.edu/art-and-culture/growing-protestant-presence-latin-america

4 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/27/500-years-after-the-reformation-5-facts-about-protestants-around-the-world/

5 The Pope Lets a Thousand Liturgies Bloom by Francis X. Rocca