I believe in God, Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten son, Our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and of Mary, the Virgin, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried; on the third day He rose from the dead ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead; and in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the dead. (Apostles Creed)

I am Catholic, and this prayer that is said at church every Sunday encompasses my beliefs as a Catholic. Before I get into what I believe in as a Catholic, I would like to give some background on the religion itself, because this has also shaped my beliefs.

Catholicism comes from Christianity. Of all the religions, Christianity is the most widespread and has the largest number of members. (Smith, p.317) Christianity is based on actual history, and they have historical facts to back up a lot of the ideas.

The word "Catholic" is generally taken to mean "universal", although the Greek roots of the word mean "according to (kata) the whole (holos). In the ancient Church, it was used to refer to a single,

Some of the beliefs that are heard about in more recent times, are the church's stance on abortion, the death penalty, birth control/premarital sex, women in high church positions, and same sex relationships. The church is opposed to all of these.

I plan on being Catholic forever, and I am proud of my religion and spirituality. My religious beliefs have made me a better, more compassionate, and stronger person. I believe in life after death, and look forward to the end of my faith-journey.

visible communion, separate from others, bonded together through faith in Jesus Christ (web). As far back as the ninth century, St. Cyril of Jerusalem stated: "The Church is called Catholic, because it teaches universally and infallibly each and every doctrined which must come to the knowledge of men, concerning things visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly, ...because it brings every race of men into subjection to holiness, ...because it universally treats and heals every class of sins, and because it possesses within itself every conceivable form of virtue, in deeds and in words and in the spiritual gifts of every description." Catholics are followers of Jesus. Our journey begins at baptism, and we continue on that journey towards eternal happiness.

I think that one of the reasons that I no longer attend Church is because I find it very boring. I think that a lot of the religion is out of touch. I want to learn how to apply my beliefs to the here and now. In school I learned that God loves all, but the Church is unaccepting of homosexuals. I have a problem with that because I feel that it is not a choice, and they are entitled to live their lives the way that makes them happy. I hope that in the future, the Church will accept them for what they are: God's children. The Church is also opposed to the death penalty. The Church believes that anyone whose life is terminated in a gas chamber, by hanging, by lethal injection or by a firing squad is one of us-a human person, a brother or a sister, however cruel and inhumane his or her actions may appear. (web) That is probably the one thing that the Church has taken

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)