Week 6 Prompt GL350: In what ways is the Catholic Church both Roman and Global?

Blog 6: In what ways is the Catholic Church both Roman and Global?

                To begin, the Catholic religion is a very widespread religion which is located in every country in the world. Members of the Church can range from young babies, to fellow senior citizens. This diverse widespread population of Catholicism is one of the most well-known and popular religions that exists. When trying to decipher the difference between “global” and “roman” we have to first explain what both terms mean in relation to the context of the discussion. To me, the meaning of global is that it is not centralized. The religion is not concentrated to a certain geographic region, or certain ethnicity of people. Rome is the center of Catholicism and there are also many ways in which Catholicism is Roman.

                First the ways in which Catholicism is “Roman” will be discussed. On page 295 of Barzini he says that “Rome was the great mother, the womb from which everything Italians held dear had come, without whose possession they could find no peace. It’s loss was irreplaceable.” This is an example of how Italians treat what is dear and close to them; which is Catholicism. 90% of Italians are of the Catholic religion. Rome is home to the Vatican which makes it “Roman”. On the same page (295) of Barzini he says that “Rome was also God’s seat on the Earth, the rock on which Christ had extablished His Church, the center of a vast spiritual empire of which all Christians had been subjects until a few years before” Rome is the center of the religion and Barzini states that this make it Roman because it is held so dear to Italians.

                Catholicism is global because it meets the standards for being so which is that it is not ultimately centralized to its home, and to its home group of people. The religion is spread throughout the world. Each region has its own slight differences in the ways that the religion practices are carried out. In other words, Rome is not the only place in which there are Catholics obviously. It is without a doubt that Rome is the center of the religion, but the widespread practice of it makes it global.

                The global spread of the religion is just one of many examples to why it is Global and not just “Roman”, but the quote by Barzini is an example of why it is “roman” and not only global. We talk in class about the Italian culture in relation to our own and how in some ways they are the same but in others they are different. I think that this applies to Catholicism as being global as well as roman. This mix generates the religion that we know today. Rome will always be the home to the religion but the religion will always be the centralized to Rome itself. Gaudium states that “It is the role of the international community to coordinate and promote development.” It is very important to keep this mix of roman and global under control so that there is order within the religion as well as conformity.