Читать книгу The World's Christians - Douglas Jacobsen - Страница 34

With more than a billion members, the Catholic tradition is the largest by far of the four Christian mega‐traditions, and its “catholicity” – its willingness to embrace difference and to learn from others – has added incredible variety to the Catholic tradition. Rather than forcing people to choose between one style of faith or another, Catholicism has opted to be a tradition of “both/and.” Whatever is seen as having spiritual merit and value can be incorporated into Catholicism, even when the opposite emphases are also present within the tradition. Accordingly, both celibacy and marriage are seen as laudable, both retreat from the world (monasticism) and service to the world (social action) are encouraged, and both scientific inquiry and belief based on faith alone are affirmed. Catholicism’s both/and stance has also allowed it to adopt and adapt various ideas and practices that originated in other Christian traditions. Some forms of Catholicism can thus look and feel quite Orthodox (veneration of icons and the respect given to Mary), while others can look and feel quite Pentecostal (speaking in tongues and belief in miracles), or even Protestant (Bible study by individuals in small groups). This same commitment to catholicity has also allowed Catholicism to welcome and appreciate spiritual insights and practices offered by many non‐Christian religions and cultures.

Catholicism has been a global faith for a longer period of time than any other Christian tradition. Up until the mid‐1400s almost all Catholics lived in Western Europe, but then its realm of influence expanded rapidly, first to the west coast of Africa and later to Asia and the Americas. Today Latin America is the demographic center of the Catholic world, the home of two‐fifths of the world’s Catholics. Western Europe has the second largest number of Catholics, followed by Sub‐Saharan Africa and East Asia. (See Figure 2.1.)