What is the heart of Catholicism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

What is the heart of Catholicism - Essay Example For salvation and redemption, people need to gather around the bishop since he is the true descendant of God and, therefore, of Jesus. In Catholicism, this institutional approach to belief and the importance of communion with the Holy See through a religious medium like church or other religious authority are essentially inspired by Biblical evidences and history. One of Jesus’ speeches supports Catholicism’s claim about the importance of a believer’s communion with the religious authority is as following: â€Å"I say to you, something greater than the temple is here† (Barron 24). Indeed in Catholicism, the ideas of ‘temple’ and ‘bishop’ are the representatives of each other. In this regard, Barron says, â€Å"If Jesus is, in his person, the true temple, then he should be the definitive source of teaching, healing and, forgiveness and this is just what the Gospel tells us† (Barron 24). Indeed this very basis of Christ’s persona as the sole source salvation and redemption lies at the heart of Catholicism. Indeed, proper religious authority plays an important role in shaping the rites and rituals of Catholicism. The propriety of religious authority is often determined by sacramental evidences. While the Catholics unanimously believe in the ministration of Christ as the temple of teaching, salvation and redemption, the bishop is believed to be the true spiritual descendant of Christ himself. Therefore a bishop plays a very important role in catholic rites and rituals. For an instance, Catholic dogma asserts that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must be administered by certain qualified persons. According to the Roman Catholic Church, â€Å"only a Catholic Priest ordained into the apostolic succession can administered the Eucharist† (Erickson 1122). Erickson further says in this regard, â€Å"If any other person should take the same physical elements and pronounce the same words over them, they would remain bread and