Astounding Facts About the Catholic Church You Didn’t Know

Based on our history classes, we all know that the Catholic Church is one of the world’s and history’s prime movers in the advancement of Western civilization. Until now, the Catholic Church still exerts influence in the field of politics, literature, philosophy, music, science, arts, social institutions, and most especially in religious problems.

Astonishing Facts about the Catholic Church

1 There are more Catholics in Brazil than in Poland, France, and Italy combined.

2 In the early times, around 11th Century AD, the Catholic Church was against the use of forks since it was an instrument of the devil.

3 The inventor of the first printing press was a Catholic named Johannes Gutenberg and the first book printed was the Bible.

4 The world’s Western culture was mostly based on the Canon Law, which is the Catholic Church’s system of laws.

5 Monaco, a country known for its casinos, does not allow its Catholic citizens to gamble within the country.

6 Roman Catholicism has over 1.18 billion followers and is the largest Christian group in the world.

7 The Swiss Papal Guard protects the Pope. They are at least 5’ 8” tall, with good conduct, Swiss, male, completed military training in Switzerland, and of course—Catholic.

8 In the US, 15% of hospitals are Catholic hospitals.

9 For the Catholic Church, In vitro fertilization is not morally accepted.

10 The Devil’s Advocate is a real position within the Catholic Church.

+ Bonus Knowledge Nuggets

The Holy Pope, who is the head of the Catholic Church all over the world is seated in the Vatican—the smallest country in the world. Further, the Vatican City only has less than a thousand citizens but the crime rate is 1.5 crimes per citizen. Of course, these crimes are due to the massive crowds of tourists that visit the city day in and day out.