Christian Journey: Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)?

Of course when most people hear the word - Catholic Church - they think of the Roman Catholic Church, which is also called the Catholic Church, the largest church in the world with 1.2 billion members worldwide. So even though the word Catholic Church is used by many in connection with other churches (as I explained in Part 1 and Part 2), most people connect it with the Roman Catholic Church.

What many do not realize is that the Roman Catholic Church is actually made up of 23 churches, or rather 23 autonomous particular churches - what is called in Latin sui iuris churches (which literally means "of one's own right" or "of their own law" - basically self-governing). They all espouse the same faith and beliefs. They differ in traditions, disciplines, and Canon law (the law of the church), collectively known as a "Rite." They are all in full communion with the Pope in Rome, the Holy See.

The largest of these 23 churches is called the Latin Church, which has 1 billion members. It is based on what is called the Latin Rite (also known as the Western Rite). The Latin Rite itself contains the following Rites: the Roman Rite (which most Catholics observe - the most recent version after Vatican II is known as the Mass of Paul VI), the Ambrosian Rite (followed in and around Milan, Italy), the Aquileian Rite (now largely defunct - Northern Italy), Rite of Braga (Braga, Italy), Mozarabic Rite (Toledo and Salamanca, Spain). There have been others, but they are now largely defunct.

The other 22 churches, which together have around 17 million members, are collectively known as the Eastern Catholic Churches. Many of them were once associated with either the Eastern Orthodox Church or Oriental Orthodoxy. I have listed these churches below, according to the overall liturgical Rite they follow, though each church has its own Rite.

Alexandrian Rite (St. Mark)