Trip to Visit the Roman

¶ … trip to visit the Roman Catholic Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana in California. The mission is located at the North end of the San Fernando Valley, to the North of Los Angeles. Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana was founded on 8 September 1797 by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. The mission was named for Ferdinand, the King of Spain. The name in the local Native American language was Pashecgna. A variety of disasters that included earthquakes in 1812 as well as the digging up of the church floor by gold prospectors caused the mission to fall into ruins. Many structures have been restored including the church, monastery and some other buildings around the quadrangle. The church has an active congregation ("California Missions Online").

Proselytization was the very purpose of the mission and religious orders keep this tradition alive today. New members are known as catechumens. New members also come via marriage from outside of the Church. Many catechumens say they want to join the established, universal Church (Matthews, 342-346).

The name of the Roman Catholic Church comes from the claim of the Pope to be the head of the first and official "universal" church that personifies the original Church doctrines. While Christianity is divided up into denominations and groups, the Roman Church recognizes only its authority. Although it maintains ecumenical ties with other groups that are diplomatic in nature, the Roman Catholic aim is to recapture the original unity of Christianity prior to its divisions into Western, Eastern, and Protestant divisions. After all, an ecumenical counsel means a counsel of the "whole church." The Roman Catholic Church sees itself as the embodiment of this universal church with a duty to reunite its divisions (ibid).

The group is by far the largest divisions of Christianity with around one billion adherents. The group believes that Jesus is the savior. They believe that God exists in a trinity, made up of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. They believe Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. There is an emphasis upon the sacraments (communion, etc.) to unite the believer with Jesus as the Savior (ibid).

Abortion is against Church doctrine and it is very pro-family. Groups such as the Franciscans work with the poor. Catholic Charities is one of the largest social welfare groups in the country (ibid).

While there are groups within the Roman Catholic Church, they all recognize the Pope as the leader of the Church that is the successor to the Apostle Peter, the "rock" upon whom Jesus founded his movement (Matthew 16:18). The group sees itself as the original Church, dating back to the time of Jesus (ibid).

The Church is organized into bishops who head up geographical entities called dioceses, priests, deacons and the laity. The membership is diverse made up of all ethnic and racial groups. Member contributions finance the churches operations. Parochial schools have on occasion received government assistance, but these programs are controversial (ibid).