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Wait… Aren’t Catholics Already Christians?
Teaching religion class comes with many joys, occasional headaches, and at least one weekly identity crisis.
Case in point: the moment a student raises their hand with the most innocent expression and asks, “But wait — why do Christians do this, and Catholics do that?”
Cue me taking a deep breath, smiling, and trying to figure out how to explain 2,000 years of church history to a room full of seventh graders who just discovered TikTok dances with the Holy Spirit filter.
The Classic Mix-Up
It goes something like this:
- Student: “So Christians believe this… but Catholics believe that.”
- Me: “Well actually, Catholics are Christians.”
- Student: “Wait, what? Then who are the real Christians
- Me: (internally screaming)
It’s the religious version of that old rectangle vs. square debate. (All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic. Congratulations, you’ve just passed Geometry of Faith 101.)
How It Actually Plays Out
Me, valiantly trying:
“So, think of it like this: Christianity is the big…
