Churches in Rome

There are more than 900 churches in Rome, including some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic.

The first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. They were divided into three categories:

  1. the houses of private Roman citizens (people who hosted the meetings of Christians - also known as oratoria, oracula);
  2. the deaconries (places where charity distributions were given to the poor and placed under the control of a deacon); (The greatest deaconries had many deacons, and one of them was elected archdeacon.)
  3. other houses holding a titulus (known as domus ecclesia);

Read more about Churches In Rome:  Tituli, "Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome", Churches

Famous quotes containing the words churches and/or rome:

    “Political organizations have slowly substituted themselves for the Churches as the places for believing practices.... Politics has once again become religious.”
    —Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)

    “Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch
    Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my space.
    Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike
    Feeds beast as man. The nobleness of life
    Is to do thus; when such a mutual pair
    And such a twain can do ‘t, in which I bind,
    On pain of punishment, the world to weet
    We stand up peerless.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)