Is the Catholic Church a global, or a strictly Roman institution?

When visiting Rome, even for non-religious purposes, it is difficult, if not impossible, to avoid seeing some influence of the Catholic Church everywhere you go.  Art, architecture, and religion all show great influence from the Church throughout history.  This week, we’ve studied the Renaissance era.  If it weren’t for the financial contributions from the Pope and other clergy to the artists of the time, there would be no Renaissance at all, and the Dark Ages would have dragged on possibly for centuries more. 

When I first arrived in Rome, my idea of the Catholic Church was that it had its greatest influence in Rome.  This was because Rome is the central site of Catholicism.  The Pope resides here, St. Peter was buried here, and the Vatican Museums are here (housing the greatest collection of Catholic historical artwork and documents).  However, after attending the Papal Audience earlier this week, my feelings have changed dramatically.  As I sat, listening to Pope Benedict XVI read his speech first in Italian, then in French, then English, then German, followed by Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and a few others that I couldn’t make out, I realized that the Catholic Church was in fact a worldwide institution.  It makes many efforts to reach every country around the world.  The Papal Audience, for me, was the perfect example of this. 

Many people may believe that the Church only has influence in Rome, or even in Italy.  For instance, in America, we do not have a central Catholic leader, and must refer to one who resides in Italy, on the other side of the world.  This may seem like an inconvenience, something that would make the Church unable to reach Catholics in the United States, but it’s not true.  Catholicism is just as strong in other parts of the world as it is in Italy.  And as I said before, the Church is doing everything it can to reach out to people across the globe, not just to those who live in Rome.  The simple act of the Pope reading in so many different languages, making sure that everyone listening could understand, proved this to me.  It was a very moving and eye-opening experience for me because of this.  I feel honored that I was given the chance to attend, and would recommend it to anyone, Christian or not.