A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used to refer to buildings of other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is often arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle and the junction of the cross is located at the altar area.
A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city. Instances of this occurred in England before the Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of 'Bath and Wells,' and of 'Coventry and Lichfield.' These two dioceses were each named for both cities that served as bishop's seats.
The Diocese of El Camino Real is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, located in northern and central California. The diocese includes the cities of San Jose, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo. The diocese includes all Episcopal congregations in the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo.
The Catholic Church in Belize is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Bishops in Belize are members of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in continental Central America. The diocese comprises the entirety of Belize, the former British dependency British Honduras. It is a Latin suffragan of the Archdiocese of Kingston and a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, yet still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
St. John's College has three divisions and a number of central academic centres and activities. Through its divisions, it offers a wide variety of liberal arts and science courses at the secondary, British A-level, and United States junior college levels. St. John's College is a Roman Catholic institution in the Jesuit tradition, one of the oldest, largest, and most diverse educational institutions in Belize, founded by the Jesuits in 1887.
Christianity is the dominant religion in Belize. The single largest denomination is the Roman Catholic Church with about 40.1% of the population, a reduction from 49.6% of the population in 2000, 57.7% in 1991 and 61.9% in 1980, although absolute numbers have still risen. Other major groups include Pentecostal with 8.4% of the population up from 7.4% in 2000 and 6.3% in 1991, Seventh-day Adventists with 5.4% of the population up from 5.2% in 2000 and 4.1% in 1991. The following of the Anglican Church has been steadily declining, with only 4.7% of the population in 2010 compared to 6.95% in 1991. About 12,000 Mennonites live mostly in the rural districts of Cayo and Orange Walk. People who declared they belong to no religion make up 15.5% of the population in 2010, more than double their 2000 census numbers. 11.2% adhere to other religions which include the Maya religion, Afro-American religions, Mormons, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Bahá'ís, Rastafarians and others.
Dean Russel Lindo was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.
The Anglican Diocese of Belize was established in 1883. The current bishop is Philip Wright.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Belize.
Yarborough Cemetery is an historical cemetery located in Belize City, Belize. It was the first cemetery in British Honduras, used from 1787 until 1896, and was established for the burial of members of the colonial Anglican Church. It was named after the magistrate who owned the land. The cemetery was renovated in 1999 with the addition of perimeter fencing, landscaping and a marble memorial wall highlighting the names and contributions of those buried there. In 2009, the government designated it an archaeological reserve.
Dorick McGowan Wright, DD, was born on 15 November 1945, in Belize City, Belize, Central America. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 26 January 2017 and appointed Fr. Lawrence Sydney Nicasio as new Bishop. From 2006-2017, he has served as the fourth bishop of the Catholic Church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan.
This history of the Catholic church in Belize has three parts: the historical periods of the Catholic presence in Belize, religious congregations laboring in Belize, and apostolic works undertaken.
When the Holy Redeemer Catholic parish was founded in 1852 it was the only parish in Belize and from it missionaries covered the whole country. When other parishes were founded Holy Redeemer remained a parish with its own history but with its leadership connected to the Catholic church in all of Belize under titles of governance that evolved over the years from apostolic prefect to apostolic vicar to bishop. It has remained the hub of the diocese, the bishop's church, as well as a parish in its own right.
