The Roman Catholic Church is the product, originally, of the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine in the year 313 C.E, the Council of Nicaea acting to homogenize articles of Christian faith and theology in 325. The definition of the word ‘catholic’ is ‘universal’ so here we have a title that literally means roman universal church. The Roman Catholic Church in its teachings and its theology, uses Tradition and Scripture as authorities, unlike most Protestant churches which go only to Scripture. According to Catholic tradition the first bishop of Rome or “Pope” is regarded as the disciple Peter, although the facts of history make clear that the notion that Peter was in fact any kind of successor to Jesus Christ is debatable to say the least. The Roman Catholic Church still boasts the largest membership worldwide with something like 1.2 billion adherents.