History makes This Fact Clear: The Catholic “College of Cardinals” has been helping Catholics deal effectively with each other and with “civil authorities” for 2,600 years.
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Question 1: “When did The Catholic Church’s First ‘College of Cardinals’ convene?”
Answer: “The early growth of The Catholic Church gave The First Pope many ‘earthly problems’ to solve. Acts 6:1-7 explains the first ‘earthly problem’ that Peter and the First Catholic Bishops met to consider in the first, official meeting of ‘The College of Cardinals’:
‘As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.'”
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Question 2: “The ‘Hellenists’ were Greek. How did they end up being among the ‘Hebrews’?”
Answer: “Five hundred years before Jesus Fulfilled the Prophecies, God led Cyrus to conquer nations in the huge area between Greece, Egypt, and India. Three hundred years before Jesus, God moved Alexander the Great to re-conquer those lands. He added Greece, which neither Cyrus nor Darius could conquer, to his Empire.
The ‘Hellenes’ and ‘Hebrews’ in Acts 6 were converts to Catholicism from parts of what had been Alexander’s Empire. They were joined by Catholic converts from lands conquered by the larger and more powerful Roman Empire. Catholic priests and Bishops would travel Roman Roads across North Africa, Spain, France, Germany, England, Slovakia, and the rest of Europe.”
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Question 3: “How did The First Catholic Cardinals solve the problem of getting different nationalities to work together to save souls?”
Answer: “They began in Jerusalem, with The First Meeting of what would later be known as: ‘The College of Cardinals’. ‘So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with The Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’”
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Question 4: ” Peter was The First Pope of The Catholic Church. The Twelve Disciples were The First Catholic Bishops. Why were ‘Cardinals’ necessary?”
Answer: “As The Church grew, Bishops were needed in the large areas whose people were becoming Catholic.
All who follow The Church-Creating Word of Jesus, ‘And I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.’ know Peter and his Successors needed a Holy Structure to appoint Bishops to maintain The Catholic Faith in coming generations.”
Those whom ‘The College of Cardinals’ called to be Bishops were in charge of the new, Catholic Dioceses that brought people to The Catholic Church between India and Ireland. That is why The First Catholic Bishops who met in Acts 6 were ‘The First College of Cardinals‘!”
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Question 6: “Catholics see how God has used Civil Authorities, from Cyrus and Darius to Alexander and Caesars. How do we relate to them?”
Answer: “The First Pope answered that in 1 Peter:2:13-17: ‘For the sake of The Lord, accept the authority of every social institution; the emperor as the supreme authority, and the governors as commissioned by him to punish criminals and praise good citizenship. God wants you to be good citizens, so as to silence what fools are saying in their ignorance. You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like free men and never use your freedom as an excuse for wickedness.’”
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Catholics are blessed to Think Clearly enough to use 2,600 years of History to help our immortal souls be forever among those to whom John 15:14 promises will get into Heaven: “You are My friends if you obey My commands.”
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