[Amilius777]

To clear up something there is a difference between Roman Catholic Catholicism and just being a "Catholic" which means a Universalist.

The early Catholic Church as it was being developed from St. Paul was a mystical religion and tradition. They didn't even rely on the Gospels because they didn't exist yet! Paul preached from a spiritual self-realization of Christ. Paul never met Christ. He only witnessed and experienced Christ in an alter-state of trance.

Paul was possibly a Pharisees named Saul who very much disliked the growing movement called The Way. The misunderstanding is that the Church is founded by Jesus and his Apostles. No it isn't. The Catholic Church as a mystical tradition and Body of Christ was founded by St. Paul. Paul had some issues with his own Jewish faith and kinda became a self-hating Jew when he had the Christ-experience. He must have had a lot of self-hate for someone who carried out death sentences and hunted down people to kill. But it doesn't mean he wasn't a mystic and a Saint. He was one because of his own spiritual experience and conversion to a higher consciousness.

I don't think Jesus the Man intended there to be a 'Christianity'. But it seemed like a shift in global consciousness when only the Pagans and Gentiles were willing to accept this reformed version of Judaism.

I still consider myself a Catholic which was founded by St. Paul and his mystical tradition. In fact the Church was so multicultural and multifaceted that many held beliefs of the Gnostic, Essene, and Ebionite traditions. That is why it was called "Catholic". It didn't start excluded groups and beliefs until Constantine wanted to unify his Empire under a new religion. Then we got the b/s idea of "Heretic" "Banned Gospels" and "Blasphemy" .

The greatest mystics such as Miester Eckhart, Hildgard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and many more were true Catholics. Those who witnessed that Holy Spirit and manifested the Christ-consciousness in their daily lives.

It is no coincidence that both Buddhism and Catholicism have produced many Buddhas and Saints. In the West it is called a "Saint" or a "Christ". In the East it is called a "Buddha". Buddhahood-Christhood is when one awakens from the False-self and realizes their true Self, a Soul of God and give to the world all their love.

And in other traditions you have ancient Saints! You have Hermes who is a Saint of a older pagan tradition! You have Saints from the Hopi Indians. You have saints from India! That is what Catholicism means. The Universality of Christ.