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Catholic denominations rites
A caveat: There is a difference between Catholicism, which is a branch of Christian theology (as opposed to Reform or Evangelical), and Catholicity, which is much harder to describe but pertains to the unity of Christian believers in Christ Jesus.
A denomination is technically Catholic if it is in full communion with the Papal Office in Rome; ie, they recognize Francis I as the successor to Peter the Apostle. The Latin Rite, aka "Roman" Catholic, is the most well-represented in the U.S., although there are small communities of the other Eastern Catholic churches present.
Within the 6 rites of the Catholic Church (which include 23 "particular Churches"), there are doctrinal differences, but none view the other as apostate or lesser, and all view all Catholics as equal brethren and sestren. However, it is common to hear the churches accuse one another of causing the doctrinal schism in the first place. Note that this is not the same as heresy - it's a stronger-sounding term for "you disagreed".
Wikipedia notes (but does not cite) that about 98% of Catholics are of the Latin Rite, and only about 10% of the so-called "Eastern" Christians are Catholic, which the majority considering themselves either Orthodox or, more recently, Reform.
Note that there are churches calling themselves Catholic but that do not recognize the Papal Office in Rome - sedevacantists are one group, and there are the so-called "Old Catholics", etc. These are not considered by the Catholic Church to be Catholic in the denominational sense of the word (likewise, the 23 Catholic Churches aren't considered "Catholic" by the sedavacantists, etc). Note that several of these self-described Catholic churches adhere to their own Pope (considered anti-Pope by the Catholic churches in communion with the Papal Office in Rome).
Within those Catholic churches in full communion with Rome, it's not correct to say "denominations" - it's more apt to call them "rites" mostly because the substantial differences are not in theology but in ritual, ie the form of the Mass and some doctrines. The disputes arose over acceptance of the authority of the various councils (ie, Trent, Jerusalem, etc.)
Among the 6 Catholic Rites, none will disagree on the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the necessity of Baptism, sacramental practice, etc. But in some of the Eastern Rites, priests are allowed to marry, and the sacraments are given at different times (ie, Maronite infants receive Baptism and Confirmation, while Latin Rite - "Roman Catholic" to most of us - only baptizes infants, leaving confirmation for a later date).
The Latin Rite is the only so-called "Western Rite". The Eastern Rites and their attendant particular Churches include:
*Alexandrian:
--Coptic Catholic and Ethiopic Catholic
*Antiochan
--Maronite
--Syriac Catholic
--Syro-Malankara
*Armenian
--Armenian Catholic
*Byzantine
--Albanian Byzantine Catholic
--Belarusian Greek Orthodox Catholic
--Bulgarian Greek Catholic
--Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Krizevci
--Greek Byzantine Catholic
--Hungarian Greek Catholic
--Italo-Albanian Catholic
--Macedonian Greek Catholic
-Melkite Greek Catholic
--Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
--Russian Byzantine Catholic
--Ruthanian Catholic
--Slovak Greek Catholic
--Ukrainian Greek Catholic
*Chaldean
--Chaldean Catholic
--Syro-Malabar
Most of these smaller groups of Catholics are in the middle/near east and are fading. I went to the Holy Land a few years ago with former Baptist minister, now Catholic, STEVE RAY and his lovely wife, Janet. He knew ALL about these smaller Catholic communities. He said that some of the communities are so small that they are just FAMILY GROUPS that hold the "rite" together. Once the family group disappears, and eventually they usually do, that "rite" will no longer exist beyond the pages of history.
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Thanks for the opportunity to do this research. My brain needed the work. :o)
IMO that's a lousy place to start. It's Wikipedia, for crying out loud - anybody can write anything they want about anybody else. Case in point: The Whore of Babylon. Many sections of the article tell me that the Whore is the Catholic Church in general, and the papacy in particular. Should I believe what it says? Why not? I'm supposed to believe the "protestant denominations" article. Why not believe the other, also? After all, it's on Wikipedia!
A denomination is technically Catholic if it is in full communion with the Papal Office in Rome; ie, they recognize Francis I as the successor to Peter the Apostle. The Latin Rite, aka "Roman" Catholic, is the most well-represented in the U.S., although there are small communities of the other Eastern Catholic churches present.
Within the 6 rites of the Catholic Church (which include 23 "particular Churches"), there are doctrinal differences, but none view the other as apostate or lesser, and all view all Catholics as equal brethren and sestren. However, it is common to hear the churches accuse one another of causing the doctrinal schism in the first place. Note that this is not the same as heresy - it's a stronger-sounding term for "you disagreed".
They hold a couple things in common, they fight over others, and yet they believe that each other are fellow Christians. How is this any different than Protestant denominations that hold to common creeds, i.e. the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Westminster Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, etc?