True, and the usual definitions are useful in many ways, but I would argue that the Catholic church (big "C", as opposed to the various catholic structures and practices found in many non-Catholic denominations) has larded up their religion to the point that it's barely recognizable as christianity. The idols (incendiary term, I know), the various levels of hell, the duties and bribes to church officials in return for forgiveness. A preponderance of Catholic doctrine and church structure has nothing to do with Christ's promise of utterly free redemption.
> I would argue that the Catholic church (big "C", as opposed to the various catholic structures and practices found in many non-Catholic denominations) has larded up their religion to the point that it's barely recognizable as christianity.
You probably mean the Roman Catholic Church (the usual particular name for the Church composed of 24 sui iuris particular churches united by various unifying factors, including recognizing the Bishop of Rome—the same one that is head of state of Vatican City—as head of the church.)
Big-C Catholic is a bad descriptor for that, because there are quite a lot of big-C Catholic Churches which are not in union with Rome, and have varying degrees of dissimilarity in theology, ritual, and law when compared to the Roman Catholic Church.
> The idols (incendiary term, I know), the various levels of hell, the duties and bribes to church officials in return for forgiveness.
Aside from the false bit about idols, you've mentioned, in order, a feature of a popular work of medieval literature that has never been a matter of Catholic doctrine, and what seems (though it's hard to tell what specifically it intends to refer to) to be a oblique reference to a combination of abusive practices and erroneous (compared to the official doctrine) teachings about indulgences that were frequently criticized by Church leaders prior to Luther and fairly definitively addressed in and shortly after the Council of Trent.
> I know nothing about the Orthodox churches.
The same appears to be true of the Roman Catholic Church.
Well... it seems clear that I have a lot to learn about Catholicism, and I'll gladly yield to your arguments. May I ask your opinion about the effect of Roman Catholicism -- whether it is a faithful and effective bearer of Christ's message of salvation?
I know nothing about the Orthodox churches.