Criticism of the Catholic Church includes critical observations made about the current or historical Catholic Church, in its actions, teachings, omissions, structure, or nature; theological disagreements would be covered on a denominational basis. Criticisms may regard the concepts of papal primacy and supremacy, or aspects of church structure, governance, and particular practices. Since the Catholic Church is the largest Christian church representing over half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population, these criticisms may not necessarily represent the majority view of all Christian and secular believers^{[clarification needed]}.

Criticism of the Catholic Church in previous centuries was more closely related to theological and ecclesiological disputes. The Protestant Reformation (16th century in Europe) came about in no small part due to abuses of church practices by corrupt clergy in addition to these same theological disputes.

Political disputes compounded the theological grievances between Protestants and Catholics and to this day the debate begun at the Reformation has been reflected in the diversity of Christian denominations. Some contemporary criticisms of the Catholic Church relate to philosophy and culture e.g., Christianity vs. humanism. For this sort of criticism, see Criticism of Christianity.

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than one billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity.

The Catholic Church is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation. It teaches that it is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Pope is the sole successor to Saint Peter.

Catholic doctrine maintains that the Church is infallible when it dogmatically teaches a doctrine of faith or morals. Catholic worship is centred on the Eucharist in which the Church teaches that bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

The Church holds the Blessed Virgin Mary in special regard. Catholic beliefs concerning Mary include her Immaculate Conception without original sin, her Motherhood of God and her bodily Assumption into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.

This is a list of criticism and critique-based articles on the English Wikipedia. This article aims to list all the Wikipedia articles whose purpose is to state the criticism and/or critique surrounding an entity. Titles that redirect to a section of an article have been excluded. Criticisms and critiques are the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes. It can also be the critical assessment of a literary or artistic work.

Religion, a very controversial and contentious issue, naturally sparks a lot of criticism.

Gabriel James Byrne (born May 12, 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. He has now starred in over 35 feature films, such as The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, Stigmata and End of Days, in addition to writing two. Byrne's producing credits include the Academy Award-nominated In the Name of the Father. More recently, he has received much critical acclaim for his role as Dr. Paul Weston in the HBO drama In Treatment.

Byrne, the first of six children, was born in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland, the son of a cooper and soldier, Dan, and a hospital nurse from Galway, Eileen (née Gannon). He has four siblings: Donal, Thomas, Breda, and Margaret; another, Marian, died at a young age. Byrne was raised a strict Roman Catholic and educated in Ardscoil Éanna in Crumlin, where he later taught Spanish and History. About his early training to become a priest, he said in an interview, "I spent five years in the seminary and I suppose it was assumed that one had a vocation. I realised subsequently that I didn't."^{[citation needed]} He attended University College Dublin, where he studied archaeology and linguistics, becoming proficient in Irish. He played football in Dublin with the Stella Maris Football Club, in Drumcondra.

John Anthony Corapi (born May 20, 1947), formerly of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T.), is a Catholic priest in the United States who was removed from public ministry in 2011. Throughout the last decade, he gained in popularity from his regular appearances on Catholic television, his syndicated daily Catholic radio show, published instructional media including books and DVDs, various online websites, and speaking appearances throughout the world.

In 2005 Corapi was awarded $2.7 million USD for his role as a whistleblower in a qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit against Redding Medical Center that resulted in an overall $24 million USD payment to defrauded patients.

Following allegations of misconduct, Corapi was removed from public ministry as a priest in 2011. He asserted his innocence, but announced his intention to resign from ministry.

Corapi was born in Hudson, New York. In high school he was a football player and an undistinguished student. In the fall of 1965 he entered the State University of New York at Albany, but returned to Hudson after academic difficulties.