Faith is a gift God gives to each of us. Like all gifts, it’s up to us to open it and use it.

Catholics believe and practice a faith that has been handed down for two thousand years. Jesus Christ handed over the faith to the twelve apostles and they, in turn, have handed on what they received, and so each new generation--in an unbroken chain--right to our present day. It’s that same faith that we practice and proclaim today in Sunderland.

Being Catholic is not about following a set of rules and regulations, it is about belonging to a living tradition that has spanned the centuries and the globe. It is about being part of a family of saints and sinners from ‘every tribe and tongue and people and nation’ (Revelation 7:9). We express our faith in many and varied ways: in how we pray, how we celebrate and how we live our lives. While we can’t possibly share everything in a few web pages, we hope to give you a taste of what it means to be a Catholic Christian in Sunderland in the twenty-first century.

If you want to know more about the Catholic faith as a newcomer to the Catholic Church, or if you want to rediscover the faith of your childhood, you might want to start exploring our Newcomers section.

To learn more about what Catholics believe you can start with What do Catholics Believe? If you are interested in learning more about the seven sacraments then we have a Sacraments section dedicated to them.