AHC: Catholics are majority of world population

The first scenario I proposed would get you all of OTL's Christian world, plus all of OTL's Islamic world (including Indonesia), plus any parts of Africa not covered by the aforementioned. I estimate that as being at least four billion people. So that would do the trick (four billion is over 50% of humanity) without involving India and China. In fact, those two plus Indochina would be the only parts of the world that aren't Christian in that scenario-- good for a total of about 3 billion non-Christians by the present day. (Granted, since the scenario covers so long a time, countless things could derail it-- but it's the most feasible way I can think of to meet the OP's challenge.)

Yes, just butterflying Islam and having Christianity take it's place historically seems to meet this challenge.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Yes, just butterflying Islam and having Christianity take it's place historically seems to meet this challenge.
Without Islam,the Macedonian dynasty who was Catholic would have most probably taken over Persia and Central Asia. Good possibility for a Catholic Majority World!
Or even otherwise probably Catholic Celts,Germans or Italic peoples would have taken over Persia and most of Middle East and Central Asia it ruled. Sassanid Empire was failing terribly before Islam itself.
 
That's right! And that would prove very difficult. India uniquely had and even has a religiously motivated caste system though it began with a racially motivated one. A person who converts to an another religion is viewed casteless and that wouldn't be a good thing. A reconversion would be very hard to do unlike for Pagans,etc. Only Due to modern movements,reconversion and conversion to Hinduism is becoming popular. So if you want a Catholic India,you need to make inroads before 3rd to 4th century AD and again very very difficult. You need Catholic Christian Kushans,Huns or Scythians Due to this,it wouldn't be possible to make India Catholic easily. China? I'm agnostic to the fact that we could have a Catholic China as Orthodox Christians blocked the way to get to China. Plus,Christianity isn't as cohesive as Islam so even if Catholicism succeeded to become a majority religion,it would soon be terribly divided and eventually collapse more easily.
Maybe if Catholicism is so overwhelmingly associated with the global elite, then a "Sanskrit-rite Catholicism" becomes a sign of membership in India's higher castes. This gets you to maybe 10% of the population of India and Southeast Asia.

Then maybe a Chinese-rite Catholicism takes hold among the scholar-gentry class in China along with those aspiring to them, giving 10% of China, Japan, and Korea.

Both these rites are seen as somewhat heterodox in Rome since their adherents still worship pre-existing deities, but the Curia are content with their mere membership and have more pressing concerns on their plate.
 

Albert.Nik

Banned
Maybe if Catholicism is so overwhelmingly associated with the global elite, then a "Sanskrit-rite Catholicism" becomes a sign of membership in India's higher castes. This gets you to maybe 10% of the population of India and Southeast Asia.

Then maybe a Chinese-rite Catholicism takes hold among the scholar-gentry class in China along with those aspiring to them, giving 10% of China, Japan, and Korea.

Both these rites are seen as somewhat heterodox in Rome since their adherents still worship pre-existing deities, but the Curia are content with their mere membership and have more pressing concerns on their plate.
An interesting point I would say. But without an Empire or a foreign influence,Catholic India is impossible or extremely difficult. Yes,there are upper caste communities who did convert to Islam in the OTL Indian subcontinent. The Pashtuns,many Punjabi Muslims and the Kashmiris are said to be their descendants. All this happened under Empires. All these lands fall on the Northwest India where Islamic influence was the highest. So as I said,if you have a Roman/Celtic/Germanic/Byzantine Catholic Central Asia and Persia,Catholic Christianity might have made an easy in-roads into India and China. That is the most probable timeline for this. Otherwise very bleak. Without stable empires like I mentioned above in Central Asia,missionizing China and India is very difficult. Russian Empire came too late to do that. Probably if you can have a timeline in which a Catholic Germanic/Celtic/Roman/Byzantine Empire is established by Eastbound migrants in Central Asian fertile parts,it would have spread easily. Without foreign influence through Empires, Upper caste Indians weren't that receptive to anything foreign.
 
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