All Christian Churches teach that its members are baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, true God and true Man. In and through the Risen Christ, we too will be resurrected, body and soul. In other words, each one of us is an organic whole of body and soul. Christians do not believe in reincarnation because we believe that God created each of us as a unique unity of a unique body and a unique soul. Our souls cannot and do not disengage at death to find another body to enter - and we don't have to do so. Our lives here and now have worth and value; our eternal lives will give us perfect happiness. We don't need another "run-through" to get it right.
All Christian Churches believe in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We all believe that Jesus, God's Son, is God's most perfect revelation of God's Self to us. God's Holy Word gives us the gift of God's ongoing revelation to all of us as well as God's choice of and covenant with a Chosen People, Israel, and then the continuation of God's covenant with those who accepted Jesus as Lord and Redeemer.
However, the Catholic Church, which is the first and oldest Christian Church, and which was the ONLY Christian Church for roughly one thousand years - there were heresies before that, but no actual Churches formed - has two Fonts of Revelation: Scripture and Tradition.
Tradition would include the earliest Church documents, such as the Didache, which dates from the time of the apostles and gives the teachings of the apostles, as well as the teachings of the Church Fathers and Doctors from the earliest centuries of the Church forward, such as Irenaeus, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Origen, as well as the women Doctors of the Church, such as Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, and Edith Stein. Each of these men and women were great thinkers and pray-ers and added to the depth of our understanding of the Creed, which is believed by all Christians (Jesus the Christ, the Trinity, etc.) as well as the Sacramental life of Catholicism.
In that first thousand years, the Catholic Christian Church refined its sacramental life to seven Sacraments, which were rituals developed to celebrate and allow its members to encounter the risen Christ, seven Sacraments, which we believe Christ initiated and continues to encounter us in today: Baptism (which all Christian Churches celebrate), Reconciliation, which Christ celebrated with each individual He forgave; Eucharist- the Mass which is a prayerful re-entry into the power of both the Last Supper and Jesus' Passion and Death; Confirmation - the coming of the Holy Spirit; the Anointing of the Sick, which the apostles and earliest disciples continued in Jesus' Name; Matrimony (Marriage), and Ordination (the laying-on of hands, originating in both the Old and the New Testaments.)
As different Churches separated from the Catholic Church, only a few retained all seven Sacraments. While many have retained the celebration of Jesus' Last Supper, using bread and wine, only the Catholic, the Orthodox, the Anglican/Episcopalian, the Polish National, and the Lutheran Churches have maintained belief in the Real Presence of Jesus, a belief which dates back to the earliest days of the Church.
These Churches believe that during the Mass, through the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the hands and words of the priest, the bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Risen Christ - the Real Presence. This is one of the "modes" of His Presence, of course, but an important, intimate one; He is our Living Bread come down from Heaven, our Food for the journey. Is it any wonder that there is a Catholic Mass celebrated every minute of every day somewhere in the world?
Pope Francis, in fact, says "The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak." He quotes one of the Church Fathers, St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376-444) who said "I examined myself, and I found myself unworthy. To those who speak thus I say: when will you be worthy? When at last you present yourself before Christ? ....Will you remain without partaking of the sanctification that gives life for eternity?"
There is one other important difference between the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Churches, and that is our differing beliefs about who is able to be saved. Evangelical Churches believe that one must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
The Catholic Church (at least) believes that indeed all are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross - the Blood of the Lamb. However, the Church teaches by quoting St. Paul: "At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to Him." (Acts 10:35.) Paul goes on to highlight God's covenant with His Chosen People, Israel, but that does not remove God's favor from anyone who searches for the Truth with a sincere heart. Indeed even those who seek God with a sincere heart are part of the universal church - with a small "c".
All who seek the Truth with a sincere heart can be led by God to understanding and accepting what Jesus has taught us is necessary for salvation, the criteria which God will use at the Last Judgment: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, etc. For whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Christ. I might add, whether we recognize Christ or not. Those who embrace love of neighbor embrace Jesus as the Way to God - even if they only meet Him in person in eternity.
Catholics believe that if we set up certain criteria for salvation (such as personal belief in Christ), we limit our understanding of the Mystery of God's power and grace, since God has implanted His Life and Love in every heart.
It is so important for we Christian Churches to understand our differences, but ABOVE ALL to celebrate our unity in Christ - and to pray for one another and for greater unity. Jesus prayed for us all to be one in Him.
Know what you believe. Practice what you believe. Learn to be able to explain what you believe. Above all, teach others through who you are as a follower of Christ.