Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, often referred to simply as the "Catholic Church", is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with about one billion adherents. [1]

The Roman Catholic Church consists of those Christians in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, who is generally called the Pope. The Church teaches that the Pope is the successor of St. Peter, whom Catholics regard as the original leader of Christ's apostles and as the first Bishop of Rome.

The split between Catholicism and Protestantism occurred in the sixteenth century. It is generally known as the "Reformation", though Catholics sometimes refer to it as the "Protestant Revolt". The principal issues of contention between Catholics and Protestants are known as sola scriptura (the doctrine that the Bible alone is the final authority for Christians, which denies the authority of the Church) and sola fide (the doctrine that faith alone, as opposed to faith expressed in good works, is sufficient for salvation).

The Catholic Church has a complex hierachy of clergy, including the Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Monsignori, Priests and Deacons.

History

Early Years

The Catholic Church traces its authority to Jesus through the apostle Peter. The Church sees the Bishops as the natural successors to the apostles, and reasons that since Peter was the leader of the apostles, Peter's succesors should lead the Bishops and hence all of Christianity.[2]

Catholic Growth in the Imperial Decline

Until the early fourth century AD Christianity enjoyed mixed reception in the Roman Empire and Christians were frequently subject to persecution. In the 310s Christianity became legalized and shortly thereafter became officially recognized by Constantine. In the following years Christianity in general and Roman Catholicism in particular became increasingly powerful in the Roman Empire, although Arianism remained strong. In 380 AD, Theodosius I established the Catholic Church as the official religion of the Roman Empire. While the Empire continued to decline, Catholicism and Christianity continued to grow both among those directly under the Empire and among the barbarians until Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410. Alaric was an Arian Christian. After the collapse of the Empire, the Catholic Church became the most powerful political and religious force in Europe and by the 8th century had achieved near total religious dominance with the removal of the last significant arian groups.

Great Schism

During the 11th century, the Great Schism between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity occured. This schism occured over a variety of issues, especially those dealing with how much authority the Pope had. The causes were not purely religious, but cultural and geographic elements also played a role. Although later attempts at reconcilliation occured, such as Council of Basel, the two remain separate to this day although both accept many of each others sacraments.

Late Middle Ages

Beginning in 1092 and continuing until the end of the 13th century, the Crusades occured. These were a series of religious wars instigated by the Church against various other groups, especially the Muslims. Despite the focus on removing Islamic control of the Holy Land, the Crusaders massacred Jews and sacked Constantinople.

During this time period, the Inquisitions started and would continue through the Protestant Reformation. The medieval inquisition focused on rooting out Cathars, while the later inquistions such as the Spanish Inquistion focused on people who were believed to be secretly practicing Judaism or Islam.

Reformation

In 1517, Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation which initially focused on the giving of indulgences but eventually grew to have a wide variety of different causes and issues. Eventually Protestants rejected the notions of saintly intercession, the authority of the pope and many of the sacraments. This eventually led to a series of religious wars in Europe and the Protestant-Catholic split became one of the dominant themes in European events until modern times.

Vatican II

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (commonly called Vatican II), which was in session from 1962 to 1965, made major changes to official Catholic theology and liturgy. Liturgical changes included the introduction of the possibility of having Mass in local languages instead of entirely in Latin. Theologically, the council continued the importance of Mary while also adding a new emphasis on individual and personal holiness. Most controversially, the council opened the possibility of salvation for Jews, Muslims and Protestants.

Reactions among Catholics to Vatican II fall into roughly three camps. "Liberal" Catholics see Vatican II and the new period that it marked in Catholic history as forming a decisive break with the past, and as justifying major changes in Catholic belief and practice. "Conservative" Catholics (including the recent popes) hold that the decrees of the Council, properly understood, are wholly in line with the historic Catholic faith, and that they should not be used as an excuse for unwarranted innovations. "Traditional" (or "traditionalist") Catholics regard the teachings of Vatican II as problematic, or even as heretical.

Sacraments

The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony and Holy Orders.