Difference between revisions of "Roman Catholic Church"

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The Roman Catholic Church is a branch of Christianity. It is known for having a single leader, the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. The current Pope is Benedict XVI.

It considers itself to be the oldest Christian denomination in the world. Some other Christian churches hold the same view of themselves. It is certainly the largest, with more than 1.3 billion officially baptized adherents, or 17.4% of the world's population. Over 64 million of these are in the United States. In recent years growth has been greatest in Africa and Latin America, while the numbers and influence in Europe have declined.

The Roman Catholic Church asserts that the Pope is the divinely-chosen successor of St. Peter, who the Church sees as the 'rock' referred in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 16, verse 18). In that verse, Jesus is recorded as promising to Peter to built his church upon "this rock."

The Catholic Church consists of those Christians who are in full communion with the Pope, including "Uniate Catholics" in Eastern Europe who, strictly speaking, are not part of the "Roman" or Latin rite of the Church.

The term "Catholic Church" is, literally, the Universal Church of Jesus Christ (from the Greek katholikos, "universal").

The Roman Catholic Church has suffered several schisms over its history, most notably that with the Church of the East following the First Ephesian Council, with the several Oriental Orthodox churches following the Council of Chalcedon, with the Eastern Orthodox Church following the Great Schism of 1054, and with the various churches of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

While the theological disagreements which led to the earlier schisms are not very sharp, the split with Protestantism involved more fundamental issues. Two of the principal issues of contention between Catholics and Protestants are sola scriptura (the Protestant doctrine that the Bible alone is the final authority for Christians, which denies the infallibility of Sacred Tradition, the Pope, and ecumenical church councils) and sola fide (the doctrine, popularized by Martin Luther, that faith alone, received through grace, is the cause of our salvation, as opposed to the Catholic view that faith and good works both contribute).

Catholics in the world.

Organization

The Pope and the the international leadership of the Church are based in Vatican City, a sovereign elective monarchy and an enclave of the City of Rome. It was established by the 1929 Lateran Treaty with the Kingdom of Italy.

The Catholic Church has a complex hierarchy of clergy, including (in descending order of rank):

• The Pope
• Cardinals
• Archbishops
• Bishops
• Abbots
• Monsignori
• Archpriests
• Priests
• Deacons

The key roles are played by the Pope and the bishops, and the question of whether secular governments should play a major role in ecclesiastical appointments has been a major issue for centuries. The Investiture Controversy in the Holy Roman Empire concerned this question, as did the dispute between Gallicanism and ultramontanism in France.

Teachings

Pope John Paul II reigned 1978-2005

The chief teachings of the Catholic church are:

• God’s objective existence.
• God’s interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God (through prayer).
• The Trinity.
• The divinity of Jesus.
• The immortality of the soul of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell.
• The resurrection of the dead.
• The historicity of the Gospels.
• The divine commission of the church.

The Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the Virgin Mary and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never completely separated from each other.^[1] The literal presence of Christ is believed to be a feature of the Eucharist or Holy Communion service the bread and wine being Jesus himself. Another essential element of Catholic practice is the veneration of the saints, and particularly of Mary, the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The principal sources for the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church are the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible), Sacred Tradition, and the Living Magisterium of the Church.

The word "Catholic" is frequently used to mean, "pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church." Many other Christians take exception to this use. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion also refer to themselves as the "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church."^[2] In the past, Protestants used terms such as "popish," "papist," or "Romanist" to describe things associated with the Church of Rome, but today these words are considered pejorative and are not widely used.

The Catholic Church teaches respect for all human life. It opposes the practices of contraception, abortion,^[3] euthanasia and (in most cases) capital punishment.^[4] The Church is in favor of its concept of social justice and "the common good."^[5] Some Catholics take this idea further, espousing a "consistent life ethic," under which all killing is said to be unlawful. This position entails pacifism and (in some cases) vegetarianism.

History

Early Church

The original Christian community was founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Apostles. Saints Paul the Apostle and Saint Peter, were perhaps the most notable of the Early Christian missionaries. Christians were subjected to persecution at times. Some of the more famous such episodes occurred under the Roman rulers Nero in A.D. 64, under the emperors Domitian, Marcus Aurelius,Decius, and Diocletian.

After almost 300 years of sporadic persecution, during which time the Church continued to flourish, the Emperor Constantine I had a religious experience and then legalized Christianity by the Edict of Milan in the early fourth century. Going to war with the co-Emperor of the east Lucinius over his continued persecution of Christians, Constantine won and made himself the sole Emperor. The age of persecution was over.

In 380, Emperor Theodosius I accepted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Fathers of the Church

St. Paul is the most prolific contributor to the New Testament, and has been considered by historians to be the most influential of all Christian figures.

Other important early theologians include St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, and especially St. Augustine.

Barbarians converted

Until the early fourth century AD Christianity enjoyed a mixed reception in the Roman Empire. In the years following Constantine's rule, Christianity in general became increasingly powerful in the Roman Empire, although an unorthodox variety of it, Arianism remained strong. In 380 AD, Theodosius I established the Christian Church as the official religion of the Roman Empire and proscribed the older pagan practices. As the Empire declined, Catholic Christianity continued to grow both among those directly under the Empire and among the barbarians. The City of Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410. Alaric was an Arian Christian as were many of the German "Barbarian" tribes.

After the collapse of the Western Empire in the fifth century, the Catholic Church became the most powerful political and religious force in Latin-speaking Europe, and by the eighth century had achieved near-total religious dominance with the suppression of the last significant Arian groups.

Aggressive missionary activities accomplished the conversion of most of the pagan tribes in Europe by the year 1000 AD. Lithuania was the last pagan country in Europe to be converted, in 1387.

Great Schism

After numerous disputes between eastern and western churches that became more pronounced from the ninth century onwards, the Church experienced the Great Schism of 1054 that divided Christendom into a Western (Latin) branch, which has been called the Catholic Church, and an Eastern branch, which has become known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. Both traced their roots to the time of Jesus, but the Eastern Orthodox Church did not acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, being willing only to recognize him as "first among equals."

The schism's causes were not purely religious; cultural and geographical factors also played a role. Although later attempts at reconciliation occurred, such as at the Council of Basel, the two churches remain separate to this day despite the fact that both consider each others priests and sacraments to be valid.

Late Middle Ages

The Crusades, a series of religious wars instigated by the Church against the Muslims and other groups in the Holy Land, began in 1092 and continued until the end of the 13th century. Despite the focus on removing the Holy Land from Muslim control, the Crusaders also massacred Jews and sacked the Christian city of Constantinople.

During this time period, the Inquisitions began. They would continue through the time of the Protestant Reformation. One Medieval inquisition focused on rooting out Cathars, while the later inquisitions--such as the infamous Spanish Inquisition--often focused on people who were believed to be secretly practicing Judaism or Islam following the legally mandated conversion to Christianity of all Jews and Muslims remaining in Spain.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

In 1517, Martin Luther launched what became the Protestant Reformation. It was prompted by Luther's opposition to the sale of indulgences, but the protest eventually grew to cover a wider variety of issues. Eventually, Protestants rejected the notions of saintly intercession, the authority of the pope, and all of the sacraments except those that dated back to the time of the Apostles: Baptism and Communion. This protest 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.

1815 to 1914

Pius VII

Pius VII (1800-23) was stripped of his powers by Napoleon but made a striking comeback after Napoleon's fall in 1815. Pius VII was a deeply religious Benedictine and a theologian; he lived simply and avoided nepotism. His unusually able Secretary of State, Cardinal Consalvi, won the restoration to the Pope of most of the territories in Italy which Napoleon had seized. He reinvigorated numerous monastic orders and helped create new societies for men and women, especially those engaged in teaching and missionary work. Most important was the restoration of the Jesuits in 1814. They had been suppressed in most countries by that time. The Jesuit order (the "Society of Jesus") grew larger and even more influential in the 19th century.

Conservatism

After 1800 the Papacy became the center of conservatism in Europe in reaction to the socialism of the French Revolution and its supporters. The Papacy recognized that throughout Europe millions of peasants and the poor folk were devoted to the saints and the traditions of the Church. The Popes responded energetically by promulgating new Marian doctrines such as the Assumption of Mary bodily into heaven and her Immaculate Conception. Rome as a city had fallen into disrepair and Pius VII began the restoration of the city's artistic glories, an enterprise that continues into the 21st century. ^[6]

Ultramontane vs Gallican

The "ultramontane" tendency in the Church centralized more power and authority in the Papacy. It was opposed by the "Gallican" tendency, especially in France, to give national churches more control over their affairs. The ultramontine forces generally won out, especially with the promulgation of Papal Infallibility at the First Vatican Council in 1870. The ultramontane forces cited the old doctrines of Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) and Francisco de Suárez (1548-1617) to bolster the papal claim to absolute power in spiritual matters.

Gallicanism in France was damaged by the rise of ultramontanism in the 1850s and the devotional revolution that shifted piety to devotions sponsored by Rome. Gallicanism was officially suppressed by the First Vatican Council in 1870, which established the paramount authority of the pope as a matter of dogma. However informal manifestations of Gallicanism continue in some countries, especially China. In Canada, the Irish clergy fought for ultramontanism against the French clergy, who were Gallican. The Irish won out with the support of the Vatican.

After Vatican II, 1962-65, the controversy among Catholics over papal authority and infallibility largely abated, though some opposition to it remains among ^[7][8][9]

This dissent is mainly manifested in disagreement with Roman Catholic teaching on birth control and abortion, which yet remains strong.^{[10] [11]}

Syllabus of Errors

The Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX in 1864 rejected the liberal doctrines of the modern world.^[12] It denounced pantheism, naturalism, nationalism, indifferentism, socialism, communism, freemasonry, theological rationalism, separation of church and state, removal of public schools from Church control, and other modern views. The Pope claimed for the Catholic Church total control over science and culture. Liberals viewed this as a declaration of war by the Church on modern civilization. Its repercussions within France, the U.S., Britain and other countries were resounding, nearly destroying the liberal Catholic movement and furnishing a powerful weapon to the anticlerical faction, or (in the U.S.) to anti-Catholic Protestants. Opponents claimed that the Papacy had become newly intolerant and was moved primarily by the desire to maintain a political dominance that national independence movements and the advance of democracy had weakened.^[13]

Facing Liberalism

With the unification of Germany in 1870, the new nation faced the problems of consolidation, one of which was secularization. Otto von Bismarck, the new chancellor of Germany, with much of the Protestant community, moved to restrict the independence of Catholic institutions. The campaign is entitled the "Kulturkampf." The Catholics responded by organized their own political party and protected their interests by voting as a bloc into the 1930s, when the Nazis closed down all other parties. The decisive ballots in the German legislature were delivered by the Catholic members because, although it resulted in Hitler's dictatorship, he had promised them that Catholic schools would be unaffected.

Freemasons

In many countries the Church faced off against the Freemasons, a secret society that was politically active across Europe. The Papacy coordinated a counterattack. For example, in Brazil, the religious question in the 1870s centered on the Masonic controversy and the struggle between regalist and ultramontane forces. The primary cause of the Papacy's opposition to Freemasonry was its support for revolutionary national independence movements such as had united Germany and Italy. This development undercut the age-old role of the Papacy in choosing--or helping to influence the choice of--the royal rulers of European governments.

Women

A spiritual revolution took place in the nineteenth century, moving individuals to personal piety. There was a much greater emphasis on the role of Mary, and a greatly increased involvement of women; the number of sisters and nuns increased from 20,000 to 400,000 between 1815 and 1914.

In the late 19th century the papacy began to revise its public teachings about the proper role of women in the Church and society. From Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) to Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), papal social pronouncements reveal an evolution in attitudes toward a woman's proper "place" from the view that women are passive subordinates to men in all spheres of life to the current teaching that lay and clerical women are equal but complementary partners with men in religious, political, economic, and social endeavors. However, the papacy has remained firm in the conviction that ordination to the priesthood is for men only.

Arts

Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.

The arts provided a refuge from modernity in the form of a nostalgic aesthetic. Church architecture saw the revival of the medieval Gothic style. Romantic literature, for example by Chateaubriand, helped inspire a Catholic revival. In music, Catholic churchgoers were likely to be exposed to an officially sponsored revival of a cappella singing in the manner of Palestrina. The rapid development of symphonic and operatic forms affected sacred music, resulting in many masses, requiems, and te deums for large orchestra and chorus, sometimes even composed by skeptics such as Berlioz and Verdi.

Politics

In the U.S. the great majority of the Catholics--led by the Irish--became Democrats. In Germany the Catholics formed their own Center party to counter the State, such as in their response to the Kulturkampf.

The British attempt to impose Protestantism on Ireland not only fueled the Catholic revival there but also contributed to its spread via emigration-– not only to the U.S. and Canada, but also to Australia, New Zealand, and England itself, increasing the Catholic population in all of these. Quickly the Irish took control of the Church in each country and created a new system of schools, colleges, hospitals and charities. The Poles, having lost their nation state in the 1790s, turned to an intense religiosity that preserved national identity and which they carried with them to industrial centers in the U.S. and Germany. In the U.S., some Poles, frustrated with the Italian control of their churches, founded the schismatic Polish National Catholic Church.

20th century

Vatican II

Pope John XXIII reigned 1958-63

The "Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican" (called Vatican II), was called by Pope John XXIII and was in session from 1962 to 1965. It dramatically modernized and transformed church policies, with major changes to official theology and liturgy. Liturgical changes included the introduction of Masses in local languages instead of Latin. Theologically, the council deemphasized the centrality of Mary while also adding a new emphasis on individual and personal holiness. It asserted the Church's support for freedom of religion, declared that the Jews were not guilty of deicide, and recognized the possibility of salvation for Jews, Muslims, and Protestants.

Reactions among Catholics to Vatican II fall into three camps. "Liberal" Catholics, drawing on the established Catholic belief in the "journeying" nature of the Church, see Vatican II and the new period that it marked in Catholic history as representing a significant advancement in our understanding of the divine revelation contained in the Gospels which justifies 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 or apostate, and formed separate churches using the old liturgies.

Abuse scandal

Widespread controversy erupted in 2001 over past sexal abuse of teenage boys by some Catholic priests, which was made the worse by bishops who covered up the offenses by moving the offending priests to new locations. Although relatively few priests were involved in the abuse, the damage numbers of victims who came forth numbered in the thousands. It was a case of breaking ones vows at the least, including vows of celibacy, and committing acts of homosexuality which are condemned by the Church.^[14]. There is also the matter of ordinary civil law being thwarted. There were no reports of girls as victims, or nuns as perpetrators.

The stereotype resulting from the scandal portrayed the priests involved as pedophiles, although most of them were instead pederasts who preyed upon post-pubescent teenage boys.^[15]

Because of this scandal, the U.S. Catholic Church has paid out $2.6 billion in abuse claims. The Los Angeles diocese alone settled claims by 500 victims for $660 million. Similar scandals hit the Catholic Church in other countries, most notably Ireland.

See also

• Cafeteria Catholic
• Catholic views on creationism‎
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Eucharist
• Jesus Christ
• Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
• Pope John Paul II
• Vatican City

External links

Virgin Mary and Child

• The Vatican
• A digital version of The Catholic Encyclopedia.
• The Catholic University of America Washington, D. C.
• St. Paul Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church web site.
• Al Pellegrino Cattolico Italian web site.

Further reading

• Bokenkotter, Thomas. A Concise History of the Catholic Church (2005) excerpt and text search
• Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity 200-1000 AD (2002), 640pp
• Chadwick, Owen. A History of the Popes, 1830-1914. (1998), 616pp; a standard recent history. online edition,
• Coppa, Frank J. The Modern Papacy since 1789. Longman, 1998. 296 pp.
• Daniel-Rops, Henri. The Church in the Eighteenth Century (1964)
• Daniel-Rops, Henri. The Church in an Age of Revolution (1965).
• Holland, Joe. Modern Catholic Social Teaching: The Popes Confront the Industrial Age 1740-1958. Paulist Press, 2003. 404 pp.
• Kung, Hans. The Catholic Church: A Short History (2003), by a leading Catholic scholar excerpt and text search
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 5 Vol (1958), a detailed history of Chritianity 1800-1950 by a fair-minded Protestant scholar. vol 1 online edition
• Logan, F. Donald. A History of the Church in the Middle Ages. 2002. online edition
• Mullett, Michael A. The Catholic Reformation, (1999), online edition
• O'Toole, James M. The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America (2008) excerpt and text search
• Pastor, Ludwig von. History of the Popes From the Close of the Middle Ages, (1894-1930), 16 vol, older Catholic history online from books.google.com
• Ullmann, Walter. A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages, (2002), 393pp, online edition
• Schreck, Alan. The Compact History of the Catholic Church (2009)
• Vidmar, John. The Catholic Church through the Ages: A History (2005) excerpt and text search

Reference

• New Catholic 'Encyclopedia (1967), complete coverage of all topics by Catholic scholars
• Catholic Encyclopedia, (1913) online edition complete coverage by Catholic scholars; the articles were written about 100 years ago
• Coppa, Frank J., ed. Great Popes through History: An Encyclopedia. (2002). 600 pp.
• Kelly, J.N.D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (1988). 349pp; scholarly short biographies; online edition

References

1. ↑ The Columbia Encyclopedia
2. ↑ http://www.answers.com/topic/catholic
3. ↑ Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (1968) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
4. ↑ John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995) http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0141/_INDEX.HTM
5. ↑ Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (2009) http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
6. ↑ Kelly (1999); Duffy (2006); Latourette (1958) vol 1.
7. ↑ such as historian Garry Wills, author of Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit (Sophia Institute Press, 2003), and liberal theologian Hans Kung, author of Infallible?: An inquiry (1970)
8. ↑ David Carlin, The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America,‎ appendix 2
9. ↑ Raymond Taouk, What are Catholics to think of Vatican II?
10. ↑ John M. Swomley, Infallibility in Ethical Perspective Christian Ethics Today, Issue 014 Volume 4 No 1 February 1996
11. ↑ 56% of U.S. Catholics said that the pope is not infallible "when he teaches on matters of morals, such as birth control and abortion"; 80% of Catholics believed it is possible to disagree with the pope on official positions on morality and still be a good Catholic. Time/CNN nationwide poll of 1,000 adults, conducted by Yankelovich Partners, Sept. 27-28, 1995
12. ↑ see text at [1]
13. ↑ Latourette (1958) vol 1 ch. 6
14. ↑ http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72992710807995&mkt=en-US&lang=en-US&w=98cf251&FORM=CVRE4
15. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E2D71E38F931A15750C0A9649C8B63