Catholic Church: Difference between revisions
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The '''Catholic Church''', also known as the '''Roman Catholic Church''',{{#tag:ref|There is some ambiguity about the title "Catholic Church", since the Church is not the only institution to claim [[catholicism|catholicity]]. The Church is referred to and refers to itself in various ways, in part depending upon circumstance. The Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), from which we get "Catholic", means "universal".<ref>{{cite web | title =Concise Oxford English Dictionary | publisher = Oxford University Press| date =2005 | url =http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/catholic?view=uk | format = online version| accessdate =10 April 2009}}</ref> It was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early second century.<ref>{{cite book| last =Marthaler| first = Berard| title =The Creed | publisher =Twenty-Third Publications|page = 303 |year =1993| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TY3-aZIo9HEC&pg=PA303&dq=catholic+Ignatius+of+Antioch&lr=#PPA303,M1| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 May 2008}}</ref> Since the [[East–West Schism|East-West Schism]], the Western Church has been known as "Catholic", while the Eastern Church has been known as "Orthodox".<ref name="McBrien"/> Following the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in the sixteenth century, the church in communion with the Bishop of Rome used the name "Catholic" to distinguish itself from the various Protestant churches.<ref name="McBrien">McBrien, Richard (2008). ''The Church''. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available here [http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245213]. Quote: ''The use of the adjective "Catholic" as a modifier of "Church" became divisive only after the East-West Schism ... and the Protestant Reformation ... In the former case, the West claimed for itself the title Catholic Church, while the East appropriated the name Holy Orthodox Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were called Protestant.''</ref> The name "Catholic Church", rather than "Roman Catholic Church", is usually{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} the term that the Church uses in its own documents. It appears in the title of the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]].''<ref>Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2003). [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM "Catechism of the Catholic Church."] Retrieved on: 2009-05-01.</ref> It is also the term that Pope Paul VI used when signing the documents of the Second Vatican Council.<ref>The Vatican. [http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/ Documents of the II Vatican Council]. Retrieved on: 2009-05-04. Note: The Pope's signature appears in the Latin version.</ref><ref>''Declaration on Christian Formation'', published by [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|National Catholic Welfare Conference]], Washington DC 1965, page 13</ref><ref>Whitehead, Kenneth (1996). "[http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/churb3.htm. "How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name?"] Eternal Word Television Network. Retrieved on 9 May 2008.</ref> Especially in English-speaking countries, the Church is regularly referred to as the "Roman" Catholic Church; occasionally, it refers to itself in the same way.<ref>Example: [http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/angl-comm-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19770429_paul-vi-coggan_en.html 1977 Agreement with Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury]</ref> At times, this can help distinguish the Church from other churches that also claim catholicity. Hence this has been the title used in some documents involving ecumenical relations. However, the name "Roman Catholic Church" is disliked by many Catholics, as a label applied to them by others to suggest that theirs is only one of several catholic churches, and to imply that Catholic allegiance to the Pope renders them in some way untrustworthy.<ref>Walsh, Michael (2005). ''Roman Catholicism''. Routledge. p. 19. Online version available here [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a3u1xyovVx0C&pg=PA19&vq=properly&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1#PPA19,M1]</ref> Within the Church, the name "Roman Church", in the strictest sense, refers to the [[Diocese]] of Rome.<ref>{{cite book| last =Beal| first = John| title =New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law| publisher =Paulist Press| year =2002| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=X5rcnhLnRYMC&pg=PA464&dq=%22roman+church%22+%22holy+see%22&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA468,M1| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=13 May 2008}} p. 468</ref><ref>The ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'' states: "There is a further aspect of the term Roman Catholic that needs consideration. The Roman Church can be used to refer, not to the Church universal insofar as it possesses a primate who is bishop of Rome, but to the local Church of Rome, which has the privilege of its bishop being also the primate of the whole Church."</ref>|group=note}} is the world's largest [[Christianity|Christian]] church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians{{#tag:ref|The 2007 Pontifical Yearbook states that there are 1.115 billion Catholics worldwide.<ref name="Zenit">{{cite web|title=Number of Catholics and Priests Rises|publisher=Zenit News Agency|date=12 February 2007|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-18894?l=english|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=21 February 2008}}</ref> The [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]], which relies on worldwide census' figures, provides a similar estimate.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web|title=CIA World Factbook|publisher=United States Government Central Intelligence Agency|year=2009|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=23 September 2009}}</ref> Estimates from other reliable sources suggests that the Catholic Church accounts for over half<ref>{{cite web|title=Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents|url=http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity|accessdate=2009-07-05|publisher=adherents.com}}</ref> of all Christians worldwide.|group=note}} and more than one-sixth of the [[world population|world's population]], the Catholic Church is a [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] of the Western, (or [[Latin Rite]]) Church, and 22 [[Sui Juris|autonomous]] [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] (called [[Particular Church#Autonomous particular Churches or Rites|particular churches]]), comprising a total of 2,795 [[diocese]]s in 2008. The Church's highest earthly authority in matters of faith, morality, and governance is the [[Pope]],<ref name="Schreck158">Schreck, pp. 158–159.</ref> currently [[Pope Benedict XVI]], who holds supreme authority in concert with the [[College of Bishops]], of which he is the head.<ref name="LumenG3">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Lumen Gentium chapter 3, section 22|publisher=Vatican|year=1964|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref>Code of Canon Law, canons [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P15.HTM 331] and [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P16.HTM 336]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=u9VOAzAZM8YC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=%22College+of+bishops%22+%22supreme+and+full+power%22+Catholic&source=web&ots=cUI3uA9sC3&sig=ubR7qJv7f78tD_t9EoUO3jJAbAE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result Teaching with Authority, by Richard R. Gaillardetz, p. 57]</ref> The Catholic community is made up of an [[Ordained#Eastern, Roman, and Anglican Christianity|ordained]] [[Minister (Christianity)|ministry]] and the [[laity]]; members of either group may belong to organized [[Roman Catholic religious order|religious communities]].<ref name="Schreck153">Schreck, p. 153.</ref> |
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{{Roman Catholicism}} |
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The Church defines its mission as spreading the [[gospel]] of Jesus Christ, administering the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]] and exercising charity.<ref name="OneFaith50">Barry, pp. 50–51.</ref> It operates social programs and institutions throughout the world, including [[Catholic school]]s, universities, hospitals, missions and shelters, and the charity confederation [[Caritas (charity)|Caritas Internationalis]]. |
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The Catholic Church believes itself to be the original Church founded by Jesus upon the [[Apostle (Christian)|Apostles]],<ref name="kitty7">{{cite web| last =Paragraphs number 857-859| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=25 October 2009}}</ref> among whom [[Saint Peter|Simon Peter]] held the position of chief apostle.<ref name="Cat551">{{cite web| last =Paragraphs number 551-553| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a3p3.htm| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=25 October 2009}}</ref> The Church also believes that its [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]], through [[apostolic succession]], are consecrated successors of these apostles,<ref name="Cat860">{{cite web| last =Paragraphs number 860-862| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=25 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="Cat1562">{{cite web| last =Paragraph number 1562| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a6.htm| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=25 October 2009}}</ref> and that the [[Pope|Bishop of Rome]] (the Pope) as the successor of Peter, possesses a universal [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|primacy]] of jurisdiction and pastoral care.<ref name="Cat880">{{cite web| last =Paragraphs number 880-882| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm#I| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=25 October 2009}}</ref> |
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The Church teaches that it is the "[[Four Marks of the Church|One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church]]" founded by [[Jesus Christ]], that its [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] are [[apostolic succession|consecrated successors]] of his [[Apostle (Christian)|apostles]] and that the Pope as the successor of [[St. Peter the Apostle|St. Peter]] possesses a universal [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|primacy]] of jurisdiction and [[pastoral care]]. Church doctrines have been defined through 21 [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical councils]] and the Church maintains that by guidance of the [[Holy Spirit]], it can define its teachings on faith and morals [[Infallibility of the Church|infallibly]] under specific conditions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Second Vatican Council|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|work=Lumen Gentium|publisher=Vatican|accessdate=24 July 2010|title=Chapter 25, paragraph 25|quote=by the light of the Holy Spirit ... ... vigilantly warding off any errors that threaten their flock.}}</ref><ref group=note>"890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms:"</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The teaching office|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm|work=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=vatican|accessdate=24 July 2010}}</ref> Catholic beliefs are based on the [[Books of the Bible|Holy Bible]] and [[Sacred Tradition]] interpreted by the Church's [[Magisterium|teaching authority]] and detailed in the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]. Catholic worship is called the [[liturgy]], the central component of which is the [[Eucharist in the Catholic Church|Eucharist]]. |
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Church doctrines have been defined through various [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical councils]], following the example set by the first Apostles in the [[Council of Jerusalem]].<ref name="Schreck152">Schreck, p. 152.</ref> On the basis of promises made by Jesus to his apostles, described in the [[Gospel]]s, the Church believes that it is guided by the [[Holy Spirit]] and so protected from falling into doctrinal error.<ref name="OneFaith43">Barry, p. 37, pp. 43–44.</ref><ref name="Matthew">{{bibleverse||Matthew|16:18–19}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse||John|16:12–13}}</ref> |
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==Name== |
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{{See|Roman Catholic (term)}} |
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The Greek word καθολικός (''katholikos''), from which ''Catholic'' is derived, means "universal", the Greek word derives from the earlier Greek phrase "kata holos" meaning "according to the |
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whole”.<ref>[http://www.strobert.org/user_image/pdf/On_Being_Catholic.pdf On Being Catholic] by Claire Anderson</ref> |
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It was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century.<ref>McCulloch, p. 127.</ref> |
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Catholic beliefs are based on the [[Sacred Tradition|deposit of Faith]] (containing both the [[Books of the Bible|Holy Bible]] and [[Sacred Tradition]]) handed down from the time of the [[Twelve Apostles|Apostles]], which are interpreted by the Church's [[Magisterium|teaching authority]]. Those beliefs are summarized in the [[Nicene Creed]] and formally detailed in the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''.<ref name="cat"/> Formal Catholic worship is termed the [[liturgy]]. The [[Eucharist in the Catholic Church|Eucharist]] is the center of Catholic worship. It is one of seven [[sacraments]] which mark key stages in the lives of believers. |
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Since the [[East-West Schism]] of 1054, the Western Church has generally been known as "Catholic", while the Eastern Church has generally been known as "Orthodox".<ref name="McBrien"/> Following the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in the 16th century, the church in "communion with the Bishop of Rome" used the term "Catholic" to distinguish itself from the various Protestant churches.<ref name="McBrien">McBrien, Richard (2008). ''The Church''. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available [http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245213 Browseinside.harpercollins.com]. Quote: "[T]he use of the adjective 'Catholic' as a modifier of 'Church' became divisive only after the East-West Schism ...and the Protestant Reformation ...In the former case, the West claimed for itself the title ''Catholic'' Church, while the East appropriated the name ''Holy Orthodox'' Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were called ''Protestant''."</ref> The name "Catholic Church" appears in the title of the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]].''<ref>Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2003). [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM "Catechism of the Catholic Church."] Retrieved on: 2009-05-01.</ref> It is also the term that [[Pope Paul VI|Paul VI]] used when signing the documents of the Second Vatican Council.<ref>The Vatican. [http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/ Documents of the II Vatican Council]. Retrieved on: 2009-05-04. Note: The Pope's signature appears in the Latin version.</ref> The name "Roman Catholic Church" has also been used by the Church to refer to itself,<ref>Example: [http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/angl-comm-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19770429_paul-vi-coggan_en.html 1977 Agreement with Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury]</ref> as has "Roman Church".<ref>"The Catholic Church is also called the Roman Church to emphasize that the centre of unity, which is an essential for the Universal Church, is in the Roman See" (Thomas J. O'Brien, [http://books.google.ie/books?id=j27de-yZVH8C&pg=PA70&dq=%22also+called+the+Roman+Church%22&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22also%20called%20the%20Roman%20Church%22&f=false An Advanced Catechism] (1901, reprinted 2009, p. 70). Retrieved on 2010-03-26.</ref> |
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With a history spanning almost two thousand years, the Church is "the world's oldest and largest institution"<ref name="O'CollinsPref">O'Collins, p. v (preface).</ref> In the 11th century, a major split, sometimes called the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]], occurred between Eastern and Western Christianity. <!--, largely as a result of disagreements over [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|papal primacy]].{{Dubious|date=November 2009}}+ --> Those Eastern churches which remained in, or later re-established, communion with the Pope, form the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholic churches]] and those which remain independent of papal authority are usually known as [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] churches. In the 16th century, partly in response to the rise of the [[Protestant Reformation]], the Church engaged in its own process of reform and renewal, known as the [[Counter-Reformation]]. |
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Although the Church maintains that it is the "[[Four Marks of the Church|One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church]]" founded by [[Jesus]] and in which is found the fullness of the means of salvation,<ref>{{cite web|last=Vatican Council|first=Second|title=Lumen Gentium paragraph 14|publisher=Vatican|year=1964|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=17 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 846|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 December 2008}}</ref> it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of other Christian communities to bring people to [[salvation]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 819|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=16 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="Kreeft110"/> It believes that it is called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians, a movement known as [[ecumenism]].<ref name="Kreeft110">Kreeft, pp. 110–112.</ref> |
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== Origin and mission == |
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{{See also| History of the Catholic Church|History of the Papacy|History of Early Christianity}} |
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===Origin=== |
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[[File:Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter by Pietro Perugino.jpg|thumb|300px| Fresco (1481–1482) by [[Pietro Perugino|Perugino]] in the [[Sistine Chapel]] showing Jesus giving the [[Keys of Heaven|keys of heaven]] to [[Saint Peter]].]] |
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According to Catholic doctrine, the Catholic Church is the original Christian church founded by [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]].<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 98, quote "The fundamental reason for being a Catholic is the historical fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, was God's invention, not man's ... As the Father gave authority to Christ (Jn 5:22; Mt 28:18–20), Christ passed it on to his apostles (Lk 10:16), and they passed it on to the successors they appointed as bishops."</ref><ref name="LumenChapt3"/><ref>{{cite web | last = Vatican Council I| title =Dogmatic Constitution Pastor aeternus on the Church of Christ | work = | publisher =EWTN | date = 1996| url =http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/papae1.htm | accessdate =24 November 2009 }}</ref> The [[New Testament]] records his appointing of the [[twelve Apostles]] and giving them authority to continue his work.<ref name="Kreeft98O"/> Catholics believe that Jesus designated [[Simon Peter]] as the leader of the apostles by proclaiming "upon this rock I will build my church ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ... ".<ref name="Matthew"/><ref name="LumenChapt3">{{cite web |last= Paul VI|first=Pope| title =Lumen Gentium | publisher =Libreria Editrice Vaticana | date =1964 | url =http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html | accessdate =19 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last =First Vatican Council | title = Pastor aeternus| publisher = EWTN| date =18 July 1870 | url = http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/papae1.htm| accessdate =20 November 2009 }}</ref><ref name="SandSp1">Duffy, p. 1.</ref><ref name="OneFaith46"/> Catholics believe that the coming of the [[Holy Spirit]] upon the apostles, in an event known as [[Pentecost]], signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church. All duly consecrated [[bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] since then are considered the [[apostolic succession|successors to the apostles]].<ref name="LumenChapt3"/><ref name="OneFaith46">Barry, p. 46, quote "Jesus entrusted his Church to his apostles, his chosen leaders whom he had formed in faith ... he assured them that the Holy Spirit would always be with them ... Jesus told his apostles "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. Matthew 28: 18–20 With the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Church came into the world. The Church was then, as it is now, the visible sign of Christ's continuing work in the world. Jesus had handed over the roles of leadership and service in his community to Peter and the other apostles."</ref> |
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The traditional narrative places Peter in Rome, where he founded a church and served as the first bishop of the [[See of Rome]], later consecrating [[Pope Linus|Linus]] as his successor, thus beginning the [[List of popes|line of Popes]].<ref name="Franzen17">Franzen pp. 17–18</ref><ref name="Orlandis11"/> Elements of this traditional narrative agree with the surviving historical evidence which includes the writings of [[Saint Paul]], several early [[Church Fathers]] (among them [[Pope Clement I]])<ref name="Eberhardt">Eberhardt, p. 60, quote "Christ instituted a hierarchy to rule, teach, and sanctify His Church. Since these functions were essential to Christianity, this hierarchical office was de jure perpetual. De facto, the apostles designated their immediate successors by selecting, training, and ordaining vicars, to whom at death they committed their churches. These apostolic vicars, at first themselves styled apostles, carried on the missionary labors of the original Twelve. 'Formerly they called the same persons priests and bishops; those who are now called bishops they called apostles. In course of time they left the name of apostle to those who were the apostles in the strict sense, and applied the name of bishop to those formerly called apostles' (Theodoret, On I Timothy, iii, 1). The beginning of this transmission of office can be seen in St. Paul's pastoral charges to Sts. Titus and Timothy, and we are assured that St. John 'used to journey by request to neighboring districts of the Gentiles, in some places to appoint bishops, in others to regulate whole churches' (Clement, Quis Dives, 42). We are assured by St. Clement of Rome that such a transfer actually took place: 'Our apostles also knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife about the episcopal office. For this reason, then, inasmuch as they had perfect foreknowledge, they named those previously mentioned (episkopoi and diaconoi) that when these should fall asleep (in the Lord), other approved men would succeed them ...'(Corinthians 44). Thus was perpetuated a legitimate divine delegation: 'The apostles preached the Gospel to us from the Lord, Jesus Christ; Christ from God. Christ, then, was sent by God, and the apostles by Christ' (ibid., 42). Now it is the bishops who are sent by the apostles so that subsequently St. Irenaeus could challenge heretics: 'We are able to name those appointed bishops by the apostles in the churches, and their successors down to our own times' (A. H., III, 3). Tertullian made a similar claim (Prescriptions, 32, 36)."</ref> and some archaeological evidence.<ref name="Franzen17"/> Although in the past some Biblical scholars thought the word 'rock' referred to Jesus or to Peter’s faith, the majority now understand it as referring to the person of Peter.<ref>Daniel William O'Connor. "Saint Peter the Apostle." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 27 Nov. 2009 [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle].</ref> Some historians of Christianity assert that the Catholic Church can be traced to Jesus's consecration of Peter,<ref name="Orlandis11">Orlandis, p. 11 quote "But Jesus not only founded a religion – Christianity; he founded a Church. ... The Church was grounded on the Apostle Peter to whom Christ promised the primacy – 'and on this rock I will build my Church (Mt 16:18)'".</ref><ref name="Vidmar39">Vidmar, p. 39-40 quote "Tradition and considerable evidence has it that the apostles became heads of local churches: James the Great and James the Less in Jerusalem, John in Antioch, Mark in Alexandria, Peter and Paul in Rome. Their authority was then passed on to successors. This is referred to as 'apostolic succession.' Clement in 95 AD, wrote to the Corinthians that the bishops were the successors to the apostles, who were the successors to Christ. Irenaeus and Tertullian both mention lists of bishops who succeeded Peter and Paul in Rome, though the lists are slightly different: Linus, Cletus, Clement, Evaristus, Sixtus. ... Both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that Peter had an authority that superseded that of the other apostles. ... The evidence that Peter was 'bishop' of Rome is corroborated by both positive and 'negative' evidence. (author cites evidence)... Several pieces of evidence indicate that the Bishop of Rome even after Peter held some sort of preeminence among other bishops. (author cites evidence)"</ref> some that Jesus did not found a church in his lifetime but provided a framework of beliefs,<ref>Kung, pp. 4–5</ref> while others do not make a judgement about whether or not the Church was founded by Jesus but disagree with the traditional view that the papacy originated with Peter. These assert that Rome may not have had a bishop until after the apostolic age and suggest the papal office may have been superimposed by the traditional narrative upon the primitive church<ref name="Bokenkotter30">Bokenkotter, p. 30 quote "The traditional Catholic view of the organization of the Church is that Jesus himself organized it by appointing the twelve apostles and giving them authority to assume control of the Church after his death. This is the picture presupposed and developed by Luke particularly; but many scholars, including some Catholic ones, view this conception as a retrojection of the later-developed Church system into the primitive era."</ref><ref>Kelly, p. 6. quote: "Ignatius assumed that Peter and Paul wielded special authority over the Roman church, while Irenaeus claimed that they jointly founded it and inaugurated its succession of bishops. Nothing, however, is known of their constitutional roles, least of all Peter's as presumed leader of the community."</ref> although some assert that the papal office had indeed emerged by the mid 150s.<ref name="SandSp7">Duffy, p. 7.</ref><ref name="SandSpaperback13">Duffy, paperback edition p. 13, quote "There is no sure way to settle on a date by which the office of ruling bishop had emerged in Rome, and so to name the first Pope, but the process was certainly complete by the time of Anicetus in the mid-150s, when Polycarp, the aged Bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome, and he and Anicetus debated amicably the question of the date of Easter."</ref> |
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===Mission and purpose=== |
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The Church believes that its mission is founded upon Jesus' command to his followers to spread the faith across the world:<ref name="Norman11">Norman, p. 11.</ref> "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|28:19–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last =Paragraph number 849| title =Catechism of the Catholic Church| publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana| year = 1994| url = http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm#IV| dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Norman12">Norman, p. 12.</ref> [[Pope Benedict XVI]] summarized this mission as a threefold responsibility to proclaim the word of God, celebrate the sacraments, and exercise the ministry of charity.<ref name="DeusCE">{{cite web| last = Benedict XVI| first =Pope| title =Deus Caritas Est| publisher =Vatican| year =2005| url =http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=6 May 2008}}</ref> As part of its ministry of charity, the Church runs worldwide agencies such as [[Caritas (charity)|Caritas Internationalis]], whose national subsidiaries include [[CAFOD]] and [[Catholic Relief Services]]. Other institutions include [[Catholic school]]s, [[:Category:Roman Catholic universities and colleges|Catholic universities]], [[Catholic Charities]], the [[Society of Saint Vincent de Paul]], [[Marriage Encounter]], hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, homeless shelters, as well as ministries to the poor, families, the elderly, AIDS victims, and pregnant and abused women.<ref name="OneFaith98" /> |
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==Beliefs== |
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{{Main|Catholic theology}} |
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[[File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 003.jpg|thumb|180px|[[God the Father in Western art|Depiction of God the Father]], the Son and Holy Spirit, with the [[Holy Family]] by [[Bartolomé Esteban Murillo|Murrilo]], c. 1680.]] |
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The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a [[perichoresis|mutual indwelling]] of three persons: [[God the Father#Christianity|God the Father]]; [[God the Son]]; and the [[Holy Spirit]]. Catholic beliefs are summarized in the [[Nicene Creed]]<ref name="Kreeft">Kreeft, p. 17.</ref> and detailed in the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''.<ref name="cat">Marthaler, preface</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Laetamur Magnopere|publisher=Vatican|year=1997|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081997_laetamur_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> The Nicene Creed also forms the central statement of belief of other Christian denominations.<ref name="Richardson">Richardson, p. 132.</ref> Chief among these are [[Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Christians, whose beliefs are similar to those of Catholics, differing mainly with regard to [[papal infallibility]], the [[filioque|filioque clause]] and the [[Immaculate Conception]] of Mary.<ref>Langan, p. 118.</ref><ref>Parry, p. 292.</ref> The various [[Christian denomination|Protestant denominations]] vary in their beliefs, but generally differ from Catholics regarding the Pope, Church tradition, the Eucharist, veneration of saints, and issues pertaining to [[Divine grace|grace]], good works and [[salvation]].<ref name="McManners254">Collinson, pp. 254–260.</ref> |
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Catholic belief holds that the Church "... is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth."<ref name="Schreck131">Schreck, p. 131.</ref> To Catholics, the term "Church" refers to the people of God, who abide in Jesus and who, "... nourished with the [[Body of Christ]], become the Body of Christ."<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 777–778|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p1.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> |
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[[Lumen Gentium]] (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), affirms that the fullness of the "means of salvation" exists only in the Catholic Church but acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of Christian communities separated from itself to bring people to salvation. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved indirectly through the Church if the person has invincible ignorance of the Catholic Church and its teachings (as a result of parentage or culture, for example), yet follows the morals God has dictated in his heart and would, therefore, join the Church if he understood its necessity.<ref name="LumenG2"/><ref name="Schreck146">Schreck, pp. 146–147.</ref> It teaches that Catholics are called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians.<ref name="LumenG2">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Lumen Gentium chapter 2|publisher=Vatican|year=1964|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="Schreck146"/> |
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The [[Council of Jerusalem]], convened by the [[Apostle (Christian)|Apostles]] around the year 50 to clarify Church teachings, set the precedent for later [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|councils of the Church]], convened by Church leaders throughout history.<ref name="Schreck152">Schreck, p. 152.</ref><ref name="McManners371">Ware, p. 142.</ref><ref name="McManners37">Chadwick, Henry p. 37, quote: "In Acts 15 scripture recorded the apostles meeting in synod to reach a common policy about the Gentile mission."</ref> The most recent Church council was the [[Vatican II|Second Vatican Council]], which closed in 1965.<ref name="SandSp275">Duffy, p. 275, p. 281.</ref> |
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===Teaching authority, seven sacraments=== |
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Based on the promises of Jesus in the [[Gospel]]s, the Church believes that it is continually guided by the [[Holy Spirit]] and so protected [[Infallibility of the Church|infallibly]] from falling into doctrinal error.<ref name="LumenG3"/><ref name="Schreck16"/> The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth through [[Books of the Bible|Sacred Scripture]], [[Sacred Tradition]] and the [[Magisterium]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Brodd|first=Jefferey|title=World Religions|publisher=Saint Mary's Press|date=2003|location=Winona, MN|isbn=978-0-88489-725-5}}</ref> |
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Sacred Scripture consists of those books found in the ancient [[Greek language|Greek]] version of the [[Old Testament]]—known as the [[Septuagint]]<ref name="Schreck21">Schreck, p. 21.</ref>—and the 27 [[New Testament]] writings first found in the [[Codex Vaticanus|Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209]] and listed in [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]]' [[Easter letter|Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter]].<ref name="Schreck23">Schreck, p. 23.</ref> This 73-book [[Bible#Christian Bible|Catholic Bible]] contains the [[Deuterocanonical books|Deuterocanonical]]s, books not in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and not upheld as [[Biblical canon|canon]]ical by most Protestants.<ref name="Schreck21"/> |
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Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the Church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.<ref name="Schreck16">Schreck, pp. 15–19.</ref> Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (''depositum fidei''). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from ''magister'', Latin for "teacher"), the Church's teaching authority, which—through [[apostolic succession]]—is exercised by the pope and the [[College of Bishops|college of bishops]] in union with the pope.<ref name="Schreck30">Schreck, p. 30.</ref> |
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According to the [[Council of Trent]], Jesus instituted [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|seven sacraments]] and entrusted them to the Church.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1131|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c1a2.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> These are [[Baptism]], [[Confirmation]], the [[Eucharist]], Reconciliation ([[Penance]]), [[Anointing of the Sick]] (formerly Extreme Unction or the "[[Last Rites]]"), [[Holy Orders]] and [[Christian views on marriage|Holy Matrimony]]. Sacraments are important visible rituals which Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God's [[Divine grace|grace]] to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (''[[ex opere operato]]'').<ref>Kreeft, pp. 298–299.</ref><ref name="Mongoven">Mongoven, p. 68.</ref> |
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===God the Father, creation, and original sin=== |
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{{See also|Original sin}} |
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[[File:Guido Reni 031.jpg|thumb|170px|The Archangel [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]]—one of three archangels—shown defeating Lucifer, by [[Guido Reni|Reni]], 1636.]] |
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The Church teaches that God is the source and creator of all that exists,<ref name="Schreck45">Schreck, p. 45.</ref> and that he is a loving and caring entity who is directly involved in the world and in people's lives,<ref name="OneFaith7">Barry, p. 7.</ref> desiring his creatures to love him and to love each other.<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|22:37–40}}</ref><ref name="OneFaith90">Barry, pp. 91–92.</ref> Catholicism teaches that while human beings live bodily in a visible, material world, their souls simultaneously occupy an invisible, spiritual world, in which spiritual beings called [[angel]]s exist to "worship and serve God".<ref name="Kreeft51">Kreeft, p. 51.</ref> Some angels, however, chose to rebel against God, and thereby became [[demon]]s antagonistic both to God and to mankind.<ref name="angels">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 390, 392, 405|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm#II|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> Among other names, the leader of this rebellion has been called "[[Lucifer]]", "[[Satan]]" and the [[Christian teaching about the Devil|devil]].<ref name="Schreck57">Schreck, p. 57.</ref> Satan is believed to have tempted the first humans, [[Adam and Eve]], whose subsequent act of [[original sin]] brought suffering and death into the world.<ref name="Schreck68">Schreck, p. 68.</ref> |
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This event, known in Catholic belief as the [[Fall of Man]], separated humanity from its original intimacy with God. The Catechism states that the description of the fall, in Genesis 3, uses figurative language, but affirms that "... a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man" that resulted in "a deprivation of original holiness and justice" that makes each person "subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death: and inclined to sin". Catholic doctrine accepts the possibility that God's creation occurred in a way [[Evolution and the Catholic Church|consistent with evolution]] but rejects as outside the scope of science any efforts to use of the theory to deny supernatural divine creation.<ref name="Kreeft49">Kreeft, p. 49.</ref> The soul did not evolve, according to Catholic doctrine, but was infused into man and woman directly by God.<ref name="Schreck68">Schreck, p. 68.</ref> The Church believes that people can be cleansed of original sin and all personal sins through [[Baptism]].<ref name="Kreeft308">Kreeft, p. 308.</ref> This sacramental act of cleansing admits a person as a full member of the natural and supernatural Church and can only be conferred on a person once.<ref name="Kreeft308"/> |
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===Jesus, sin and Penance=== |
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{{See also|Jesus|sin|Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church)}} |
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[[File:St Peters Basilica Confessional.jpg|thumb|170px|left|A [[confessional]] used for the [[Sacrament of Penance]] at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]].]] |
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Catholics believe that Jesus is the [[Messiah]] of the Old Testament's [[Jesus and Messianic prophecy|Messianic prophecies]].<ref name="Kreeft71">Kreeft, pp. 71–72.</ref> The Nicene Creed states that he is "... the only begotten son of God, ... one in being with the Father. Through him all things were made". In an event known as the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], the Church teaches that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature when Jesus was conceived in the womb of a Jewish virgin named [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Mary]]. Jesus is believed, therefore, to be both fully divine and fully human. It is taught that Jesus' mission on earth included giving people his word and his example to follow, as recorded in the four [[Gospel]]s.<ref name="McGrath">McGrath, pp. 4–6.</ref> Catholicism teaches that following the example of Jesus helps believers to become closer to him, and therefore to grow in true love, freedom, and fullness of life.<ref>{{bibleref|John|10:1–30}}</ref><ref name="Schreck265">Schreck, pp. 264–265.</ref> |
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Falling into sin is considered the opposite to following Jesus, weakening a person's resemblance to God and turning their soul away from his love.<ref name="sins"/> Sins range from the less serious [[venial sin]]s to more serious [[mortal sin]]s which end a person's relationship with God.<ref name="sins">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1850, 1857|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm#II|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="OneFaith77">Barry, p. 77.</ref> |
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The Church teaches that through the [[Passion (Christianity)|passion]] (suffering) of Jesus and his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]], all people have an opportunity for forgiveness and freedom from sin, and so can be [[atonement|reconciled to God]].<ref name="Kreeft71"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 608|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p122a4p2.htm#III|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> The [[Resurrection of Jesus]], according to Catholic belief, gained for humans a possible spiritual immortality previously denied to us because of original sin.<ref name="Schreck113">Schreck, p. 113.</ref> |
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[[John the Baptist]] called Jesus "the [[Lamb of God]] who takes away the sin of the world",<ref name="John1">{{bibleverse||John|1:29}}</ref> in reference to the ancient Jewish practice of [[sacrificial lamb|sacrificing lambs]] to God.<ref>{{bibleverse||Leviticus|4:35}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|15:5}}</ref> By reconciling with God and following Jesus' words and deeds, the Church believes one can enter the [[Kingdom of God]], which is the "... reign of God over people's hearts and lives."<ref name="OneFaith26">Barry, p. 26.</ref><ref name="Schreck100">Schreck, p. 100.</ref> |
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After baptism, the sacrament of Reconciliation ([[Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church)|Penance]] or Confession) is the means by which Catholics believe they can obtain forgiveness for subsequent sin and receive God's grace. Catholics believe Jesus gave the apostles authority to forgive sins in God's name.<ref name="Schreck242">Schreck, p. 242.</ref> After making an [[examination of conscience]] that often involves a review of the [[The Ten Commandments in Roman Catholic theology|ten commandments]], the sacrament involves confession of sins by an individual to a priest, who then offers advice and imposes a particular penance to be performed. The penitent then prays an [[Act of Contrition|act of contrition]] and the priest administers [[absolution]], formally forgiving the person of his sins.<ref name="Kreeft344">Kreeft, pp. 343–344.</ref> The priest is forbidden—under penalty of [[excommunication]]—to reveal any sin or disclosure heard under the [[seal of confession]]. Penance helps prepare Catholics before they can [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church#Validity and liceity of administration of the sacraments|licitly]] receive the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1310|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a2.htm#IV|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=11 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Eucharist">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1385, 1389|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm#IV|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=11 February 2008}}</ref> |
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===Holy Spirit and Confirmation=== |
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[[File:Gian Lorenzo Bernini - Dove of the Holy Spirit.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]]'s alabaster window in [[St. Peter's Basilica]] depicts the Holy Spirit as a dove, a common motif in [[Art in Roman Catholicism|Christian art]].]] |
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Jesus told his apostles that after his death and [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]] he would send them the [[Paraclete|"Advocate"]], the "[[Holy Spirit]]", who "... will teach you all things".<ref>{{bibleverse||John|14:26}}</ref><ref name="OneFaith37">Barry, p. 37.</ref> Through the sacrament of [[Confirmation (Catholic Church)|Confirmation]], Catholics believe they receive the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is a Person of the [[Trinity]], the Church teaches that receiving the Holy Spirit is an act of receiving God.<ref name="Kreeft88">Kreeft, p. 88.</ref> |
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Confirmation, sometimes called the "sacrament of Christian maturity", is believed to increase and deepen the grace received at [[Baptism]],<ref name="Schreck230">Schreck, p. 230.</ref> as the confirmand is sealed with the seven [[Spiritual gift|gifts of the Holy Spirit]], i.e., wisdom (to see and follow God's plan), understanding, counsel (right judgement), fortitude (courage), knowledge, piety (reverence), and fear of the Lord (rejoicing in the presence of God; a spirit of holy fear in God's presence).<ref name="Schreck277"/><ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1831, 1303.</ref> The corresponding [[Fruit of the Holy Spirit|fruits of the Holy Spirit]] are charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.<ref name="Schreck277">Schreck, p. 277.</ref><ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1832.</ref> To be properly confirmed, Catholics must be in a state of grace, which means they cannot be conscious of having committed an unconfessed mortal sin.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1310, 1319.</ref> They must also have prepared spiritually for the sacrament, chosen a sponsor for spiritual support, and selected a [[saint]] to be their special patron and intercessor.<ref name="Schreck230"/> In the Eastern Catholic Churches, baptism, including infant baptism, is immediately followed by Confirmation and the reception of the Eucharist.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1318.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1233|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 May 2008}}</ref> |
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===Final judgment and afterlife=== |
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Belief in an afterlife is part of Catholic doctrine, the "four last things" being death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The Church teaches that immediately after death the [[soul]] of each person will receive a [[particular judgment]] from God, based on the deeds of that individual's earthly life.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1021–22, 1051.</ref><ref name="Schreck">Schreck, pp. 379–386.</ref> This teaching also attests to another day when Jesus will sit in a universal judgment of all mankind.<ref name="OneFaith98">Barry, p. 98, quote: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me ... amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."</ref><ref name="Matthew25">{{bibleverse||Matthew|25:35–36}}</ref> This [[Last Judgment|final judgment]], according to Church teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1038–41.</ref><ref name="Schreck397">Schreck, p. 397.</ref> The basis upon which each person's soul will be judged is detailed in the Gospel of Matthew which lists [[Works of Mercy|works of mercy]] to be performed even to people considered "the least".<ref name="Matthew25"/><ref name="Schreck397"/> Emphasis is upon Jesus' words that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven".<ref name="Schreck397"/> According to the Catechism, "The Last Judgement will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life."<ref name="Schreck397">Schreck, p. 397</ref> |
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[[File:Last Rites ca 1600.jpg|thumb|A [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] administering the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (also known as [[Anointing of the Sick]]).]] |
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There are three states of afterlife in Catholic belief. [[Heaven#In Roman Catholicism|Heaven]] is a time of glorious union with God and a life of unspeakable joy that lasts forever.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1023–29, 1042–50.</ref><ref name="Schreck"/> [[Purgatory]] is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although saved, are not free enough from sin to enter directly into heaven. It is a state requiring penance and purgation of sin through God's mercy aided by the prayers of others.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1030–32, 1054.</ref><ref name="Schreck"/> Finally, those who chose to live a sinful and selfish life, did not repent, and fully intended to persist in their ways are sent to [[Hell in Christian beliefs#Roman Catholicism|hell]], an everlasting separation from God.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1033–37, 1057.</ref><ref name="OneFaith105">Barry, p. 105.</ref> The Church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God and his love.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1058.</ref><ref name="Schreck"/> He [[predestination|predestines]] no one to hell and no one can determine whether anyone else has been condemned.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1037.</ref><ref name="Schreck"/> Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death and be saved "like the [[Saint Dismas|good thief]] who was crucified next to Jesus".<ref name="Schreck"/><ref name="Luke23">{{bibleverse||Luke|23:39–43}}</ref> |
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===Social teaching=== |
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{{See also|Catholic social teaching}} |
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In addition to operating numerous social ministries throughout the world, the Church teaches that individual Catholics are required to practice the spiritual and corporal [[Works of Mercy|works of mercy]] as well. The seven corporal works of mercy are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 2447.</ref> Welcoming strangers, immigrants, and refugees could be said to be another corporal work of mercy. The spiritual works of mercy include: instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving, bearing wrongs patiently, and praying for the living and the dead.<ref name="OneFaith98"/><ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 2447.</ref> In conjunction with the work of mercy to visit the sick, the Church offers the sacrament of [[Anointing of the Sick]],<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1499–1532.</ref> administered only by a priest.<ref name="Kreeft373">Kreeft, p. 373.</ref> Church teaching on works of mercy and the new social problems of the industrial era led to the development of [[Catholic social teaching]], which emphasizes human dignity and commits Catholics to the welfare of others.<ref name="OneFaith98">Barry, p. 98–99.</ref><ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 2419–49, 2458–63.</ref> |
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==Prayer and worship== |
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Catholic liturgy is regulated by [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|Church authority]]<ref name="Schreck141">Schreck, p. 141.</ref> and consists of the Eucharist and Mass, the other sacraments, and the [[Liturgy of the Hours]]. According to the precepts of the Church, every Catholic is required to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 2168–95.</ref> and confess mortal sins at least once a year.<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church #2041-2043</ref> There is evidence from the UK<ref>Annabel Miller, ''Anyone for confession?'' ''[[The Tablet]]'', 17 March 2001 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/5358</ref> and USA<ref>''Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice among U.S. Catholics'', CARA, [[Georgetown University]], February 2008 http://cara.georgetown.edu/reconciliation.pdf</ref> that at least three-quarters of professed Catholics do not adhere to the latter requirement of canon law. They should also receive the Eucharist at least once during Easter season, observe the prescribed days of [[fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church|fasting and of abstinence]] as established by the Church, and help provide for the Church's needs.<ref name="Precepts">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 2041–2043|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c3a3.htm#II|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> (For the Latin Church, the holy days of obligation are set forth in the ''Code of Canon Law'', but they vary from nation to nation, as requested by each nation's conference of bishops and approved by the Holy See.) All Catholics are expected to participate in the liturgical life of the Church, but individual or communal prayer and devotions—while encouraged—are a matter of personal preference.<ref name="Schreck193">Schreck, p. 193.</ref> |
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===Diverse traditions of worship=== |
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[[File:Tetragrammaton Paris StMichele.JPG|thumb|The [[Tetragrammaton|Divine Name]] of God above an image of Christ crucified and surrounded by the [[angel|angelic hosts]] in a Catholic church [[altarpiece]].]] |
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Differing liturgical traditions, or rites, exist throughout the universal Church, reflecting historical and cultural diversity rather than a difference in beliefs.<ref name="Eastrites">{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1200–1209|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a2.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 May 2008}}</ref> The most commonly used liturgy is the [[Roman Rite]] (which is used in most of the [[Latin Rite|Latin Catholic Church]], but not in the Eastern Catholic Churches nor in those parts of the Latin Church where other [[Latin liturgical rites]] are in use). Presently, this rite exists in two authorized forms: the ''ordinary form'' (the 1969 [[Mass of Paul VI]], celebrated mostly in the vernacular, i.e., the language of the people) and the ''[[extraordinary form of the Roman Rite|extraordinary form]]'' (the 1962 edition of the ''[[Tridentine Mass|Tridentine]]'' or ''[[Latin Mass]]'' standardized by [[Pope Pius V]] after the [[Council of Trent]]).<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, pp. 326–327.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Benedict XVI|first=Pope|title=Summorum Pontificum|publisher=Eternal Word Television Network|year=2007|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16Summontificum.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 March 2008}}{{Dead link|date=October 2009}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The Tridentine Mass was the ordinary form of the Roman-Rite Mass since the 16th century and though superseded in 1969 by the [[Roman Missal]] of Paul VI, it continues to be offered according to that of 1962, as authorised by the documents ''[[Quattuor Abhinc Annos]]'' (1984), ''[[Ecclesia Dei]]'' (1988)<ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Ecclesia Dei|publisher=Vatican|year=1988|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_02071988_ecclesia-dei_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 March 2008}}</ref> and ''[[Summorum Pontificum]]'' (2007).|group=note}} In 1980, Pope John Paul II issued a Pastoral Provision which allows members of the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] (the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion) to retain many aspects of Anglican liturgical rites as a variation of the Roman rite when they join the Catholic Church. Such "Anglican Use" parishes exist only in the United States. Other Western rites (non-Roman) include the [[Ambrosian Rite]] and the [[Mozarabic Rite]]. |
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The [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] refer to the Eucharistic celebration as the ''[[Divine Liturgy]]''. Each of the Eastern Catholic Churches uses one of the following Eastern rites: the [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine rite]], [[Alexandrian Rite|Alexandrian]] or Coptic rite, [[Antiochene Rite|Syriac rite]], [[Armenian Rite|Armenian rite]], [[Maronite Church|Maronite rite]], and [[East Syrian Rite|Chaldean rite]]. |
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The Latin Catholic Church and the various Eastern Catholic Churches each follow a [[liturgical year]]—an annual calendar—which sets aside certain days and seasons to celebrate key events in the life of Jesus.<ref name="OneFaith116">Barry, p. 116.</ref> [[Advent]], [[Christmas]] and the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] celebrate his expected coming, birth and manifestation. [[Lent]] is the period of purification and penance that ends during [[Holy Week]] with the [[Easter Triduum]]. These days recall Jesus' last supper with his disciples, death on the cross, burial and resurrection. The feast of the [[Ascension of Jesus]] is followed by [[Pentecost]] which recalls the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' disciples.<ref name="OneFaith116">Barry, ''One Faith, One Lord'' (2001), p. 116.</ref> The remainder of the liturgical year apart from these special periods is known as [[Ordinary Time]]. |
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===Eucharist=== |
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{{See also|Eucharist (Catholic Church)|Catholic liturgy|Sacraments of the Catholic Church}} |
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The Eucharist is celebrated at each [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] and is the center of Catholic worship.<ref name="Kreeft320">Kreeft, p. 320.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1324–1331|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=11 June 2008}}</ref> The [[Words of Institution]] for this sacrament are drawn from the [[synoptic Gospels|Gospel]]s and a [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|Pauline letter]].<ref name="wordsinstit">See {{bibleverse||Luke|22:19}}, {{bibleverse||Matthew|26:27–28}}, {{bibleverse||Mark|14:22–24}}, {{bibleverse||1Corinthians|11:24–25}}</ref> In its main elements and prayers, the Catholic Mass celebrated today, according to professor Alan Schreck, is "almost identical" to the form described in the [[Didache]] and [[First Apology of Justin Martyr]] in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.<ref name="Schreck189">Schreck, pp. 189–190, quote: "Some of the earliest Christian writings, such as the Didache, or the 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,' chapters 9–10 (late first and early second century), and the First Apology of Justin Martyr, chapters 65–67 (about A.D. 155), describe the primitive form of the Mass and its prayers in a way that bears striking resemblance to the basic format of the Mass today. In fact, the main elements of St. Justin's description of the Mass are almost identical to the form Catholics now employ."</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1345–1346|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 May 2008}}</ref> |
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[[File:The Last Supper by Vicente Juan Macip.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Church holds that [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] instituted the Eucharist at the [[Last Supper]]. Catholics believe that at each Mass, the bread and wine become supernaturally [[transubstantiation|transubstantiated]] into the true [[Real Presence|Body and Blood of Christ]].]] |
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The Church teaches that Jesus established a [[New Covenant]] with humanity through the institution of the Eucharist at the [[Last Supper]]. This is held to be in fulfilment of the Old Testament promise of God's salvation for all the peoples of the world—a covenant sealed by Jesus's sacrifice on the cross.<ref name="Schreck232"/> In contrast to some Protestant belief, therefore, Catholicism teaches that Jesus's sacrifice is made truly present in the celebration of the Eucharist.<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, pp. 326–327.</ref> It is Catholic [[Roman Catholic Dogma|dogma]] that the [[Sacramental bread|bread]] and [[Sacramental wine|wine]] brought to the altar at each Mass are changed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and the true Blood of Christ (termed "[[transubstantiation]]") and that, by consuming these, believers are spiritually nourished and deepen their union with Jesus, are cleansed of venial sins, helped to overcome and avoid sin, unite with the poor and promote Christian unity.<ref name="Schreck232">Schreck, pp. 232–239.</ref><ref name="Kreeft328">Kreeft, p. 328.</ref> |
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Mass consists of two parts, the [[Mass (liturgy)#Liturgy of the Word|Liturgy of the Word]] and the [[Mass (liturgy)#Liturgy of the Eucharist|Liturgy of the Eucharist]].<ref name="Kreeft325">Kreeft, p. 325.</ref> |
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Because the Church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, p. 326.</ref> there are strict rules about its celebration and reception. The ingredients of the bread and wine used in the Mass are specified and Catholics must abstain from eating for one hour before receiving Communion.<ref name="Kreeft331">Kreeft, p. 331.</ref> Those who are conscious of being in a state of [[mortal sin]] are forbidden from this sacrament unless they have received absolution through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).<ref name="Kreeft331"/> Because the Church recognizes their celebration of the Mass and priestly ordination as valid sacraments, [[full communion|intercommunion]] with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Assyrian Church of the East, Polish National Catholic Church, and certain other churches—in "suitable circumstances and with Church authority"—is both possible and encouraged.<ref name="East"/> The same is not true for Protestant churches. In very limited circumstances, however, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance), and Anointing of the Sick to Protestants.{{#tag:ref| Protestants may receive Catholic sacraments only if ''all'' the following circumstances are present: (1) the person is in danger of death or, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or the conference of bishops, some other grave necessity, (2) they cannot approach a minister of their own denomination, (3) they freely ask for the sacrament on their own accord, (4) they truly believe what the Catholic Church teaches regarding the sacraments, and (5) they have the proper disposition to receive them.<ref name="East">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1399–1401|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 844(4)|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2T.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 July 2009}}</ref>|group=note}} Catholics are not permitted to receive communion in Protestant churches because of their different beliefs and practices regarding Holy Orders and the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1400|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm#IV|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=5 June 2008}}</ref> |
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===Liturgy of the Hours=== |
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{{See also|Liturgy of the Hours}} |
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In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus instructs his disciples to "pray always".<ref name="Luke">{{bibleverse||Luke|18:1}}</ref> The Liturgy of the Hours,<ref>{{cite web|title=General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours|url=http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/DocumentContents/Index/2/SubIndex/39/DocumentIndex/2|publisher=The Catholic Liturgical Library|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 July 2009}}; {{cite web|title=The Divine Office: A Study of the Roman Breviary, by the Rev. E.J. Quigley|url=http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books/quigley/index.html|publisher=Sancta Missa|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 July 2009}}; {{cite web|title=article on the Liturgy of the Hours / Divine Office / Breviary|url=http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/breviary.htm|publisher=Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 July 2009}}</ref> or Divine Office, is the Church's effort to respond to this request. It is considered to be an extension of the celebration of the Mass and is the official daily liturgical prayer of the Church.<ref name="Schreck198">Schreck, p. 198.</ref> It makes particular use of the [[Psalms]] as well as readings from the New and Old Testament, and various prayers.<ref name="Schreck198"/> It is an adaptation of the ancient Jewish practice of reading the Psalms at certain hours of the day or night. Catholics who pray the Liturgy of the Hours use a set of books issued by the Church that has been called a [[breviary]]. By [[canon law]], priests and deacons are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 276|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Religious orders often make praying the Liturgy of the Hours a part of their rule of life; the Second Vatican Council encouraged the Christian laity to take up the practice.<ref name="Schreck198"/><ref name="liturgy of the hours">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1174–1178, 1196|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a1.htm#IV|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> |
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===Devotional life and prayer=== |
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{{See also|Catholic spirituality}} |
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In addition to the Mass, the Catholic Church considers prayer to be one of the most important elements of Christian life. The Church considers personal prayer a Christian duty, one of the spiritual works of mercy and one of the principal ways its members nourish a relationship with God.<ref name="OneFaith8698">Barry, p. 86, p. 98.</ref> The ''Catechism'' identifies three types of prayer: vocal prayer (sung or spoken), meditation, and contemplative prayer. Quoting from the early [[Church Fathers|church father]] [[John Chrysostom]] regarding vocal prayer, the ''Catechism'' states, "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls."<ref name="prayer methods"/> Meditation is prayer in which the "mind seeks to understand the why and how of Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking."<ref name="prayer methods"/> Contemplative prayer is being with God, taking time to be close to and alone with him.<ref name="prayer methods"/> Three of the most common devotional prayers of the Catholic Church are [[The Lord's Prayer]], the [[Rosary]] and [[Stations of the Cross]].<ref name="OneFaith122"/> These prayers are most often vocal, yet always meditative and contemplative. [[Eucharistic adoration|Adoration]] of the [[Blessed Sacrament]] is a common form of contemplative prayer, whereas [[Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament|Benediction]] is a common vocal method of prayer. ''[[Lectio Divina|Lectio divina]]'', which means "sacred reading", is a form of meditative prayer. The Church encourages patterns of prayer intended to develop into habitual prayer. This includes such daily prayers as grace at meals, the Rosary, or the [[Liturgy of the Hours]], as well as the weekly rhythm of Sunday Eucharist and the observance of the year-long liturgical cycle.<ref name="prayer methods">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 2697–2724|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> |
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===Mary and the saints=== |
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{{See also|Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church}} |
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[[File:Sassoferrato - Jungfrun i bön.jpg|thumb|180 px|[[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Virgin Mary]], mother of Jesus, by [[Sassoferrato]], c. 1645.]] |
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Prayers to, [[Catholic devotions|devotions to]], and [[veneration]] of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Virgin Mary]] and the [[saint]]s are a common part of Catholic life but are distinct from the [[latria|worship]] of God.<ref name="Schreck200">Schreck, pp. 199–200.</ref> Catholic teaching maintains that the Church exists simultaneously on earth ([[Church militant and church triumphant|Church militant]]), in [[purgatory]] (Church suffering), and in heaven (Church triumphant); thus [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Mary]] and all other saints are alive and part of the living Church.<ref name="Kreeft113">Kreeft, pp. 113–114.</ref> This unity of the Church in heaven, in purgatory, and on earth is the "[[Communion of Saints]]".<ref name="Kreeft113"/><ref name="vatican.va-956">{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 956|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm#II|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> Explaining the [[intercession of saints]], the ''Catechism'' states that the saints "... do not cease to intercede with the Father for us ... so by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."<ref name="Schreck200"/><ref name="vatican.va-956"/> |
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The Church holds Mary, as [[Perpetual virginity|ever Virgin]] and [[Theotokos|Mother of God]], in special regard. She is believed to have been [[Immaculate Conception|conceived without original sin]], and to have been [[Assumption of Mary|assumed into heaven]]. These teachings, the focus of [[Roman Catholic Mariology]], are considered infallible. Several liturgical [[Blessed Virgin Mary#Marian feasts|Marian feasts]] are celebrated throughout the [[Liturgical year|Church Year]] and she is honored with many titles such as [[Queen of Heaven]] (in Latin, ''Regina Coeli''). [[Pope Paul VI]] called her [[Mother of the Church]] (in Latin, ''Mater Ecclesiae''), because by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the [[Body of Christ]].<ref name="OneFaith106">Barry, p. 106.</ref> Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions, such as the [[Rosary]], the [[Hail Mary]], the [[Salve Regina]] and the [[Memorare]] are common Catholic practices.<ref name="OneFaith122">Barry, pp. 122–123.</ref> The Church has affirmed the validity of [[Marian apparition]]s (supernatural experiences of Mary by one or more persons) such as those at [[Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes|Lourdes]], [[Our Lady of Fátima|Fatima]] and [[Our Lady of Guadalupe|Guadalupe]]<ref name="Schreck368">Schreck, p. 368.</ref> while others such as [[Our Lady of Međugorje|Međugorje]] are still under investigation. |
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[[Christian pilgrimage|Pilgrimage]] has been an important element of Catholic spirituality since at least the second century. Devotional journeys to the sites of biblical events or to places connected with Jesus, Mary or the saints are considered an aid to spiritual growth and are popular Catholic devotions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Baedeker|first=Rob|title=World's most-visited religious destinations|work=USA Today|date=21 December 2007|url=http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-12-21-most-visited-religious-spots-forbes_N.htm|accessdate=3 March 2008}}</ref> Western Europe has more than 6,000 pilgrimage destinations which generate around 60 million faith-related visits a year.<ref name="ChristianPilgrimage1">Nolan, pp. 1–3.</ref> |
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==Church organization and community== |
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While the Church considers Jesus to be its ultimate head, the spiritual leader and head of the Church organization is the [[pope]].<ref name="Kreeft109">Kreeft, p. 109.</ref>{{#tag:ref|There is no official [[list of popes]], but the ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'', published every year by the [[Roman Curia|Vatican]], contains a list that is generally considered to be the most authoritative. It is provided here. The ''Annuario Pontificio'' lists [[Pope Benedict XVI|Benedict XVI]], the current pope as of this writing, as the 265th pope of Rome. In 2001 a rigorous study was made by the Catholic Church into the history of the papacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-1597?l=english |title=Corrections Made to Official List of Popes |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=ZENIT |date=2001-06-05}}</ref> Based on that research, in 2008 there have been 265 Popes and 267 pontificates. |group=note}} The pope governs from the [[Vatican City]] in Rome – a sovereign nation of which he is the head of state.<ref>{{cite news|title=Country profile: Vatican|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066140.stm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Each pope is elected for life by the [[College of Cardinals]], a body composed of [[cleric]]s (normally bishops) who have been elevated to the rank of [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]. The cardinals, who also serve as papal advisors, may select any Catholic male as pope, but if the candidate is not already a [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]], he must become one before taking office.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thavis|first=John|title=Election of new pope follows detailed procedure|work=Catholic News Service|year=2005|url=http://www.catholicnews.com/jpii/stories/concl03.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=11 February 2008}}</ref> |
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The pope is assisted in the Church's administration by the [[Roman Curia]], or civil service. The Church is governed according to formal regulations set out in the [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]. The official language of the Church is Latin, although Italian is the working language of the Vatican administration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vatican Introduces Latin to 21st Century With New Dictionary|work=The New York Times|date=14 May 2003|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED6113FF937A25756C0A9659C8B63|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=13 May 2008}}</ref> |
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As of 2008, the worldwide Catholic Church comprises 2,795 [[diocese]]s (also called [[episcopal see|sees]] or, in the East, [[eparchy|eparchies]]), grouped into 23 [[particular Church]]es – the [[Latin Rite|Latin-rite Church]] and 22 [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] – each with distinct traditions regarding the [[liturgy]] and the administration of the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]].<ref name="sees">Vatican, ''Annuario Pontificio'' p. 1172.</ref> Each diocese is divided into individual communities called [[parish]]es, each staffed by one or more priests.<ref name="OneFaith52">Barry, p. 52.</ref> |
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The church community is made up of [[ordination|ordained]] members (such as bishops, priests and deacons,) and the laity. Members of religious orders such as [[Nun#Catholic|nuns]], [[friar]]s and [[Monk#Roman Catholic Monks|monks]] are lay members unless individually ordained as priests.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 207|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_PS.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> |
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===Ordained members and Holy Orders=== |
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{{See also|Catholic Church hierarchy|College of Bishops|Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Deacon}} |
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[[File:Bishop Pates' Ordination.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Ordination]] of a Catholic bishop. Two deacons hold the [[Gospel Book|Book of the Gospels]] above his head, during the prayer of consecration.]] |
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Men may become [[ordination|ordained]] clergy, through the sacrament of [[Holy Orders (Catholic Church)|Holy Orders]], as [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]], [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priests]] or [[deacon]]s. All [[clergy]] who are bishops {{#tag:ref|A bishop can be one who holds the position of pope, cardinal (normally), [[patriarch]], [[primate (religion)|primate]], [[archbishop]], or [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]], as well, as ordinary diocesan [[bishop]], [[auxiliary bishop]] or [[titular bishop]].|group=note}} form the [[College of Bishops]] and are jointly considered the successors of the apostles.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 42|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P16.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 375|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders.<ref name="OneFaith114">Barry, p. 114.</ref> They are also responsible for teaching, governing, and [[Bishop (Catholic Church)#Duties|sanctifying]] the faithful of their diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under them. The sacraments of the [[Eucharist]], Reconciliation ([[Penance]]) and [[Anointing of the Sick]] may only be administered by priests or bishops. Deacons and all other clergy may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons|url=http://www.usccb.org/deacon/faqs.shtml|author=Committee on the Diaconate|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Baptism is the only sacrament that may be administered in emergencies by any Catholic, or even a non-Christian who "has the intention of baptizing according to the belief of the Catholic Church".<ref name="Shreck227">Schreck, p. 227.</ref> |
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Married men may become deacons but only [[celibacy|celibate]] men are ordinarily ordained as priests in the [[Latin Rite]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 1037|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 1031|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> However, married clergymen who have been received into the Church from other denominations may be exempted from this rule.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cholij|first=Roman|title=Priestly Celibacy in Patristics and in the History of the Church|url=http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_01011993_chisto_en.html|publisher=Vatican|year=1993|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=6 April 2008}}</ref> The [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] ordain both celibate and married men to the priesthood, but married men cannot become bishops.<ref>{{cite web|last=Niebuhur|first=Gustav|title=Bishop's Quiet Action Allows Priest Both Flock And Family|work=The New York Times|date=16 February 1997|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EEDD133FF935A25751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=4 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1990 Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, Canons 285, 373, 374, 758|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1990|url=http://www.gwo.cz/pravda/1990_Code_of_Canon_Law.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 September 2008}}</ref> All 23 particular Churches of the Catholic Church maintain the ancient tradition that marriage is not allowed after ordination. Men with transitory homosexual leanings may be ordained deacons following three years of prayer and chastity, but homosexual men who are sexually active, or those who have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, cannot be ordained.<ref name="vatdocord">{{cite news|url=http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html|author=Pope Benedict XVI|publisher=Vatican|date=4 November 2005|title=Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> {{#tag:ref|Based on the Christ's example and his teaching as given in {{bibleverse||Matthew|19:11–12}} and to St. Paul, who wrote of the advantages celibacy allowed a man in serving the Lord,<ref name="Schreck255">Schreck, p. 255.</ref> celibacy was "held in high esteem" from the Church's beginnings. It is considered a kind of spiritual marriage with Christ, a concept further popularized by the early Christian theologian [[Origen]]. Clerical celibacy began to be demanded in the 4th century, including [[papal decretal]]s beginning with [[Pope Siricius]].<ref name="Bokenkotter54">Bokenkotter, p. 54.</ref> In the 11th century, mandatory celibacy was enforced as part of efforts to reform the medieval church.<ref name="Bokenkotter145">Bokenkotter, p. 145.</ref>|group=note}} |
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Programs designed to prepare men for the [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priesthood]] can vary from country to country, since they are usually laid down by national bishops' conferences.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canons 232–293|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PW.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=5 May 2008}}</ref> The conferences consult Vatican documents such as ''[[Pastores Dabo Vobis]]'', ''[[Novo Millennio Ineunte]]'', and ''[[Optatam Totius]]'' to create these programs.<ref>USCCB, ''Program for Priestly Formation'' (2006), preface</ref> In some countries, priests are required to have a college degree plus another four years of full-time theological study in a [[seminary]] or other approved institution. In other countries, a degree is not strictly required, but seminary education is longer. Candidates for the priesthood are also evaluated in terms of human, spiritual and pastoral formation.<ref>USCCB, ''Program for Priestly Formation'' (2006), paras. 72, 243</ref> [[Ordination]] is conferred by a bishop through the [[laying on of hands]], following which the newly ordained priest or deacon is formally clothed in his [[vestment]]s, i.e., the [[stole (vestment)|stole]] and [[chasuble]] for priests, or stole and [[dalmatic]] for deacons.<ref name="OneFaith114"/> |
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The Church teaches that since the [[twelve apostles]] chosen by Jesus were all male, only men may be ordained as priests.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1577|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a6.htm#III|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> While some consider this to be evidence of a discriminatory attitude toward women,<ref name="Bokenkotter496">Bokenkotter, p. 496.</ref> the Church believes that Jesus called women to different yet equally important vocations in Church ministry.<ref name="Benedict180">Pope Benedict XVI, pp. 180–181, quote: "The difference between the discipleship of the Twelve and the discipleship of the women is obvious; the tasks assigned to each group are quite different. Yet Luke makes clear—and the other Gospels also show this in all sorts of ways—that 'many' women belonged to the more intimate community of believers and that their faith-filled following of Jesus was an essential element of that community, as would be vividly illustrated at the foot of the Cross and the Resurrection."</ref> Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter ''Christifideles Laici'', states that women have specific vocations reserved only for the female sex, and are equally called to be disciples of Jesus.<ref name="CFL">{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Christifideles Laici|publisher=Vatican|year=1988|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=17 March 2008}}</ref> |
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===Lay members, marriage=== |
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{{See also|Laity|Catholic marriage|Christian views of marriage}} |
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[[File:Manila Cathedral Wedding.jpg|thumb|250px|A Catholic wedding at [[Manila Cathedral]] in the Philippines.]] |
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The laity consists of those Catholics who are not ordained clergy. Saint Paul compared the diversity of roles in the Church to the different parts of a body, all being important to enable the body to function.<ref name="Schreck153">Schreck, p. 153.</ref> The Church therefore considers that lay members are equally called to live according to Christian principles, to work to spread the message of Jesus, and to effect change in the world for the good of others. The Church calls these actions participation in Christ's priestly, prophetic and royal offices.<ref name="laity">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 871–872, 899, 901, 905, 908–909|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm#II|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> [[Marriage]] and the consecrated life are lay vocations. [[Catholic marriage#Ministers of matrimony in Latin rite|The sacrament of Holy Matrimony in the Latin rite]] is not administered (conferred) by the priest or deacon who presides. Instead, the ministers of the sacrament are the bride and groom, who mutually confer the sacrament upon each other by expressing their consent before the priest or deacon who serves as a witness. In the Eastern Catholic Churches the minister of this [[sacrament]], which is called "[[Catholic marriage#Ministers of Matrimony in Eastern Catholic Rites|Crowning]]", is the priest or bishop who, after receiving the mutual consent of the spouses, successively crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the marriage covenant.<ref name="marriage">{{cite web|last=Paragraph numbers 1623|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P52.HTM|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=5 June 2008}}</ref> Church law makes no provision for [[divorce]], but [[annulment]] may be granted when proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a sacramental union (valid marriage) were absent. Since the Church condemns all forms of artificial [[birth control]], married persons are expected to be open to new life in their sexual relations.<ref name="Schreck350">Schreck, p. 350.</ref> [[Natural family planning]] is approved.<ref name="Schreck315">Schreck, p. 315.</ref> |
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[[Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement|Lay ecclesial movements]] consist of lay Catholics organized for purposes of teaching the faith, cultural work, mutual support or missionary work.<ref name="tertiaries"/> Such groups include: [[Communion and Liberation]], [[Opus Dei]] and many others.<ref name="tertiaries">{{cite web|last=Pontifical Council for the Laity|title=International Associations of the Faithful|publisher=Vatican|year=2000|url=http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/laity/documents/rc_pc_laity_doc_20051114_associazioni_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 March 2008}}</ref> Some non-ordained Catholics practice formal, public ministries within the Church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 129|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PF.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> These are called [[Lay Ecclesial Ministry|lay ecclesial ministers]], a broad category which may include pastoral life coordinators, pastoral assistants, youth ministers and campus ministers.<ref name="USCB9">USCCB, p. 9.</ref> |
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===Consecrated life=== |
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====Religious orders==== |
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{{See also|Consecrated life (Catholic Church)|Catholic religious order}} |
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Both the ordained and the laity may enter the [[cloister]]ed [[consecrated life]] as [[monk]]s or [[nun]]s. There are also [[friar]]s and [[religious Sister|sisters]] who engage in teaching and missionary activity and charity work such as the various [[mendicant orders]]. A candidate takes [[Religious vows|vows]] confirming their desire to follow the three [[evangelical counsels]] of chastity, poverty and obedience.<ref name="vatican.va-Canons573">{{cite web|title=Canons 573–746|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> |
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The majority of those wishing to enter the consecrated life join one of the [[Consecrated life#Institutes of consecrated life|religious institutes]] which are also referred to as monastic or religious orders. They follow a common rule such as the [[Rule of St Benedict]] and agree to live under the leadership of a [[superior (hierarchy)|superior]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Canons 573–602, 605–709|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 654|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P26.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> They usually live together in a community but individuals may be given permission to live as [[hermit]]s, or to reside elsewhere, for example as a serving priest or [[chaplain]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 587|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Examples of religious institutes include the [[Benedictine Confederation|Benedictines]], [[Carmelites]], [[Cistercians]], [[Augustinians]], [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], [[Franciscan]]s, [[Marist Brothers]], [[Paulist Fathers]], [[Sisters of Charity]], [[Sisters of the Destitute]], [[Sisters of Mercy]], [[Legion of Christ|Legionaries of Christ]] and the [[Society of Jesus]] (Jesuits), but there are many others.<ref name="vatican.va-Canons573"/> |
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====Tertiaries and Oblates==== |
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[[Tertiaries]] and "[[Oblates]] (regular)" are laypersons who live according to the [[third order|third rule of orders]] such as those of the [[Secular Franciscan Order]] or [[Lay Carmelites]], either within a religious community or outside.<ref name="tertiaries"/> Although all tertiaries make a public profession, participate in the good works of their order and in some cases may wear the habit, they are not bound by public vows unless they live in a religious community. They must not be confused with "Oblates (secular)", who are not members of the consecrated life but are laypersons (married or single) or secular priests that have individually affiliated themselves in prayer with a House of their choice without making public vows. They make a formal private promise (annually renewable or for life, depending on the house with which they are affiliated) to follow the rule of prayer in their private life as closely as their individual circumstances and prior commitments permit. |
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====Other forms of consecrated life==== |
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The Church recognizes several other forms of consecrated life, including secular institutes, [[Society of Apostolic Life|societies of apostolic life]] and consecrated widows and widowers.<ref name="vatican.va-Canons573"/> It also makes provision for the approval of new forms.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 605|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> |
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===Membership=== |
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[[File:Child baptism with water.jpg|thumb|Baptism of an infant by [[affusion]]|upright]] |
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Membership of the Catholic Church is attained through [[baptism]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 11|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> For those baptized as children, [[First Communion]] is a particular rite of passage when, following instruction, they are allowed to receive the sacrament of the [[Eucharist]] for the first time in the Latin (Western) Church; the Eastern Churches confer the [[Sacraments of Initiation|sacraments of initiation]] at once – Baptism, Chrismation (Confirmation) and Eucharist – to unbaptized children or unbaptized adult converts. Those never baptized may be admitted to Baptism by participating in a formation program such as the [[Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults]].<ref name="OneFaith56"/> Christians – those baptized with flowing water and in the "Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" – baptized outside of the Catholic Church are admitted through other formation programs but are not re-baptized.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gledhill|first=Ruth|title=Tony Blair converts to Catholicism|work=Times Newspapers Ltd|date=22 December 2007|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3086753.ece|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=4 April 2008 | location=London}}</ref> In all rites, after going through formation and making a profession of faith, candidates are received into the Church. This ordinarily occurs at the [[Easter Vigil]] on [[Holy Saturday]].<ref name="OneFaith56">Barry, p. 56.</ref> |
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A [[lapsed Catholic]] is one who has ceased practicing the faith (i.e. going to Mass and confession).<ref>''Catholic Dictionary'' 2002, pp. 453-54, Reverend Peter M. J. Stravinskas (ed.)</ref> Members of the Church can incur [[excommunication]] for serious violations of ecclesiastical law. Excommunication does not remove a member from the Church but severely limits the member's ability to participate in it. For very serious offenses, the excommunication can be incurred automatically.<ref>{{cite web|title=Excommunication|work=Catholic World News|date=9 May 2007|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/definition.cfm?glossID=91&CFID=12572433&CFTOKEN=23338886|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 February 2008}}</ref> Examples include violating the [[Seal of Confession|seal of confession]] (committed when a priest discloses the sins heard in the sacrament of Penance), persisting in [[heresy]], creating [[schism (religion)|schism]], becoming an [[apostasy|apostate]], or having or performing an [[abortion]].<ref>{{cite web|author=John Paul II|authorlink=Pope John Paul II|title=Evangelium Vitae|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1995|url=http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0141/__PQ.HTM|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 March 2008}}</ref> Throwing away or retaining for a sacrilegious purpose the [[Eucharist]] is considered an excommunicable offense.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canon 1364, 1367|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P52.HTM|publisher=Vatican|work=1983 [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Code of Canon Law]]|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> Excommunication is the most severe ecclesiastical penalty because it forbids a person from receiving any sacrament. Such offences can only be forgiven by the Pope, the bishop of the diocese where the person resides, or a priest authorized by the bishop to do so.<ref>{{cite web|last=Paragraph number 1463|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm#IX|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=8 February 2008}}</ref> A similar concept is a minister's power to refuse to distribute communion to a person not yet declared excommunicated (but nonetheless excommunicated [[latae sententiae]]) who has publicly committed a very serious sin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pro-abortion politicians excluded from Communion: Pope|work=Catholic World News|date=9 May 2007|url=http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=51031|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 February 2008}}</ref> |
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Excommunication, which is a "medicinal" measure meant to lead to repentance, does not make the person to whom it is applied cease to be a member of the Church. To terminate one's membership, a person must present to the competent Church authority a formal act of [[defection]]. If that person later wishes to rejoin the Church, the procedure is the same as for any baptized non-Catholic, namely by a profession of faith, again before the competent Church authority. |
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==Catholic institutions, personnel and demographics== |
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{{See|Catholicism by country}} |
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{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; width:40%; font-size:90%;" |
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|+style="font-size:100%;"|<font style="color:black;">The number of Catholic institutions and personnel as of 2000<ref name="Froehle30">Froehle, pp. 17–20, pp. 30–35, pp. 41–43.</ref> |
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|- |
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!style="background:blue;"|<font style="color:white;">Institutions |
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!style="background:blue;"|<font style="color:white;"> |
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|- |
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|Parishes and missions |
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|align=right|408,637 |
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|- |
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|Primary and secondary schools |
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|align=right|125,016 |
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|- |
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|Universities |
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|align=right|1,046 |
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|- |
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|Hospitals |
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|align=right|5,853 |
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|- |
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|Orphanages |
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|align=right|8,695 |
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|- |
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|Homes for the elderly and handicapped |
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|align=right|13,933 |
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|- |
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|Dispensaries, leprosaries, nurseries and other institutions |
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|align=right|74,936 |
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|- |
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|Total |
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|align=right|638,116 |
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|- |
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!style="background:blue;"|<font style="color:white;">Personnel |
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!style="background:blue;"|<font style="color:white;"> |
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|- |
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|Seminarians (men studying for the priesthood) |
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|align=right|110,583 |
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|- |
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|Religious sisters |
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|align=right|769,142 |
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|- |
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|Religious brothers |
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|align=right|55,057 |
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|- |
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|Diocesan and religious priests |
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|align=right|405,178 |
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|- |
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|Lay Ecclesial Ministers |
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|align=right|30,632 |
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|- |
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|Permanent deacons |
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|align=right|27,824 |
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|- |
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|Bishops |
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|align=right|3,475 |
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|- |
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|Archbishops |
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|align=right|914 |
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|- |
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|Cardinals |
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|align=right|183 |
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|- |
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|Pope |
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|align=right|1 |
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|- |
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|Total |
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|align=right|1,402,989 |
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|} |
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Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people,<ref name="cathstats">{{cite web|title=Vatican: Priest numbers show steady, moderate increase|publisher=Catholic News Service|date=2 March 2009|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/news/newsreport.aspx?id=759|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref> significantly increased from the 1950 figure of 437 million<ref name="Froehle5"/> and the 1970 figure of 654 million.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bazar|first=Emily|title=Immigrants Make Pilgrimage to Pope|work=USA Today|date=16 April 2008|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-04-15-popeimmigrants_N.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=3 May 2008}}</ref> The Catholic population increase of 139% outpaced the world population increase of 117% between 1950 and 2000.<ref name="Froehle5">Froehle, pp. 4–5.</ref> The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, encompassing approximately half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population, making it the largest organized body in any world religion,<ref name="CIA"/><ref name="Duffyp">Duffy, preface</ref> although the number of practicing as opposed to [[Lapsed Catholic|lapsed]] Catholics worldwide is not reliably known.<ref name=bbcfact>{{cite news|title=Factfile: Roman Catholics around the world|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4243727.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=1 April 2005|accessdate=24 March 2008}}</ref> The Church operates transnational relief organisations across the world,<ref name="Froehle132">Froehle, p. 132.</ref> it also operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.<ref name="Gardner148">Gardner, p. 148</ref> |
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In 2003, the church had about 405,450 priests worldwide, a 3.7 percent drop from 1978. In the United States and Europe, numbers fell about 20 percent over this period while recruitment in Africa, Latin America and Asia grew.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pogatchnik|first=Shawn|title=Catholic Priest Shortage|publisher=CBS News|date=13 April 2005|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/13/world/main688030.shtml|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=4 April 2008}}</ref><ref>Schoenherr et al, p. 3.</ref><ref name="Rama">{{cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2429887220071224|title=Mexico's Catholic Church faces priest shortage|last=Rama|first=Anahi|date=24 December 2007|work=Reuters News|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="Thompson05">{{cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7384580/|title=Priest shortage plagues U.S. Catholic Church|last=Thompson|first=Anne|date=4 April 2005|work=NBC News|accessdate=30 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="HomilySept06">{{cite web|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20060911_vespers-altotting_en.html|title=Homily of the Holy Father|last=His Holiness Benedict XVI|date=11 September 2006|work=Marian vespers with the religious and seminarians of Bavaria|publisher=The Holy See|accessdate=30 January 2010}}</ref> In 2009, the Vatican announced that in 2005 the number of priests had increased from 405,891 to 406,411, |
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although Europe and North America saw a decrease of about one-half point of a percentage point and Australia of 1.8%.<ref>{{cite news | title = Vatican: After decline, number of priests rises slowly| work =USA Today | date =28 April 2009 | url =http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-02-28-vatican-priests_N.htm | accessdate =17 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>''Number of Catholics and Priests Rises:Pontifical Yearbook of 2007 Releases Data'', February 14, 2007 http://www.jknirp.com/numcat.htm</ref> |
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Church membership in Africa and Asia grew by 3.1% and 2.71% respectively in 2005.<ref name="Zenit"/> Of Catholics worldwide, 12% live in Africa, 50% in the Americas, 10% in Asia, 27% in Europe and 1% in Oceania.<ref name="Froehle10">Froehle, p. 10.</ref> |
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{{clear}} |
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==Cultural influence== |
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{{See also|Role of the Catholic Church in civilization|Art in Roman Catholicism|Catholic Church and slavery}} |
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[[File:Chlodwigs taufe.jpg|thumb|185px|The baptism of [[Clovis I]], [[List of Frankish kings|King of the Franks]] was of immense importance in spreading Christianity throughout Western and Central Europe.<ref>Hart Milman, p. 353.</ref>]] |
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The influence of the Catholic Church on world culture and society has been vast, first and foremost in the development of European civilization from Greco-Roman times to the modern era.<ref name="Orlandis"/> The church rejected and helped end practices{{Dubious|date=December 2009}} such as human sacrifice, slavery,{{#tag:ref|The Church initially accepted slavery as part of the social fabric of society during the Roman Empire and early antiquity, campaigning primarily for humane treatment of slaves but also admonishing slaves to behave appropriately towards their masters. During the early medieval period, this attitude changed to one which opposed enslavement of Christians but still tolerated enslavement of non-Christians. Between the 6th and 12th century there was a growing sentiment that slavery was not compatible with Christian conceptions of charity and justice; some Catholics such as Saint Bathilde, Saint Anskar, Saint Wulfstan and Saint Anselm campaigned against slavery and the slave trade. The Middle Ages witnessed the emergence of orders of monks such as the [[Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy|Mercedarians]] who were founded for the purpose of freeing Christians who had been enslaved by Muslims. By the end of the Medieval period, enslavement of Christians had been converted to serfdom throughout most of Europe. Catholic teaching began to turn towards the abolition of slavery beginning in 1435 and culminating in three major pronouncements against slavery by Pope Paul III in 1537. The papacy endorsed Portuguese and Spanish taking of Muslim slaves; however, a number of Popes issued papal bulls condemning enslavement and mistreatment of Native Americans by Spanish and Portuguese colonials. These bulls were largely ignored despite the threat of excommunication. Nonetheless, Catholic missionaries such as the Jesuits worked to alleviate the suffering of Native American slaves in the New World. In spite of a resounding condemnation of slavery by Pope Gregory XVI in his bull [[In Supremo Apostolatus]] issued in 1839, some American bishops continued to support slaveholding interests until the abolition of slavery.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Christianity Today|first=Rodney|last=Stark|title=The Truth About the Catholic Church and Slavery|date=2003-07-01|accessdate=2009-09-09}}</ref> The Church has maintained its teaching against slavery and continues to campaign against it in whatever form it takes around the world.|group=note}} infanticide, and polygamy in evangelized cultures throughout the world, beginning with the Roman Empire. In addition, the Church played a significant role in moderating some of the excesses of the [[colonialism|colonial]] era.<ref name="Bokenkotter56">Bokenkotter, p. 56.</ref><ref name="Noble230"/><ref name="Noble445">Noble, p. 445.</ref><ref name="Stearns65">Stearns, p. 65.</ref><ref name="Hastings309">Hastings, p. 309.</ref> Over the course of its history, the Church has influenced the status of women, condemning [[infanticide]], [[divorce]], [[incest]], [[polygamy]] and counting the [[Extramarital sex|marital infidelity]] of men as equally sinful to that of women.<ref name="Bokenkotter56"/><ref name="Noble230">Noble, p. 230.</ref><ref name="Stark104">Stark, p. 104.</ref> The official Church teaching<ref name="Kreeft61">Kreeft, p. 61.</ref> considers women and men to be equal, different, and complementary. |
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Catholic universities, scholars and many priests including [[Nicolaus Copernicus]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[Albertus Magnus]], [[Robert Grosseteste]], [[Nicholas Steno]], [[Francesco Maria Grimaldi|Francesco Grimaldi]], [[Giovanni Battista Riccioli|Giambattista Riccioli]], [[Roger Boscovich]], [[Athanasius Kircher]], [[Gregor Mendel]], [[Georges Lemaître]] and others, were responsible for many important scientific discoveries. The Jesuits produced the large majority of priest-scientists, who contributed to worldwide cultural exchange by spreading their developments in knowledge to Asia, Africa, and the Americas.<ref name="Noble593"/><ref name="Woods102">Woods, p. 102.</ref> Most research took place in Catholic universities that were staffed by members of religious orders who had the education and means to conduct scientific investigation.<ref name="Noble593"/> The 1633 Church condemnation of [[Galileo Galilei]] created the perception of antagonism between the Church and science of that era. According to historian Thomas Noble, the effect of the Galileo affair was to restrict scientific development in some European countries.<ref name="Noble593">Noble, p. 582, pp. 593–595.</ref> In part because of lessons learned from the Galilei affair, the Church created the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] in 1603. This scientific organization reached its present form by 1936.<ref name="science"/> |
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The Catholic Church was the dominant influence on the development of Western art, at least up to the [[Protestant Reformation]]. Important contributions include its consistent opposition to Byzantine [[iconoclasm]], its cultivation and patronage of individual artists, as well as development of the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]], [[Gothic art|Gothic]] and [[Renaissance art|Renaissance]] styles of art and architecture.<ref name="Woods122">Woods, pp. 115–27.</ref> Renaissance artists such as [[Raphael]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]], [[Sandro Botticelli|Botticelli]], [[Fra Angelico]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Caravaggio]], and [[Titian]], were among a multitude of innovative virtuosos sponsored by the Church.<ref name="Duffy133">Duffy, p. 133.</ref> In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,<ref name="Hall100">Hall, p. 100.</ref> and an enormous body of religious music has been composed for it through the ages. This led directly to the emergence and development of European [[classical music]], and its many derivatives. The [[Baroque]] style, which encompassed music, art, and architecture, was particularly encouraged by the post-Reformation Catholic Church as such forms offered a means of religious expression that was stirring and emotional, intended to stimulate religious fervor.<ref name="Murray45">Murray, p. 45.</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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{{Main|History of the Catholic Church|History of the Papacy}} |
{{Main|History of the Catholic Church|History of the Papacy|Role of the Catholic Church in civilization}} |
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{{See|History of Christianity}} |
{{See|History of Christianity}} |
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===Early Christianity=== |
===Early Christianity=== |
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{{Main|History of early Christianity}} |
{{Main|History of early Christianity}} |
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{{See|Historiography of early Christianity}} |
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Catholic tradition and doctrine holds that the Catholic Church was founded by [[Jesus Christ]] in the 1st century A.D. The [[New Testament]] records Jesus's activities and teaching, his appointment of the [[twelve Apostles]] and his instructions to them to continue his work.<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 980.</ref><ref name=bokenkotter30>Bokenkotter, p. 30.</ref> The Church teaches that the coming of the [[Holy Spirit]] upon the apostles, in an event known as [[Pentecost]], signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Catholic Church.<ref name="OneFaith46">Barry, p. 46.</ref> |
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The Catholic Church considers [[Pentecost]] to be the beginning of its own history.<ref name="Vidmar19">Vidmar, pp. 19–20.</ref><ref name="Schreck130">Schreck, p. 130.</ref> According to historians, the Apostles traveled to northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and [[Rome]] to found the first Christian communities,<ref name="Vidmar19"/><ref name="Bokenkotter18">Bokenkotter, p. 18, quote: "The story of how this tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity."</ref> over 40 of which had been established by the year 100.<ref name="Wilken281">Wilken, p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than 40 Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy."</ref> |
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Conditions in the Roman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas,<ref name=bokenkotter24>Bokenkotter, p. 24.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The empire's well-defined network of roads and waterways allowed for easier travel, while the [[Pax Romana]] made it safe to travel from one region to another. The government had encouraged inhabitants, especially those in urban areas, to learn Greek, and the common language allowed ideas to be more easily expressed and understood.<ref name="bokenkotter24"/>|group=note}} and Jesus's apostles gained converts in Jewish communities around the Mediterranean Sea. As preachers such as [[Paul of Tarsus]] began converting [[Gentile]]s, Christianity began growing away from Jewish practices,<ref name=chadwickhenry23and24>Chadwick, Henry, pp. 23–24.</ref> to establish itself as a separate religion.<ref name=macculloch109>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 109.</ref> |
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The [[New Testament]] gospels indicate that the earliest Christians continued to observe traditional Jewish pieties such as [[fasting]], reverence for the [[Torah]] and observance of [[Jewish holiday|Jewish holy days]].<ref>White (2004). Pg 127.</ref><ref>Ehrman (2005). Pg 187.</ref> However, Christians were directed by Jesus to evangelize non-Jewish peoples. As Christianity spread to non-Jews, disputes over observance of the Mosaic law generated intense controversy. A pivotal moment in this dispute occurred in the mid-1st century, when the [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity|circumcision controversy]] arose and was ultimately addressed at the [[Council of Jerusalem]]. At this council, [[Saint Paul (apostle)|Paul]] made an argument that circumcision was no longer necessary, vocally supported by Peter, as documented in {{bibleref|Acts|15|NRSV}}. This position received widespread support and was summarized in a letter circulated in [[Antioch]].<ref>McGrath (2006). Pp 174–175.</ref> |
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The early Catholic Church was more loosely organized, at times resulting in diverse interpretations of Christian beliefs.<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp.127–131.</ref> In part to ensure a greater consistency in their teachings, by the early second century, Christian communities had adopted a more structured hierarchy, with a central bishop having authority over the clergy in his city.<ref name=duffy9and10>Duffy, pp. 9–10.</ref> The organization of [[diocese]]s was established mirroring the territories and cities of the Empire; bishops in politically important cities exerted greater authority over bishops in nearby cities.<ref name=markus75>Markus, p. 75.</ref> The churches in Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome held the highest positions,<ref name=macculloch134>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 134.</ref> but sees considered "apostolic" retained certain rights of governance and discipline over the other sees "because of their superior origin"; by at least the [[3rd century]], the [[Roman Church|Roman bishop]] already functioned as a court of appeals for problems that other bishops could not resolve.<ref name=duffy18>Duffy, p. 18.</ref> Beginning in the 2nd century, bishops often congregated in regional [[synod]]s to resolve doctrinal and policy issues.<ref name=chadwick37>Chadwick, Henry, p. 37.</ref> Doctrine was further refined by a series of influential theologians and teachers, known collectively as the [[Church Fathers]].<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 141.</ref> Ecumenical Councils came to be recognized as infallible and authoritative in resolving theological disputes. |
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In the second century, writings by teachers such as [[Ignatius of Antioch]] and [[Irenaeus]] defined Catholic teaching in stark opposition to [[Gnosticism]].<ref name="Davidson169">Davidson, p. 169, p. 181.</ref> Other writers such as [[Pope Clement I]], [[Justin Martyr]], [[Augustine of Hippo]] influenced the development of Church teachings and traditions. These writers are collectively known as [[Church Fathers]].<ref name="Norman27">Norman, pp. 27–28, quote: "A distinguished succession of theological apologists added intellectual authority to the resources at the disposal of the papacy, at just that point in its early development when the absence of a centralized teaching office could have fractured the universal witness to a single body of ideas. At the end of the first century there was St. Clement of Rome, third successor to St. Peter in the see; in the second century there was St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyons and St. Justin Martyr; in the fourth century St. Augustine of Hippo, the greatest theologian of the Early Church."</ref> |
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Unlike most religions in the Roman Empire, Christianity required its adherents to renounce all other gods. Christians' refusal to join pagan celebrations meant they were unable to participate in much of public life. This refusal caused non-Christians to fear that the Christians were angering the gods; Christian secrecy about their rituals spawned rumours that Christians were orgiastic, incestuous, atheistic cannibals.<ref name=macculloch155>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp. 155–159.</ref><ref name=chadwick21>Chadwick, Henry, p. 41.</ref> Local officials sometimes saw Christians as troublemakers and sporadically persecuted them.<ref name=macculoch164>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 164.</ref> A series of more centrally organized [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecutions of Christians]] emerged in the late 3rd century, when emperors decreed that the Empire's military, political, and economic crises were caused by angry gods. All residents were ordered to give sacrifices or be punished.<ref name=chadwick41and42>Chadwick, Henry, pp. 41–42, 55.</ref> Relatively few Christians were executed;<ref name=mcmullen33>MacMullen, p. 33.</ref>{{#tag:ref|[[Eusebius of Caesarea]], in a catalog of Palestinian martyrs for the [[Diocletianic Persecution|Great Persecution]], lists ninety-one victims for the years 303–11.<ref>Clarke, p. 657.</ref> His figures are not complete,<ref>Clarke, pp. 658–59.</ref> but have been used to estimate the total number of martyrs across the empire.<ref>Clarke, pp. 657–58, e.g. W.H.C. Frend, ''Martrdom and Persecution'' (Basil Blackwell, 1965; rept. Baker House, 1981), p. 536.</ref>|group=note}} others were imprisoned, tortured, put to forced labor, castrated, or sent to brothels;<ref>Clarke, p. 659.</ref> others fled or managed to go undetected;<ref name=macculloch174>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 174.</ref> some renounced their beliefs. Disagreements over what role, if any, these [[apostate]]s should have in the Church led to the [[Donatist]] and [[Novatianist]] schisms.<ref name=duffy20>Duffy, p. 20.</ref> |
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===Persecution=== |
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{{Main|State church of the Roman Empire}} |
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[[File:Byzantinischer Mosaizist um 1000 002.jpg|thumb|''Constantine the Great'', mosaic in [[Hagia Sophia]], c. 1000]] |
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Catholic Christianity was legalized in 313 under [[Constantine I|Constantine's]] [[Edict of Milan]],<ref name="Davidson341">Davidson, p. 341.</ref> and declared the state religion of the Empire in 380.<ref name="Wilken286">Wilken, p. 286.</ref> After its legalization, a number of doctrinal disputes led to the calling of [[ecumenical council]]s. The doctrinal formulations resulting from these ecumenical councils were pivotal in the history of Christianity. The [[first seven Ecumenical Councils]], from the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) to the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] (787), sought to reach an [[orthodoxy|orthodox]] consensus and to establish a unified [[Christendom]]. In 325, the First Council of Nicaea convened in response to the rise of [[Arianism]], the belief that Jesus had not existed eternally but was a divine being created by and therefore inferior to God the Father.<ref>M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopedia, Volume 7, page 45a.</ref> To encapsulate basic tenets of the Christian belief, it promulgated a creed that became the basis of what is now known as the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="Herring60">Herring, p. 60.</ref> In addition, it dilineated Church territory into geographical and administrative areas called [[dioceses]].<ref name="Hitchcock 283">Wilken, p. 283.</ref> The [[Council of Rome]] in 382 established the first [[Biblical canon]] when it listed the accepted books of the ''[[Old Testament|Old]]'' and ''New Testament''.<ref name="StoChris61">Collins, pp. 61–62.</ref> [[Pope Damasus I]] would round off his claim that the Western Church was the legitimate heir to the original Church in Jerusalem {{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} by commissioning a new translation of the Bible in fine classical Latin. He chose his secretary [[Jerome]], who delivered the [[Vulgate]] – the Church was now "committed to think and worship in Latin."<ref>D. MacCulloch BBC TV ''A history of Christianity'', episode Two</ref> The [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] in 431<ref name="SandSp35">Duffy, p. 35.</ref> and the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 defined the relationship of Christ's divine and human natures, leading to splits with the [[Nestorianism|Nestorians]] and [[Monophysitism|Monophysites]].<ref name="McManners371">Ware, p. 142.</ref> |
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[[File:The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer.jpg|left|thumb|250 px|Early Christians were slaughtered as entertainment in the [[Colosseum]] in Rome. [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], 1883.]] |
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Constantine moved the imperial capital to Constantinople, and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) elevated the See of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".<ref name="Noble214">Noble, p. 214.</ref> From circa 350 to circa 500, the bishops, or popes, of Rome steadily increased in authority.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Rome (early Christian)." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref> |
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Early Christians refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods or to worship Roman rulers as gods and were thus subject to [[Persecution of Christians|persecution]].<ref name="Wilken282">Wilken, p. 282.</ref> The first documented case of imperially-sponsored [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecution of Christians]] occurred in Rome under [[Nero]] in the first century and re-occurred under various emperors until the [[Diocletianic Persecution|great persecution]] of [[Diocletian]] and [[Galerius]], which was seen as a final attempt to wipe out Christianity.<ref name="StoChris53">Collins, p. 53–55.</ref> Nevertheless, Christianity continued to spread and was eventually legalized in 313 under [[Constantine I|Constantine's]] [[Edict of Milan]].<ref name="Davidson341">Davidson, p. 341.</ref> |
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During this era of persecution, the early Church evolved both in doctrinal and structural ways. The apostles had convened the first Church council, the [[Council of Jerusalem]], to resolve issues concerning evangelization of [[Gentile]]s.<ref name="McManners37"/> While competing forms of Christianity emerged early, the Roman Church retained this practice of meeting in "synods" (councils) to ensure that any internal doctrinal differences were quickly resolved, which facilitated broad doctrinal unity within the mainstream churches.<ref name="McManners371">Chadwick, Henry p. 371, quote: "The 'synod' or, in Latin, 'council' (the modern distinction making a synod something less than a council was unknown in antiquity) became an indispensable way of keeping a common mind, and helped to keep maverick individuals from centrifugal tendencies. During the third century synodal government became so developed that synods used to meet not merely at times of crisis but on a regular basis every year, normally between Easter and Pentecost."</ref><ref name="Davidson155">Davidson, p. 155, quote: "For all the scattered nature of the churches, a very large number of believers in apostolic times lived no more than a week or so's travel from one of the main hubs of the Christian movement: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Ephesus, Corinth or Philippi. Communities received regular visits from itinerant teachers and leaders. This unity was focussed upon the essentials of belief in Jesus.</ref> |
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===Middle Ages=== |
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[[File:Gregorythegreat.jpg|thumb|right|Pope Gregory the Great]] |
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After the [[decline of the Roman Empire]], barbarian tribes either converted to Arianism or to orthodox Catholic Christianity.<ref>Le Goff, p. 14</ref> When the [[Franks|Frankish]] king, [[Clovis I]], converted to orthodox Catholicism, thereby allying himself with the papacy and the monasteries he strengthening the position of the Franks, and other tribes such as the Visigoths followed his example.<ref>Le Goff, p. 21</ref> Beginning in the 6th century European [[Christian monasticism|monasteries]] followed the structure of the ''[[Rule of St Benedict]]'',<ref>Woods, p. 27</ref> becoming spiritual centers with workshops for the arts and crafts, [[scriptorium|scriptoria]] and libraries, and agricultural centers in remote regions.<ref>Le Goff, p. 120</ref> By the end of the century [[Pope Gregory the Great]] initiated administrative reforms and the [[Gregorian mission]]s to evangelize Britain;<ref>Duffy, p. 69</ref> Early in the 7th century Muslim armies had conquered much of the southern Mediterranean posing a threat to western Christendom.<ref>Vidmar, p. 94</ref> |
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By 58 AD, a large Christian community existed in Rome.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Rome (early Christian)." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref> From as early as the first century, the Church of Rome was recognized as a doctrinal authority because it was believed that the Apostles [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] had led the Church there.<ref name="Norman11"/><ref name="McManners361">Chadwick, Henry p. 361, quote: "Towards the latter part of the first century, Rome's presiding cleric named Clement wrote on behalf of his church to remonstrate with the Corinthian Christians ... Clement apologized not for intervening but for not having acted sooner. Moreover, during the second century the Roman community's leadership was evident in its generous alms to poorer churches. About 165 they erected monuments to their martyred apostles ... Roman bishops were already conscious of being custodians of the authentic tradition or true interpretation of the apostolic writings. In the conflict with Gnosticism, Rome played a decisive role and likewise in the deep division in Asia Minor created by the claims of the Montanist prophets to be the organs of the Holy Spirit's direct utterances."</ref><ref name="Vidmar40">Vidmar, pp. 40–42, quote: "Several pieces of evidence indicate that the Bishop of Rome even after Peter held some sort of preeminence among other bishops. ...(lists several historical documents) ... None of these examples, taken by themselves, would be sufficient to prove the primacy of the successors of Peter and Paul. Taken together, however, they point to a Roman authority which was recognized in the early church as going beyond that of other churches."</ref> |
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In the 8th century, [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclasm]], the destruction of religious images, became a source of conflict with the eastern church.<ref name="Woods pp116-118">{{Harvnb|Woods|2005|pp=116–118}}</ref> The papal coronation of the Frankish King [[Charlemagne]] as the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] in 800<ref>Bauer, p. 393</ref> created a paradigm of Western emperors imposing control over the popes.<ref>Duffy, pp. 63–78.</ref> The invention of the [[Cyrillic]] alphabet in the 9th century "is attributed to" the Greek missionaries [[Saints Cyril and Methodius]] who were sent to [[Great Moravia|greater Moravia]].<ref>Johnson, p. 18</ref> The 9th century conflicts over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Byzantine-controlled southern Italy, Bulgarian missions, led to further disagreements that created the [[East–West Schism]] which is generally considered to have become formalized in 1054 although there is no single date on which the schism started.<ref>Duffy, p. 91</ref> After the schism, the eastern side came to be called the [[Orthodox Church]], while the West, which remained in communion with the Pope, retained the name Catholic.<ref>Collins, p. 103</ref> Efforts to mend the schism at the [[Second Council of Lyon]] in 1274 and the [[Council of Florence]] in 1439 were unsuccessful.<ref name="Bokenkotter140"/> |
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The concept of the [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|primacy of the Roman bishop]] over other churches was increasingly recognized by the church at large from at least the second century although disputes over the implications of that primacy would ultimately lead to [[schism (religion)|schism]]s.<ref name="Barker 846">Barker, p. 846.</ref><ref name="Schatz9">Schatz, pp. 9–20.</ref> |
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The [[Cluniac reform]] of monasteries sparked widespread monastic growth and renewal.<ref name="Duffy88">Duffy, pp. 88–89.</ref> The 11th and 12th century saw internal efforts to reform the church. In 1059 the [[College of Cardinals|college of cardinals]] was created to free papal elections from interference by Emperor and nobility. Lay investiture of bishops, a source of rulers' dominance over the Church, was attacked by reformers and under [[Pope Gregory VII]], erupted into the [[Investiture Controversy]] between Pope and Emperor. The matter was eventually settled with the [[Concordat of Worms]] in 1122 where it was agreed that bishops would be selected in accordance with [[Canon law|Church law]].<ref>Noble, pp. 286–287</ref> By the early 1300s a centralized Church organization had been established, a Latin speaking culture was prevalent, the clergy were literate and celibacy was required.<ref>MacCulloch, ''The Reformation'', pp. 26-27</ref> |
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[[File:CouncilofClermont.jpg|thumb|alt=Colored painting showing a large congregation of bishops listening to the Pope |[[Pope Urban II]] at the [[Council of Clermont]] (1095),]] |
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In 1095, [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexius I]] appealed to [[Pope Urban II]] for help against renewed [[Byzantine–Seljuk Wars|Muslim invasions]],<ref name="rileysmith">Riley-Smith, p. 8</ref> which caused Urban to launch the [[First Crusade]] aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the [[Holy Land]] to Christian control.<ref name="Bokenkotter140">Bokenkotter, pp. 140–141</ref> The crusades saw the formation of various [[military order]]s such as the [[Knights Templar]], the [[Knights Hospitaller]], and the [[Teutonic Knights]].<ref name="Norman p62-66">Norman, pp. 62–66</ref> In 1208, after they were accused of murdering a [[Pierre de Castelnau|papal legate]],<ref>[[Henry Charles Lea]],'' A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages'' (Volume I), p. 145, quote: "The murder of the legate Pierre de Castelnau sent a thrill of horror throughout Christendom like that caused by the assassination of Becket thirty-eight years before. Of its details, however, the accounts are so contradictory that it is impossible to speak of it with precision."</ref> [[Pope Innocent III]] declared the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against the [[Catharism|Cathars]], a gnostic Christian sect in [[Languedoc]].<ref>Malcolm Barber, ''The Cathars'' p1. Longman, ISBN 0-582-25661-5, quote: "Catharism was the greatest heretical challenge faced by the Catholic Church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries - their success in persuading large numbers of Christians in the West that they had solved the problems [posed by the existence of evil], shook the Catholic hierarchy to its very core, and provoked a series of reactions more extreme than any previously contemplated."</ref> Up to a million people were killed<ref>John M. Robertson, "A Short History of Christianity" (2004), pp.253-54, quote: "Begun in 1209, the Albigensian crusades outlasted Innocent III...It has been reckoned that up to a million of all ages and both sexes were slain."</ref> in a conflict that combined both religious and political struggles.<ref>Laurence Wade Marvin. ''The Occitan War'' p1. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521872405, quote, "This war quickly mutated into a struggle over political control of the region, something its originator, Pope Innocent III, never intended."</ref> To root out those with Cathar sympathies, [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]] instituted the [[Papal Inquisition]] in 1231.<ref>Morris, p. 214</ref> |
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===State religion of the Roman Empire=== |
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[[Mendicant orders]] were founded by [[Francis of Assisi]] and [[Saint Dominic|Dominic de Guzmán]], which brought [[Consecrated life (Catholic Church)|consecrated religious life]] into urban settings.<ref name="LeGoff87">Le Goff, p. 87</ref> These orders also played a large role in the development of cathedral schools into [[Medieval university|universities]].<ref name="Woods44">Woods, pp. 44–48</ref> [[scholasticism|Scholastic]] theologians such as the Dominican [[Thomas Aquinas]] studied and taught at such universities, and his ''[[Summa Theologica]]'' was a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought and Christianity.<ref name="Bokenkotter158">Bokenkotter, pp. 158–159</ref> |
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Despite persecution, Christianity spread and was eventually legalized in 313 under [[Constantine I|Constantine's]] [[Edict of Milan]].<ref name="Davidson341">Davidson, p. 341.</ref> |
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The Church was the dominant influence on the development of Western art, overseeing the rise of [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]], [[Gothic art|Gothic]] and [[Renaissance art|Renaissance]] styles of art and architecture.<ref name="Woods122">Woods, pp. 115–27.</ref> Renaissance artists such as [[Raphael]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Leonardo da Vinci|da Vinci]], [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]], [[Sandro Botticelli|Botticelli]], [[Fra Angelico]], [[Tintoretto]], [[Caravaggio]], and [[Titian]], were among a multitude of artists sponsored by the Church.<ref name="Duffy133">Duffy, p. 133.</ref> In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,<ref name="Hall100">Hall, p. 100.</ref> and an enormous body of religious music has been composed for it through the ages. This led directly to the emergence and development of European [[classical music]], and its many derivatives.<ref name="Murray45">Murray, p. 45.</ref> |
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[[Constantine I|Emperor Constantine I]] commissioned the [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|first Basilica of St. Peter]] and several other sites of lasting importance to Christianity.<ref name="SandSp18">Duffy, p. 18.</ref> By this time, the altar as the focal point of each church, the sign of the cross, and the liturgical calendar had been established<ref name="Wilken284">Wilken, p. 284.</ref> and in 380, Christianity was declared the [[state religion]] of the Empire.<ref name="Wilken286">Wilken, p. 286.</ref> |
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===Reformation and Counter-Reformation=== |
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In the 14th century, the Papacy came under French dominance, with [[Pope Clement V|Clement V]] moving to Avignon in 1305.<ref name="Duffy122">Duffy, p. 122</ref> The [[Avignon Papacy]] ended in 1376 when the Pope returned to Rome,<ref name="McManners232">Morris, p. 232</ref> but was followed in 1378 by the 38-year-long [[Western Schism|Western schism]] with claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa.<ref name="McManners232"/> The Western Schism resulted in a call for a "collective authority rather than the single primacy of the bishop of Rome" which gained support, but was overturned in 1417 at the [[Council of Constance]] with [[Pope Martin V|Martin V]] declared pope, and a decree issued that the Pope received authority "immediately from Christ".<ref name= "Restorationpp37-38">MacCulloch, ''The Restoration'', pp. 37-38</ref> In reaction to the lack of authority created by the Great Schism, in England [[John Wycliffe]] wrote that the "eternal existing Church" was to be found in the Bible and available to all. His work was brought to [[Bohemia]], where in [[Prague]], [[Jan Hus]] embraced Wycliffe's ideas and gained wide support. At the Council of Constance, Hus was charged with heresy and ordered to be executed by burning at the stake.<ref>MacCulloch, ''The Restoration'', pp. 34-36</ref> |
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[[File:Holbein-erasmus.jpg|thumb|[[Desiderius Erasmus]]]] |
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The Council of Constance, the [[Council of Florence|Council of Basel]] and the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran|Fifth Lateran Council]] each attempted to reform internal Church abuses, with the "popular and persistently recommended" creation of a council.<ref>Bokenkotter, p.201</ref> In 1460, following the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, [[Pope Pius II]] forbade further appeal for a general council.<ref name= "Restorationpp37-38"/> Consequently worldly men such as Roderigo [[House of Borgia|Borgia]] ([[Pope Alexander VI]]) were elected to the papacy,<ref name="Duffy149">Duffy, p. 149</ref> followed by [[Pope Julius II]] who presented himself as a secular prince.<ref>MacCulloch, ''The Restoration'', p. 41</ref> Early in the 16th century, the publication of ''[[The Praise of Folly|In Praise of Folly]]'', written by [[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus]], "included some biting criticisms of the unreformed Church."<ref name="Norman86">Norman, p. 86</ref> |
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After the legalization of Christianity, a number of doctrinal disputes led to the calling of [[ecumenical council]]s. The doctrinal formulations resulting from these ecumenical councils were pivotal in the history of Christianity. The [[first seven Ecumenical Councils]], from the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) to the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] (787), sought to reach an [[orthodoxy|orthodox]] consensus and to establish a unified [[Christendom]]. |
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In Germany in 1517, [[Martin Luther]] sent his ''[[The Ninety-Five Theses|Ninety-Five Theses]]'' to several bishops.<ref name="Bokenkotter215">Bokenkotter, p. 215</ref> His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of [[indulgence]]s.<ref name="Bokenkotter215"/> In Switzerland, [[Huldrych Zwingli]], [[John Calvin]], and others further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into the European movement called the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref name="Bokenkotter223">Bokenkotter, pp. 223–224</ref> |
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In 325, the [[First Council of Nicaea]] convened in response to the threat of [[Arianism]]; in order to encapsulate the basic tenets of the Christian belief, it promulgated a creed which became the basis of what is now known as the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="Herring60">Herring, p. 60.</ref> In addition, it divided the church into geographical and administrative areas called dioceses.<ref name="Hitchcock 283">Wilkin, p. 283</ref> The [[Council of Rome]] in 382 established the first [[Biblical canon]] when it listed the accepted books of the ''[[Old Testament|Old]]'' and ''[[New Testament]]''.<ref name="StoChris61">Collins, pp. 61–62.</ref> The [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] in 431<ref name="SandSp35">Duffy, p. 35.</ref> and the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 defined the relationship of Christ's divine and human natures, leading to splits with the [[Nestorianism|Nestorians]] and [[Monophysitism|Monophysite]]s.<ref name="McManners371">Ware, p. 142.</ref> |
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In Germany, the reformation led to a nine-year war between the Protestant [[Schmalkaldic League]] and the Catholic Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]. In 1618 a far graver conflict, the [[Thirty Years' War]], followed.<ref>Vidmar, p.233</ref> In France, a series of conflicts termed the [[French Wars of Religion]] were fought from 1562 to 1598 between the [[Huguenot]]s and the forces of the [[Catholic League (French)|French Catholic League]], with the [[St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre]] marking the turning point in the conflict.<ref name="Bokenkotter233">Bokenkotter, p. 233</ref> Survivors regrouped under [[Henry IV of France|Henry of Navarre]] who became Catholic and began the first experiment in religious toleration with his 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]].<ref name="Bokenkotter233"/> This Edict, which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants, was hesitantly accepted by [[Pope Clement VIII]].<ref name="Duffy177">Duffy, pp. 177–178</ref> |
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Constantine moved the imperial capital to Constantinople, and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) elevated the See of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".<ref name="Bokenkotter84">Bokenkotter, p. 84–93.</ref><ref name="Noble214">Noble, p. 214.</ref> |
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The English Reformation during the reign [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] began as a political dispute. When the pope denied Henry's petition for an [[annulment]] of his marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]], he had the [[Acts of Supremacy]] passed, making him head of the English Church.<ref name="Bokenkotter235">Bokenkotter, pp. 235–237</ref> Although he tried to maintain traditional Catholicism, Henry initiated the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|confiscation of monasteries]], friaries, convents and shrines throughout his realm.<ref name="Schama">Schama, pp. 309–311</ref> A more thoroughgoing doctrinal and liturgical Reformation was initiated at the end of Henry VIII's reign and continued through the reign of [[Edward VI]] under Archbishop [[Thomas Cranmer]]. Under [[Mary I of England|Mary I]], England was briefly reunited with Rome, but [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] later restored a separate church that outlawed Catholic priests<ref name="Noble519">Noble, p. 519</ref> and prevented Catholics from educating their children and taking part in political life<ref name="Solt149">Solt, p. 149</ref> until new laws were passed in the late 18th and nineteenth centuries.<ref>Judith F. Champ, 'Catholicism', in John Cannon (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to British History'', rev. ed. (Oxford: University Press, 2002), p. 176</ref> |
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Rome had particular prominence over the other dioceses; it was considered the see of Peter and Paul, it was located in the capital of the empire, it was wealthy and known for supporting other churches, and church scholars wanted the Roman bishop's support in doctrinal disputes.<ref name="Bokenkotter223">Bokenkotter, pp. 35–36.</ref> From ''c'' 350 to ''c''500, the bishops, or popes, of Rome steadily increased in authority.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> |
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The [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563) became the driving force behind the Counter-Reformation. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such as [[transubstantiation]], and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.<ref name="Bokenkotter242">Bokenkotter, pp. 242–244</ref> It also made structural reforms, most importantly by improving the education of the clergy and laity and consolidating the central jurisdiction of the Roman Curia.<ref name="Bokenkotter242"/>{{#tag:ref|The Roman Curia is a "bureaucracy that assists the pope in his responsibilities of governing the universal Church. Although early in the history of the Church bishops of Rome had assistants to help them in the exercise of their ministry, it was not until 1588 that formal organization of the Roman Curia was accomplished by Pope Sixtus V. The most recent reorganization of the Curia was completed in 1988 by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution ''Pastor Bonus''".<ref>Lahey, p. 1125</ref> The Curia functioned as the civil government of the Papal States until 1870.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brief Overview of the Administrative History of the Holy See|publisher=University of Michigan|date=5 July 2007|url=http://bentley.umich.edu/academic/vatican/overview.php|accessdate=2008-10-17}}</ref>|group=note}} To popularize Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the [[Baroque]] style in art, music and architecture,<ref name="Murray45">Murray, p. 45</ref> and new religious orders were founded such as the [[Theatines]] and the [[Barnabites]] in which were established the "evangelistic zeal of the original monastic vocation."<ref>Norman, pp. 91–92</ref> The [[Society of Jesus]] was formally established in the mid-16th century,<ref>Norman, p. 94</ref> and they quickly saw the importance of providing education during the Counter-Reformation, viewing it as a "battleground for hearts and minds".<ref name="Johnson87">Johnson, p. 87</ref> At the same time, the writings of figures such as [[Teresa of Avila]], [[Francis de Sales]] and [[Philip Neri]] spawned new schools of spirituality within the Church.<ref name="Bokenkotter251">Bokenkotter, p. 251</ref> |
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{{clear}} |
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===Early Middle Ages=== |
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Toward the latter part of the 17th century, [[Pope Innocent XI]] reformed abuses that were occurring in the Church's hierarchy, including [[simony]], [[nepotism]] and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a large papal debt.<ref name="Duffy188">Duffy, pp. 188–191</ref> He promoted missionary activity, tried to unite Europe against [[Great Turkish War|the Turkish invasion]], prevented influential Catholic rulers (including the Holy Roman Emperor) from marrying Protestants but strongly condemned religious persecution.<ref name="Duffy188"/> |
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{{See|Middle Ages|Christian monasticism}} |
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Following the collapse of Roman power in Western Europe, the Catholic faith competed with [[Arianism]] for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.<ref name="LeGoff20">Le Goff, pp. 5–20.</ref> The 496 conversion of [[Clovis I]], pagan king of the [[Franks]], marked the beginning of a steady rise of the Catholic faith in the West.<ref name="LeGoff21">Le Goff, p. 21.</ref> The ''[[Rule of St Benedict]]'', composed in 530, became a blueprint for the organization of [[monastery|monasteries]] throughout Europe.<ref name="Woods27">Woods, p. 27.</ref> As well as providing a focus for spiritual life, the new monasteries preserved classical craft and artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, [[scriptorium|scriptoria]] and libraries. They also functioned as agricultural, economic and production centers, particularly in remote regions, becoming major conduits of civilization.<ref name="LeGoff120">Le Goff, p. 120.</ref> |
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[[Pope Gregory the Great]] reformed church practice and administration around 600 and launched [[Gregorian mission|renewed missionary efforts]]<ref name="Duffy52">Duffy, pp. 50–52.</ref> which were complemented by other missionary movements such as the [[Hiberno-Scottish mission]].<ref name="McManners94"/><ref name="Vidmar82">Vidmar, pp. 82–83, quote: "How it [monasticism] came to Ireland is a matter of some debate. The liturgical and literary evidence is strong that it came directly from Egypt without the moderating influence of the Roman Church."</ref> Missionaries such as [[Augustine of Canterbury]], Saint [[Saint Boniface|Boniface]], [[Willibrord]] and [[Ansgar]] took Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic people.<ref name="McManners94">Mayr-Harting, pp. 92–94.</ref> In the same period the Visigoths and Lombards moved from Arianism toward Catholicism,<ref name="LeGoff21"/> and in Britain the full reunion of the Celtic churches with Rome was effectively marked by the [[Synod of Whitby]] in 664.<ref name="Vidmar82"/> Later missionary efforts by [[Saints Cyril and Methodius]] in the ninth century reached [[Great Moravia|greater Moravia]] and introduced, along with Christianity, the Cyrillic alphabet used in the southern and eastern Slavic languages.<ref name="Johnson18">Johnson, p. 18.</ref> While Christianity continued to expand in Europe, Islam presented a significant military threat to Western Christendom.<ref name="McManners187">Johns, p. 166</ref> By 715, Muslim armies had conquered Syria, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Alexandria, Iraq and Persia, Carthage and much of the Iberian Peninsula.<ref name="Vidmar94">Vidmar, p. 94.</ref> |
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===Early modern period=== |
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[[File:São Miguel das Missões (Brazil).jpg|thumb|Ruins of the [[Jesuit Reduction]] at [[São Miguel das Missões]] in Brazil.]] |
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{{Main|Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery}} |
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From the 8th century, [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|Iconoclasm]], the destruction of religious images, became a major source of conflict in the eastern church.<ref name="Vidmar103">Vidmar, pp. 102–103.</ref><ref name="Duffy63">Duffy, p. 63, p. 74.</ref> Byzantine emperors [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo III]] and [[Constantine V]] strongly supported Iconoclasm, while the papacy and the western church remained resolute in favour of the veneration of [[icon]]s. In 787, the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] ruled in favor of the [[iconodule]]s but the dispute continued into the early 9th century.<ref name="Duffy63"/> The consequent estrangement led to the creation of the [[papal states]] and the papal coronation of the Frankish King [[Charlemagne]] as Emperor of the Romans in 800. This ultimately created a new problem as successive Western emperors sought to impose an increasingly tight control over the popes.<ref name="Vidmar107">Vidmar, pp. 107–111.</ref><ref name="Duffy78">Duffy, p. 78.</ref> |
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The [[Age of Discovery]] saw the expansion of Western Europe's political and cultural influence worldwide. Because of the prominent role the strongly-Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal played in Western Colonialism, Catholicism was spread to the Americas, Asia and Oceania by explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries, as well as by the transformation of societies through the socio-political mechanisms of colonial rule. |
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Eastern and Western Christendom grew farther apart in the 9th century. Conflicts arose over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Byzantine-controlled south of Italy, missionaries to Bulgaria and a brief schism revolving around [[Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople|Photios of Constantinople]].<ref name="Vidmar103"/><ref name="Duffy81">Duffy, pp. 81–82.</ref> Further disagreements led to Pope and Patriarch excommunicating each other in 1054, commonly considered the date of the [[East–West Schism]].<ref name="SandSp91">Duffy, p. 91.</ref> The Western branch of Christianity remained in communion with the Pope and remained a part of the Catholic Church, while the Eastern (Greek) branch that rejected the papal claims became known as the [[Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox churches]].<ref name="StoChris44">Collins, p. 103.</ref><ref name="Vidmar104">Vidmar, p. 104</ref> Efforts to mend the rift were attempted at the [[Second Council of Lyon]] in 1274 and [[Council of Florence]] in 1439. While in each case the Eastern Emperor and Eastern Patriarch both agreed to the reunion,<ref name="Duffy119">Duffy, p. 119, p. 131.</ref> neither council changed the attitudes of the Eastern Churches at large, and the schism remained.<ref name="Bokenkotter140"/> |
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[[Pope Alexander VI]] had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal<ref name="Koschorke13">Koschorke, p. 13, p. 283</ref> and the ensuing ''patronato'' system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.<ref>Hastings (1994), p. 72</ref> Although the Spanish monarchs tried to curb abuses committed against the Amerindians by explorers and conquistadors,<ref name="Noble450">Noble, pp. 450–451</ref> it was [[Antonio de Montesinos (Dominican friar)|Antonio de Montesinos]], a Dominican friar, who is particularly known for openly rebuking the Spanish rulers of [[Hispaniola]] in 1511 for their cruelty and tyranny in dealing with the natives.<ref>Koschorke, p. 287</ref> [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand]] enacted the ''[[Laws of Burgos]]'' and ''Valladolid'' in response. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain.<ref>Johansen, p. 109, p. 110, quote: "In the Americas, the Catholic priest Bartolomé de las Casas avidly encouraged enquiries into the Spanish conquest's many cruelties. Las Casas chronicled Spanish brutality against the Native peoples in excruciating detail."</ref> and, through the writings of Catholic clergy such as [[Bartolomé de las Casas|Bartolomé de Las Casas]] and [[Francisco de Vitoria]], led to debate on the nature of human rights<ref>Koschorke, p.287</ref> and to the birth of modern international law.<ref>Chadwick, Owen, p. 327</ref> Enforcement of these laws was lax, and some historians blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians; others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples.<ref name="Dussel45">Dussel, p. 45, pp. 52–53, quote: "The missionary Church opposed this state of affairs from the beginning, and nearly everything positive that was done for the benefit of the indigenous peoples resulted from the call and clamor of the missionaries. The fact remained, however, that widespread injustice was extremely difficult to uproot ... Even more important than Bartolomé de Las Casas was the Bishop of Nicaragua, Antonio de Valdeviso, who ultimately suffered martyrdom for his defense of the Indian."</ref> |
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{{clear}} |
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===High Middle Ages=== |
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In 1521 the Portuguese explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.<ref name="Koschorke21">Koschorke, p. 21</ref> Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit [[Francis Xavier]] evangelized in India, China, and Japan.<ref name="Koschorke3">Koschorke, p. 3, p. 17</ref> Church growth in Japan came to a halt in 1597 when the [[Shogunate]], in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a severe persecution of Christians or [[Kirishitan]]'s.<ref name="Koschorke31">Koschorke, pp. 31–32</ref> An underground minority Christian population survived throughout this period of persecution and enforced an isolation that was eventually lifted in the 19th century.<ref>McManners, p. 318</ref> In China, despite Jesuit efforts to find compromise, the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] led the [[Kangxi Emperor]] to outlaw Christian missions in 1721.<ref name="McManners328">McManners, p. 328</ref> These events added fuel to growing criticism of the Jesuits, who were seen to symbolize the independent power of the Church, and in 1773 European rulers united to force [[Pope Clement XIV]] to [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|dissolve the order]].<ref name="Duffy193">Duffy, p. 193</ref> The Jesuits were eventually restored in the 1814 papal bull [[Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum]].<ref name="Bokenkotter295">Bokenkotter, p. 295</ref> In [[Las Californias]], Franciscan priest [[Junípero Serra]] founded a series of missions.<ref name="Norman111">Norman, pp. 111–112</ref> In South America, Jesuit missionaries sought to protect native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called [[Jesuit Reductions|reductions]]. |
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{{See|High Middle Ages}} |
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The [[Cluny Abbey|Cluniac reform]] of monasteries that had begun in 910 sparked widespread monastic growth and renewal.<ref name="Duffy88">Duffy, pp. 88–89.</ref> Monasteries introduced new technologies and crops, fostered the creation and preservation of literature and promoted economic growth. Monasteries, convents and cathedrals still operated virtually all schools and libraries.<ref name="Woods40">Woods, pp. 40–44.</ref><ref name="LeGoff80">Le Goff, pp. 80–82.</ref> Despite a church ban on the practice of [[usury]] the larger abbeys functioned as sources for economic credit.<ref name="LeGoff225">Le Goff, p. 225.</ref> The 11th and 12th century saw internal efforts to reform the church. The [[College of Cardinals|college of cardinals]] in 1059 was created to free papal elections from interference by Emperor and nobility. Lay investiture of bishops, a source of rulers' dominance over the Church, was attacked by reformers and under [[Pope Gregory VII]], erupted into the [[Investiture Controversy]] between Pope and Emperor. The matter was eventually settled with the [[Concordat of Worms]] in 1122 where it was agreed that bishops would be selected in accordance with [[Canon law|Church law]].<ref name="Bokenkotter155">Bokenkotter, pp. 116–120.</ref><ref name="Noble286">Noble, pp. 286–287.</ref> |
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[[File:CouncilofClermont.jpg|thumb|180 px|[[Pope Urban II]] at the [[Council of Clermont]] (1095), where he preached the [[First Crusade]]; later [[illuminated manuscript|manuscript illumination]] of c. 1490.]] |
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From the 17th century onward, the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] questioned the power and influence of the Catholic Church over Western society.<ref name="Pollard8"/> Eighteenth century writers such as Voltaire and the Encyclopedists wrote biting critiques of both religion and the Church. One target of their criticism was the 1685 [[revocation of the Edict of Nantes]] by King Louis XIV, which ended a century-long policy of religious toleration of Protestant Huguenots. |
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In 1095, [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexius I]] appealed to [[Pope Urban II]] for help against renewed [[Byzantine–Seljuk Wars|Muslim invasions]],<ref name="rileysmith">Riley-Smith, p. 8.</ref> which caused Urban to launch the [[First Crusade]] aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the [[Holy Land]] to Christian control.<ref name="Bokenkotter140">Bokenkotter, pp. 140–141.</ref><ref name="Vidmar130">Vidmar, pp. 130–131.</ref> The goal was not permanently realized, and episodes of brutality committed by the armies of both sides left a legacy of mutual distrust between Muslims and Western and Eastern Christians.<ref name="LeGoff66">Le Goff, pp. 65–67.</ref> The sack of Constantinople during the [[Fourth Crusade]], conducted against [[Pope Innocent III|papal]] authorisation, left Eastern Christians embittered and was a decisive event that permanently solidified the schism between the churches.<ref name="Tyerman">Tyerman, pp. 525–560.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pope sorrow over Constantinople|publisher=BBC News|date=29 June 2004|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3850789.stm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=6 April 2008}}</ref> |
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The crusades also saw the formation of [[military order]]s which included the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]], [[Knights Templar|Templars]] and later, the [[Teutonic Knights]] all of whom provided social services as well as guardianship of pilgrim routes.<ref name="Norman62">Norman, pp. 62–65.</ref> The Teutonic Knights conquered the then-pagan [[Prussia]].<ref name="Norman62"/> The Templars became noted bankers and creditors who were suppressed by King [[Philip IV of France]] shortly after 1300.<ref name="Norman93">Norman, p. 93.</ref> Later, [[mendicant orders]] were founded by [[Francis of Assisi]] and [[Saint Dominic|Dominic de Guzmán]] which brought [[Consecrated life (Catholic Church)|consecrated religious life]] into urban settings.<ref name="LeGoff87">Le Goff, p. 87.</ref> These orders also played a large role in the development of cathedral schools into [[Medieval university|universities]], the direct ancestors of the modern Western institutions.<ref name="Woods44">Woods, pp. 44–48.</ref> Notable [[scholasticism|scholastic]] theologians such as the Dominican [[Thomas Aquinas]] worked at these universities, his ''[[Summa Theologica]]'' was a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought and Christianity.<ref name="Bokenkotter158">Bokenkotter, pp. 158–159.</ref> |
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The [[French Revolution]] of 1789 brought about a shifting of powers from the Church to the State, destruction of churches and the establishment of a [[Cult of Reason]].<ref name="Bokenkotter285">Bokenkotter, pp. 283–285</ref> In 1799, [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Italy, imprisoning [[Pope Pius VI]], who died in captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the [[Concordat of 1801]].<ref name="Collins176">Collins, p. 176</ref> The end of the [[Napoleonic wars]] brought Catholic revival and the return of the [[Papal States]].<ref>Duffy, pp. 214–216</ref> In 1833, [[Frederic Ozanam]] began the work of the [[St Vincent de Paul Society]] in Paris to assist the poor created by the [[industrial revolution]]. The society would grow to more than 1,000,000 members in 142 countries by the year 2010.<ref>[http://svdpla.org/index.php/about/contents/history SVDPLA.org]</ref> |
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Twelfth century France witnessed the emergence of [[Catharism]], a [[dualism|dualist]] [[heresy]] that had spread from Eastern Europe through Germany. After the Cathars were accused of murdering a [[Pierre de Castelnau|papal legate]] in 1208,<ref>[[Henry Charles Lea]], 'A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages', Volume 1, (1888), p. 145, quote: "The murder of the legate Pierre de Castelnau sent a thrill of horror throughout Christendom...Of its details, however, the accounts are so contradictory that it is impossible to speak of it with precision."</ref> [[Pope Innocent III]] declared the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against them. When this turned into an "appalling massacre",<ref name="Morris">Morris, p. 214</ref> he instituted the first [[papal inquisition]] to prevent further massacres and to root out the remaining Cathars.<ref name="Morris"/><ref name="Vidmar144">Vidmar, pp. 144–147, quote: "The Albigensian Crusade, as it became known, lasted until 1219. The pope, Innocent III, was a lawyer and saw both how easily the crusade had gotten out of hand and how it could be mitigated. He encouraged local rulers to adopt anti-heretic legislation and bring people to trial. By 1231 a papal inquisition began, and the friars were given charge of investigating tribunals."</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter132">Bokenkotter, p. 132, quote: "A crusade was proclaimed against these Albigenses, as they were sometimes called ... It was in connection with this crusade that the papal system of Inquisition originated – a special tribunal appointed by the Popes and charged with ferreting out heretics. Until then the responsibility devolved on the local bishops. However, Innocent found it necessary in coping with the Albigensian threat to send out delegates who were entrusted with special powers that made them independent of the episcopal authority. In 1233 Gregory IX organized this ''ad hoc'' body into a system of permanent inquisitors, who were usually chosen from among the mendicant friars, Dominicans and Franciscans, men who were often marked by a high degree of courage, integrity, prudence, and zeal."</ref> Formalized under [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]], this [[Medieval Inquisition|Medieval inquisition]] put to death an average of three people per year for heresy.<ref name="Norman93"/><ref name="Bokenkotter132"/> |
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The spread of the [[British Empire]] brought the first Catholics to [[Australia]] with the arrival of Irish convicts at Sydney in 1788. By the close of the 19th century, missionaries had taken Catholicism to the neighbouring islands of Oceania.<ref>[http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/1888_-_Pompallier,_J._Early_History_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Oceania/%5BFront_Matter%5D/p1?action=null ENZB.auckland.ac.nz]</ref> |
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Over time, other [[inquisition]]s were launched by secular rulers to prosecute heretics, often with the approval of Church hierarchy, to respond to the threat of [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Muslim invasion]] or for political purposes.<ref name="christopherblack">Black, pp. 200–202.</ref> [[Catholic Monarchs|King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella]] of Spain formed an inquisition in 1480, originally to deal with distrusted converts from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism.<ref name="Kamen48">Kamen, p. 48–49.</ref> Over a 350-year period, this [[Spanish Inquisition]] executed between 3,000 and 4,000 people,<ref name="Vidmar150">Vidmar, pp. 150–152.</ref> representing around two percent of those accused.<ref name="kamen203">Kamen, p. 59, p. 203.</ref> In 1482 [[Pope Sixtus IV]] condemned the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, but Ferdinand ignored his protests.<ref name="kamen49">Kamen, p. 49, quote: "In this bull the pope protested ... the Inquisition has for some time been moved not by zeal for the faith and the salvation of souls, but by lust for wealth, and that many true and faithful Christians, on the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other lower and even less proper persons, have without any legitimate proof been thrust into secular prisons, tortured and condemned as relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and property and handed over to the secular arm to be executed, to the peril of souls, setting a pernicious example, and causing disgust to many."</ref> Some historians argue that for centuries Protestant propaganda and popular literature exaggerated the horrors of the inquisitions in an effort to associate the Catholic Church with acts committed by secular rulers.<ref name="Norman92">Norman, p. 93, quote: "... subsequent Protestant propaganda for centuries identified the entire Catholic Church in Spain, and elsewhere, with their occasional excesses. By the 19th century political liberals and religious dissenters took the 'crimes' of the Inquisition to be the ultimate proofs of the vile character of 'popery', and an enormous popular literature on the subject poured from the presses of Europe and North America. At its most active, in the 16th century, nevertheless, the Inquisition was regarded as far more enlightened than the secular courts: if you denied the Trinity and repented you were given penance; if you stole a sheep and repented you were hung. It has been calculated that only one per cent of those who appeared before the Inquisition tribunals eventually received death penalties. But the damage wrought by propaganda has been effective, and today the 'Spanish' Inquisition, like the Crusades, persists in supplying supposedly discreditable episodes to damn the memory of the Catholic past."</ref><ref name="McManners215">Morris, p. 215, quote: "The inquisition has come to occupy such a role in European demonology that we must be careful to keep it in proportion. ... and the surviving records indicate that the proportion of executions was not high."</ref><ref name="Vidmar146">Vidmar, p. 146, quote: "The extent of the Inquisition trials for heresy has been highly exaggerated. Once the Inquisition was established ... the pyromania which had characterized lay attempts to suppress heresy came to an end. Ninety percent of the sentences were "canonical" or church-related penances: fasting, pilgrimage, increased attendance at Mass, the wearing of distinctive clothing or badges, etc. The number of those who were put to death was very small indeed. The best estimate is that, of every hundred people sentenced, one person was executed, and ten were given prison terms. Even these latter could have their sentences reduced once the inquisitors left town."</ref> Over all, one percent of those tried by the inquisitions received death penalties, leading some scholars to consider them rather lenient when compared to the secular courts of the period.<ref name="Vidmar150"/><ref name="Peters112">Peters, p. 112</ref> The inquisition played a major role in the final expulsion of Islam from Sicily and Spain.<ref name="McManners187">Johns, p. 187</ref> |
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In Latin America, a succession of [[anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] regimes came to power beginning in the 1830s.<ref name="Stacy, p. 139">Stacy, p. 139</ref> Church properties were confiscated, bishoprics left vacant, religious orders suppressed,<ref>Bethell, pp. 528–529</ref> the collection of clerical tithes ended,<ref name="kirkwood101102">Kirkwood, pp. 101–102</ref> and clerical dress in public prohibited.<ref name="hamnett163164">Hamnett, pp. 163–164</ref> [[Pope Gregory XVI]] challenged the power of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs by appointing his own candidates as colonial bishops. He also condemned slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull [[In Supremo Apostolatus]], and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism.<ref name="Duffy221">Duffy, p. 221</ref> |
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At the end of the 13th century, [[Pope Boniface VIII]] was involved in a heated conflict with Philip IV of France. After a falsified papal bull was circulated by Philip in a "smear campaign" against the pope, Boniface promulgated [[Unam Sanctam]].<ref name="Bokenkotter 180"/> This clarified the spiritual responsibilities of the pope as supreme over the temporal responsibilities of monarchs.<ref name="Bokenkotter 180">Bokenkotter, p. 180-181</ref> When Philip subsequently attempted to kidnap Boniface, the townspeople came to his rescue.<ref name="Bokenkotter 180"/> Later, the Papacy came under French dominance, with [[Pope Clement V|Clement V]] in 1305 moving to [[Avignon]].<ref name="Duffy122">Duffy, p. 122.</ref> The [[Avignon Papacy]] ended in 1376 when the Pope returned to Rome<ref name="McManners232">Morris, p. 232.</ref><ref name="Vidmar155">Vidmar, p. 155.</ref> but was soon followed in 1378 by the 38-year-long [[Western Schism|Western schism]] with separate claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa, backed by conflicting secular rulers.<ref name="McManners240">Collinson, p. 240</ref> The matter was finally resolved in 1417 at the [[Council of Constance]] where the three claimants either resigned or were deposed and held a new election naming [[Pope Martin V|Martin V]] Pope.<ref name="McManners240"/> |
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At the end of the 19th century, Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.<ref name="Has398">Hastings, pp. 397–410</ref> |
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===Reformation and Counter-Reformation=== |
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===Industrial age=== |
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{{Main|Protestant Reformation|English Reformation|Counter-Reformation|Catholicism and the wars of religion}} |
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In response to the social challenges of the [[Industrial Revolution]], [[Pope Leo XIII]] published the encyclical ''[[Rerum Novarum]]''. It set out [[Catholic social teaching]] in terms that rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions, the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers to form trade unions.<ref name="Duffy240">Duffy, p. 240</ref> Although the [[infallibility of the Church]] in doctrinal matters had always been a Church dogma, the [[First Vatican Council]], which convened in 1870, affirmed the doctrine of [[papal infallibility]] when exercised under specific conditions.<ref name="Leith">Leith, p. 143</ref> This decision gave the pope "enormous moral and spiritual authority over the worldwide" Church.<ref name="Pollard8">Pollard, pp. 7–8</ref> Reaction to the pronouncement resulted in the breakaway of a group of mainly German churches, which subsequently formed the [[Old Catholic Church]].<ref name="Fahlbusch">Fahlbusch, p. 729</ref> The loss of the papal states to the [[Italian unification]] movement created what came to be known as the [[Roman Question]],<ref name="Bokenkotter307">Bokenkotter, pp. 306–307</ref> a territorial dispute between the papacy and the Italian government that was not resolved until the 1929 [[Lateran Treaty]] granted sovereignty to the Holy See over Vatican City.<ref name="Bokenkotter387">Bokenkotter, pp. 386–387</ref> |
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In 1509, the scholar [[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus]] wrote ''[[The Praise of Folly|In Praise of Folly]],'' a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the Church.<ref name="Norman86">Norman, p. 86.</ref> The [[Council of Constance]], the [[Council of Florence|Council of Basel]] and the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran|Fifth Lateran Council]] had all attempted to reform internal Church abuses but had failed.<ref name="Bokenkotter202"/> As a result, rich, powerful and worldly men like Roderigo [[House of Borgia|Borgia]] ([[Pope Alexander VI]]) were able to win election to the papacy.<ref name="Bokenkotter202">Bokenkotter, pp. 201–205.</ref><ref name="Duffy149">Duffy, p. 149.</ref> In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] included his ''[[The Ninety-Five Theses|Ninety-Five Theses]]'' in a letter to several bishops.<ref name="Vidmar184">Vidmar, p. 184.</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter215">Bokenkotter, p. 215.</ref> His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of [[indulgence]]s.<ref name="Vidmar184"/><ref name="Bokenkotter215"/> [[Huldrych Zwingli]], [[John Calvin]], and others further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into a large and all encompassing European movement called the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref name="Bokenkotter223">Bokenkotter, pp. 223–224.</ref><ref name="Vidmar196">Vidmar, pp. 196–200.</ref> |
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In 1872, Saints [[John Bosco]] and [[Maria Mazzarello]] founded the [[Salesian Sisters]] in Italy<ref>[http://www.salesiansisters.net/aboutUs.cfm Salesiansisters.net]</ref> which would grow to be the largest Catholic institute for women in the world, with 14,420 members in 2009.<ref>[http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5283 Catholicculture.org]</ref> |
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In Germany, the reformation led to a nine-year war between the Protestant [[Schmalkaldic League]] and the Catholic Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]. In 1618 a far graver conflict, the [[Thirty Years' War]], followed.<ref name="Vidmar233"/> In France, a series of conflicts termed the [[French Wars of Religion]] were fought from 1562 to 1598 between the [[Huguenot]]s and the forces of the [[Catholic League (French)|French Catholic League]]. The [[St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre]] marked the turning point in this war.<ref name="Bokenkotter233">Bokenkotter, p. 233.</ref> Survivors regrouped under [[Henry IV of France|Henry of Navarre]] who became Catholic and began the first experiment in religious toleration with his 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]].<ref name="Bokenkotter233"/> This Edict, which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants, was hesitantly accepted by [[Pope Clement VIII]].<ref name="Vidmar233">Vidmar, p. 233.</ref><ref name="Duffy177">Duffy, pp. 177–178.</ref> |
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[[File:Whitby Abbey North Yorkshire.jpg|left|thumb|230px|[[Whitby Abbey]], [[England]], one of hundreds of monasteries destroyed during the [[English Reformation|Reformation]]]] |
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<!--Following paragraph includes text copied from the article on the [[Terrible Triangle]] --> |
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The [[English Reformation]] under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] began more as a political than as a theological dispute. When the annulment of his marriage was denied by the pope, Henry had Parliament pass the [[Acts of Supremacy]], 1534, which made him, and not the pope, head of the English Church.<ref name="Bokenkotter235">Bokenkotter, pp. 235–237.</ref><ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Anglicanism|author=Moyes, James}}</ref> Although he strove to maintain the substance of traditional Catholicism, Henry initiated and supported the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|confiscation and dissolution of monasteries]], friaries, convents and shrines throughout England, Wales and Ireland.<ref name="Bokenkotter235"/><ref name="Schama">Schama, pp. 309–311.</ref><ref name="Vidmar220">Vidmar, p. 220.</ref> Under Henry's daughter, [[Mary I of England|Mary I]], England was reunited with Rome, {Henry's [[Acts of Supremacy|Act of Supremacy]] was repealed (1554)}, but the following monarch, [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], {second [[Acts of Supremacy|Act of Supremacy]], 1558} restored a separate church which outlawed Catholic priests<ref name="Noble519">Noble, p. 519.</ref> and prevented Catholics from educating their children and taking part in political life<ref name="Vidmar225">Vidmar, pp. 225–256.</ref><ref name="Solt149">Solt, p. 149</ref> until the [[Catholic Emancipation|first Catholic Relief Act]] of 1778 began the process of eliminating many of the anti-Catholic laws.<ref>Judith F. Champ, 'Catholicism', in John Cannon (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to British History'', rev. ed. (Oxford: University Press, 2002), p. 176.</ref><ref name="Norman132">Norman, pp. 131–132.</ref> |
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The 20th century saw the rise of various politically radical and [[anti-clerical]] governments. The 1926 [[Calles Law]] separating church and state in Mexico led to the [[Cristero War]]<ref name="Chadwick264">Chadwick, Owen, pp. 264–265</ref> in which over 3,000 priests were exiled or assassinated,<ref name="Scheina">Scheina, p. 33.</ref> churches desecrated, services mocked, nuns raped and captured priests shot.<ref name="Chadwick264"/> In the Soviet Union following the 1917 [[Bolshevik Revolution]], persecution of the Church and Catholics continued well into the 1930s.<ref>Riasanovsky 617</ref> In addition to the execution and exiling of clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of religious implements and closure of churches was common.<ref name="Riasanovsky 634">Riasanovsky 634</ref> In the 1936–39 [[Spanish Civil War]], the Catholic hierarchy allied itself with [[Francisco Franco|Franco's]] [[Spanish State|Nationalists]] against the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] government,<ref>Payne, p. 13</ref> citing "foreign elements which have brought us to ruin"<ref>Blood of Spain, Ronald Fraser p.415, collective letter of bishops of Spain, addressed to the bishops of the world. ISBN 0-7126-6014-3</ref> and [[Red Terror (Spain)|Republican violence]] against the Church.<ref>Alonso, pp. 395–396</ref> [[Pope Pius XI]] referred to these three countries as a "[[Terrible Triangle]]" and the failure to protest in Europe and the United States as a [[Conspiracy of Silence (Church persecutions)|Conspiracy of Silence]]. |
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The Catholic Church responded to doctrinal challenges and abuses highlighted by the Reformation at the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563), which became the driving force of the Counter-Reformation. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such as [[transubstantiation]], and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.<ref name="Bokenkotter242">Bokenkotter, pp. 242–244.</ref> It also made structural reforms, most importantly by improving the education of the clergy and laity and consolidating the central jurisdiction of the Roman Curia.<ref name="Bokenkotter242"/><ref name="Norman81">Norman, p. 81.</ref><ref name="Vidmar237">Vidmar, p. 237.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The Roman Curia is a "bureaucracy that assists the pope in his responsibilities of governing the universal Church. Although early in the history of the Church bishops of Rome had assistants to help them in the exercise of their ministry, it was not until 1588 that formal organization of the Roman Curia was accomplished by Pope Sixtus V. The most recent reorganization of the Curia was completed in 1988 by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution ''Pastor Bonus''".<ref>Lahey, p. 1125.</ref> The Curia functioned as the civil government of the Papal States until 1870.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brief Overview of the Administrative History of the Holy See|publisher=University of Michigan|date=5 July 2007|url=http://bentley.umich.edu/academic/vatican/overview.php|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=17 October 2008}}</ref>|group=note}} To popularize Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the [[Baroque]] style in art, music and architecture,<ref name="Murray45">Murray, p. 45.</ref> and new religious orders were founded. These included the [[Theatines]], [[Barnabites]] and [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]], some of which became the great missionary orders of later years.<ref name="Norman91">Norman, pp. 91–92.</ref> The Jesuits quickly took on a leadership in education during the Counter-Reformation, viewing it as a "battleground for hearts and minds";<ref name="Johnson87"/> at the same time, the writings of figures such as [[Teresa of Avila]], [[Francis de Sales]] and [[Philip Neri]] spawned new schools of spirituality within the Church.<ref name="Bokenkotter251">Bokenkotter, p. 251.</ref> In central Europe, the Counter-Reformation presented the [[Habsburg Monarchy|Habsburg dynasty]] with an opportunity to "combat Protestantism and consolidate their realms in the name of God".<ref name="Johnson87">Johnson, p. 87.</ref> |
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After violations of the 1933 [[Reichskonkordat]] that had guaranteed the [[Catholic Church and Nazi Germany|Church in Nazi Germany]] some protection and rights,<ref name="Rhodes182">Rhodes, p. 182-183</ref> [[Pope Pius XI]] issued the 1937 encyclical ''[[Mit brennender Sorge]]'',<ref name="Rhodes197">Rhodes, p. 197</ref> which publicly condemned the Nazis' persecution of the Church and their ideology of neopaganism and racial superiority.<ref name="Rhodes204">Rhodes, p. 204-205</ref> After the Second World War began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions.<ref name="Cook983">Cook, p. 983</ref> Thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and brothers were imprisoned and murdered throughout the areas occupied by the Nazis including Saints [[Maximilian Kolbe]] and [[Edith Stein]].<ref>[http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/01/non_jews_persecution.asp Yadvashem.org]</ref> In the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], [[Pope Pius XII]] directed the Church hierarchy to help [[Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust|protect Jews from the Nazis]].<ref>Bokenkotter p. 192</ref> While Pius XII has been credited with helping to save hundreds of thousands of Jews by some historians,<ref name="Deák">Deák, p. 182</ref> the Church has also been accused of encouraging centuries of [[Christianity and antisemitism|antisemitism]]<ref>{{cite news| last =Eakin| first =Emily| title =New Accusations Of a Vatican Role In Anti-Semitism; Battle Lines Were Drawn After Beatification of Pope Pius IX| work =The New York Times| date =1 September 2001| url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E3DF1130F932A3575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> and Pius himself of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.<ref name="Phayer">Phayer, pp. 50–57</ref> Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.<ref name="Deák">Deák, p. 182</ref> |
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Toward the latter part of the 17th century, [[Pope Innocent XI]] reformed abuses that were occurring in the Church's hierarchy, including [[simony]], [[nepotism]] and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a large papal debt.<ref name="Duffy188">Duffy, pp. 188–191.</ref> He promoted missionary activity, tried to unite Europe against the Turkish invasion, prevented influential Catholic rulers (including the Emperor) from marrying Protestants but strongly condemned religious persecution.<ref name="Duffy188"/> |
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Postwar Communist governments in Eastern Europe severely restricted religious freedoms.<ref name="communist">{{cite news|title=Pope Stared Down Communism in Homeland – and Won|work=CBC News|date=April 2005|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html|accessdate=2008-01-31}}</ref> Although some priests and religious collaborated with Communist regimes,<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Craig|title=In Poland, New Wave of Charges Against Clerics|work=The New York Times|date=10 January 2007|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/europe/10poland.html|accessdate=2008-05-23}}</ref> many were imprisoned, deported or executed and the Church would be an important player in the [[fall of communism]] in Europe.<ref>[http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14023 Thetablet.co.uk]</ref> The [[Chinese Civil War|rise to power]] of the Communists in China in 1949 led to the expulsion of all foreign missionaries.<ref name="Bokenkotter357">Bokenkotter, pp. 356–358</ref> The new government also created the [[Patriotic Church]] whose unilaterally appointed bishops were initially rejected by Rome before many of them were accepted.<ref>"''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7005927.stm China installs Pope-backed bishop]''", BBC News 21 September 2007, retrieved 2009-09-08.</ref> The [[Cultural Revolution]] of the 1960s led to the closure of all religious establishments. When Chinese churches eventually reopened they remained under the control of the Patriotic Church. Many Catholic pastors and priests continued to be sent to prison for refusing to renounce allegiance to Rome.<ref>Chadwick, p.259</ref> |
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===Age of Discovery=== |
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{{See|Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery}} |
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[[File:President and Mrs. Reagan meet Pope John Paul II 1982.jpg|thumb|[[Pope John Paul II]] with [[President Reagan]].]] |
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Just before the [[Fall of Constantinople]] to the Muslim [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453,<ref name="Thomas66">Thomas, pp. 65–66.</ref> in an effort to combat the spread of Islam, Pope [[Nicholas V]] granted Portugal the right to subdue and even enslave Muslims, pagans and other unbelievers in the papal bull [[Dum Diversas]] (1452). Several decades later European explorers and missionaries spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. [[Pope Alexander VI]] had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal<ref name="Koschorke13">Koschorke, p. 13, p. 283.</ref> and the ensuing ''patronato'' system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.<ref name="Dussel39">Dussel, Enrique, p. 39, p. 59.</ref> Although the Spanish monarchs tried to curb abuses committed against the Amerindians by explorers and conquerors,<ref name="Noble450">Noble, pp. 450–451.</ref> [[Antonio de Montesinos (Dominican friar)|Antonio de Montesinos]], a Dominican friar, openly rebuked the Spanish rulers of [[Hispaniola]] in 1511 for their cruelty and tyranny in dealing with the American natives.<ref name="Woods135">Woods, p. 135.</ref><ref name="Koschorke287">Koschorke, p. 287.</ref> [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand]] enacted the ''[[Laws of Burgos]]'' and ''Valladolid'' in response. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain<ref name="Koschorke287"/><ref name="Johansen109">Johansen, p. 109, p. 110, quote: "In the Americas, the Catholic priest Bartolome de las Casas avidly encouraged enquiries into the Spanish conquest's many cruelties. Las Casas chronicled Spanish brutality against the Native peoples in excruciating detail."</ref> and, through the writings of Catholic clergy such as [[Bartolomé de las Casas|Bartolomé de Las Casas]] and [[Francisco de Vitoria]], led to debate on the nature of human rights<ref name="Koschorke287"/> and to the birth of modern international law.<ref name="Woods137">Woods, p. 137.</ref><ref name="Chadwick327">Chadwick, Owen, p. 327.</ref> Enforcement of these laws was lax, and some historians blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians; others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples.<ref name="Dussel45">Dussel, p. 45, pp. 52–53, quote: "The missionary Church opposed this state of affairs from the beginning, and nearly everything positive that was done for the benefit of the indigenous peoples resulted from the call and clamor of the missionaries. The fact remained, however, that widespread injustice was extremely difficult to uproot ... Even more important than Bartolome de Las Casas was the Bishop of Nicaragua, Antonio de Valdeviso, who ultimately suffered martyrdom for his defense of the Indian."</ref> Nevertheless, Amerindian populations suffered serious decline due to new diseases, inadvertently introduced through contact with Europeans, which created a labor vacuum in the New World.<ref name="Noble450"/> |
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The [[Second Vatican Council]] initiated by [[Pope John XXIII]] in 1962 was described by its advocates as an "opening of the windows".<ref name="Duffy272">Duffy, pp. 270–276</ref> It led to changes in liturgy within the Latin Church, a re-focusing of its mission and a redefinition of [[Catholic Church and ecumenism|ecumenism]], particularly dialogue with the Orthodox Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and Protestant denominations.<ref>Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 272, p. 274</ref> |
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In 1521 the Portuguese explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.<ref name="Koschorke21">Koschorke, p. 21.</ref> The following year, the first Franciscan missionaries arrived in [[Mexico]], establishing schools, model farms and hospitals. When some Europeans questioned whether the Indians were truly human and worthy of baptism, [[Pope Paul III]] in the 1537 bull [[Sublimis Deus]] confirmed that "their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans" and they should neither be robbed nor turned into slaves.<ref name="Chadwick190">Chadwick, Owen, ''The Reformation'', p. 190.</ref><ref name="Johansen110">Johansen, p. 110, quote: "In the Papal bull ''Sublimis deus'' (1537), Pope Paul III declared that Indians were to be regarded as fully human, and that their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans. This edict also outlawed slavery of Indians in any form ..."</ref><ref name="Koschorke290">Koschorke, p. 290.</ref> Over the next 150 years, missions expanded into southwestern North America.<ref name="jacksonxiv">Jackson, p. 14.</ref> Native people were often legally defined as children, and priests took on a paternalistic role, sometimes enforced with corporal punishment.<ref name="jacksonxiii">Jackson, p. 13.</ref> Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit [[Francis Xavier]] evangelized in India and Japan.<ref name="Koschorke3">Koschorke, p. 3, p. 17.</ref> Church growth in Japan came to a halt in 1597 under the Shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a severe persecution of Christians or [[Kirishitan]]'s.<ref name="Koschorke31">Koschorke, pp. 31–32.</ref> An underground minority Christian population survived throughout this period of persecution and enforced isolation which was eventually lifted in the 19th century.<ref name="Koschorke31"/><ref name="McManners318">McManners, p. 318.</ref> |
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Reception of the council has formed the basis of multifaceted internal positions within the Church since then. A so-called [[Spirit of Vatican II]] followed the council, influenced by exponents of ''[[Nouvelle Théologie]]'' such as [[Karl Rahner]]. Some dissident liberals such as [[Hans Küng]] claimed Vatican II had not gone far enough.<ref>Bauckham, p. 373</ref> On the other hand, [[Traditionalist Catholics]] represented by figures such as [[Marcel Lefebvre]] strongly criticized the council, arguing that it defiled the sanctity of the [[Latin Mass]], promoted religious indifferentism towards "false religions" and compromised historical Catholic dogma and tradition. A group positioned in between, represented by the theologians of the publication ''[[Communio]]'' (including [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) hold that the council was ultimately positive but that there were abuses in interpretation.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} |
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[[File:São Miguel das Missões (Brazil).jpg|thumb|230px|The [[Jesuit Reductions|Jesuit Reduction]] of [[São Miguel das Missões]], in Brazil.]] |
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Teachings of the popes, such as the encyclicals ''[[Humanae Vitae]]'' and ''[[Evangelium Vitae]]'', have opposed [[contraception]]<ref name="humanae">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Humanae Vitae|publisher=Vatican|year=1968|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|accessdate=2008-02-02}}</ref> and [[Catholic Church and abortion|abortion]] respectively, describing these views as part of a "[[culture of life]]".<ref name="Bokenkotter493">Bokenkotter, p. 27, p. 154, pp. 493–494</ref> |
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In the Americas, Franciscan priest [[Junípero Serra]] founded a series of new missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military.<ref name="Norman111">Norman, pp. 111–112.</ref> These missions brought grain, cattle and a new way of living to the Indian tribes of California. [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] was founded in 1776 and [[Los Angeles]] in 1781. In a challenge to Spanish and Portuguese policy, [[Pope Gregory XVI]], began to appoint his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull [[In Supremo Apostolatus]], and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism.<ref name="Duffy221">Duffy, p. 221.</ref> Yet in spite of these advances, the Amerindian population continued to suffer decline from exposure to European diseases.<ref name="Noble 453">Noble, p. 453.</ref> |
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In South America, Jesuit missionaries tried to protect native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called [[Jesuit Reductions|reductions]]. In China, despite Jesuit efforts to find compromise, the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] led the [[Kangxi Emperor]] to outlaw Christian missions in 1721.<ref name="McManners328">McManners, p. 328.</ref> These events added fuel to growing criticism of the Jesuits, who were seen to symbolize the independent power of the Church, and in 1773 European rulers united to force [[Pope Clement XIV]] to [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|dissolve the order]].<ref name="Duffy193">Duffy, p. 193.</ref> The Jesuits were eventually restored in the 1814 papal bull [[Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum]].<ref name="Bokenkotter295">Bokenkotter, p. 295.</ref> |
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Since the end of the 20th century, [[Catholic sex abuse cases|sex abuse by Catholic clergy]] has been the subject of media coverage, legal action and public debate.<ref name="Bruni336">Bruni, p. 336</ref> |
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===Enlightenment=== |
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In 1978, [[Pope John Paul II]] became the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. His 27-year [[pontificate]] was one of the longest in history.<ref>[http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/April-02.html;jsessionid=08931E713115A304B13BB1A6FA315A63.public1 History.co.uk]</ref> [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the last premier of the [[Soviet Union]], credited him with hastening the fall of [[Communism]] in Europe.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/02/guardianobituaries.catholicism Guardian.co.uk]</ref> He also supported debt relief in the [[Third World]]<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/sep/23/debtrelief.development Guardian.co.uk]</ref> and the campaign against the [[Iraq War]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2654109.stm News.BBC.co.uk]</ref> A staunch conservative on questions of sexual morality, he made [[Opus Dei]] a [[personal prelature]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Disapproving of the influence of [[Marxism]] on the [[Liberation Theology]] prevalent in Latin America during the 1980s, he said the Church should not work for the poor and oppressed through partisan politics or revolutionary violence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Liberation Theology|publisher=BBC|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/liberationtheology.shtml|accessdate=12 September 2008}}</ref> He canonised 483 saints - more than all his predecessors combined.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/international/worldspecial2/13saintcnd.html?_r=2&hp&ex=1113364800&en=d6e61bcccdb2b7bb&ei=5094&partner=homepage NYtimes.com]</ref> In 1986, he established [[World Youth Day]].<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/gmg/documents/gmg_chronicle-wyd_20020325_en.html Vatican.va]</ref> He worked for reconciliation with Jews and Muslims, offering forgiveness to persecutors of the church, and asking forgiveness for the historical errors of the church, including religious intolerance and injustice toward Jews, women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/13/world/pope-asks-forgiveness-for-errors-of-the-church-over-2000-years.html?pagewanted=1 NYtimes.com]</ref> |
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{{See also|French Revolution|Jesuit Reductions|Chinese Rites controversy}} |
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Toward the latter part of the 17th century, [[Pope Innocent XI]] reformed abuses by the Church, including [[simony]], [[nepotism]] and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a large papal debt.<ref name="Duffy188">Duffy, pp. 188–191.</ref> He promoted missionary activity, tried to unite Europe against the Turkish invasions, and condemned religious persecution of all kinds.<ref name="Duffy188"/> In 1685 King [[Louis XIV of France]] [[Revocation of the Edict of Nantes|revoked the Edict of Nantes]], ending a century-long experiment in religious toleration. However the religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries played a major role in provoking a backlash against Christianity in 18th century Europe. In a philosophical and cultural movement known as "[[Age of Enlightenment|the Enlightenment]]", the power and influence of the Church over Western society declined as ideologies such as rationalism, secularism, anti-clericalism, liberalism and freemasonry challenged it.<ref name="Pollard8"/> |
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These movements culminated in the violent [[anti-clericalism]] of the [[French Revolution]]. Direct attacks on the wealth of the Church and associated grievances led to the wholesale nationalisation of church property in France.<ref name="Bokenkotter285">Bokenkotter, pp. 283–285.</ref> Large numbers of French priests refused to take an oath of compliance to the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]], leading to the Church being outlawed and replaced by [[Cult of Reason|a new religion of the worship of "Reason"]].<ref name="Bokenkotter285"/> In this period, all monasteries were destroyed, 30,000 priests were exiled and hundreds more were killed.<ref name="Bokenkotter285"/> When [[Pope Pius VI]] sided against the revolution in the [[First Coalition]], [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Italy. The pope was imprisoned by French troops, and died in 1799 after six weeks of captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the [[Concordat of 1801]].<ref name="Collins176">Collins, p. 176.</ref> The end of the Napoleonic wars brought Catholic revival, renewed enthusiasm, and new respect for the papacy due in part to his "heroic stand against the tyrant".<ref name="Bokenkotter294">Bokenkotter, pp. 293–295 quote, "But though the Church suffered grave damage, the effect of the Revolution on the papacy was beneficial—in fact, it helped to create the more powerful papacy of the nineteenth century. ... And Pius VII greatly enhanced the papal image by his heroic stand against the tyrant. But more fundamental reasons were ultimately responsible. In shattering the ancient monarchies, the Revolution liberated the Church from servitude to Gallican monarchs .... With the end of the old order the popes could now make Rome once more the vital center of Catholicism and guide the Church back to its true spiritual mission. ... The era that began with the downfall of Napoleon witnessed a full-scale revival of the Catholic Church, a spiritual and intellectual renaissance that made it once more a vital institution and a powerful force in public affairs. It was an amazing reversal. The revolutionary period saw the Church stripped of its privileges, its Pope imprisoned, its property confiscated, its monasteries emptied, its priests and nuns slaughtered and driven into exile, its very existence called into question. And even though it was propped up again by Napoleon, it was treated by the Corsican adventurer as his handmaid: He humiliated the papacy, considered the bishops his creatures, even rewrote the Church's catechism and dictated the discipline it was to follow. But after Waterloo, the Church returned to health and vigor."</ref><ref name="Duffy216">Duffy, pp. 214–216.</ref> The papal states were returned, and the Church was "liberated" from its servile ties to European kings thus freeing the Church to return to its "true spiritual mission."<ref name="Bokenkotter294"/> |
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Campaigns for [[human rights]] and [[social justice]] led to the [[martyrdom]] of Catholics during this period - notably in [[Latin America]], where Archbishop [[Oscar Romero]] of [[El Salvador]] was gunned down at the altar in 1980, and six Jesuits of the [[Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"|University of Central America]] were assassinated in 1989.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8580840.stm News.BBC.co.uk]</ref> The Catholic nun [[Mother Teresa]] of Calcutta was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1979 for her humanitarian work among India's poor.<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/press.html Nobelprize.org]</ref> Bishop [[Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo]] won the same award in 1996 for "work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in [[East Timor]]".<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1996/press.html Nobelprize.org]</ref> |
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In the Americas, Franciscan priest [[Junípero Serra]] founded a series of new missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military.<ref name="Norman111">Norman, pp. 111–112.</ref> These missions brought grain, cattle and a new way of living to the Indian tribes of California. [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] was founded in 1776 and [[Los Angeles]] in 1781. In a challenge to Spanish and Portuguese policy, [[Pope Gregory XVI]], began to appoint his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull [[In Supremo Apostolatus]], and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism.<ref name="Duffy221">Duffy, p. 221.</ref> Yet in spite of these advances, the Amerindian population continued to suffer decline from exposure to European diseases.<ref name="Noble 453">Noble, p. 453.</ref> |
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[[Pope Benedict XVI]] (elected pope in 2005) regularly receives heads of state,<ref>{{cite web | title =Pope Benedict XVI meets with Shimon Peres, then with Saudi FM | work = The Jerusalem Post| url =http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=74528 | accessdate=2010-02-28}}</ref> and as the representative of the [[Holy See]] has [[Activities of the Holy See within the United Nations system|permanent observer status at the United Nations]].<ref>Ring, p. 590</ref> During his pontificate, the pope has also called for a new evangelization of Europe.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/sinodo/sinodo_documentazione-generale_en.html Vatican.va]</ref> |
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In South America, Jesuit missionaries tried to protect native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called [[Jesuit Reductions|reductions]]. In China, despite Jesuit efforts to find compromise, the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] led the [[Kangxi Emperor]] to outlaw Christian missions in 1721.<ref name="McManners328">McManners, p. 328.</ref> |
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==Doctrine== |
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{{See also|Catholic theology|Catholic social teaching}} |
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The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a [[perichoresis|mutual indwelling]] of three persons: [[God the Father#Christianity|God the Father]]; [[God the Son]]; and the [[Holy Spirit]], which make up the [[Trinity]]. Catholic belief holds that the Church "... is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth."<ref name="Schreck131">Schreck, p. 131</ref> To Catholics, the term "Church" refers to the people of God, who abide in Christ and who, "... nourished with the [[Body of Christ]], become the Body of Christ."<ref>CCC, section 777, 778</ref> The Church teaches that the fullness of the "means of salvation" exists only in the Catholic Church but acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of Christian communities separated from itself to bring people to salvation. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved indirectly through the Church if the person has invincible ignorance of the Catholic Church and its teachings (as a result of parentage or culture, for example), yet follows the morals God has dictated in his heart and would, therefore, join the Church if he understood its necessity.<ref name="LumenG3"/> It teaches that Catholics are called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians.<ref name="LumenG3">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Lumen Gentium chapter 2|publisher=Vatican|year=1964|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> |
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In 1773 European rulers united to force [[Pope Clement XIV]] to [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|dissolve the Jesuits]]. The expulsion of the [[Society of Jesus]] from the principal Catholic nations of Europe and their colonial empires is seen by some as the first major triumph of the secularist notions of the self-styled [[Age of Enlightenment]]. The suppression was also seen by many as an attempt by Catholic monarchs to gain control of revenues and trade that were previously dominated by the Society of Jesus, this included the takeover destruction of the Jesuit reductions and the enslavement of many of their previously-protected inhabitants. |
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According to its doctrine, the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ.<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 98, quote "The fundamental reason for being a Catholic is the historical fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, was God's invention, not man's ... As the Father gave authority to Christ (Jn 5:22; Mt 28:18–20), Christ passed it on to his apostles (Lk 10:16), and they passed it on to the successors they appointed as bishops."</ref> The [[New Testament]] records the activities and teaching of Christ's appointment of the [[twelve Apostles]] and giving them authority to continue his work.<ref name="Kreeft98O"/> The Church teaches that Jesus designated Simon Peter as the leader of the apostles by proclaiming "upon this rock I will build my church ...I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ..."<ref name="LumenG3"/> The Church teaches that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as [[Pentecost]], signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church. All duly consecrated bishops since then are considered the successors to the apostles,<ref name="OneFaith46">Barry, p. 46</ref> and they hand on the [[Sacred Tradition]] received from the apostles.<ref>CCC, section 76</ref> |
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With the reaction against the anti-clerical excesses of the Revolution, especially after [[1815]], came Catholic revival, renewed enthusiasm, and new respect for the papacy.<ref name="Duffy216">Duffy, pp. 214–216.</ref> The Jesuits were finally restored in the 1814 papal bull [[Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum]].<ref name="Bokenkotter295">Bokenkotter, p. 295.</ref> |
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According to the [[Council of Trent]], Christ instituted [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|seven sacraments]] and entrusted them to the Church.<ref>CCC, section 1131</ref> These are [[Baptism]], [[Confirmation]], the [[Eucharist]], Reconciliation ([[Penance]]), [[Anointing of the Sick]] (formerly Extreme Unction or the "[[Last Rites]]"), [[Holy Orders]] and [[Catholic marriage|Holy Matrimony]]. Sacraments are important visible rituals that Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God's [[Divine grace|grace]] to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (''[[ex opere operato]]'').<ref>Kreeft, pp. 298–299</ref> |
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===Industrial age=== |
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Catholics believe that Christ is the [[Messiah]] of the Old Testament's [[Jesus and Messianic prophecy|Messianic prophecies]].<ref name="Kreeft71">Kreeft, pp. 71–72</ref> In an event known as the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], the Church teaches that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature when Christ was conceived in the womb of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]]. Christ is believed, therefore, to be both fully divine and fully human. It is taught that Christ's mission on earth included giving people his teachings and providing his example for them to follow as recorded in the four Gospels.<ref name="McGrath">McGrath, pp. 4–6.</ref> |
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{{See also|History of Mexico|Pope Pius XII|Cultural Revolution}} |
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In response to growing concern about the deteriorating working and living conditions brought about by the [[Industrial Revolution]], [[Pope Leo XIII]] published the encyclical ''[[Rerum Novarum]]''. This set out [[Catholic social teaching]] in terms that rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions, the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers to form trade unions.<ref name="Duffy240">Duffy, p. 240.</ref> The Catholic Church exercised a prominent role in shaping the labor movement in the United States. In 1933, two American Catholics, [[Dorothy Day]] and [[Peter Maurin]], founded a new Catholic peace group, the [[Catholic Worker]] that would embody their ideals of pacifism, commitment to the poor and to fundamental change in American society. |
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Although the [[infallibility of the Church]] in doctrinal matters had always been a Church dogma, the [[First Vatican Council]], which convened in 1870, affirmed the doctrine of [[papal infallibility]] when exercised in certain specifically defined pronouncements.<ref name="Leith">Leith, p. 143.</ref><ref name="Duffy232">Duffy, p. 232.</ref> This decision in many eyes gave the pope "enormous moral and spiritual authority over the worldwide" Church.<ref name="Pollard8">Pollard, pp. 7–8.</ref> Reaction to the pronouncement resulted in the breakaway of a group of mainly German churches which subsequently formed the [[Old Catholic Church]].<ref name="Fahlbusch">Fahlbusch, p. 729.</ref> The loss of the [[papal states]] to the [[Italian unification]] movement created what came to be known as the [[Roman Question]],<ref name="Bokenkotter307">Bokenkotter, pp. 306–307.</ref> a territorial dispute between the papacy and the Italian government that was not resolved until the 1929 [[Lateran Treaty]] granted sovereignty to the Holy See over Vatican City.<ref name="Bokenkotter387">Bokenkotter, pp. 386–387.</ref> |
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[[File:Sassoferrato - Jungfrun i bön.jpg|thumb|[[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]]]] |
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Prayers and [[Catholic devotions|devotions]] to the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Blessed Virgin Mary]] are part of Catholic piety but are distinct from the worship of God.<ref>Schreck, p. 199–200</ref> The Church holds Mary, as [[Perpetual virginity|Perpetual Virgin]] and [[Theotokos|Mother of God]], in special regard. [[Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church|Catholic beliefs concerning Mary]] include her [[Immaculate Conception]] without the stain of [[original sin]] and bodily [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]] into heaven at the end of her life, both of which have been [[papal infallibility|infallibly]] defined as [[dogma]], by [[Pope Pius IX]] in 1854 and [[Pope Pius XII]] in 1950 respectively. |
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[[Roman Catholic Mariology|Mariology]] deals not only with her life but also her veneration in daily life, prayer and [[Roman Catholic Marian art|Marian art]], [[Roman Catholic Marian music|music]] and [[Roman Catholic Marian architecture|architecture]]. Several liturgical Marian feasts are celebrated throughout the Church Year and she is honored with many titles such as [[Queen of Heaven]]. [[Pope Paul VI]] called her [[Mother of the Church]], because by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the [[Body of Christ]].<ref>Barry, p. 106</ref> Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions, such as the [[Rosary]], the [[Hail Mary]], the [[Salve Regina]] and the [[Memorare]] are common Catholic practices.<ref>Barry, p. 122–123</ref> The Church has affirmed the credibility of certain [[Marian apparitions]] (supernatural experiences of Mary by one or more persons) such as [[Our Lady of Lourdes]], [[Our Lady of Fátima|Fátima]] and [[Our Lady of Guadalupe|Guadalupe]],<ref>Schreck, p. 368</ref> while others are under investigation and some outright condemned as unworthy of belief.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Regardless of their status none of these apparitions, or the messages received from them, are binding on the larger body of the faithful, nor can they add anything to the deposit of faith received from the apostles.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Pilgrimages to these sites are popular Catholic devotions.<ref>{{cite news | last =Baedeker | first =Rob | title =World's most-visited religious destinations | work =USA Today | date =21 December 2007 | url =http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-12-21-most-visited-religious-spots-forbes_N.htm | accessdate=2008-03-03}}</ref> |
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By the close of the 19th century, European powers controlled most of the African interior. Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.<ref name="Has398">Hastings, pp. 397–410.</ref> |
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Falling into sin is considered the opposite to following Christ, weakening a person's resemblance to God and turning their soul away from his love. Sins range from the less serious [[venial sin]]s to more serious [[mortal sin]]s that end a person's relationship with God.<ref>CCC, sections 1850, 1857</ref> The Church teaches that through the [[Passion (Christianity)|passion]] (suffering) of Christ and his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]], all people have an opportunity for forgiveness and freedom from sin, and so can be [[Atonement in Christianity|reconciled to God]].<ref>CCC, section 608</ref> The [[Resurrection of Jesus]], according to Catholic belief, gained for humans a possible spiritual immortality previously denied to them because of original sin.<ref name="Schreck113">Schreck, p. 113.</ref> By reconciling with God and following Christ's words and deeds, the Church believes one can enter the [[Kingdom of God]], which is the "... reign of God over people's hearts and lives".<ref name="OneFaith26">Barry, p. 26</ref> |
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In Latin America, a succession of [[Anti-clericalism in Latin America|anti-clerical]] regimes came to power beginning in the 1820s. Church properties were confiscated, bishoprics were left vacant, religious orders suppressed,<ref name="Bethell528">{{cite book |title= The Cambridge history of Latin America. |last=Bethell |first=Leslie |year=1984 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521232252 |pages=528–529, 234}}</ref><ref>Stacy, p. 139.</ref> the collection of clerical tithes ended,<ref name="kirkwood101102">{{cite book |title= History of Mexico. |last=Kirkwood |first=Burton |year=2000 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated |location= Westport, CT |isbn=9781403962584 |pages=101–192}}</ref> and clerical dress in public prohibited.<ref name="hamnett163164">{{cite book |title= Concise History of Mexico. |last=Hamnett |first=Brian R |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Pres |location= Port Chester, NY |isbn=0-521-58120 |pages=163–164}}</ref> |
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The 1930s also saw violence against clergy and expropriation of Church properties.<ref name="Norman172">Norman, pp. 167–172.</ref> During the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War, over 6,000<ref name=Butler>Butler, Alban, ''Butler's lives of the saints, Vol 7'', pp. 169–179</ref> [[Red Terror (Spain)|priests and nuns were killed]] by republicans and anarchists.<ref name="Chadwick240">Chadwick, Owen p. 240.</ref> In the Soviet Union, persecution of the Church included the execution and exiling of clerics and the confiscation and closure of churches.<ref name="Riasanovsky 634">Riasanovsky 634</ref> |
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Christ told his apostles that—after his death and resurrection—he would send them the [[Paraclete|"Advocate"]], the "Holy Spirit", who "... will teach you all things".<ref>{{bibleverse||John|14:26}}</ref> Catholics believe that they receive the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of Confirmation and that the grace received at baptism is strengthened,<ref name="Schreck230">Schreck, p. 230</ref> To be properly confirmed, Catholics must be in a state of grace, which means they cannot be conscious of having committed an unconfessed mortal sin.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1310, 1319</ref> They must also have prepared spiritually for the sacrament, chosen a sponsor for spiritual support, and selected a [[saint]] to be their special patron and intercessor.<ref name="Schreck230"/> In the Eastern Catholic Churches, baptism, including infant baptism, is immediately followed by Confirmation—referred to as [[Chrismation]]<ref>Faulk, p. 77</ref>—and the reception of the Eucharist.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, section 1318</ref> |
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On 20 July 1933, the Vatican signed an agreement with Germany, the [[Reichskonkordat]], which guaranteed the Church certain rights and freedoms.<ref name="Coppa132">Coppa, p. 132-7</ref><ref name="Rhodes182">Rhodes, p. 182-183</ref> Violations of this led to [[Pope Pius XI]] issuing the 1937 encyclical ''[[Mit brennender Sorge]]''<ref name="Coppa132"/><ref name="Rhodes197">Rhodes, p. 197</ref><ref name = "Shirer235">Shirer, p. 235 quote "On July 25, five days after the ratification of the concordat, the German government promulgated a sterilization law, which particularly offended the Catholic Church. Five days later the first steps were taken to dissolve the Catholic Youth League. During the next years, thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and lay leaders were arrested, many of them on trumped-up charges of 'immorality' or 'smuggling foreign currency'. Erich Klausener, leader of Catholic Action, was, as we have seen, murdered in the June 30, 1934, purge. Scores of Catholic publications were suppressed, and even the sanctity of the confessional was violated by Gestapo agents. By the spring of 1937, the Catholic hierarchy, in Germany, which, like most of the Protestant clergy, had tried to co-operate with the new regime, was thoroughly disillusioned.</ref><ref name="McGonigle172">McGonigle, p. 172 quote "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], of course flagrantly violated the rights of Catholics and others whenever it pleased him. Catholic Action groups were attacked by Hitler's police and Catholic schools were closed. Priests were persecuted and sent to concentration camps. ... On Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, the encyclical ''Mit Brennender Sorge'' was read in Catholic Churches in Germany. In effect it taught that the racial ideas of the leader ''(fuhrer)'' and totalitarianism stood in opposition to the Catholic faith. The letter let the world, and especially German Catholics, know clearly that the Church was harassed and persecuted, and that it clearly opposed the doctrines of Nazism."</ref> which publicly condemned [[Nazism|Nazi]] persecution of the Church, neopaganism and the culture of racial superiority.<ref name="McGonigle172"/><ref name="Bokenkotter389">Bokenkotter, pp. 389–392, quote "And when [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] showed increasing belligerence toward the Church, Pius met the challenge with a decisiveness that astonished the world. His encyclical ''Mit Brennender Sorge'' was the 'first great official public document to dare to confront and criticize Nazism' and 'one of the greatest such condemnations ever issued by the Vatican.' Smuggled into Germany, it was read from all the Catholic pulpits on Palm Sunday in March 1937. It denounced the Nazi "myth of blood and soil" and decried its neopaganism, its war of annihilation against the Church, and even described the Fuhrer himself as a 'mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance'. The Nazis were infuriated, and in retaliation closed and sealed all the presses that had printed it and took numerous vindictive measures against the Church, including staging a long series of immorality trials of Catholic clergy."</ref><ref name="Rhodes204">Rhodes, p. 204-205 quote "''Mit brennender Sorge'' did not prevaricate. Although it began mildly enough with an account of the broad aims of the Church, it went on to become one of the greatest condemnations of a national regime ever pronounced by the Vatican. Its vigorous language is in sharp contrast to the involved style in which encyclicals were normally written. The education question was fully and critically examined, and a long section devoted to disproving the Nazi theory of Blood and Soil (Blut und Boden) and the Nazi claim that faith in Germany was equivalent to faith in God. There were scathing references to Rosenberg's ''Myth of the Twentieth Century'' and its neo-paganism. The pressure exercised by the Nazi party on Catholic officials to betray their faith was lambasted as 'base, illegal and inhuman'. The document spoke of "a condition of spiritual oppression in Germany such as has never been seen before", of 'the open fight against the Confessional schools and the suppression of liberty of choice for those who desire a Catholic education'. 'With pressure veiled and open,' it went on, 'with intimidation, with promises of economic, professional, civil, and other advantages, the attachment of Catholics to the Faith, particularly those in government employment, is exposed to a violence as illegal as it is inhuman.' 'The calvary of the Church': 'The war of annihilation against the Catholic Faith'; 'The cult of idols'. The fulminations thundered down from the pulpits to the delighted congregations. Nor was the Fuhrer himself spared, for his 'aspirations to divinity', 'placing himself on the same level as Christ': 'a mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance' (widerliche Hochmut)."</ref><ref name="Vidmar327">Vidmar, p. 327 quote "Pius XI's greatest coup was in writing the encyclical ''Mit Brennender Sorge'' ("With Burning Desire") in 1936, and having it distributed secretly and ingeniously by an army of motorcyclists, and read from the pulpit on Palm Sunday before the Nazis obtained a single copy. It stated (in German and not in the traditional Latin) that the Concordat with the Nazis was agreed to despite serious misgivings about Nazi integrity. It then went on to condemn the persecution of the church, the neopaganism of the Nazi ideology-especially its theory of racial superiority-and Hitler himself, calling him 'a mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance.'"</ref> |
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After baptism, Catholics may obtain forgiveness for subsequent sins through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance or Confession).<ref name="Schreck242">Schreck, p. 242</ref> In this sacrament, an individual confesses his sins to a priest, who then offers advice and imposes a particular penance to be performed. The priest administers [[absolution]], formally forgiving the person of his sins.<ref name="Kreeft344">Kreeft, pp. 343–344</ref> The priest is forbidden—under penalty of [[excommunication]]—to reveal any sin or disclosure heard under the [[seal of confession]].<ref>CCC, sections 1310, 1385</ref> An [[indulgence]] may be granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution for their sins. An indugence is believed to effect a partial or full remission (known as a plenary indulgence) of the temporal punishment still due for them in [[Purgatory]].<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3I.HTM ''Code of Canon Law, (Cann. 992–997) Indulgences'']; [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020826_enchiridion-indulgentiarum_lt.html ''Enchiridion Indulgentiarum'', 4th ed., 1999]</ref> |
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[[File:2491 - KZ Dachau - Catholic Monument.JPG|thumb|190 px| Catholic Mortal Agony of Christ chapel at [[Dachau concentration camp]]. Of the 2700 ministers who were imprisoned there during [[World War II]], over 2600 were Catholic priests, 2000 of whom ultimately did not survive.<ref name="Vidmar329">Vidmar, p. 329.</ref>]] |
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The Church teaches that, immediately after death, the [[soul]] of each person will receive a [[particular judgment]] from God, based on the deeds of that individual's earthly life.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sections 1021–22, 1051</ref> This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in a universal judgment of all mankind. This [[Last Judgment|final judgment]], according to Church teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sec. 1038–41</ref> The basis on which each person's soul is judged is detailed in the Gospel of Matthew, which lists [[Works of Mercy|works of mercy]] to be performed even to people considered "the least".<ref name="Matthew25">{{bibleverse||Matthew|25:35–36}}</ref> Emphasis is upon Christ's words that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven".<ref name="Schreck397"/> According to the Catechism, "The Last Judgement will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life."<ref name="Schreck397">Schreck, p. 397</ref> Depending on the judgement rendered, a soul may enter one of three states of afterlife. [[Heaven#In Roman Catholicism|Heaven]] is a time of glorious union with God and a life of unspeakable joy that lasts forever.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sections 1023–29, 1042–50</ref> [[Purgatory]] is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although saved, are not free enough from sin to enter directly into heaven.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, section 1030–32, 1054</ref> Souls in purgatory may be aided in reaching heaven by the prayers of the faithful on earth and by the [[intercession of saints]].<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur215.htm EWTN.com]</ref> Finally, those who chose to live a sinful and selfish life, did not repent, and fully intended to persist in their ways are sent to [[Hell in Christian beliefs#Roman Catholicism|hell]], an everlasting separation from God.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, sections 1033–37, 1057</ref> The Church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, section 1058</ref> No one is [[predestination|predestined]] to hell and no one can determine whether anyone else has been condemned.<ref name="Catechism of the Catholic Church">CCC, section 1037</ref> Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death and be saved.<ref name="Luke23">{{bibleverse||Luke|23:39–43}}</ref> Some Catholic theologians have speculated that the souls of unbaptised infants who die in [[original sin]] are assigned to [[limbo]] although this is not an official doctrine of the Church.<ref>[http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7529&CFID=32422018&CFTOKEN=46037657 Catholicculture.org]</ref> |
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After the [[Second World War]] began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions.<ref name="Cook983">Cook, p. 983</ref> During the war, several thousand Catholic clergy were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps.<ref name="Vidmar329">Vidmar, p. 329.</ref> |
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Catholic beliefs are summarized in the [[Nicene Creed]] and detailed in the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''.<ref name="cat">Marthaler, preface</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Laetamur Magnopere|publisher=Vatican|year=1997|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081997_laetamur_en.html|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> Based on the promises of Christ in the [[Gospel]]s, the Church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit and so protected [[Infallibility of the Church|infallibly]] from falling into doctrinal error.<ref name="LumenG3"/> The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth through [[Books of the Bible|Sacred Scripture]], [[Sacred Tradition]] and the [[Magisterium]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 book [[Bible#Christian canons of the Bible|Catholic Bible]]. This is made up of the 46 books found in the ancient Greek version of the [[Old Testament]]—known as the [[Septuagint]]<ref name="Schreck21">Schreck, p. 21</ref>—and the 27 [[New Testament]] writings first found in the [[Codex Vaticanus|Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209]] and listed in [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]]' [[Easter letter|Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter]].<ref name="Schreck23">Schreck, p. 23</ref> {{#tag:ref|The 73-book Catholic Bible contains the [[Deuterocanonical books|Deuterocanonicals]], books not in the modern [[Hebrew Bible]] and not upheld as [[Biblical canon|canonical]] by most Protestants.<ref name="Schreck21"/> The [[Development of the Christian Biblical canon|process of determining which books were to be considered part of the canon]] took many centuries and was not finally resolved in the Catholic Church until the Council of Trent. |group=note}} Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the Church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.<ref name="Schreck16">Schreck, pp. 15–19</ref> Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (''depositum fidei''). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from ''magister'', Latin for "teacher"), the Church's teaching authority, which is exercised by the pope and the College of Bishops in union with the pope.<ref name="Schreck30">Schreck, p. 30</ref> |
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In the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], [[Pope Pius XII]] directed the Church hierarchy to help protect Jews from the Nazis.<ref>Bokenkotter p. 192 quote "The end of the war saw the prestige of the papacy at an all-time high. Einstein, for instance, in an article in ''Time'', paid tribute to Pius and noted that the Church alone 'stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign.' ... 'Rabbi Herzog, the chief rabbi of Israel, sent a message in February 1944 declaring "the people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness ... (is) doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history."' David Dalin cites these tributes as recognition of the work of the Holy See in saving hundreds of thousands of Jews."</ref> However, the Church has also been accused of encouraging centuries of [[Christianity and antisemitism|antisemitism]] and Pius himself of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.<ref>{{cite news| last =Eakin| first =Emily| title =New Accusations Of a Vatican Role In Anti-Semitism; Battle Lines Were Drawn After Beatification of Pope Pius IX| work =The New York Times| date =1 September 2001| url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E3DF1130F932A3575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|accessdate=9 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="Phayer">Phayer, pp. 50–57</ref> Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.<ref name="Bokenkotter481">Bokenkotter, pp. 480–481, quote:"A recent article by American rabbi, David G. Dalin, challenges this judgement. He calls making Pius XII a target of moral outrage a failure of historical understanding, and he thinks Jews should reject any 'attempt to usurp the Holocaust' for the partisan purposes at work in this debate. Dalin surmises that well-known Jews such as Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Moshe Sharett, and Rabbi Isaac Herzog would likely have been shocked at these attacks on Pope Pius. ... Dalin points out that Rabbi Herzog, the chief rabbi of Israel, sent a message in February 1944 declaring 'the people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness ... (is) doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history.'" Dalin cites these tributes as recognition of the work of the Holy See in saving hundreds of thousands of Jews."</ref><ref name="Deák">Deák, p. 182.</ref><ref>Dalin, p. 10</ref> |
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==Traditions of worship== |
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{{See also|Catholic liturgy|Sacraments of the Catholic Church}} |
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Differing liturgical traditions, or rites, exist throughout the Catholic Church, reflecting historical and cultural diversity rather than differences in beliefs.<ref>CCC, sections 1200–1209</ref> The most commonly used liturgy is the [[Roman Rite]], but even in the [[Latin Rite|Latin Catholic Church]] a few other [[Latin liturgical rites|rites]] are in use, and the Eastern Catholic Churches have distinct rites. Two forms of the Roman Rite are authorized at present: that of the post-1969 editions of the [[Roman Missal]] ([[Mass of Paul VI]]), which is now the ordinary form of the rite and is celebrated mostly in the vernacular, i.e., the language of the people; and that of the 1962 edition (the ''[[Tridentine Mass]]''), now an [[extraordinary form of the Roman Rite|extraordinary form]]).<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, pp. 326–327</ref>{{#tag:ref|The [[Trento|Tridentine]] Mass, so called because standardized by [[Pope Pius V]] after the [[Council of Trent]] in the 16th century, was the ordinary form of the Roman-Rite Mass until superseded in 1969 by the Roman Missal of Paul VI; its continued use, in the version found in the 1962 edition of the Missal, is authorized by the 2007 motu proprio ''[[Summorum Pontificum]]''.|group=note}} In the United States, certain "Anglican Use" parishes use a variation of the Roman rite that retains many aspects of the Anglican liturgical rites.{{#tag:ref|In 1980, Pope John Paul II issued a [[Pastoral Provision|pastoral provision]] that allows establishment of personal parishes in which members of the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] (the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion) who join the Catholic Church retain many aspects of Anglican liturgical rites as a variation of the Roman rite. Such "Anglican Use" parishes exist only in the United States.|group=note}}Implementation is still awaited of the authorization granted in 2009 for the creation wherever appropriate of [[Anglicanorum Coetibus|ordinariates]] for [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] who enter into communion with the Church and who may then use a rite that incorporates elements of Anglican tradition.<ref>{{cite news | last =Ivereigh | first = Austen| title =Rome's new home for Anglicans | work =The Washington Post | date =21 October 2009 | url =http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/austen_ivereigh/2009/10/romes_new_home_for_anglicans.html | accessdate=2009-12-07}}</ref> Other Western rites (non-Roman) include the [[Ambrosian Rite]] and the [[Mozarabic Rite]]. The rites used by the Eastern Catholic Churches include the [[Byzantine rite]], the [[Alexandrian Rite|Alexandrian]] or Coptic rite, the [[West Syrian Rite|Syriac rite]], the [[Armenian rite]], the Maronite rite, and the [[Chaldean rite]]. |
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Following the [[Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|Soviet doctrine regarding the exercise of religion]], postwar [[Communism|Communist]] governments in Eastern Europe severely restricted religious freedoms. Even though some clerics collaborated with the Communist regimes,<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Craig|title=In Poland, New Wave of Charges Against Clerics|work=The New York Times|date=10 January 2007|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/europe/10poland.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=23 May 2008}}</ref> the Church's resistance and the leadership of [[Pope John Paul II]] have been credited with hastening the downfall of communist governments across Europe in 1991.<ref name="communist">{{cite news|title=Pope Stared Down Communism in Homeland – and Won|work=CBC News|date=April 2005|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html|accessdate=31 January 2008}}</ref> The [[Chinese Civil War|rise to power]] of the Communists in China in 1949 led to the expulsion of all foreign missionaries.<ref name="Bokenkotter357">Bokenkotter, pp. 356–358.</ref> The new government also created the [[Patriotic Church]] whose unilaterally appointed bishops were initially rejected by Rome before many of them were accepted.<ref name="Bokenkotter357"/><ref name="Chadwick259">Chadwick, Owen pp. 259–260.</ref><ref>"''China installs Pope-backed bishop''", BBC News 21 Sept 2007, retrieved 08 Sept 2009[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7005927.stm]</ref> The [[Cultural Revolution]] of the 1960s led to the closure of all religious establishments. When Chinese churches eventually reopened they remained under the control of the Communist Party's Patriotic Church, and many Catholic pastors and priests continued to be sent to prison for refusing to renounce allegiance to Rome.<ref name="Chadwick259"/> |
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The Eucharist, or [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], is the center of Catholic worship.<ref>CCC, sections 1324–1331</ref> The [[Words of Institution]] for this sacrament are drawn from the [[synoptic Gospels|Gospels]] and a [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|Pauline letter]].<ref name="wordsinstit">See {{bibleverse||Luke|22:19}}, {{bibleverse||Matthew|26:27–28}}, {{bibleverse||Mark|14:22–24}}, {{bibleverse||1Corinthians|11:24–25}}</ref> Catholics believe that at each Mass, the bread and wine become supernaturally [[transubstantiation|transubstantiated]] into the true [[Real Presence|Body and Blood of Christ]]. The Church teaches that Christ established a [[New Covenant]] with humanity through the institution of the Eucharist at the [[Last Supper]]. Because the Church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, p. 326</ref> there are strict rules about its celebration and reception. Catholics must abstain from eating for at least an hour before receiving Communion.<ref name="Kreeft331">Kreeft, p. 331</ref> Those who are conscious of being in a state of mortal sin are forbidden from this sacrament unless they have received absolution through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).<ref name="Kreeft331"/> Catholics are not permitted to receive communion in Protestant churches because of their different beliefs and practices regarding Holy Orders and the Eucharist.<ref>CCC, section 1400</ref> |
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== |
===Second Vatican Council and beyond=== |
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{{See also|Second Vatican Council|Liberation theology|Pro-life|Catholic Church and ecumenism|Catholic sex abuse cases}} |
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===Hierarchy, personnel and institutions=== |
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The Catholic Church initiated a comprehensive process of reform under [[Pope John XXIII]].<ref name="Duffy272">Duffy, pp. 270–276.</ref> Intended as a continuation of the [[First Vatican Council]], the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965), developed into an engine of modernization, making pronouncements on religious freedom, the nature of the Church and the mission of the laity.<ref name="Duffy272"/> The role of the bishops of the Church was brought into renewed prominence, especially when seen collectively, as the college of the successors of the [[twelve apostles|Apostles]] in teaching and governing the Church. This college does not exist without its head, the successor of St. Peter (the Pope). It also permitted the [[Latin liturgical rites]] to use vernacular languages as well as [[Latin]] during [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] and other sacraments.<ref name="Paulvi">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Sacrosanctum Concilium|publisher=Vatican|date=4 December 1963|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=9 February 2008}}</ref> [[Ecumenism|Christian unity]] became a greater priority.<ref name="Duffy274">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 274.</ref> In addition to finding more common ground with the various Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church has reopened discussions regarding the possibility of reconciliation between the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roman Catholic–Eastern Orthodox Dialogue|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service|date=14 July 2000|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week346/feature.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=16 February 2008}}</ref> |
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{{Main|Catholic Church hierarchy}} |
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[[File:Christ Handing the Keys to St. Peter by Pietro Perugino (crop).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Painting of a group of men in a piazza, a long haired man giving a key to a kneeling man. |The Church holds that [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] instituted the papacy, upon giving the keys of heaven to [[Saint Peter]], here in a fresco by [[Pietro Perugino]] (1481–82), [[Sistine Chapel]], Vatican.]] |
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The [[Catholic Church hierarchy|Church's hierarchy]] is headed by the Pope.<ref name="Kreeft109">Kreeft, p. 109.</ref> Catholics give many titles to the Pope, including [[Bishop of Rome]], successor to Saint Peter, [[Prince of the Apostles]], [[Pontifex Maximus]], [[Vicar of Christ]] and Supreme [[Pontiff]] of the Universal Church.<ref name="bunson">{{harvnb|Bunson|2008|p=273}}.</ref> In the Church, the Pope holds primacy of [[jurisdiction]] in matters of faith, morals, discipline and Church governance and is the head of state of the Vatican City.<ref>{{cite news|title=Country profile: Vatican|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066140.stm|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> For advice and assistance in governing, the Pope may turn to the College of Cardinals, the next highest level in the hierarchy.<ref name=McDonough227>McDonough (1995), p. 227</ref> When a pope dies or resigns,{{#tag:ref|The last resignation occurred in 1415, as part of the [[Council of Constance]]'s resolution of the [[Avignon Papacy]].<ref name=duffy415>Duffy (1997), p. 415</ref>|group=note}} members of the College of Cardinals who are under age 80 meet to elect a new pope.<ref name=duffy416>Duffy (1997), p. 416</ref> Although the [[papal conclave]] can theoretically elect any male Catholic as pope, since 1389 only [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] have been elevated to that position.<ref name=duffy417and18>Duffy (1997), pp. 417–8</ref> |
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Changes to old rites and ceremonies following Vatican II produced a variety of responses. Although most Catholics "accepted the changes more or less gracefully", some stopped going to church and others tried to preserve what they perceived to be the "true precepts of the Church".<ref name="Bokenkotter410">Bokenkotter, p. 410.</ref> The latter form the basis of today's [[Traditionalist Catholic]] groups, which believe that the reforms of Vatican II have gone too far. [[Liberal Christianity|Liberal]] Catholics form another dissenting group, and feel that the Vatican II reforms did not go far enough. The liberal views of theologians such as [[Hans Küng]], and [[Charles Curran (theologian)|Charles Curran]], led to Church withdrawal of their authorization to teach as Catholics.<ref>Bauckham, p. 373.</ref> |
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The Catholic Church comprised, as of 2008, 2,795 [[diocese]]s,<ref name="sees">Vatican, ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'' 2009, p. 1172.</ref> each overseen by a [[bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]]. Dioceses are divided into individual communities called [[parish]]es, each staffed by one or more [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priests]].<ref name="OneFaith52">Barry, p. 52</ref> Priests may be assisted by [[deacon]]s. All clergy, including deacons, priests, and bishops, may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons|url=http://www.usccb.org/deacon/faqs.shtml|author=Committee on the Diaconate|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> Only priests and bishops are allowed to administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance) and Anointing of the Sick.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P16.HTM Canon 42] Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref><ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM Canon 375], Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref> Only bishops can administer the sacrament of [[Holy Orders (Catholic Church)|Holy Orders]], which [[ordination|ordains]] someone into the clergy.<ref name="OneFaith114">Barry, p. 114.</ref> |
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In the 1960s, growing social awareness and politicization in the Church in Latin America gave birth to [[liberation theology]], a movement often identified with [[Gustavo Gutiérrez]] who was pivotal in expounding the melding of [[Marxism]] and [[Catholic social teaching]]. A cornerstone of the Liberation Theology were [[basic ecclesial community|ecclesial base communities]], groups uniting clergy and laity in social and political action. Although the movement garnered some support among Latin American bishops, it was never officially endorsed by any of the Latin American Bishops’ Conferences. At the 1979 Conference of Latin American Bishops in Puebla, Mexico, Pope John Paul II and conservative bishops attending the conference attempted to rein in the more radical elements of liberation theology; however, the conference did make a formal commitment to a "preferential option for the poor".<ref name="Bokenkotter454">Bokenkotter, pp. 454–457.</ref> Archbishop [[Óscar Romero]], a supporter of the movement, became the region's most famous contemporary martyr in 1980, when he was murdered by forces allied with the government of El Salvador while saying Mass.<ref name="Bokenkotter463">Bokenkotter, p. 463.</ref> In [[Managua]], [[Nicaragua]], Pope John Paul II criticized elements of Liberation Theology and the Nicaraguan Catholic clergy's involvement in the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista National Liberation Front]]. Both [[Pope John Paul II]] and [[Pope Benedict XVI]] (as Cardinal Ratzinger) have denounced the movement.<ref name="brazil">{{cite news|last=Rohter|first=Larry|title=As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists|work=The New York Times|date=7 May 2007|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/americas/07theology.html|accessdate=21 February 2008}}</ref> Pope John Paul II maintained that the Church, in its efforts to champion the poor, should not do so by advocating violence or engaging in partisan politics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Liberation Theology|publisher=BBC|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/liberationtheology.shtml|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 September 2008}}</ref> Liberation Theology is still alive in Latin America today, although the Church now faces the challenge of Pentecostal revival in much of the region.<ref name="brazil"/> |
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The Church has defined rules on who may be ordained into the clergy. In the Latin Rite, the priesthood is generally restricted to celibate men.<ref name="CCL1031">[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM Canon 1031] Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref><ref name="CCL1037">[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM Canon 1037], Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref> Men who are already married may be ordained in the Eastern Catholic Churches,<ref>{{cite web|last=Niebuhur|first=Gustav|title=Bishop's Quiet Action Allows Priest Both Flock And Family|work=The New York Times|date=16 February 1997|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EEDD133FF935A25751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|accessdate=2008-04-04}}</ref> and may become deacons in any rite.<ref name="CCL1031"/><ref name="CCL1037"/> According to the Vatican, as of 2007 there were 408,024 priests, an increase of 0.18% over 2005. The number of priests had decreased in Europe (6.8%) and Oceania (5.5%), remained roughly the same in the Americas, and increased in Africa (27.6%) and Asia (21.1%).<ref name="cathstats"/> |
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The [[sexual revolution]] of the 1960s precipitated [[Pope Paul VI]]'s 1968 encyclical ''[[Humanae Vitae]] (On Human Life)'' which rejected the use of [[Birth control|contraception]], including [[sterilization (surgical procedure)|sterilization]], claiming these work against the intimate relationship and moral order of husband and wife by directly opposing God's will.<ref name="humanae"/> It approved [[Natural family planning|Natural Family Planning]] as a legitimate means to limit family size.<ref name="humanae">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Humanae Vitae|publisher=Vatican|year=1968|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=2 February 2008}}</ref> [[Abortion]] was condemned by the Church as early as the first century, again in the fourteenth century and again in 1995 with Pope John Paul II's encyclical ''[[Evangelium Vitae]] (Gospel of Life)''.<ref name="Bokenkotter493">Bokenkotter, p. 27, p. 154, pp. 493–494.</ref> This encyclical condemned the "[[Culture of life#Culture of death|culture of death]]" which the pope often used to describe the societal embrace of [[Birth control|contraception]], [[abortion]], [[euthanasia]], [[suicide]], [[capital punishment]], and [[genocide]].<ref name="Bokenkotter493"/><ref>{{cite web|title=The Death Penalty Pro and Con: The Pope's Statement|publisher=PBS|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/procon/popestate.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=12 June 2008}}</ref> The Church's rejection of the use of [[condom]]s has provoked criticism, especially with respect to countries where the incidence of [[AIDS]] and [[HIV]] has reached epidemic proportions. The Church maintains that in countries like Kenya and Uganda, where behavioral changes are encouraged alongside condom use, greater progress in controlling the disease has been made than in those countries solely promoting condoms.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dugger|first=Carol|title=Why is Kenya's AIDS rate plummeting?|work=International Herald Tribune|date=18 May 2006|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/18/news/aids.php|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=21 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=Brenda|title=Study: Verbal Warnings Helped Curb AIDS in Uganda|publisher=National Public Radio|date=4 May 2004|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1869907|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=15 August 2008}}</ref> [[Feminism|Feminists]] disagreed with these and other Church teachings and, with a coalition of American nuns, called on the Church to consider the [[ordination of women]].<ref name="Bokenkotter465">Bokenkotter, pp. 465–466.</ref> They stated that many Church documents contained anti-female prejudice and studies were conducted to discover how this may have developed as it was deemed contrary to the openness of Jesus.<ref name="Bokenkotter465"/> These events led Pope John Paul II to issue the 1988 apostolic letter ''[[Mulieris Dignitatem]] (On the Dignity of Women)'', which declared that women had a different, yet equally important role in the Church.<ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Mulieris Dignitatem|publisher=Vatican|year=1988|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=21 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter467">Bokenkotter, p. 467.</ref> In 1994 the apostolic letter ''[[Ordinatio Sacerdotalis]] (On Ordination to the Priesthood)'' further explained that the Church follows the example of Jesus, who chose only men for the specific priestly duty.<ref name="Benedict180"/><ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Ordinatio Sacerdotalis|publisher=Vatican|date=22 May 1994|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=2 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Cowell|first=Alan|title=Pope Rules Out Debate On Making Women Priests|work=The New York Times|date=31 May 1994|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E7DE133BF932A05756C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|accessdate=12 February 2008}}</ref> |
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Ordained Catholics, as well as members of the [[laity]], may enter [[consecrated life]] as [[monk]]s or [[nun]]s. A candidate takes [[Religious vows|vows]] confirming their desire to follow the three [[evangelical counsels]] of chastity, poverty and obedience.<ref name="Canons573-746">[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM Canon Law 573-746] Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref> Most monks and nuns join a monastic or religious order,<ref name="Canons573-746"/> such as the Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and the [[Sisters of Mercy]].<ref name="Canons573-746"/> |
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The documents of the Second Vatican Council expressed a new ecumenical openness toward Protestant and Orthodox Christians as well as non-Christian Jews and Muslims. In the years since, major projects have been undertaken with these major religious groups to improve relationships and establish areas of theological agreement and practical cooperation. Some [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern churches]] have reunited with the Catholic Church.<ref name="Vidmar104"/> The Orthodox and Catholic churches lifted their mutual excommunications in 1965, although remain in schism.<ref name="Duffy278">Duffy, p. 278.</ref> |
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===Membership=== |
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{{See|Catholicism by country}} |
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Since the end of the twentieth century, [[Catholic sex abuse cases|sex abuse by Catholic clergy]] has been the subject of media coverage, legal action, and public debate in [[Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Australia|Australia]], [[Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland|Ireland]] and the [[Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States|United States]].<ref name="Bruni336">Bruni, p. 336.</ref> |
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Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people,<ref name="cathstats">{{cite web|title=Vatican: Priest numbers show steady, moderate increase|publisher=Catholic News Service|date=2 March 2009|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/news/newsreport.aspx?id=759|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> increasing from the 1950 figure of 437 million<ref name="Froehle5">Froehle, pp. 4–5</ref> and the 1970 figure of 654 million.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bazar|first=Emily|title=Immigrants Make Pilgrimage to Pope|work=USA Today|date=16 April 2008|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-04-15-popeimmigrants_N.htm|accessdate=2008-05-03}}</ref> On 31 December 2008, membership was 1.166 billion, an increase of 11.54% over the same date in 2000, only slightly greater than the rate of increase of the world population (10.77%). The increase was 33.02% in Africa, but only 1.17% in Europe. It was 15.91% in Asia, 11.39% in Oceania, and 10.93% in the Americas. As a result, Catholics were 17.77% of the total population in Africa, 63.10% in the Americas, 3.05% in Asia, 39.97% in Europe, 26.21% in Oceania, and 17.40% of the world population. Of the world's Catholics, the proportion living in Africa grew from 12.44% in 2000 to 14.84% in 2008, while those living in Europe fell from 26.81% to 24.31%.<ref name="Zenit"/> |
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Membership of the Catholic Church is attained through baptism.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 11.] Retrieved 2008-03-09</ref> If someone [[actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica|formally leaves the Church]], that fact is noted in the register of the person's baptism. |
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===Present=== |
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<!-- The following seems unrelated to membership and should, I think, be deleted: |
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[[File:Wydrome2000.jpg|thumb|250 px|[[World Youth Day]] is a Catholic international youth event initiated by Pope John Paul II.]] |
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The Pope remains an international leader who regularly receives heads of state from around the world. As the head of the [[Holy See]], he occasionally addresses the United Nations where the Holy See is the only [[United Nations member states#Observers and non-members|non-member observer state]] with all the rights of full membership except voting.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pope urges global unity on crises|publisher=BBC News|date=19 April 2008|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7354023.stm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 August 2008}}</ref> The 2005 election of [[Pope Benedict XVI]] saw a continuation of the policies of his predecessors. His first encyclical ''[[Deus Caritas Est]] (God is Love)'' discussed the various forms of [[Love#Religious views|love]] and re-emphasized marriage and the centrality of [[charity (virtue)|charity]] to the Church's mission.<ref name="DeusCE"/> |
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Following outcry from Muslims over Pope Benedict's [[Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy|Regensburg address]], in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor's remarks critical of Islam, a May 2008 summit between the pope and a delegation of Muslims came to an agreement that religion is essentially non-violent, and that violence can be justified neither by reason nor by faith.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pope in dialogue with Iranian officials|publisher=Irishtimes|date=30 April 2008|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0430/breaking66.htm|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=27 August 2008}}</ref> In October 2009, the Vatican announced the creation of new ecclesiastical structures to receive [[Church of England|Anglican]] converts to the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite news | last =Ivereigh | first = Austen| title =Rome's new home for Anglicans | work =The Washington Post | date =21 October 2009 | url =http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/austen_ivereigh/2009/10/romes_new_home_for_anglicans.html | accessdate =7 December 2009 }}</ref><ref>''About-turn in women bishops row'', BBC News, 15 November 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8361249.stm</ref> |
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In Eastern Churches, [[chrismation]] (confirmation) and the Eucharist may be conferred at the same time as baptism for both children and adult converts. Adults who wish to convert to Catholicism can participate in a formation program such as the [[Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults]].<ref name="OneFaith56">Barry, p. 56.</ref> For serious violations of ecclesiastical law, a member can be excommunicated, which forbids a member from participation in the sacraments.<ref>CCC, section 1463</ref> --> |
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The Church also sponsors the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]], which provides the Pope with information on scientific matters<ref name="science">{{cite web|last=Mason|first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Paul Mason|title=How to Teach Science to the Pope|publisher=Discover Magazine|date=18 August 2008|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2008/sep/18-how-to-teach-science-to-the-pope/?searchterm=michael%20mason,%20pontifical%20academy%20of%20science|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=24 September 2008}}</ref> and whose international membership includes British physicist [[Stephen Hawking]] and [[Nobel laureates]] such as U.S. physicist [[Charles Hard Townes]]. In politics, the Church actively encourages support for candidates who would "protect human life, promote family life, pursue social justice, and practice solidarity" which translate into support for [[Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism|traditional Christian views of marriage]], welcoming and support for the poor, and supporting those who oppose abortion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Faithful Citizenship, A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|date=2003|url=http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/bishopStatement.html#1|dateformat=dmy|accessdate=28 November 2008}}</ref> |
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==Notes== |
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===Footnotes=== |
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== Notes == |
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{{Reflist|group=note}} |
{{Reflist|group=note}} |
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== |
==Footnotes== |
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{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
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==References== |
== References == |
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* {{cite book|last=Nolan|first=Mary Lee|title=Christian Pilgrimage in Modern Western Europe|location=North Carolina|publisher=UNC Press|year=1992|isbn=080784389X|ref=harv}} |
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* Vatican, Central Statistics Office (2007). ''Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook).'' Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 978-88-209-7908-9. |
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* {{cite book|last=Noll|first=Mark|authorlink=Mark Noll|title=The Civil War as a Theological Crisis|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|year=2006|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=uMHv6vUW5y4C&pg=PA137&dq=catholic+church,+slavery,+cochin&sig=ACfU3U1lRMyDMULUMtVGNsrR4N1-6d53pA|isbn=0807830127|accessdate=2009-10-24|ref=harv}} |
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* [[John Vidmar|Vidmar, John]] (2005). ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages.'' Paulist Press. ISBN 0809142341. |
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* {{cite book|title=The Roman Catholic Church, An Illustrated History|last=Norman|first=Edward|authorlink=Edward Norman|year=2007|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25251-6|ref=harv}} |
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* Wilken, Robert (2004). "Christianity". in Hitchcock, Susan Tyler; Esposito, John. ''Geography of Religion.'' National Geographic Society. ISBN 0792273176. |
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* {{cite book|title=Catholicism|last=O'Collins|first=Gerald|coauthors=Maria Farrugia|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199259953|ref=harv}} |
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* [[Thomas Woods|Woods Jr, Thomas]] (2005). ''How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.'' Regnery Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-89526-038-7. |
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* {{cite book|title=A Short History of the Catholic Church|last=Orlandis|first=Jose|authorlink=Jose Orlandis|year=1993|publisher=Scepter Publishers|isbn=1851821252|ref=harv}} |
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{{Colend}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Parry|first=Kenneth|title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|year=1999|isbn=9780631189664|ref=harv}} |
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{{Refend}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Peters|first=Edward|title=Inquisition|publisher=University of California Press|year=1989|isbn=9780520066304}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Pham|first=John Peter|title=Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=0195178343|ref=harv}} |
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==External links== |
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* {{cite book|last=Phayer|first=Michael|title=The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2000|isbn=0-253-33725-9|ref=harv}} |
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{{Portal|Christianity}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Pollard|first=John Francis|title=Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy, 1850–1950|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780521812047|ref=harv}} |
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{{Sister project links|Catholic Church}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Rhodes|first=Anthony|title=The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators (1922–1945)|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|year=1973|isbn=0030077362|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.vatican.va/ Vatican.va] – official website of the Holy See |
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* {{cite book|title=The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology|last=Richardson|first=Alan|authorlink=Alan Richardson|year=1983|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=0664227481|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.youtube.com/vatican Vatican YouTube] – official [[YouTube]] channel |
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* {{cite book|title=The First Crusaders|last=Riley-Smith|first=Jonathan|authorlink=Jonathan Riley-Smith|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511003080|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://zenit.org/ Zenit News Agency] – Rome-based Catholic news agency |
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* {{cite book|last=Samora|first=Julian|last2=Simon|first2=Patricia Vandel|last3=Candelaria|first3=Cordelia|last4=Pulido|first4=Alberto L|title=A History of the Mexican-American People|publisher=University of Notre Dame Press|year=1993|isbn=9780268010973|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.ewtn.com/ Eternal Word Television Network] (EWTN) – Catholic-themed programming |
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* {{cite book|last=Schama|first=Simon|authorlink=Simon Schama|title=A History of Britain 1: At the Edge of the World?|year=2003|publisher=[[BBC|BBC Worldwide]]|isbn=0-56-348714-3|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.catholicnews.com/ Catholic News Service] – US-based Catholic news agency |
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* {{cite book|title=Papal Primacy|last=Schatz|first=Klaus|year=1996|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=081465522X|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.masstimes.org/ MassTimes.org] – database for Mass schedules in Catholic churches worldwide |
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* {{cite book|title=Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo|last=Scheina|first=Robert L.|year=2007|publisher=Brassey's|isbn=1574884522|accessdate=2009-10-24|ref=harv}} |
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* [http://www.h2onews.org/ H2onews.org] Catholic Multimedia Production Agency |
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* {{cite book|title=The Papacy|last=Schimmelpfennig|first=Bernhard|year=1992|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231075152|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Schoenherr|first=Richard A.|coauthors=Lawrence Alfred Young, Tsan-Yuang Cheng|title=Full pews and empty altars: demographics of the priest shortage in United States Catholic dioceses|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=Madison, Wisconsin|date=1993|isbn=0299136949}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Essential Catholic Catechism|last=Schreck|first=Alan|year=1999|[[Nihil obstat]], [[Imprimatur]]|publisher=Servant Publications|isbn=1569551286|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Shirer|first=William L.|title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1990|isbn=978067172868|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Sobrino|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Sobrino|title=Archbishop Romero: Memories and Reflections|location=Maryknoll, NY|publisher=Orbis|year=1990|isbn=978-0883446676|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Stacy|first=Lee|title=Mexico and the United States|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2003|isbn=0761474021|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Stark|first=Rodney|authorlink=Rodney Stark|title=The Rise of Christianity|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1996|isbn=9780691027494|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Gender in World History|first=Peter|last=Stearns|authorlink=Peter Stearns|year=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415223102|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Stoll|first=David|authorlink=David Stoll|title=Is Latin America turning Protestant?: The Politics of Evangelical Growth|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0520064997|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Church and State in Early Modern England, 1509–1640|last=Solt|first=Leo Frank|authorlink=Leo Frank Solt|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195059794|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America|first=Peter|last=Steinfels|authorlink=Peter Steinfels|year=2003|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-68-483663-7|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440–1870|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|year=1999|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780684835655|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=God's War: A New History of the Crusades|last=Tyerman|first=Christopher|year=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674023870|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord|last=USCCB|authorlink=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|year=2005|publisher=USCCB Publishing|isbn=1574557246|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=Program for Priestly Formation|last=USCCB|authorlink=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|year=2006|publisher=USCCB Publishing|isbn=1-57455-517-0|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=[[Annuario Pontificio]] (Pontifical Yearbook)|last=Vatican, Central Statistics Office|year=2007|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|isbn=978-88-209-7908-9|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=The Catholic Church Through the Ages|last=Vidmar|first=John|authorlink=John Vidmar|year=2005|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0809142341|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=John Paul II: A Light for the World, Essays and Reflections on the Papacy of|last=Walsh|first=Mary Ann|coauthors=Thavis, John|year=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=1580511422|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Ware|first=Kallistos|authorlink=Kallistos Ware|editor=John McManners|encyclopedia=The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity|title=Eastern Christendom|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0198229283|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Wilken|first=Robert|editor=Susan Tyler Hitchcock and [[John Esposito]]|encyclopedia=Geography of Religion|title=Christianity|year=2004|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|isbn=0792273176|ref=harv}} |
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* {{cite book|title=How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization|last=Woods Jr|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas Woods|year=2005|publisher=Regnery Publishing, Inc|isbn=0-89526-038-7|ref=harv}} |
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{{colend}} |
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{{refend}} |
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== External links == |
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{{Catholicismportal}} |
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{{Christianityportal}} |
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{{Portalpar|Pope|Coat of arms of the Holy See.svg|30|300px}} |
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{{sisterlinks|Catholic Church}} |
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* [http://www.vatican.va/ Vatican.va] – official website of the Holy See |
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* [http://www.youtube.com/vatican Vatican YouTube] – official [[YouTube]] channel |
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* [http://zenit.org/ Zenit News Agency] – Rome-based Catholic news agency |
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* [http://www.ewtn.com/ Eternal Word Television Network] (EWTN) – Catholic-themed programming |
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*[http://www.catholicnews.com/ Catholic News Service] – US-based Catholic news agency |
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*[http://www.masstimes.org/ MassTimes.org] – database for Mass schedules in Catholic churches worldwide |
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*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/507284/Roman-Catholicism Encyclopædia Britannica Online] – article on Roman Catholicism |
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{{History of the Catholic Church}} |
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Revision as of 19:30, 9 August 2010
![]() |
Part of a series on the |
Catholic Church |
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![]() |
Overview |
![]() |
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians[note 2] and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, (or Latin Rite) Church, and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches (called particular churches), comprising a total of 2,795 dioceses in 2008. The Church's highest earthly authority in matters of faith, morality, and governance is the Pope,[15] currently Pope Benedict XVI, who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops, of which he is the head.[16][17][18] The Catholic community is made up of an ordained ministry and the laity; members of either group may belong to organized religious communities.[19]
The Church defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity.[20] It operates social programs and institutions throughout the world, including Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, missions and shelters, and the charity confederation Caritas Internationalis.
The Catholic Church believes itself to be the original Church founded by Jesus upon the Apostles,[21] among whom Simon Peter held the position of chief apostle.[22] The Church also believes that its bishops, through apostolic succession, are consecrated successors of these apostles,[23][24] and that the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) as the successor of Peter, possesses a universal primacy of jurisdiction and pastoral care.[25]
Church doctrines have been defined through various ecumenical councils, following the example set by the first Apostles in the Council of Jerusalem.[26] On the basis of promises made by Jesus to his apostles, described in the Gospels, the Church believes that it is guided by the Holy Spirit and so protected from falling into doctrinal error.[27][28][29]
Catholic beliefs are based on the deposit of Faith (containing both the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition) handed down from the time of the Apostles, which are interpreted by the Church's teaching authority. Those beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed and formally detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[30] Formal Catholic worship is termed the liturgy. The Eucharist is the center of Catholic worship. It is one of seven sacraments which mark key stages in the lives of believers.
With a history spanning almost two thousand years, the Church is "the world's oldest and largest institution"[31] In the 11th century, a major split, sometimes called the Great Schism, occurred between Eastern and Western Christianity. Those Eastern churches which remained in, or later re-established, communion with the Pope, form the Eastern Catholic churches and those which remain independent of papal authority are usually known as Orthodox churches. In the 16th century, partly in response to the rise of the Protestant Reformation, the Church engaged in its own process of reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation.
Although the Church maintains that it is the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church" founded by Jesus and in which is found the fullness of the means of salvation,[32][33] it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of other Christian communities to bring people to salvation.[34][35] It believes that it is called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians, a movement known as ecumenism.[35]
Origin and mission
Origin
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Christ_Handing_the_Keys_to_St._Peter_by_Pietro_Perugino.jpg/300px-Christ_Handing_the_Keys_to_St._Peter_by_Pietro_Perugino.jpg)
According to Catholic doctrine, the Catholic Church is the original Christian church founded by Jesus Christ.[36][37][38] The New Testament records his appointing of the twelve Apostles and giving them authority to continue his work.[36] Catholics believe that Jesus designated Simon Peter as the leader of the apostles by proclaiming "upon this rock I will build my church ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ... ".[28][37][39][40][41] Catholics believe that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as Pentecost, signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church. All duly consecrated bishops since then are considered the successors to the apostles.[37][41]
The traditional narrative places Peter in Rome, where he founded a church and served as the first bishop of the See of Rome, later consecrating Linus as his successor, thus beginning the line of Popes.[42][43] Elements of this traditional narrative agree with the surviving historical evidence which includes the writings of Saint Paul, several early Church Fathers (among them Pope Clement I)[44] and some archaeological evidence.[42] Although in the past some Biblical scholars thought the word 'rock' referred to Jesus or to Peter’s faith, the majority now understand it as referring to the person of Peter.[45] Some historians of Christianity assert that the Catholic Church can be traced to Jesus's consecration of Peter,[43][46] some that Jesus did not found a church in his lifetime but provided a framework of beliefs,[47] while others do not make a judgement about whether or not the Church was founded by Jesus but disagree with the traditional view that the papacy originated with Peter. These assert that Rome may not have had a bishop until after the apostolic age and suggest the papal office may have been superimposed by the traditional narrative upon the primitive church[48][49] although some assert that the papal office had indeed emerged by the mid 150s.[50][51]
Mission and purpose
The Church believes that its mission is founded upon Jesus' command to his followers to spread the faith across the world:[52] "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".[53][54][55] Pope Benedict XVI summarized this mission as a threefold responsibility to proclaim the word of God, celebrate the sacraments, and exercise the ministry of charity.[56] As part of its ministry of charity, the Church runs worldwide agencies such as Caritas Internationalis, whose national subsidiaries include CAFOD and Catholic Relief Services. Other institutions include Catholic schools, Catholic universities, Catholic Charities, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Marriage Encounter, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, homeless shelters, as well as ministries to the poor, families, the elderly, AIDS victims, and pregnant and abused women.[57]
Beliefs
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Perez_Murillo_003.jpg/180px-Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Perez_Murillo_003.jpg)
The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a mutual indwelling of three persons: God the Father; God the Son; and the Holy Spirit. Catholic beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed[58] and detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[30][59] The Nicene Creed also forms the central statement of belief of other Christian denominations.[60] Chief among these are Eastern Orthodox Christians, whose beliefs are similar to those of Catholics, differing mainly with regard to papal infallibility, the filioque clause and the Immaculate Conception of Mary.[61][62] The various Protestant denominations vary in their beliefs, but generally differ from Catholics regarding the Pope, Church tradition, the Eucharist, veneration of saints, and issues pertaining to grace, good works and salvation.[63]
Catholic belief holds that the Church "... is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth."[64] To Catholics, the term "Church" refers to the people of God, who abide in Jesus and who, "... nourished with the Body of Christ, become the Body of Christ."[65] Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), affirms that the fullness of the "means of salvation" exists only in the Catholic Church but acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of Christian communities separated from itself to bring people to salvation. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved indirectly through the Church if the person has invincible ignorance of the Catholic Church and its teachings (as a result of parentage or culture, for example), yet follows the morals God has dictated in his heart and would, therefore, join the Church if he understood its necessity.[66][67] It teaches that Catholics are called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians.[66][67]
The Council of Jerusalem, convened by the Apostles around the year 50 to clarify Church teachings, set the precedent for later councils of the Church, convened by Church leaders throughout history.[26][68][69] The most recent Church council was the Second Vatican Council, which closed in 1965.[70]
Teaching authority, seven sacraments
Based on the promises of Jesus in the Gospels, the Church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit and so protected infallibly from falling into doctrinal error.[16][71] The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.[72]
Sacred Scripture consists of those books found in the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament—known as the Septuagint[73]—and the 27 New Testament writings first found in the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and listed in Athanasius' Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter.[74] This 73-book Catholic Bible contains the Deuterocanonicals, books not in the Hebrew Bible and not upheld as canonical by most Protestants.[73]
Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the Church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.[71] Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (depositum fidei). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from magister, Latin for "teacher"), the Church's teaching authority, which—through apostolic succession—is exercised by the pope and the college of bishops in union with the pope.[75]
According to the Council of Trent, Jesus instituted seven sacraments and entrusted them to the Church.[76] These are Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance), Anointing of the Sick (formerly Extreme Unction or the "Last Rites"), Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony. Sacraments are important visible rituals which Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God's grace to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (ex opere operato).[77][78]
God the Father, creation, and original sin
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The Church teaches that God is the source and creator of all that exists,[79] and that he is a loving and caring entity who is directly involved in the world and in people's lives,[80] desiring his creatures to love him and to love each other.[81][82] Catholicism teaches that while human beings live bodily in a visible, material world, their souls simultaneously occupy an invisible, spiritual world, in which spiritual beings called angels exist to "worship and serve God".[83] Some angels, however, chose to rebel against God, and thereby became demons antagonistic both to God and to mankind.[84] Among other names, the leader of this rebellion has been called "Lucifer", "Satan" and the devil.[85] Satan is believed to have tempted the first humans, Adam and Eve, whose subsequent act of original sin brought suffering and death into the world.[86]
This event, known in Catholic belief as the Fall of Man, separated humanity from its original intimacy with God. The Catechism states that the description of the fall, in Genesis 3, uses figurative language, but affirms that "... a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man" that resulted in "a deprivation of original holiness and justice" that makes each person "subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death: and inclined to sin". Catholic doctrine accepts the possibility that God's creation occurred in a way consistent with evolution but rejects as outside the scope of science any efforts to use of the theory to deny supernatural divine creation.[87] The soul did not evolve, according to Catholic doctrine, but was infused into man and woman directly by God.[86] The Church believes that people can be cleansed of original sin and all personal sins through Baptism.[88] This sacramental act of cleansing admits a person as a full member of the natural and supernatural Church and can only be conferred on a person once.[88]
Jesus, sin and Penance
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Catholics believe that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament's Messianic prophecies.[89] The Nicene Creed states that he is "... the only begotten son of God, ... one in being with the Father. Through him all things were made". In an event known as the Incarnation, the Church teaches that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature when Jesus was conceived in the womb of a Jewish virgin named Mary. Jesus is believed, therefore, to be both fully divine and fully human. It is taught that Jesus' mission on earth included giving people his word and his example to follow, as recorded in the four Gospels.[90] Catholicism teaches that following the example of Jesus helps believers to become closer to him, and therefore to grow in true love, freedom, and fullness of life.[91][92]
Falling into sin is considered the opposite to following Jesus, weakening a person's resemblance to God and turning their soul away from his love.[93] Sins range from the less serious venial sins to more serious mortal sins which end a person's relationship with God.[93][94] The Church teaches that through the passion (suffering) of Jesus and his crucifixion, all people have an opportunity for forgiveness and freedom from sin, and so can be reconciled to God.[89][95] The Resurrection of Jesus, according to Catholic belief, gained for humans a possible spiritual immortality previously denied to us because of original sin.[96] John the Baptist called Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world",[97] in reference to the ancient Jewish practice of sacrificing lambs to God.[98][99] By reconciling with God and following Jesus' words and deeds, the Church believes one can enter the Kingdom of God, which is the "... reign of God over people's hearts and lives."[100][101]
After baptism, the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance or Confession) is the means by which Catholics believe they can obtain forgiveness for subsequent sin and receive God's grace. Catholics believe Jesus gave the apostles authority to forgive sins in God's name.[102] After making an examination of conscience that often involves a review of the ten commandments, the sacrament involves confession of sins by an individual to a priest, who then offers advice and imposes a particular penance to be performed. The penitent then prays an act of contrition and the priest administers absolution, formally forgiving the person of his sins.[103] The priest is forbidden—under penalty of excommunication—to reveal any sin or disclosure heard under the seal of confession. Penance helps prepare Catholics before they can licitly receive the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist.[104][105]
Holy Spirit and Confirmation
Jesus told his apostles that after his death and resurrection he would send them the "Advocate", the "Holy Spirit", who "... will teach you all things".[106][107] Through the sacrament of Confirmation, Catholics believe they receive the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Trinity, the Church teaches that receiving the Holy Spirit is an act of receiving God.[108] Confirmation, sometimes called the "sacrament of Christian maturity", is believed to increase and deepen the grace received at Baptism,[109] as the confirmand is sealed with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, i.e., wisdom (to see and follow God's plan), understanding, counsel (right judgement), fortitude (courage), knowledge, piety (reverence), and fear of the Lord (rejoicing in the presence of God; a spirit of holy fear in God's presence).[110][111] The corresponding fruits of the Holy Spirit are charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.[110][111] To be properly confirmed, Catholics must be in a state of grace, which means they cannot be conscious of having committed an unconfessed mortal sin.[111] They must also have prepared spiritually for the sacrament, chosen a sponsor for spiritual support, and selected a saint to be their special patron and intercessor.[109] In the Eastern Catholic Churches, baptism, including infant baptism, is immediately followed by Confirmation and the reception of the Eucharist.[111][112]
Final judgment and afterlife
Belief in an afterlife is part of Catholic doctrine, the "four last things" being death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The Church teaches that immediately after death the soul of each person will receive a particular judgment from God, based on the deeds of that individual's earthly life.[111][113] This teaching also attests to another day when Jesus will sit in a universal judgment of all mankind.[57][114] This final judgment, according to Church teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.[111][115] The basis upon which each person's soul will be judged is detailed in the Gospel of Matthew which lists works of mercy to be performed even to people considered "the least".[114][115] Emphasis is upon Jesus' words that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven".[115] According to the Catechism, "The Last Judgement will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life."[115]
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There are three states of afterlife in Catholic belief. Heaven is a time of glorious union with God and a life of unspeakable joy that lasts forever.[111][113] Purgatory is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although saved, are not free enough from sin to enter directly into heaven. It is a state requiring penance and purgation of sin through God's mercy aided by the prayers of others.[111][113] Finally, those who chose to live a sinful and selfish life, did not repent, and fully intended to persist in their ways are sent to hell, an everlasting separation from God.[111][116] The Church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God and his love.[111][113] He predestines no one to hell and no one can determine whether anyone else has been condemned.[111][113] Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death and be saved "like the good thief who was crucified next to Jesus".[113][117]
Social teaching
In addition to operating numerous social ministries throughout the world, the Church teaches that individual Catholics are required to practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy as well. The seven corporal works of mercy are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead.[111] Welcoming strangers, immigrants, and refugees could be said to be another corporal work of mercy. The spiritual works of mercy include: instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving, bearing wrongs patiently, and praying for the living and the dead.[57][111] In conjunction with the work of mercy to visit the sick, the Church offers the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick,[111] administered only by a priest.[118] Church teaching on works of mercy and the new social problems of the industrial era led to the development of Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes human dignity and commits Catholics to the welfare of others.[57][111]
Prayer and worship
Catholic liturgy is regulated by Church authority[119] and consists of the Eucharist and Mass, the other sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours. According to the precepts of the Church, every Catholic is required to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation[111] and confess mortal sins at least once a year.[120] There is evidence from the UK[121] and USA[122] that at least three-quarters of professed Catholics do not adhere to the latter requirement of canon law. They should also receive the Eucharist at least once during Easter season, observe the prescribed days of fasting and of abstinence as established by the Church, and help provide for the Church's needs.[123] (For the Latin Church, the holy days of obligation are set forth in the Code of Canon Law, but they vary from nation to nation, as requested by each nation's conference of bishops and approved by the Holy See.) All Catholics are expected to participate in the liturgical life of the Church, but individual or communal prayer and devotions—while encouraged—are a matter of personal preference.[124]
Diverse traditions of worship
Differing liturgical traditions, or rites, exist throughout the universal Church, reflecting historical and cultural diversity rather than a difference in beliefs.[125] The most commonly used liturgy is the Roman Rite (which is used in most of the Latin Catholic Church, but not in the Eastern Catholic Churches nor in those parts of the Latin Church where other Latin liturgical rites are in use). Presently, this rite exists in two authorized forms: the ordinary form (the 1969 Mass of Paul VI, celebrated mostly in the vernacular, i.e., the language of the people) and the extraordinary form (the 1962 edition of the Tridentine or Latin Mass standardized by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent).[126][127][note 3] In 1980, Pope John Paul II issued a Pastoral Provision which allows members of the Episcopal Church (the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion) to retain many aspects of Anglican liturgical rites as a variation of the Roman rite when they join the Catholic Church. Such "Anglican Use" parishes exist only in the United States. Other Western rites (non-Roman) include the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite.
The Eastern Catholic Churches refer to the Eucharistic celebration as the Divine Liturgy. Each of the Eastern Catholic Churches uses one of the following Eastern rites: the Byzantine rite, Alexandrian or Coptic rite, Syriac rite, Armenian rite, Maronite rite, and Chaldean rite.
The Latin Catholic Church and the various Eastern Catholic Churches each follow a liturgical year—an annual calendar—which sets aside certain days and seasons to celebrate key events in the life of Jesus.[129] Advent, Christmas and the Epiphany celebrate his expected coming, birth and manifestation. Lent is the period of purification and penance that ends during Holy Week with the Easter Triduum. These days recall Jesus' last supper with his disciples, death on the cross, burial and resurrection. The feast of the Ascension of Jesus is followed by Pentecost which recalls the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' disciples.[129] The remainder of the liturgical year apart from these special periods is known as Ordinary Time.
Eucharist
The Eucharist is celebrated at each Mass and is the center of Catholic worship.[130][131] The Words of Institution for this sacrament are drawn from the Gospels and a Pauline letter.[132] In its main elements and prayers, the Catholic Mass celebrated today, according to professor Alan Schreck, is "almost identical" to the form described in the Didache and First Apology of Justin Martyr in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.[133][134]
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The Church teaches that Jesus established a New Covenant with humanity through the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. This is held to be in fulfilment of the Old Testament promise of God's salvation for all the peoples of the world—a covenant sealed by Jesus's sacrifice on the cross.[135] In contrast to some Protestant belief, therefore, Catholicism teaches that Jesus's sacrifice is made truly present in the celebration of the Eucharist.[126] It is Catholic dogma that the bread and wine brought to the altar at each Mass are changed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and the true Blood of Christ (termed "transubstantiation") and that, by consuming these, believers are spiritually nourished and deepen their union with Jesus, are cleansed of venial sins, helped to overcome and avoid sin, unite with the poor and promote Christian unity.[135][136]
Mass consists of two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.[137] Because the Church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,[126] there are strict rules about its celebration and reception. The ingredients of the bread and wine used in the Mass are specified and Catholics must abstain from eating for one hour before receiving Communion.[138] Those who are conscious of being in a state of mortal sin are forbidden from this sacrament unless they have received absolution through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).[138] Because the Church recognizes their celebration of the Mass and priestly ordination as valid sacraments, intercommunion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Assyrian Church of the East, Polish National Catholic Church, and certain other churches—in "suitable circumstances and with Church authority"—is both possible and encouraged.[139] The same is not true for Protestant churches. In very limited circumstances, however, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance), and Anointing of the Sick to Protestants.[note 4] Catholics are not permitted to receive communion in Protestant churches because of their different beliefs and practices regarding Holy Orders and the Eucharist.[141]
Liturgy of the Hours
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus instructs his disciples to "pray always".[142] The Liturgy of the Hours,[143] or Divine Office, is the Church's effort to respond to this request. It is considered to be an extension of the celebration of the Mass and is the official daily liturgical prayer of the Church.[144] It makes particular use of the Psalms as well as readings from the New and Old Testament, and various prayers.[144] It is an adaptation of the ancient Jewish practice of reading the Psalms at certain hours of the day or night. Catholics who pray the Liturgy of the Hours use a set of books issued by the Church that has been called a breviary. By canon law, priests and deacons are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day.[145] Religious orders often make praying the Liturgy of the Hours a part of their rule of life; the Second Vatican Council encouraged the Christian laity to take up the practice.[144][146]
Devotional life and prayer
In addition to the Mass, the Catholic Church considers prayer to be one of the most important elements of Christian life. The Church considers personal prayer a Christian duty, one of the spiritual works of mercy and one of the principal ways its members nourish a relationship with God.[147] The Catechism identifies three types of prayer: vocal prayer (sung or spoken), meditation, and contemplative prayer. Quoting from the early church father John Chrysostom regarding vocal prayer, the Catechism states, "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls."[148] Meditation is prayer in which the "mind seeks to understand the why and how of Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking."[148] Contemplative prayer is being with God, taking time to be close to and alone with him.[148] Three of the most common devotional prayers of the Catholic Church are The Lord's Prayer, the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.[149] These prayers are most often vocal, yet always meditative and contemplative. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a common form of contemplative prayer, whereas Benediction is a common vocal method of prayer. Lectio divina, which means "sacred reading", is a form of meditative prayer. The Church encourages patterns of prayer intended to develop into habitual prayer. This includes such daily prayers as grace at meals, the Rosary, or the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as the weekly rhythm of Sunday Eucharist and the observance of the year-long liturgical cycle.[148]
Mary and the saints
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Prayers to, devotions to, and veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints are a common part of Catholic life but are distinct from the worship of God.[150] Catholic teaching maintains that the Church exists simultaneously on earth (Church militant), in purgatory (Church suffering), and in heaven (Church triumphant); thus Mary and all other saints are alive and part of the living Church.[151] This unity of the Church in heaven, in purgatory, and on earth is the "Communion of Saints".[151][152] Explaining the intercession of saints, the Catechism states that the saints "... do not cease to intercede with the Father for us ... so by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."[150][152]
The Church holds Mary, as ever Virgin and Mother of God, in special regard. She is believed to have been conceived without original sin, and to have been assumed into heaven. These teachings, the focus of Roman Catholic Mariology, are considered infallible. Several liturgical Marian feasts are celebrated throughout the Church Year and she is honored with many titles such as Queen of Heaven (in Latin, Regina Coeli). Pope Paul VI called her Mother of the Church (in Latin, Mater Ecclesiae), because by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the Body of Christ.[153] Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions, such as the Rosary, the Hail Mary, the Salve Regina and the Memorare are common Catholic practices.[149] The Church has affirmed the validity of Marian apparitions (supernatural experiences of Mary by one or more persons) such as those at Lourdes, Fatima and Guadalupe[154] while others such as Međugorje are still under investigation.
Pilgrimage has been an important element of Catholic spirituality since at least the second century. Devotional journeys to the sites of biblical events or to places connected with Jesus, Mary or the saints are considered an aid to spiritual growth and are popular Catholic devotions.[155] Western Europe has more than 6,000 pilgrimage destinations which generate around 60 million faith-related visits a year.[156]
Church organization and community
While the Church considers Jesus to be its ultimate head, the spiritual leader and head of the Church organization is the pope.[157][note 5] The pope governs from the Vatican City in Rome – a sovereign nation of which he is the head of state.[159] Each pope is elected for life by the College of Cardinals, a body composed of clerics (normally bishops) who have been elevated to the rank of cardinal. The cardinals, who also serve as papal advisors, may select any Catholic male as pope, but if the candidate is not already a bishop, he must become one before taking office.[160]
The pope is assisted in the Church's administration by the Roman Curia, or civil service. The Church is governed according to formal regulations set out in the Code of Canon Law. The official language of the Church is Latin, although Italian is the working language of the Vatican administration.[161]
As of 2008, the worldwide Catholic Church comprises 2,795 dioceses (also called sees or, in the East, eparchies), grouped into 23 particular Churches – the Latin-rite Church and 22 Eastern Catholic Churches – each with distinct traditions regarding the liturgy and the administration of the sacraments.[162] Each diocese is divided into individual communities called parishes, each staffed by one or more priests.[163]
The church community is made up of ordained members (such as bishops, priests and deacons,) and the laity. Members of religious orders such as nuns, friars and monks are lay members unless individually ordained as priests.[164]
Ordained members and Holy Orders
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Men may become ordained clergy, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, as bishops, priests or deacons. All clergy who are bishops [note 6] form the College of Bishops and are jointly considered the successors of the apostles.[165][166] Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders.[167] They are also responsible for teaching, governing, and sanctifying the faithful of their diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under them. The sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance) and Anointing of the Sick may only be administered by priests or bishops. Deacons and all other clergy may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.[168] Baptism is the only sacrament that may be administered in emergencies by any Catholic, or even a non-Christian who "has the intention of baptizing according to the belief of the Catholic Church".[169]
Married men may become deacons but only celibate men are ordinarily ordained as priests in the Latin Rite.[170][171] However, married clergymen who have been received into the Church from other denominations may be exempted from this rule.[172] The Eastern Catholic Churches ordain both celibate and married men to the priesthood, but married men cannot become bishops.[173][174] All 23 particular Churches of the Catholic Church maintain the ancient tradition that marriage is not allowed after ordination. Men with transitory homosexual leanings may be ordained deacons following three years of prayer and chastity, but homosexual men who are sexually active, or those who have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, cannot be ordained.[175] [note 7]
Programs designed to prepare men for the priesthood can vary from country to country, since they are usually laid down by national bishops' conferences.[179] The conferences consult Vatican documents such as Pastores Dabo Vobis, Novo Millennio Ineunte, and Optatam Totius to create these programs.[180] In some countries, priests are required to have a college degree plus another four years of full-time theological study in a seminary or other approved institution. In other countries, a degree is not strictly required, but seminary education is longer. Candidates for the priesthood are also evaluated in terms of human, spiritual and pastoral formation.[181] Ordination is conferred by a bishop through the laying on of hands, following which the newly ordained priest or deacon is formally clothed in his vestments, i.e., the stole and chasuble for priests, or stole and dalmatic for deacons.[167]
The Church teaches that since the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus were all male, only men may be ordained as priests.[182] While some consider this to be evidence of a discriminatory attitude toward women,[183] the Church believes that Jesus called women to different yet equally important vocations in Church ministry.[184] Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Christifideles Laici, states that women have specific vocations reserved only for the female sex, and are equally called to be disciples of Jesus.[185]
Lay members, marriage
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The laity consists of those Catholics who are not ordained clergy. Saint Paul compared the diversity of roles in the Church to the different parts of a body, all being important to enable the body to function.[19] The Church therefore considers that lay members are equally called to live according to Christian principles, to work to spread the message of Jesus, and to effect change in the world for the good of others. The Church calls these actions participation in Christ's priestly, prophetic and royal offices.[186] Marriage and the consecrated life are lay vocations. The sacrament of Holy Matrimony in the Latin rite is not administered (conferred) by the priest or deacon who presides. Instead, the ministers of the sacrament are the bride and groom, who mutually confer the sacrament upon each other by expressing their consent before the priest or deacon who serves as a witness. In the Eastern Catholic Churches the minister of this sacrament, which is called "Crowning", is the priest or bishop who, after receiving the mutual consent of the spouses, successively crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the marriage covenant.[187] Church law makes no provision for divorce, but annulment may be granted when proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a sacramental union (valid marriage) were absent. Since the Church condemns all forms of artificial birth control, married persons are expected to be open to new life in their sexual relations.[188] Natural family planning is approved.[189]
Lay ecclesial movements consist of lay Catholics organized for purposes of teaching the faith, cultural work, mutual support or missionary work.[190] Such groups include: Communion and Liberation, Opus Dei and many others.[190] Some non-ordained Catholics practice formal, public ministries within the Church.[191] These are called lay ecclesial ministers, a broad category which may include pastoral life coordinators, pastoral assistants, youth ministers and campus ministers.[192]
Consecrated life
Religious orders
Both the ordained and the laity may enter the cloistered consecrated life as monks or nuns. There are also friars and sisters who engage in teaching and missionary activity and charity work such as the various mendicant orders. A candidate takes vows confirming their desire to follow the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.[193]
The majority of those wishing to enter the consecrated life join one of the religious institutes which are also referred to as monastic or religious orders. They follow a common rule such as the Rule of St Benedict and agree to live under the leadership of a superior.[194][195] They usually live together in a community but individuals may be given permission to live as hermits, or to reside elsewhere, for example as a serving priest or chaplain.[196] Examples of religious institutes include the Benedictines, Carmelites, Cistercians, Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Marist Brothers, Paulist Fathers, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of the Destitute, Sisters of Mercy, Legionaries of Christ and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), but there are many others.[193]
Tertiaries and Oblates
Tertiaries and "Oblates (regular)" are laypersons who live according to the third rule of orders such as those of the Secular Franciscan Order or Lay Carmelites, either within a religious community or outside.[190] Although all tertiaries make a public profession, participate in the good works of their order and in some cases may wear the habit, they are not bound by public vows unless they live in a religious community. They must not be confused with "Oblates (secular)", who are not members of the consecrated life but are laypersons (married or single) or secular priests that have individually affiliated themselves in prayer with a House of their choice without making public vows. They make a formal private promise (annually renewable or for life, depending on the house with which they are affiliated) to follow the rule of prayer in their private life as closely as their individual circumstances and prior commitments permit.
Other forms of consecrated life
The Church recognizes several other forms of consecrated life, including secular institutes, societies of apostolic life and consecrated widows and widowers.[193] It also makes provision for the approval of new forms.[197]
Membership
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Membership of the Catholic Church is attained through baptism.[198] For those baptized as children, First Communion is a particular rite of passage when, following instruction, they are allowed to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time in the Latin (Western) Church; the Eastern Churches confer the sacraments of initiation at once – Baptism, Chrismation (Confirmation) and Eucharist – to unbaptized children or unbaptized adult converts. Those never baptized may be admitted to Baptism by participating in a formation program such as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.[199] Christians – those baptized with flowing water and in the "Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" – baptized outside of the Catholic Church are admitted through other formation programs but are not re-baptized.[200] In all rites, after going through formation and making a profession of faith, candidates are received into the Church. This ordinarily occurs at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.[199]
A lapsed Catholic is one who has ceased practicing the faith (i.e. going to Mass and confession).[201] Members of the Church can incur excommunication for serious violations of ecclesiastical law. Excommunication does not remove a member from the Church but severely limits the member's ability to participate in it. For very serious offenses, the excommunication can be incurred automatically.[202] Examples include violating the seal of confession (committed when a priest discloses the sins heard in the sacrament of Penance), persisting in heresy, creating schism, becoming an apostate, or having or performing an abortion.[203] Throwing away or retaining for a sacrilegious purpose the Eucharist is considered an excommunicable offense.[204] Excommunication is the most severe ecclesiastical penalty because it forbids a person from receiving any sacrament. Such offences can only be forgiven by the Pope, the bishop of the diocese where the person resides, or a priest authorized by the bishop to do so.[205] A similar concept is a minister's power to refuse to distribute communion to a person not yet declared excommunicated (but nonetheless excommunicated latae sententiae) who has publicly committed a very serious sin.[206]
Excommunication, which is a "medicinal" measure meant to lead to repentance, does not make the person to whom it is applied cease to be a member of the Church. To terminate one's membership, a person must present to the competent Church authority a formal act of defection. If that person later wishes to rejoin the Church, the procedure is the same as for any baptized non-Catholic, namely by a profession of faith, again before the competent Church authority.
Catholic institutions, personnel and demographics
Institutions | |
---|---|
Parishes and missions | 408,637 |
Primary and secondary schools | 125,016 |
Universities | 1,046 |
Hospitals | 5,853 |
Orphanages | 8,695 |
Homes for the elderly and handicapped | 13,933 |
Dispensaries, leprosaries, nurseries and other institutions | 74,936 |
Total | 638,116 |
Personnel | |
Seminarians (men studying for the priesthood) | 110,583 |
Religious sisters | 769,142 |
Religious brothers | 55,057 |
Diocesan and religious priests | 405,178 |
Lay Ecclesial Ministers | 30,632 |
Permanent deacons | 27,824 |
Bishops | 3,475 |
Archbishops | 914 |
Cardinals | 183 |
Pope | 1 |
Total | 1,402,989 |
Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people,[208] significantly increased from the 1950 figure of 437 million[209] and the 1970 figure of 654 million.[210] The Catholic population increase of 139% outpaced the world population increase of 117% between 1950 and 2000.[209] The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, encompassing approximately half of all Christians and one sixth of the world's population, making it the largest organized body in any world religion,[13][211] although the number of practicing as opposed to lapsed Catholics worldwide is not reliably known.[212] The Church operates transnational relief organisations across the world,[213] it also operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.[214]
In 2003, the church had about 405,450 priests worldwide, a 3.7 percent drop from 1978. In the United States and Europe, numbers fell about 20 percent over this period while recruitment in Africa, Latin America and Asia grew.[215][216][217][218][219] In 2009, the Vatican announced that in 2005 the number of priests had increased from 405,891 to 406,411, although Europe and North America saw a decrease of about one-half point of a percentage point and Australia of 1.8%.[220][221]
Church membership in Africa and Asia grew by 3.1% and 2.71% respectively in 2005.[12] Of Catholics worldwide, 12% live in Africa, 50% in the Americas, 10% in Asia, 27% in Europe and 1% in Oceania.[222]
Cultural influence
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The influence of the Catholic Church on world culture and society has been vast, first and foremost in the development of European civilization from Greco-Roman times to the modern era.[224] The church rejected and helped end practices[dubious – discuss] such as human sacrifice, slavery,[note 8] infanticide, and polygamy in evangelized cultures throughout the world, beginning with the Roman Empire. In addition, the Church played a significant role in moderating some of the excesses of the colonial era.[226][227][228][229][230] Over the course of its history, the Church has influenced the status of women, condemning infanticide, divorce, incest, polygamy and counting the marital infidelity of men as equally sinful to that of women.[226][227][231] The official Church teaching[232] considers women and men to be equal, different, and complementary.
Catholic universities, scholars and many priests including Nicolaus Copernicus, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Robert Grosseteste, Nicholas Steno, Francesco Grimaldi, Giambattista Riccioli, Roger Boscovich, Athanasius Kircher, Gregor Mendel, Georges Lemaître and others, were responsible for many important scientific discoveries. The Jesuits produced the large majority of priest-scientists, who contributed to worldwide cultural exchange by spreading their developments in knowledge to Asia, Africa, and the Americas.[233][234] Most research took place in Catholic universities that were staffed by members of religious orders who had the education and means to conduct scientific investigation.[233] The 1633 Church condemnation of Galileo Galilei created the perception of antagonism between the Church and science of that era. According to historian Thomas Noble, the effect of the Galileo affair was to restrict scientific development in some European countries.[233] In part because of lessons learned from the Galilei affair, the Church created the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1603. This scientific organization reached its present form by 1936.[235]
The Catholic Church was the dominant influence on the development of Western art, at least up to the Protestant Reformation. Important contributions include its consistent opposition to Byzantine iconoclasm, its cultivation and patronage of individual artists, as well as development of the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles of art and architecture.[236] Renaissance artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Bernini, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, and Titian, were among a multitude of innovative virtuosos sponsored by the Church.[237] In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,[238] and an enormous body of religious music has been composed for it through the ages. This led directly to the emergence and development of European classical music, and its many derivatives. The Baroque style, which encompassed music, art, and architecture, was particularly encouraged by the post-Reformation Catholic Church as such forms offered a means of religious expression that was stirring and emotional, intended to stimulate religious fervor.[239]
History
Early Christianity
The Catholic Church considers Pentecost to be the beginning of its own history.[240][241] According to historians, the Apostles traveled to northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and Rome to found the first Christian communities,[240][242] over 40 of which had been established by the year 100.[243]
The New Testament gospels indicate that the earliest Christians continued to observe traditional Jewish pieties such as fasting, reverence for the Torah and observance of Jewish holy days.[244][245] However, Christians were directed by Jesus to evangelize non-Jewish peoples. As Christianity spread to non-Jews, disputes over observance of the Mosaic law generated intense controversy. A pivotal moment in this dispute occurred in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy arose and was ultimately addressed at the Council of Jerusalem. At this council, Paul made an argument that circumcision was no longer necessary, vocally supported by Peter, as documented in Acts 15. This position received widespread support and was summarized in a letter circulated in Antioch.[246]
In the second century, writings by teachers such as Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus defined Catholic teaching in stark opposition to Gnosticism.[247] Other writers such as Pope Clement I, Justin Martyr, Augustine of Hippo influenced the development of Church teachings and traditions. These writers are collectively known as Church Fathers.[248]
Persecution
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Early Christians refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods or to worship Roman rulers as gods and were thus subject to persecution.[249] The first documented case of imperially-sponsored persecution of Christians occurred in Rome under Nero in the first century and re-occurred under various emperors until the great persecution of Diocletian and Galerius, which was seen as a final attempt to wipe out Christianity.[250] Nevertheless, Christianity continued to spread and was eventually legalized in 313 under Constantine's Edict of Milan.[251]
During this era of persecution, the early Church evolved both in doctrinal and structural ways. The apostles had convened the first Church council, the Council of Jerusalem, to resolve issues concerning evangelization of Gentiles.[69] While competing forms of Christianity emerged early, the Roman Church retained this practice of meeting in "synods" (councils) to ensure that any internal doctrinal differences were quickly resolved, which facilitated broad doctrinal unity within the mainstream churches.[68][252]
By 58 AD, a large Christian community existed in Rome.[253] From as early as the first century, the Church of Rome was recognized as a doctrinal authority because it was believed that the Apostles Peter and Paul had led the Church there.[52][254][255]
The concept of the primacy of the Roman bishop over other churches was increasingly recognized by the church at large from at least the second century although disputes over the implications of that primacy would ultimately lead to schisms.[256][257]
State religion of the Roman Empire
Despite persecution, Christianity spread and was eventually legalized in 313 under Constantine's Edict of Milan.[251]
Emperor Constantine I commissioned the first Basilica of St. Peter and several other sites of lasting importance to Christianity.[258] By this time, the altar as the focal point of each church, the sign of the cross, and the liturgical calendar had been established[259] and in 380, Christianity was declared the state religion of the Empire.[260]
After the legalization of Christianity, a number of doctrinal disputes led to the calling of ecumenical councils. The doctrinal formulations resulting from these ecumenical councils were pivotal in the history of Christianity. The first seven Ecumenical Councils, from the First Council of Nicaea (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea (787), sought to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom.
In 325, the First Council of Nicaea convened in response to the threat of Arianism; in order to encapsulate the basic tenets of the Christian belief, it promulgated a creed which became the basis of what is now known as the Nicene Creed.[261] In addition, it divided the church into geographical and administrative areas called dioceses.[262] The Council of Rome in 382 established the first Biblical canon when it listed the accepted books of the Old and New Testament.[263] The Council of Ephesus in 431[264] and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 defined the relationship of Christ's divine and human natures, leading to splits with the Nestorians and Monophysites.[68]
Constantine moved the imperial capital to Constantinople, and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) elevated the See of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".[265][266]
Rome had particular prominence over the other dioceses; it was considered the see of Peter and Paul, it was located in the capital of the empire, it was wealthy and known for supporting other churches, and church scholars wanted the Roman bishop's support in doctrinal disputes.[267] From c 350 to c500, the bishops, or popes, of Rome steadily increased in authority.[253]
Early Middle Ages
Following the collapse of Roman power in Western Europe, the Catholic faith competed with Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.[268] The 496 conversion of Clovis I, pagan king of the Franks, marked the beginning of a steady rise of the Catholic faith in the West.[269] The Rule of St Benedict, composed in 530, became a blueprint for the organization of monasteries throughout Europe.[270] As well as providing a focus for spiritual life, the new monasteries preserved classical craft and artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, scriptoria and libraries. They also functioned as agricultural, economic and production centers, particularly in remote regions, becoming major conduits of civilization.[271]
Pope Gregory the Great reformed church practice and administration around 600 and launched renewed missionary efforts[272] which were complemented by other missionary movements such as the Hiberno-Scottish mission.[273][274] Missionaries such as Augustine of Canterbury, Saint Boniface, Willibrord and Ansgar took Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic people.[273] In the same period the Visigoths and Lombards moved from Arianism toward Catholicism,[269] and in Britain the full reunion of the Celtic churches with Rome was effectively marked by the Synod of Whitby in 664.[274] Later missionary efforts by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the ninth century reached greater Moravia and introduced, along with Christianity, the Cyrillic alphabet used in the southern and eastern Slavic languages.[275] While Christianity continued to expand in Europe, Islam presented a significant military threat to Western Christendom.[276] By 715, Muslim armies had conquered Syria, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Alexandria, Iraq and Persia, Carthage and much of the Iberian Peninsula.[277]
From the 8th century, Iconoclasm, the destruction of religious images, became a major source of conflict in the eastern church.[278][279] Byzantine emperors Leo III and Constantine V strongly supported Iconoclasm, while the papacy and the western church remained resolute in favour of the veneration of icons. In 787, the Second Council of Nicaea ruled in favor of the iconodules but the dispute continued into the early 9th century.[279] The consequent estrangement led to the creation of the papal states and the papal coronation of the Frankish King Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans in 800. This ultimately created a new problem as successive Western emperors sought to impose an increasingly tight control over the popes.[280][281]
Eastern and Western Christendom grew farther apart in the 9th century. Conflicts arose over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Byzantine-controlled south of Italy, missionaries to Bulgaria and a brief schism revolving around Photios of Constantinople.[278][282] Further disagreements led to Pope and Patriarch excommunicating each other in 1054, commonly considered the date of the East–West Schism.[283] The Western branch of Christianity remained in communion with the Pope and remained a part of the Catholic Church, while the Eastern (Greek) branch that rejected the papal claims became known as the Eastern Orthodox churches.[284][285] Efforts to mend the rift were attempted at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 and Council of Florence in 1439. While in each case the Eastern Emperor and Eastern Patriarch both agreed to the reunion,[286] neither council changed the attitudes of the Eastern Churches at large, and the schism remained.[287]
High Middle Ages
The Cluniac reform of monasteries that had begun in 910 sparked widespread monastic growth and renewal.[288] Monasteries introduced new technologies and crops, fostered the creation and preservation of literature and promoted economic growth. Monasteries, convents and cathedrals still operated virtually all schools and libraries.[289][290] Despite a church ban on the practice of usury the larger abbeys functioned as sources for economic credit.[291] The 11th and 12th century saw internal efforts to reform the church. The college of cardinals in 1059 was created to free papal elections from interference by Emperor and nobility. Lay investiture of bishops, a source of rulers' dominance over the Church, was attacked by reformers and under Pope Gregory VII, erupted into the Investiture Controversy between Pope and Emperor. The matter was eventually settled with the Concordat of Worms in 1122 where it was agreed that bishops would be selected in accordance with Church law.[292][293]
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In 1095, Byzantine emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions,[294] which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control.[287][295] The goal was not permanently realized, and episodes of brutality committed by the armies of both sides left a legacy of mutual distrust between Muslims and Western and Eastern Christians.[296] The sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, conducted against papal authorisation, left Eastern Christians embittered and was a decisive event that permanently solidified the schism between the churches.[297][298]
The crusades also saw the formation of military orders which included the Hospitallers, Templars and later, the Teutonic Knights all of whom provided social services as well as guardianship of pilgrim routes.[299] The Teutonic Knights conquered the then-pagan Prussia.[299] The Templars became noted bankers and creditors who were suppressed by King Philip IV of France shortly after 1300.[300] Later, mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán which brought consecrated religious life into urban settings.[301] These orders also played a large role in the development of cathedral schools into universities, the direct ancestors of the modern Western institutions.[302] Notable scholastic theologians such as the Dominican Thomas Aquinas worked at these universities, his Summa Theologica was a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of Aristotelian thought and Christianity.[303]
Twelfth century France witnessed the emergence of Catharism, a dualist heresy that had spread from Eastern Europe through Germany. After the Cathars were accused of murdering a papal legate in 1208,[304] Pope Innocent III declared the Albigensian Crusade against them. When this turned into an "appalling massacre",[305] he instituted the first papal inquisition to prevent further massacres and to root out the remaining Cathars.[305][306][307] Formalized under Gregory IX, this Medieval inquisition put to death an average of three people per year for heresy.[300][307]
Over time, other inquisitions were launched by secular rulers to prosecute heretics, often with the approval of Church hierarchy, to respond to the threat of Muslim invasion or for political purposes.[308] King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain formed an inquisition in 1480, originally to deal with distrusted converts from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism.[309] Over a 350-year period, this Spanish Inquisition executed between 3,000 and 4,000 people,[310] representing around two percent of those accused.[311] In 1482 Pope Sixtus IV condemned the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, but Ferdinand ignored his protests.[312] Some historians argue that for centuries Protestant propaganda and popular literature exaggerated the horrors of the inquisitions in an effort to associate the Catholic Church with acts committed by secular rulers.[313][314][315] Over all, one percent of those tried by the inquisitions received death penalties, leading some scholars to consider them rather lenient when compared to the secular courts of the period.[310][316] The inquisition played a major role in the final expulsion of Islam from Sicily and Spain.[276]
At the end of the 13th century, Pope Boniface VIII was involved in a heated conflict with Philip IV of France. After a falsified papal bull was circulated by Philip in a "smear campaign" against the pope, Boniface promulgated Unam Sanctam.[317] This clarified the spiritual responsibilities of the pope as supreme over the temporal responsibilities of monarchs.[317] When Philip subsequently attempted to kidnap Boniface, the townspeople came to his rescue.[317] Later, the Papacy came under French dominance, with Clement V in 1305 moving to Avignon.[318] The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the Pope returned to Rome[319][320] but was soon followed in 1378 by the 38-year-long Western schism with separate claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa, backed by conflicting secular rulers.[321] The matter was finally resolved in 1417 at the Council of Constance where the three claimants either resigned or were deposed and held a new election naming Martin V Pope.[321]
Reformation and Counter-Reformation
In 1509, the scholar Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly, a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the Church.[322] The Council of Constance, the Council of Basel and the Fifth Lateran Council had all attempted to reform internal Church abuses but had failed.[323] As a result, rich, powerful and worldly men like Roderigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) were able to win election to the papacy.[323][324] In 1517, Martin Luther included his Ninety-Five Theses in a letter to several bishops.[325][326] His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences.[325][326] Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and others further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into a large and all encompassing European movement called the Protestant Reformation.[267][327] In Germany, the reformation led to a nine-year war between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V. In 1618 a far graver conflict, the Thirty Years' War, followed.[328] In France, a series of conflicts termed the French Wars of Religion were fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots and the forces of the French Catholic League. The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre marked the turning point in this war.[329] Survivors regrouped under Henry of Navarre who became Catholic and began the first experiment in religious toleration with his 1598 Edict of Nantes.[329] This Edict, which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants, was hesitantly accepted by Pope Clement VIII.[328][330]
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The English Reformation under Henry VIII began more as a political than as a theological dispute. When the annulment of his marriage was denied by the pope, Henry had Parliament pass the Acts of Supremacy, 1534, which made him, and not the pope, head of the English Church.[331][332] Although he strove to maintain the substance of traditional Catholicism, Henry initiated and supported the confiscation and dissolution of monasteries, friaries, convents and shrines throughout England, Wales and Ireland.[331][333][334] Under Henry's daughter, Mary I, England was reunited with Rome, {Henry's Act of Supremacy was repealed (1554)}, but the following monarch, Elizabeth I, {second Act of Supremacy, 1558} restored a separate church which outlawed Catholic priests[335] and prevented Catholics from educating their children and taking part in political life[336][337] until the first Catholic Relief Act of 1778 began the process of eliminating many of the anti-Catholic laws.[338][339]
The Catholic Church responded to doctrinal challenges and abuses highlighted by the Reformation at the Council of Trent (1545–1563), which became the driving force of the Counter-Reformation. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation, and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.[340] It also made structural reforms, most importantly by improving the education of the clergy and laity and consolidating the central jurisdiction of the Roman Curia.[340][341][342][note 9] To popularize Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the Baroque style in art, music and architecture,[239] and new religious orders were founded. These included the Theatines, Barnabites and Jesuits, some of which became the great missionary orders of later years.[345] The Jesuits quickly took on a leadership in education during the Counter-Reformation, viewing it as a "battleground for hearts and minds";[346] at the same time, the writings of figures such as Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales and Philip Neri spawned new schools of spirituality within the Church.[347] In central Europe, the Counter-Reformation presented the Habsburg dynasty with an opportunity to "combat Protestantism and consolidate their realms in the name of God".[346]
Toward the latter part of the 17th century, Pope Innocent XI reformed abuses that were occurring in the Church's hierarchy, including simony, nepotism and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a large papal debt.[348] He promoted missionary activity, tried to unite Europe against the Turkish invasion, prevented influential Catholic rulers (including the Emperor) from marrying Protestants but strongly condemned religious persecution.[348]
Age of Discovery
Just before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in 1453,[349] in an effort to combat the spread of Islam, Pope Nicholas V granted Portugal the right to subdue and even enslave Muslims, pagans and other unbelievers in the papal bull Dum Diversas (1452). Several decades later European explorers and missionaries spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Pope Alexander VI had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal[350] and the ensuing patronato system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.[351] Although the Spanish monarchs tried to curb abuses committed against the Amerindians by explorers and conquerors,[352] Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar, openly rebuked the Spanish rulers of Hispaniola in 1511 for their cruelty and tyranny in dealing with the American natives.[353][354] King Ferdinand enacted the Laws of Burgos and Valladolid in response. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain[354][355] and, through the writings of Catholic clergy such as Bartolomé de Las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria, led to debate on the nature of human rights[354] and to the birth of modern international law.[356][357] Enforcement of these laws was lax, and some historians blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians; others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples.[358] Nevertheless, Amerindian populations suffered serious decline due to new diseases, inadvertently introduced through contact with Europeans, which created a labor vacuum in the New World.[352]
In 1521 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.[359] The following year, the first Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico, establishing schools, model farms and hospitals. When some Europeans questioned whether the Indians were truly human and worthy of baptism, Pope Paul III in the 1537 bull Sublimis Deus confirmed that "their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans" and they should neither be robbed nor turned into slaves.[360][361][362] Over the next 150 years, missions expanded into southwestern North America.[363] Native people were often legally defined as children, and priests took on a paternalistic role, sometimes enforced with corporal punishment.[364] Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelized in India and Japan.[365] Church growth in Japan came to a halt in 1597 under the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a severe persecution of Christians or Kirishitan's.[366] An underground minority Christian population survived throughout this period of persecution and enforced isolation which was eventually lifted in the 19th century.[366][367]
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In the Americas, Franciscan priest Junípero Serra founded a series of new missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military.[368] These missions brought grain, cattle and a new way of living to the Indian tribes of California. San Francisco was founded in 1776 and Los Angeles in 1781. In a challenge to Spanish and Portuguese policy, Pope Gregory XVI, began to appoint his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull In Supremo Apostolatus, and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism.[369] Yet in spite of these advances, the Amerindian population continued to suffer decline from exposure to European diseases.[370]
In South America, Jesuit missionaries tried to protect native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called reductions. In China, despite Jesuit efforts to find compromise, the Chinese Rites controversy led the Kangxi Emperor to outlaw Christian missions in 1721.[371] These events added fuel to growing criticism of the Jesuits, who were seen to symbolize the independent power of the Church, and in 1773 European rulers united to force Pope Clement XIV to dissolve the order.[372] The Jesuits were eventually restored in the 1814 papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.[373]
Enlightenment
Toward the latter part of the 17th century, Pope Innocent XI reformed abuses by the Church, including simony, nepotism and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a large papal debt.[348] He promoted missionary activity, tried to unite Europe against the Turkish invasions, and condemned religious persecution of all kinds.[348] In 1685 King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, ending a century-long experiment in religious toleration. However the religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries played a major role in provoking a backlash against Christianity in 18th century Europe. In a philosophical and cultural movement known as "the Enlightenment", the power and influence of the Church over Western society declined as ideologies such as rationalism, secularism, anti-clericalism, liberalism and freemasonry challenged it.[374]
These movements culminated in the violent anti-clericalism of the French Revolution. Direct attacks on the wealth of the Church and associated grievances led to the wholesale nationalisation of church property in France.[375] Large numbers of French priests refused to take an oath of compliance to the National Assembly, leading to the Church being outlawed and replaced by a new religion of the worship of "Reason".[375] In this period, all monasteries were destroyed, 30,000 priests were exiled and hundreds more were killed.[375] When Pope Pius VI sided against the revolution in the First Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy. The pope was imprisoned by French troops, and died in 1799 after six weeks of captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of 1801.[376] The end of the Napoleonic wars brought Catholic revival, renewed enthusiasm, and new respect for the papacy due in part to his "heroic stand against the tyrant".[377][378] The papal states were returned, and the Church was "liberated" from its servile ties to European kings thus freeing the Church to return to its "true spiritual mission."[377]
In the Americas, Franciscan priest Junípero Serra founded a series of new missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military.[368] These missions brought grain, cattle and a new way of living to the Indian tribes of California. San Francisco was founded in 1776 and Los Angeles in 1781. In a challenge to Spanish and Portuguese policy, Pope Gregory XVI, began to appoint his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in the 1839 papal bull In Supremo Apostolatus, and approved the ordination of native clergy in the face of government racism.[369] Yet in spite of these advances, the Amerindian population continued to suffer decline from exposure to European diseases.[370]
In South America, Jesuit missionaries tried to protect native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called reductions. In China, despite Jesuit efforts to find compromise, the Chinese Rites controversy led the Kangxi Emperor to outlaw Christian missions in 1721.[371]
In 1773 European rulers united to force Pope Clement XIV to dissolve the Jesuits. The expulsion of the Society of Jesus from the principal Catholic nations of Europe and their colonial empires is seen by some as the first major triumph of the secularist notions of the self-styled Age of Enlightenment. The suppression was also seen by many as an attempt by Catholic monarchs to gain control of revenues and trade that were previously dominated by the Society of Jesus, this included the takeover destruction of the Jesuit reductions and the enslavement of many of their previously-protected inhabitants.
With the reaction against the anti-clerical excesses of the Revolution, especially after 1815, came Catholic revival, renewed enthusiasm, and new respect for the papacy.[378] The Jesuits were finally restored in the 1814 papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.[373]
Industrial age
In response to growing concern about the deteriorating working and living conditions brought about by the Industrial Revolution, Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical Rerum Novarum. This set out Catholic social teaching in terms that rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions, the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers to form trade unions.[379] The Catholic Church exercised a prominent role in shaping the labor movement in the United States. In 1933, two American Catholics, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, founded a new Catholic peace group, the Catholic Worker that would embody their ideals of pacifism, commitment to the poor and to fundamental change in American society.
Although the infallibility of the Church in doctrinal matters had always been a Church dogma, the First Vatican Council, which convened in 1870, affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility when exercised in certain specifically defined pronouncements.[380][381] This decision in many eyes gave the pope "enormous moral and spiritual authority over the worldwide" Church.[374] Reaction to the pronouncement resulted in the breakaway of a group of mainly German churches which subsequently formed the Old Catholic Church.[382] The loss of the papal states to the Italian unification movement created what came to be known as the Roman Question,[383] a territorial dispute between the papacy and the Italian government that was not resolved until the 1929 Lateran Treaty granted sovereignty to the Holy See over Vatican City.[384]
By the close of the 19th century, European powers controlled most of the African interior. Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.[385] In Latin America, a succession of anti-clerical regimes came to power beginning in the 1820s. Church properties were confiscated, bishoprics were left vacant, religious orders suppressed,[386][387] the collection of clerical tithes ended,[388] and clerical dress in public prohibited.[389]
The 1930s also saw violence against clergy and expropriation of Church properties.[390] During the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War, over 6,000[391] priests and nuns were killed by republicans and anarchists.[392] In the Soviet Union, persecution of the Church included the execution and exiling of clerics and the confiscation and closure of churches.[393]
On 20 July 1933, the Vatican signed an agreement with Germany, the Reichskonkordat, which guaranteed the Church certain rights and freedoms.[394][395] Violations of this led to Pope Pius XI issuing the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge[394][396][397][398] which publicly condemned Nazi persecution of the Church, neopaganism and the culture of racial superiority.[398][399][400][401]
After the Second World War began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions.[403] During the war, several thousand Catholic clergy were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps.[402]
In the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII directed the Church hierarchy to help protect Jews from the Nazis.[404] However, the Church has also been accused of encouraging centuries of antisemitism and Pius himself of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.[405][406] Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.[407][408][409]
Following the Soviet doctrine regarding the exercise of religion, postwar Communist governments in Eastern Europe severely restricted religious freedoms. Even though some clerics collaborated with the Communist regimes,[410] the Church's resistance and the leadership of Pope John Paul II have been credited with hastening the downfall of communist governments across Europe in 1991.[411] The rise to power of the Communists in China in 1949 led to the expulsion of all foreign missionaries.[412] The new government also created the Patriotic Church whose unilaterally appointed bishops were initially rejected by Rome before many of them were accepted.[412][413][414] The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s led to the closure of all religious establishments. When Chinese churches eventually reopened they remained under the control of the Communist Party's Patriotic Church, and many Catholic pastors and priests continued to be sent to prison for refusing to renounce allegiance to Rome.[413]
Second Vatican Council and beyond
The Catholic Church initiated a comprehensive process of reform under Pope John XXIII.[415] Intended as a continuation of the First Vatican Council, the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), developed into an engine of modernization, making pronouncements on religious freedom, the nature of the Church and the mission of the laity.[415] The role of the bishops of the Church was brought into renewed prominence, especially when seen collectively, as the college of the successors of the Apostles in teaching and governing the Church. This college does not exist without its head, the successor of St. Peter (the Pope). It also permitted the Latin liturgical rites to use vernacular languages as well as Latin during Mass and other sacraments.[416] Christian unity became a greater priority.[417] In addition to finding more common ground with the various Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church has reopened discussions regarding the possibility of reconciliation between the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church.[418]
Changes to old rites and ceremonies following Vatican II produced a variety of responses. Although most Catholics "accepted the changes more or less gracefully", some stopped going to church and others tried to preserve what they perceived to be the "true precepts of the Church".[419] The latter form the basis of today's Traditionalist Catholic groups, which believe that the reforms of Vatican II have gone too far. Liberal Catholics form another dissenting group, and feel that the Vatican II reforms did not go far enough. The liberal views of theologians such as Hans Küng, and Charles Curran, led to Church withdrawal of their authorization to teach as Catholics.[420]
In the 1960s, growing social awareness and politicization in the Church in Latin America gave birth to liberation theology, a movement often identified with Gustavo Gutiérrez who was pivotal in expounding the melding of Marxism and Catholic social teaching. A cornerstone of the Liberation Theology were ecclesial base communities, groups uniting clergy and laity in social and political action. Although the movement garnered some support among Latin American bishops, it was never officially endorsed by any of the Latin American Bishops’ Conferences. At the 1979 Conference of Latin American Bishops in Puebla, Mexico, Pope John Paul II and conservative bishops attending the conference attempted to rein in the more radical elements of liberation theology; however, the conference did make a formal commitment to a "preferential option for the poor".[421] Archbishop Óscar Romero, a supporter of the movement, became the region's most famous contemporary martyr in 1980, when he was murdered by forces allied with the government of El Salvador while saying Mass.[422] In Managua, Nicaragua, Pope John Paul II criticized elements of Liberation Theology and the Nicaraguan Catholic clergy's involvement in the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI (as Cardinal Ratzinger) have denounced the movement.[423] Pope John Paul II maintained that the Church, in its efforts to champion the poor, should not do so by advocating violence or engaging in partisan politics.[424] Liberation Theology is still alive in Latin America today, although the Church now faces the challenge of Pentecostal revival in much of the region.[423]
The sexual revolution of the 1960s precipitated Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) which rejected the use of contraception, including sterilization, claiming these work against the intimate relationship and moral order of husband and wife by directly opposing God's will.[425] It approved Natural Family Planning as a legitimate means to limit family size.[425] Abortion was condemned by the Church as early as the first century, again in the fourteenth century and again in 1995 with Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life).[426] This encyclical condemned the "culture of death" which the pope often used to describe the societal embrace of contraception, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, capital punishment, and genocide.[426][427] The Church's rejection of the use of condoms has provoked criticism, especially with respect to countries where the incidence of AIDS and HIV has reached epidemic proportions. The Church maintains that in countries like Kenya and Uganda, where behavioral changes are encouraged alongside condom use, greater progress in controlling the disease has been made than in those countries solely promoting condoms.[428][429] Feminists disagreed with these and other Church teachings and, with a coalition of American nuns, called on the Church to consider the ordination of women.[430] They stated that many Church documents contained anti-female prejudice and studies were conducted to discover how this may have developed as it was deemed contrary to the openness of Jesus.[430] These events led Pope John Paul II to issue the 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity of Women), which declared that women had a different, yet equally important role in the Church.[431][432] In 1994 the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (On Ordination to the Priesthood) further explained that the Church follows the example of Jesus, who chose only men for the specific priestly duty.[184][433][434]
The documents of the Second Vatican Council expressed a new ecumenical openness toward Protestant and Orthodox Christians as well as non-Christian Jews and Muslims. In the years since, major projects have been undertaken with these major religious groups to improve relationships and establish areas of theological agreement and practical cooperation. Some Eastern churches have reunited with the Catholic Church.[285] The Orthodox and Catholic churches lifted their mutual excommunications in 1965, although remain in schism.[435]
Since the end of the twentieth century, sex abuse by Catholic clergy has been the subject of media coverage, legal action, and public debate in Australia, Ireland and the United States.[436]
Present
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Wydrome2000.jpg/250px-Wydrome2000.jpg)
The Pope remains an international leader who regularly receives heads of state from around the world. As the head of the Holy See, he occasionally addresses the United Nations where the Holy See is the only non-member observer state with all the rights of full membership except voting.[437] The 2005 election of Pope Benedict XVI saw a continuation of the policies of his predecessors. His first encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) discussed the various forms of love and re-emphasized marriage and the centrality of charity to the Church's mission.[56]
Following outcry from Muslims over Pope Benedict's Regensburg address, in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor's remarks critical of Islam, a May 2008 summit between the pope and a delegation of Muslims came to an agreement that religion is essentially non-violent, and that violence can be justified neither by reason nor by faith.[438] In October 2009, the Vatican announced the creation of new ecclesiastical structures to receive Anglican converts to the Catholic Church.[439][440]
The Church also sponsors the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which provides the Pope with information on scientific matters[235] and whose international membership includes British physicist Stephen Hawking and Nobel laureates such as U.S. physicist Charles Hard Townes. In politics, the Church actively encourages support for candidates who would "protect human life, promote family life, pursue social justice, and practice solidarity" which translate into support for traditional Christian views of marriage, welcoming and support for the poor, and supporting those who oppose abortion.[441]
Notes
- ^ There is some ambiguity about the title "Catholic Church", since the Church is not the only institution to claim catholicity. The Church is referred to and refers to itself in various ways, in part depending upon circumstance. The Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), from which we get "Catholic", means "universal".[1] It was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early second century.[2] Since the East-West Schism, the Western Church has been known as "Catholic", while the Eastern Church has been known as "Orthodox".[3] Following the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the church in communion with the Bishop of Rome used the name "Catholic" to distinguish itself from the various Protestant churches.[3] The name "Catholic Church", rather than "Roman Catholic Church", is usually[citation needed] the term that the Church uses in its own documents. It appears in the title of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[4] It is also the term that Pope Paul VI used when signing the documents of the Second Vatican Council.[5][6][7] Especially in English-speaking countries, the Church is regularly referred to as the "Roman" Catholic Church; occasionally, it refers to itself in the same way.[8] At times, this can help distinguish the Church from other churches that also claim catholicity. Hence this has been the title used in some documents involving ecumenical relations. However, the name "Roman Catholic Church" is disliked by many Catholics, as a label applied to them by others to suggest that theirs is only one of several catholic churches, and to imply that Catholic allegiance to the Pope renders them in some way untrustworthy.[9] Within the Church, the name "Roman Church", in the strictest sense, refers to the Diocese of Rome.[10][11]
- ^ The 2007 Pontifical Yearbook states that there are 1.115 billion Catholics worldwide.[12] The CIA World Factbook, which relies on worldwide census' figures, provides a similar estimate.[13] Estimates from other reliable sources suggests that the Catholic Church accounts for over half[14] of all Christians worldwide.
- ^ The Tridentine Mass was the ordinary form of the Roman-Rite Mass since the 16th century and though superseded in 1969 by the Roman Missal of Paul VI, it continues to be offered according to that of 1962, as authorised by the documents Quattuor Abhinc Annos (1984), Ecclesia Dei (1988)[128] and Summorum Pontificum (2007).
- ^ Protestants may receive Catholic sacraments only if all the following circumstances are present: (1) the person is in danger of death or, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or the conference of bishops, some other grave necessity, (2) they cannot approach a minister of their own denomination, (3) they freely ask for the sacrament on their own accord, (4) they truly believe what the Catholic Church teaches regarding the sacraments, and (5) they have the proper disposition to receive them.[139][140]
- ^ There is no official list of popes, but the Annuario Pontificio, published every year by the Vatican, contains a list that is generally considered to be the most authoritative. It is provided here. The Annuario Pontificio lists Benedict XVI, the current pope as of this writing, as the 265th pope of Rome. In 2001 a rigorous study was made by the Catholic Church into the history of the papacy.[158] Based on that research, in 2008 there have been 265 Popes and 267 pontificates.
- ^ A bishop can be one who holds the position of pope, cardinal (normally), patriarch, primate, archbishop, or metropolitan, as well, as ordinary diocesan bishop, auxiliary bishop or titular bishop.
- ^ Based on the Christ's example and his teaching as given in Matthew 19:11–12 and to St. Paul, who wrote of the advantages celibacy allowed a man in serving the Lord,[176] celibacy was "held in high esteem" from the Church's beginnings. It is considered a kind of spiritual marriage with Christ, a concept further popularized by the early Christian theologian Origen. Clerical celibacy began to be demanded in the 4th century, including papal decretals beginning with Pope Siricius.[177] In the 11th century, mandatory celibacy was enforced as part of efforts to reform the medieval church.[178]
- ^ The Church initially accepted slavery as part of the social fabric of society during the Roman Empire and early antiquity, campaigning primarily for humane treatment of slaves but also admonishing slaves to behave appropriately towards their masters. During the early medieval period, this attitude changed to one which opposed enslavement of Christians but still tolerated enslavement of non-Christians. Between the 6th and 12th century there was a growing sentiment that slavery was not compatible with Christian conceptions of charity and justice; some Catholics such as Saint Bathilde, Saint Anskar, Saint Wulfstan and Saint Anselm campaigned against slavery and the slave trade. The Middle Ages witnessed the emergence of orders of monks such as the Mercedarians who were founded for the purpose of freeing Christians who had been enslaved by Muslims. By the end of the Medieval period, enslavement of Christians had been converted to serfdom throughout most of Europe. Catholic teaching began to turn towards the abolition of slavery beginning in 1435 and culminating in three major pronouncements against slavery by Pope Paul III in 1537. The papacy endorsed Portuguese and Spanish taking of Muslim slaves; however, a number of Popes issued papal bulls condemning enslavement and mistreatment of Native Americans by Spanish and Portuguese colonials. These bulls were largely ignored despite the threat of excommunication. Nonetheless, Catholic missionaries such as the Jesuits worked to alleviate the suffering of Native American slaves in the New World. In spite of a resounding condemnation of slavery by Pope Gregory XVI in his bull In Supremo Apostolatus issued in 1839, some American bishops continued to support slaveholding interests until the abolition of slavery.[225] The Church has maintained its teaching against slavery and continues to campaign against it in whatever form it takes around the world.
- ^ The Roman Curia is a "bureaucracy that assists the pope in his responsibilities of governing the universal Church. Although early in the history of the Church bishops of Rome had assistants to help them in the exercise of their ministry, it was not until 1588 that formal organization of the Roman Curia was accomplished by Pope Sixtus V. The most recent reorganization of the Curia was completed in 1988 by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus".[343] The Curia functioned as the civil government of the Papal States until 1870.[344]
Footnotes
- ^ "Concise Oxford English Dictionary" (online version). Oxford University Press. 2005. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
- ^ Marthaler, Berard (1993). The Creed. Twenty-Third Publications. p. 303. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b McBrien, Richard (2008). The Church. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available here [1]. Quote: The use of the adjective "Catholic" as a modifier of "Church" became divisive only after the East-West Schism ... and the Protestant Reformation ... In the former case, the West claimed for itself the title Catholic Church, while the East appropriated the name Holy Orthodox Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were called Protestant.
- ^ Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2003). "Catechism of the Catholic Church." Retrieved on: 2009-05-01.
- ^ The Vatican. Documents of the II Vatican Council. Retrieved on: 2009-05-04. Note: The Pope's signature appears in the Latin version.
- ^ Declaration on Christian Formation, published by National Catholic Welfare Conference, Washington DC 1965, page 13
- ^ Whitehead, Kenneth (1996). ""How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name?" Eternal Word Television Network. Retrieved on 9 May 2008.
- ^ Example: 1977 Agreement with Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury
- ^ Walsh, Michael (2005). Roman Catholicism. Routledge. p. 19. Online version available here [2]
- ^ Beal, John (2002). New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law. Paulist Press. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
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ignored (help) p. 468 - ^ The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: "There is a further aspect of the term Roman Catholic that needs consideration. The Roman Church can be used to refer, not to the Church universal insofar as it possesses a primate who is bishop of Rome, but to the local Church of Rome, which has the privilege of its bishop being also the primate of the whole Church."
- ^ a b "Number of Catholics and Priests Rises". Zenit News Agency. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b "CIA World Factbook". United States Government Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents". adherents.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ^ Schreck, pp. 158–159.
- ^ a b Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium chapter 3, section 22". Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Code of Canon Law, canons 331 and 336
- ^ Teaching with Authority, by Richard R. Gaillardetz, p. 57
- ^ a b Schreck, p. 153.
- ^ Barry, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Paragraphs number 857-859 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraphs number 551-553 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraphs number 860-862 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraph number 1562 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraphs number 880-882 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Schreck, p. 152.
- ^ Barry, p. 37, pp. 43–44.
- ^ a b Matthew 16:18–19
- ^ John 16:12–13
- ^ a b Marthaler, preface
- ^ O'Collins, p. v (preface).
- ^ Vatican Council, Second (1964). "Lumen Gentium paragraph 14". Vatican. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Paragraph number 846 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraph number 819 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Kreeft, pp. 110–112.
- ^ a b Kreeft, p. 98, quote "The fundamental reason for being a Catholic is the historical fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, was God's invention, not man's ... As the Father gave authority to Christ (Jn 5:22; Mt 28:18–20), Christ passed it on to his apostles (Lk 10:16), and they passed it on to the successors they appointed as bishops."
- ^ a b c Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ^ Vatican Council I (1996). "Dogmatic Constitution Pastor aeternus on the Church of Christ". EWTN. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ^ First Vatican Council (18 July 1870). "Pastor aeternus". EWTN. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- ^ Duffy, p. 1.
- ^ a b Barry, p. 46, quote "Jesus entrusted his Church to his apostles, his chosen leaders whom he had formed in faith ... he assured them that the Holy Spirit would always be with them ... Jesus told his apostles "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations ... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. Matthew 28: 18–20 With the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Church came into the world. The Church was then, as it is now, the visible sign of Christ's continuing work in the world. Jesus had handed over the roles of leadership and service in his community to Peter and the other apostles."
- ^ a b Franzen pp. 17–18
- ^ a b Orlandis, p. 11 quote "But Jesus not only founded a religion – Christianity; he founded a Church. ... The Church was grounded on the Apostle Peter to whom Christ promised the primacy – 'and on this rock I will build my Church (Mt 16:18)'".
- ^ Eberhardt, p. 60, quote "Christ instituted a hierarchy to rule, teach, and sanctify His Church. Since these functions were essential to Christianity, this hierarchical office was de jure perpetual. De facto, the apostles designated their immediate successors by selecting, training, and ordaining vicars, to whom at death they committed their churches. These apostolic vicars, at first themselves styled apostles, carried on the missionary labors of the original Twelve. 'Formerly they called the same persons priests and bishops; those who are now called bishops they called apostles. In course of time they left the name of apostle to those who were the apostles in the strict sense, and applied the name of bishop to those formerly called apostles' (Theodoret, On I Timothy, iii, 1). The beginning of this transmission of office can be seen in St. Paul's pastoral charges to Sts. Titus and Timothy, and we are assured that St. John 'used to journey by request to neighboring districts of the Gentiles, in some places to appoint bishops, in others to regulate whole churches' (Clement, Quis Dives, 42). We are assured by St. Clement of Rome that such a transfer actually took place: 'Our apostles also knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife about the episcopal office. For this reason, then, inasmuch as they had perfect foreknowledge, they named those previously mentioned (episkopoi and diaconoi) that when these should fall asleep (in the Lord), other approved men would succeed them ...'(Corinthians 44). Thus was perpetuated a legitimate divine delegation: 'The apostles preached the Gospel to us from the Lord, Jesus Christ; Christ from God. Christ, then, was sent by God, and the apostles by Christ' (ibid., 42). Now it is the bishops who are sent by the apostles so that subsequently St. Irenaeus could challenge heretics: 'We are able to name those appointed bishops by the apostles in the churches, and their successors down to our own times' (A. H., III, 3). Tertullian made a similar claim (Prescriptions, 32, 36)."
- ^ Daniel William O'Connor. "Saint Peter the Apostle." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 27 Nov. 2009 [3].
- ^ Vidmar, p. 39-40 quote "Tradition and considerable evidence has it that the apostles became heads of local churches: James the Great and James the Less in Jerusalem, John in Antioch, Mark in Alexandria, Peter and Paul in Rome. Their authority was then passed on to successors. This is referred to as 'apostolic succession.' Clement in 95 AD, wrote to the Corinthians that the bishops were the successors to the apostles, who were the successors to Christ. Irenaeus and Tertullian both mention lists of bishops who succeeded Peter and Paul in Rome, though the lists are slightly different: Linus, Cletus, Clement, Evaristus, Sixtus. ... Both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that Peter had an authority that superseded that of the other apostles. ... The evidence that Peter was 'bishop' of Rome is corroborated by both positive and 'negative' evidence. (author cites evidence)... Several pieces of evidence indicate that the Bishop of Rome even after Peter held some sort of preeminence among other bishops. (author cites evidence)"
- ^ Kung, pp. 4–5
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 30 quote "The traditional Catholic view of the organization of the Church is that Jesus himself organized it by appointing the twelve apostles and giving them authority to assume control of the Church after his death. This is the picture presupposed and developed by Luke particularly; but many scholars, including some Catholic ones, view this conception as a retrojection of the later-developed Church system into the primitive era."
- ^ Kelly, p. 6. quote: "Ignatius assumed that Peter and Paul wielded special authority over the Roman church, while Irenaeus claimed that they jointly founded it and inaugurated its succession of bishops. Nothing, however, is known of their constitutional roles, least of all Peter's as presumed leader of the community."
- ^ Duffy, p. 7.
- ^ Duffy, paperback edition p. 13, quote "There is no sure way to settle on a date by which the office of ruling bishop had emerged in Rome, and so to name the first Pope, but the process was certainly complete by the time of Anicetus in the mid-150s, when Polycarp, the aged Bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome, and he and Anicetus debated amicably the question of the date of Easter."
- ^ a b Norman, p. 11.
- ^ Matthew 28:19–20
- ^ Paragraph number 849 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Norman, p. 12.
- ^ a b Benedict XVI, Pope (2005). "Deus Caritas Est". Vatican. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Barry, p. 98, quote: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me ... amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Cite error: The named reference "OneFaith98" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Kreeft, p. 17.
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (1997). "Laetamur Magnopere". Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Richardson, p. 132.
- ^ Langan, p. 118.
- ^ Parry, p. 292.
- ^ Collinson, pp. 254–260.
- ^ Schreck, p. 131.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 777–778 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium chapter 2". Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Schreck, pp. 146–147.
- ^ a b c Ware, p. 142. Cite error: The named reference "McManners371" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Chadwick, Henry p. 37, quote: "In Acts 15 scripture recorded the apostles meeting in synod to reach a common policy about the Gentile mission."
- ^ Duffy, p. 275, p. 281.
- ^ a b Schreck, pp. 15–19.
- ^ Brodd, Jefferey (2003). World Religions. Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press. ISBN 978-0-88489-725-5.
- ^ a b Schreck, p. 21.
- ^ Schreck, p. 23.
- ^ Schreck, p. 30.
- ^ Paragraph number 1131 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Kreeft, pp. 298–299.
- ^ Mongoven, p. 68.
- ^ Schreck, p. 45.
- ^ Barry, p. 7.
- ^ Matthew 22:37–40
- ^ Barry, pp. 91–92.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 51.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 390, 392, 405 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Schreck, p. 57.
- ^ a b Schreck, p. 68.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 49.
- ^ a b Kreeft, p. 308.
- ^ a b Kreeft, pp. 71–72.
- ^ McGrath, pp. 4–6.
- ^ John 10:1–30
- ^ Schreck, pp. 264–265.
- ^ a b Paragraph numbers 1850, 1857 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
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: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Barry, p. 77.
- ^ Paragraph number 608 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Schreck, p. 113.
- ^ John 1:29
- ^ Leviticus 4:35
- ^ Numbers 15:5
- ^ Barry, p. 26.
- ^ Schreck, p. 100.
- ^ Schreck, p. 242.
- ^ Kreeft, pp. 343–344.
- ^ Paragraph number 1310 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraph numbers 1385, 1389 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ John 14:26
- ^ Barry, p. 37.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 88.
- ^ a b Schreck, p. 230.
- ^ a b Schreck, p. 277.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p CCC, sec. 1831, 1303. Cite error: The named reference "Catechism of the Catholic Church" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f Schreck, pp. 379–386.
- ^ a b Matthew 25:35–36
- ^ a b c d Schreck, p. 397. Cite error: The named reference "Schreck397" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Barry, p. 105.
- ^ Luke 23:39–43
- ^ Kreeft, p. 373.
- ^ Schreck, p. 141.
- ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church #2041-2043
- ^ Annabel Miller, Anyone for confession? The Tablet, 17 March 2001 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/5358
- ^ Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice among U.S. Catholics, CARA, Georgetown University, February 2008 http://cara.georgetown.edu/reconciliation.pdf
- ^ Paragraph numbers 2041–2043 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Schreck, p. 193.
- ^ Paragraph number 1200–1209 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Kreeft, pp. 326–327. Cite error: The named reference "Kreeft326" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Barry, p. 116. Cite error: The named reference "OneFaith116" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Kreeft, p. 320.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1324–1331 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ See Luke 22:19, Matthew 26:27–28, Mark 14:22–24, 1Corinthians 11:24–25
- ^ Schreck, pp. 189–190, quote: "Some of the earliest Christian writings, such as the Didache, or the 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,' chapters 9–10 (late first and early second century), and the First Apology of Justin Martyr, chapters 65–67 (about A.D. 155), describe the primitive form of the Mass and its prayers in a way that bears striking resemblance to the basic format of the Mass today. In fact, the main elements of St. Justin's description of the Mass are almost identical to the form Catholics now employ."
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1345–1346 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Schreck, pp. 232–239.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 328.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 325.
- ^ a b Kreeft, p. 331.
- ^ a b Paragraph numbers 1399–1401 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Canon 844(4)". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
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ignored (help) - ^ Paragraph numbers 1400 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
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- ^ "Canon 276". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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- ^ a b c d Paragraph numbers 2697–2724 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Barry, pp. 122–123.
- ^ a b Schreck, pp. 199–200.
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- ^ a b Paragraph number 956 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
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- ^ Schreck, p. 368.
- ^ Baedeker, Rob (21 December 2007). "World's most-visited religious destinations". USA Today. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ Nolan, pp. 1–3.
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- ^ "Corrections Made to Official List of Popes". ZENIT. 2001-06-05. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ "Country profile: Vatican". BBC News. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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- ^ Barry, p. 52.
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- ^ Committee on the Diaconate. "Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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- ^ Schreck, p. 255.
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- ^ "Canons 232–293". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bokenkotter, p. 496.
- ^ a b Pope Benedict XVI, pp. 180–181, quote: "The difference between the discipleship of the Twelve and the discipleship of the women is obvious; the tasks assigned to each group are quite different. Yet Luke makes clear—and the other Gospels also show this in all sorts of ways—that 'many' women belonged to the more intimate community of believers and that their faith-filled following of Jesus was an essential element of that community, as would be vividly illustrated at the foot of the Cross and the Resurrection."
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (1988). "Christifideles Laici". Vatican. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Paragraph numbers 1623 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Schreck, p. 350.
- ^ Schreck, p. 315.
- ^ a b c Pontifical Council for the Laity (2000). "International Associations of the Faithful". Vatican. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ USCCB, p. 9.
- ^ a b c "Canons 573–746". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canons 573–602, 605–709". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canon 654". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canon 587". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canon 605". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canon 11". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Barry, p. 56.
- ^ Gledhill, Ruth (22 December 2007). "Tony Blair converts to Catholicism". Times Newspapers Ltd. London. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Catholic Dictionary 2002, pp. 453-54, Reverend Peter M. J. Stravinskas (ed.)
- ^ "Excommunication". Catholic World News. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Canon 1364, 1367". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Paragraph number 1463 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
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ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Pro-abortion politicians excluded from Communion: Pope". Catholic World News. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Froehle, pp. 17–20, pp. 30–35, pp. 41–43.
- ^ "Vatican: Priest numbers show steady, moderate increase". Catholic News Service. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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- ^ Bazar, Emily (16 April 2008). "Immigrants Make Pilgrimage to Pope". USA Today. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Duffy, preface
- ^ "Factfile: Roman Catholics around the world". BBC News. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
- ^ Froehle, p. 132.
- ^ Gardner, p. 148
- ^ Pogatchnik, Shawn (13 April 2005). "Catholic Priest Shortage". CBS News. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Schoenherr et al, p. 3.
- ^ Rama, Anahi (24 December 2007). "Mexico's Catholic Church faces priest shortage". Reuters News. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- ^ Thompson, Anne (4 April 2005). "Priest shortage plagues U.S. Catholic Church". NBC News. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ His Holiness Benedict XVI (11 September 2006). "Homily of the Holy Father". Marian vespers with the religious and seminarians of Bavaria. The Holy See. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ "Vatican: After decline, number of priests rises slowly". USA Today. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
- ^ Number of Catholics and Priests Rises:Pontifical Yearbook of 2007 Releases Data, February 14, 2007 http://www.jknirp.com/numcat.htm
- ^ Froehle, p. 10.
- ^ Hart Milman, p. 353.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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requires|url=
(help) - ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 56.
- ^ a b Noble, p. 230.
- ^ Noble, p. 445.
- ^ Stearns, p. 65.
- ^ Hastings, p. 309.
- ^ Stark, p. 104.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 61.
- ^ a b c Noble, p. 582, pp. 593–595.
- ^ Woods, p. 102.
- ^ a b Mason, Michael (18 August 2008). "How to Teach Science to the Pope". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Woods, pp. 115–27.
- ^ Duffy, p. 133.
- ^ Hall, p. 100.
- ^ a b Murray, p. 45.
- ^ a b Vidmar, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Schreck, p. 130.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 18, quote: "The story of how this tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity."
- ^ Wilken, p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than 40 Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy."
- ^ White (2004). Pg 127.
- ^ Ehrman (2005). Pg 187.
- ^ McGrath (2006). Pp 174–175.
- ^ Davidson, p. 169, p. 181.
- ^ Norman, pp. 27–28, quote: "A distinguished succession of theological apologists added intellectual authority to the resources at the disposal of the papacy, at just that point in its early development when the absence of a centralized teaching office could have fractured the universal witness to a single body of ideas. At the end of the first century there was St. Clement of Rome, third successor to St. Peter in the see; in the second century there was St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyons and St. Justin Martyr; in the fourth century St. Augustine of Hippo, the greatest theologian of the Early Church."
- ^ Wilken, p. 282.
- ^ Collins, p. 53–55.
- ^ a b Davidson, p. 341.
- ^ Davidson, p. 155, quote: "For all the scattered nature of the churches, a very large number of believers in apostolic times lived no more than a week or so's travel from one of the main hubs of the Christian movement: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Ephesus, Corinth or Philippi. Communities received regular visits from itinerant teachers and leaders. This unity was focussed upon the essentials of belief in Jesus.
- ^ a b "Rome (early Christian)." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Chadwick, Henry p. 361, quote: "Towards the latter part of the first century, Rome's presiding cleric named Clement wrote on behalf of his church to remonstrate with the Corinthian Christians ... Clement apologized not for intervening but for not having acted sooner. Moreover, during the second century the Roman community's leadership was evident in its generous alms to poorer churches. About 165 they erected monuments to their martyred apostles ... Roman bishops were already conscious of being custodians of the authentic tradition or true interpretation of the apostolic writings. In the conflict with Gnosticism, Rome played a decisive role and likewise in the deep division in Asia Minor created by the claims of the Montanist prophets to be the organs of the Holy Spirit's direct utterances."
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 40–42, quote: "Several pieces of evidence indicate that the Bishop of Rome even after Peter held some sort of preeminence among other bishops. ...(lists several historical documents) ... None of these examples, taken by themselves, would be sufficient to prove the primacy of the successors of Peter and Paul. Taken together, however, they point to a Roman authority which was recognized in the early church as going beyond that of other churches."
- ^ Barker, p. 846.
- ^ Schatz, pp. 9–20.
- ^ Duffy, p. 18.
- ^ Wilken, p. 284.
- ^ Wilken, p. 286.
- ^ Herring, p. 60.
- ^ Wilkin, p. 283
- ^ Collins, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Duffy, p. 35.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 84–93.
- ^ Noble, p. 214.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 35–36. Cite error: The named reference "Bokenkotter223" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Le Goff, pp. 5–20.
- ^ a b Le Goff, p. 21.
- ^ Woods, p. 27.
- ^ Le Goff, p. 120.
- ^ Duffy, pp. 50–52.
- ^ a b Mayr-Harting, pp. 92–94.
- ^ a b Vidmar, pp. 82–83, quote: "How it [monasticism] came to Ireland is a matter of some debate. The liturgical and literary evidence is strong that it came directly from Egypt without the moderating influence of the Roman Church."
- ^ Johnson, p. 18.
- ^ a b Johns, p. 166 Cite error: The named reference "McManners187" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Vidmar, p. 94.
- ^ a b Vidmar, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b Duffy, p. 63, p. 74.
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 107–111.
- ^ Duffy, p. 78.
- ^ Duffy, pp. 81–82.
- ^ Duffy, p. 91.
- ^ Collins, p. 103.
- ^ a b Vidmar, p. 104
- ^ Duffy, p. 119, p. 131.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 140–141.
- ^ Duffy, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Woods, pp. 40–44.
- ^ Le Goff, pp. 80–82.
- ^ Le Goff, p. 225.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 116–120.
- ^ Noble, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Riley-Smith, p. 8.
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Le Goff, pp. 65–67.
- ^ Tyerman, pp. 525–560.
- ^ "Pope sorrow over Constantinople". BBC News. 29 June 2004. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Norman, pp. 62–65.
- ^ a b Norman, p. 93.
- ^ Le Goff, p. 87.
- ^ Woods, pp. 44–48.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 158–159.
- ^ Henry Charles Lea, 'A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages', Volume 1, (1888), p. 145, quote: "The murder of the legate Pierre de Castelnau sent a thrill of horror throughout Christendom...Of its details, however, the accounts are so contradictory that it is impossible to speak of it with precision."
- ^ a b Morris, p. 214
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 144–147, quote: "The Albigensian Crusade, as it became known, lasted until 1219. The pope, Innocent III, was a lawyer and saw both how easily the crusade had gotten out of hand and how it could be mitigated. He encouraged local rulers to adopt anti-heretic legislation and bring people to trial. By 1231 a papal inquisition began, and the friars were given charge of investigating tribunals."
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 132, quote: "A crusade was proclaimed against these Albigenses, as they were sometimes called ... It was in connection with this crusade that the papal system of Inquisition originated – a special tribunal appointed by the Popes and charged with ferreting out heretics. Until then the responsibility devolved on the local bishops. However, Innocent found it necessary in coping with the Albigensian threat to send out delegates who were entrusted with special powers that made them independent of the episcopal authority. In 1233 Gregory IX organized this ad hoc body into a system of permanent inquisitors, who were usually chosen from among the mendicant friars, Dominicans and Franciscans, men who were often marked by a high degree of courage, integrity, prudence, and zeal."
- ^ Black, pp. 200–202.
- ^ Kamen, p. 48–49.
- ^ a b Vidmar, pp. 150–152.
- ^ Kamen, p. 59, p. 203.
- ^ Kamen, p. 49, quote: "In this bull the pope protested ... the Inquisition has for some time been moved not by zeal for the faith and the salvation of souls, but by lust for wealth, and that many true and faithful Christians, on the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other lower and even less proper persons, have without any legitimate proof been thrust into secular prisons, tortured and condemned as relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and property and handed over to the secular arm to be executed, to the peril of souls, setting a pernicious example, and causing disgust to many."
- ^ Norman, p. 93, quote: "... subsequent Protestant propaganda for centuries identified the entire Catholic Church in Spain, and elsewhere, with their occasional excesses. By the 19th century political liberals and religious dissenters took the 'crimes' of the Inquisition to be the ultimate proofs of the vile character of 'popery', and an enormous popular literature on the subject poured from the presses of Europe and North America. At its most active, in the 16th century, nevertheless, the Inquisition was regarded as far more enlightened than the secular courts: if you denied the Trinity and repented you were given penance; if you stole a sheep and repented you were hung. It has been calculated that only one per cent of those who appeared before the Inquisition tribunals eventually received death penalties. But the damage wrought by propaganda has been effective, and today the 'Spanish' Inquisition, like the Crusades, persists in supplying supposedly discreditable episodes to damn the memory of the Catholic past."
- ^ Morris, p. 215, quote: "The inquisition has come to occupy such a role in European demonology that we must be careful to keep it in proportion. ... and the surviving records indicate that the proportion of executions was not high."
- ^ Vidmar, p. 146, quote: "The extent of the Inquisition trials for heresy has been highly exaggerated. Once the Inquisition was established ... the pyromania which had characterized lay attempts to suppress heresy came to an end. Ninety percent of the sentences were "canonical" or church-related penances: fasting, pilgrimage, increased attendance at Mass, the wearing of distinctive clothing or badges, etc. The number of those who were put to death was very small indeed. The best estimate is that, of every hundred people sentenced, one person was executed, and ten were given prison terms. Even these latter could have their sentences reduced once the inquisitors left town."
- ^ Peters, p. 112
- ^ a b c Bokenkotter, p. 180-181
- ^ Duffy, p. 122.
- ^ Morris, p. 232.
- ^ Vidmar, p. 155.
- ^ a b Collinson, p. 240
- ^ Norman, p. 86.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 201–205.
- ^ Duffy, p. 149.
- ^ a b Vidmar, p. 184.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 215.
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 196–200.
- ^ a b Vidmar, p. 233.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 233.
- ^ Duffy, pp. 177–178.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 235–237.
- ^ Moyes, James (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- ^ Schama, pp. 309–311.
- ^ Vidmar, p. 220.
- ^ Noble, p. 519.
- ^ Vidmar, pp. 225–256.
- ^ Solt, p. 149
- ^ Judith F. Champ, 'Catholicism', in John Cannon (ed.), The Oxford Companion to British History, rev. ed. (Oxford: University Press, 2002), p. 176.
- ^ Norman, pp. 131–132.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 242–244.
- ^ Norman, p. 81.
- ^ Vidmar, p. 237.
- ^ Lahey, p. 1125.
- ^ "Brief Overview of the Administrative History of the Holy See". University of Michigan. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
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ignored (help) - ^ Norman, pp. 91–92.
- ^ a b Johnson, p. 87.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 251.
- ^ a b c d Duffy, pp. 188–191.
- ^ Thomas, pp. 65–66.
- ^ Koschorke, p. 13, p. 283.
- ^ Dussel, Enrique, p. 39, p. 59.
- ^ a b Noble, pp. 450–451.
- ^ Woods, p. 135.
- ^ a b c Koschorke, p. 287.
- ^ Johansen, p. 109, p. 110, quote: "In the Americas, the Catholic priest Bartolome de las Casas avidly encouraged enquiries into the Spanish conquest's many cruelties. Las Casas chronicled Spanish brutality against the Native peoples in excruciating detail."
- ^ Woods, p. 137.
- ^ Chadwick, Owen, p. 327.
- ^ Dussel, p. 45, pp. 52–53, quote: "The missionary Church opposed this state of affairs from the beginning, and nearly everything positive that was done for the benefit of the indigenous peoples resulted from the call and clamor of the missionaries. The fact remained, however, that widespread injustice was extremely difficult to uproot ... Even more important than Bartolome de Las Casas was the Bishop of Nicaragua, Antonio de Valdeviso, who ultimately suffered martyrdom for his defense of the Indian."
- ^ Koschorke, p. 21.
- ^ Chadwick, Owen, The Reformation, p. 190.
- ^ Johansen, p. 110, quote: "In the Papal bull Sublimis deus (1537), Pope Paul III declared that Indians were to be regarded as fully human, and that their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans. This edict also outlawed slavery of Indians in any form ..."
- ^ Koschorke, p. 290.
- ^ Jackson, p. 14.
- ^ Jackson, p. 13.
- ^ Koschorke, p. 3, p. 17.
- ^ a b Koschorke, pp. 31–32.
- ^ McManners, p. 318.
- ^ a b Norman, pp. 111–112.
- ^ a b Duffy, p. 221.
- ^ a b Noble, p. 453.
- ^ a b McManners, p. 328.
- ^ Duffy, p. 193.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 295.
- ^ a b Pollard, pp. 7–8.
- ^ a b c Bokenkotter, pp. 283–285.
- ^ Collins, p. 176.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 293–295 quote, "But though the Church suffered grave damage, the effect of the Revolution on the papacy was beneficial—in fact, it helped to create the more powerful papacy of the nineteenth century. ... And Pius VII greatly enhanced the papal image by his heroic stand against the tyrant. But more fundamental reasons were ultimately responsible. In shattering the ancient monarchies, the Revolution liberated the Church from servitude to Gallican monarchs .... With the end of the old order the popes could now make Rome once more the vital center of Catholicism and guide the Church back to its true spiritual mission. ... The era that began with the downfall of Napoleon witnessed a full-scale revival of the Catholic Church, a spiritual and intellectual renaissance that made it once more a vital institution and a powerful force in public affairs. It was an amazing reversal. The revolutionary period saw the Church stripped of its privileges, its Pope imprisoned, its property confiscated, its monasteries emptied, its priests and nuns slaughtered and driven into exile, its very existence called into question. And even though it was propped up again by Napoleon, it was treated by the Corsican adventurer as his handmaid: He humiliated the papacy, considered the bishops his creatures, even rewrote the Church's catechism and dictated the discipline it was to follow. But after Waterloo, the Church returned to health and vigor."
- ^ a b Duffy, pp. 214–216.
- ^ Duffy, p. 240.
- ^ Leith, p. 143.
- ^ Duffy, p. 232.
- ^ Fahlbusch, p. 729.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 306–307.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 386–387.
- ^ Hastings, pp. 397–410.
- ^ Bethell, Leslie (1984). The Cambridge history of Latin America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 528–529, 234. ISBN 0521232252.
- ^ Stacy, p. 139.
- ^ Kirkwood, Burton (2000). History of Mexico. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 101–192. ISBN 9781403962584.
- ^ Hamnett, Brian R (1999). Concise History of Mexico. Port Chester, NY: Cambridge University Pres. pp. 163–164. ISBN 0-521-58120.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: length (help) - ^ Norman, pp. 167–172.
- ^ Butler, Alban, Butler's lives of the saints, Vol 7, pp. 169–179
- ^ Chadwick, Owen p. 240.
- ^ Riasanovsky 634
- ^ a b Coppa, p. 132-7
- ^ Rhodes, p. 182-183
- ^ Rhodes, p. 197
- ^ Shirer, p. 235 quote "On July 25, five days after the ratification of the concordat, the German government promulgated a sterilization law, which particularly offended the Catholic Church. Five days later the first steps were taken to dissolve the Catholic Youth League. During the next years, thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and lay leaders were arrested, many of them on trumped-up charges of 'immorality' or 'smuggling foreign currency'. Erich Klausener, leader of Catholic Action, was, as we have seen, murdered in the June 30, 1934, purge. Scores of Catholic publications were suppressed, and even the sanctity of the confessional was violated by Gestapo agents. By the spring of 1937, the Catholic hierarchy, in Germany, which, like most of the Protestant clergy, had tried to co-operate with the new regime, was thoroughly disillusioned.
- ^ a b McGonigle, p. 172 quote "Hitler, of course flagrantly violated the rights of Catholics and others whenever it pleased him. Catholic Action groups were attacked by Hitler's police and Catholic schools were closed. Priests were persecuted and sent to concentration camps. ... On Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge was read in Catholic Churches in Germany. In effect it taught that the racial ideas of the leader (fuhrer) and totalitarianism stood in opposition to the Catholic faith. The letter let the world, and especially German Catholics, know clearly that the Church was harassed and persecuted, and that it clearly opposed the doctrines of Nazism."
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 389–392, quote "And when Hitler showed increasing belligerence toward the Church, Pius met the challenge with a decisiveness that astonished the world. His encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge was the 'first great official public document to dare to confront and criticize Nazism' and 'one of the greatest such condemnations ever issued by the Vatican.' Smuggled into Germany, it was read from all the Catholic pulpits on Palm Sunday in March 1937. It denounced the Nazi "myth of blood and soil" and decried its neopaganism, its war of annihilation against the Church, and even described the Fuhrer himself as a 'mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance'. The Nazis were infuriated, and in retaliation closed and sealed all the presses that had printed it and took numerous vindictive measures against the Church, including staging a long series of immorality trials of Catholic clergy."
- ^ Rhodes, p. 204-205 quote "Mit brennender Sorge did not prevaricate. Although it began mildly enough with an account of the broad aims of the Church, it went on to become one of the greatest condemnations of a national regime ever pronounced by the Vatican. Its vigorous language is in sharp contrast to the involved style in which encyclicals were normally written. The education question was fully and critically examined, and a long section devoted to disproving the Nazi theory of Blood and Soil (Blut und Boden) and the Nazi claim that faith in Germany was equivalent to faith in God. There were scathing references to Rosenberg's Myth of the Twentieth Century and its neo-paganism. The pressure exercised by the Nazi party on Catholic officials to betray their faith was lambasted as 'base, illegal and inhuman'. The document spoke of "a condition of spiritual oppression in Germany such as has never been seen before", of 'the open fight against the Confessional schools and the suppression of liberty of choice for those who desire a Catholic education'. 'With pressure veiled and open,' it went on, 'with intimidation, with promises of economic, professional, civil, and other advantages, the attachment of Catholics to the Faith, particularly those in government employment, is exposed to a violence as illegal as it is inhuman.' 'The calvary of the Church': 'The war of annihilation against the Catholic Faith'; 'The cult of idols'. The fulminations thundered down from the pulpits to the delighted congregations. Nor was the Fuhrer himself spared, for his 'aspirations to divinity', 'placing himself on the same level as Christ': 'a mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance' (widerliche Hochmut)."
- ^ Vidmar, p. 327 quote "Pius XI's greatest coup was in writing the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge ("With Burning Desire") in 1936, and having it distributed secretly and ingeniously by an army of motorcyclists, and read from the pulpit on Palm Sunday before the Nazis obtained a single copy. It stated (in German and not in the traditional Latin) that the Concordat with the Nazis was agreed to despite serious misgivings about Nazi integrity. It then went on to condemn the persecution of the church, the neopaganism of the Nazi ideology-especially its theory of racial superiority-and Hitler himself, calling him 'a mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance.'"
- ^ a b Vidmar, p. 329.
- ^ Cook, p. 983
- ^ Bokenkotter p. 192 quote "The end of the war saw the prestige of the papacy at an all-time high. Einstein, for instance, in an article in Time, paid tribute to Pius and noted that the Church alone 'stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign.' ... 'Rabbi Herzog, the chief rabbi of Israel, sent a message in February 1944 declaring "the people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness ... (is) doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history."' David Dalin cites these tributes as recognition of the work of the Holy See in saving hundreds of thousands of Jews."
- ^ Eakin, Emily (1 September 2001). "New Accusations Of a Vatican Role In Anti-Semitism; Battle Lines Were Drawn After Beatification of Pope Pius IX". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
- ^ Phayer, pp. 50–57
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 480–481, quote:"A recent article by American rabbi, David G. Dalin, challenges this judgement. He calls making Pius XII a target of moral outrage a failure of historical understanding, and he thinks Jews should reject any 'attempt to usurp the Holocaust' for the partisan purposes at work in this debate. Dalin surmises that well-known Jews such as Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Moshe Sharett, and Rabbi Isaac Herzog would likely have been shocked at these attacks on Pope Pius. ... Dalin points out that Rabbi Herzog, the chief rabbi of Israel, sent a message in February 1944 declaring 'the people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness ... (is) doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history.'" Dalin cites these tributes as recognition of the work of the Holy See in saving hundreds of thousands of Jews."
- ^ Deák, p. 182.
- ^ Dalin, p. 10
- ^ Smith, Craig (10 January 2007). "In Poland, New Wave of Charges Against Clerics". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ "Pope Stared Down Communism in Homeland – and Won". CBC News. April 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 356–358.
- ^ a b Chadwick, Owen pp. 259–260.
- ^ "China installs Pope-backed bishop", BBC News 21 Sept 2007, retrieved 08 Sept 2009[4]
- ^ a b Duffy, pp. 270–276.
- ^ Paul VI, Pope (4 December 1963). "Sacrosanctum Concilium". Vatican. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Duffy, Saints and Sinners (1997), p. 274.
- ^ "Roman Catholic–Eastern Orthodox Dialogue". Public Broadcasting Service. 14 July 2000. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Bokenkotter, p. 410.
- ^ Bauckham, p. 373.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 454–457.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 463.
- ^ a b Rohter, Larry (7 May 2007). "As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
- ^ "Liberation Theology". BBC. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ a b Paul VI, Pope (1968). "Humanae Vitae". Vatican. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ a b Bokenkotter, p. 27, p. 154, pp. 493–494.
- ^ "The Death Penalty Pro and Con: The Pope's Statement". PBS. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Dugger, Carol (18 May 2006). "Why is Kenya's AIDS rate plummeting?". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Wilson, Brenda (4 May 2004). "Study: Verbal Warnings Helped Curb AIDS in Uganda". National Public Radio. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ a b Bokenkotter, pp. 465–466.
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (1988). "Mulieris Dignitatem". Vatican. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Bokenkotter, p. 467.
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (22 May 1994). "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis". Vatican. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Cowell, Alan (31 May 1994). "Pope Rules Out Debate On Making Women Priests". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
- ^ Duffy, p. 278.
- ^ Bruni, p. 336.
- ^ "Pope urges global unity on crises". BBC News. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ "Pope in dialogue with Iranian officials". Irishtimes. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help) - ^ Ivereigh, Austen (21 October 2009). "Rome's new home for Anglicans". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
- ^ About-turn in women bishops row, BBC News, 15 November 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8361249.stm
- ^ "Faithful Citizenship, A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2003. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|dateformat=
ignored (help)
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: Invalid|ref=harv
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: Invalid|ref=harv
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{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - Stearns, Peter (2000). Gender in World History. Routledge. ISBN 9780415223102.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Stoll, David (1990). Is Latin America turning Protestant?: The Politics of Evangelical Growth. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520064997.
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(help) - Solt, Leo Frank (1990). Church and State in Early Modern England, 1509–1640. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195059794.
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(help) - Steinfels, Peter (2003). A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-68-483663-7.
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(help) - Thomas, Hugh (1999). The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440–1870. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780684835655.
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(help) - Tyerman, Christopher (2006). God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674023870.
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(help) - USCCB (2005). Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord. USCCB Publishing. ISBN 1574557246.
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(help) - USCCB (2006). Program for Priestly Formation. USCCB Publishing. ISBN 1-57455-517-0.
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(help) - Vatican, Central Statistics Office (2007). Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 978-88-209-7908-9.
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(help) - Vidmar, John (2005). The Catholic Church Through the Ages. Paulist Press. ISBN 0809142341.
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(help) - Walsh, Mary Ann (2003). John Paul II: A Light for the World, Essays and Reflections on the Papacy of. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 1580511422.
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suggested) (help) - Ware, Kallistos (1990). "Eastern Christendom". In John McManners (ed.). The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198229283.
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(help) - Wilken, Robert (2004). "Christianity". In Susan Tyler Hitchcock and John Esposito (ed.). Geography of Religion. National Geographic Society. ISBN 0792273176.
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(help) - Woods Jr, Thomas (2005). How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Regnery Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-89526-038-7.
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External links
Template:Catholicismportal Template:Christianityportal
- Vatican.va – official website of the Holy See
- Vatican YouTube – official YouTube channel
- Zenit News Agency – Rome-based Catholic news agency
- Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) – Catholic-themed programming
- Catholic News Service – US-based Catholic news agency
- MassTimes.org – database for Mass schedules in Catholic churches worldwide
- Encyclopædia Britannica Online – article on Roman Catholicism