| Dictionary: Roman Catholic Church |
n.
The Christian church characterized by an episcopal hierarchy with the pope as its head and belief in seven sacraments and the authority of tradition.
Roman Catholic Church
n.
| US History Companion: Roman Catholic Church |
With some 50 million members, the Roman Catholic church is much the largest religious organization in America. Yet at the time of the American Revolution, there were only a few American Catholics: mostly people from Spanish and French colonies, along with a handful of English-speaking Catholics who lived mainly in the Middle Colonies, especially Maryland.
Neither Catholic Europe nor the overwhelmingly Protestant United States anticipated then that the new nation would prove hospitable to the emergence of a strong American Catholicism. For one thing, the church was proudly Roman, and the new nation was manifestly committed to developing American institutions--in religion as well as in politics and economics. Throughout the nineteenth century, furthermore, the church became increasingly ultramontane, concentrating ever more authority in Rome and skeptical of adaptations to national folkways. The Vatican Council of 1869-1870 endowed the popes with ordinary jurisdiction in every Catholic diocese.
Second, American religious culture, almost from the start, was pluralistic; even in those few colonies that attempted to establish the one true religion, dissenting faiths soon were granted considerable freedoms. The First Amendment to the Constitution stipulated that there would be no established religion in the new nation, and no state tried for very long to maintain an establishment. In fact, Protestants quickly came to acknowledge that most other religious groups were legitimate "denominations" of the true church. In contrast, Catholics were obliged by their faith to insist that theirs was the one true church. Catholics could accept the separation of church and state only as an unfortunate necessity in a culture where so many erroneous churches flourished.
Finally, American culture, in religion as in politics and economics, was deeply individualistic, antihierarchical, and anti-authoritarian. Laypeople, speaking for themselves or in concert with a congregation, were accustomed to judge the clergy as functionaries expected to give a moving sermon, preach up a revival, or meet other lay needs. In contrast, the trend in Catholicism, since the Council of Trent, had been to emphasize hierarchy and the authority of priests, bishops, and popes. (Not until the middle of the twentieth century--when Catholics began to stress the "mystical body of Christ," which included both laypeople and clergy, and in the Second Vatican Council, the "people of God"--was the celebration of unqualified clerical authority reconsidered.) Much of the drama in the history of the American Catholic church centered around attempts to transcend these seeming contradictions between Americanism and Catholicism.
The first leader of an American Roman Catholic church was John Carroll (1735-1815), a member of a prominent Maryland family. Carroll, chosen the first bishop of the American church in 1790, endorsed the separation of church and state because he believed it essential to Catholic freedom in a pluralist society like America and because he felt that established churches in Europe had suffered gravely from state control. He argued that the church in America should be headed by a bishop nominated by the American clergy. He wanted also to avoid overclose supervision of the young American church by the Roman Curia.
Carroll believed that American Catholics would be best served by American-born, American-trained priests and hoped that the laity would play an active role in managing their parishes. In his early years as bishop, he endorsed the use of English in the liturgy, believing that free men and women would place a high value on intelligibility. He seems to have favored a private, internal piety more than public, clerically led, devotional exercises. In his later years, however, Carroll was troubled by the lengths to which republicanism had been carried in France and was distressed by the unwillingness of some laypeople to accept the leadership of priests or bishops. Increasingly, he stressed tradition and the virtue of laypeople submitting to the clergy, the clergy to the bishops, and the bishops to Rome. These later attitudes would dominate the American church for the next century and more.
The earlier vision was never completely abandoned, however. Toward the end of the century, a group of Americanist churchmen, inspired by Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819-1888), the founder of the Paulist Fathers, and led by Archbishop John Ireland of St. Paul (1838-1918), proclaimed the perfect harmony of Catholicism with the individualism and activism of American life.
But from the early nineteenth century until the middle of the twentieth, the experience of the Roman Catholic church in America was shaped less by episcopal preferences than by the fact that it had become the "Church of the Immigrants." The huge influx of Catholics--from Ireland and Germany in the middle of the nineteenth century; from Italy, Poland, and the Balkans between 1880 and 1924; and from Latin America beginning in the 1920s--was the major reason for the church's spectacular growth. It also defined many of the tasks the church had to assume.
Until the 1920s, America did not limit the numbers of immigrants, but its welcome was qualified by the expectation that immigrants would speedily Americanize. To some Americans, Catholicism was one of those foreign traits that immigrants should cheerfully renounce. But most of the newcomers, uprooted from their native culture, clung to their ancestral religion not only because of its spiritual claims but also because it served as surrogate for their personal, familial, and ethnic identity. Catholicism was valued and defended for what made it distinctive, not for those characteristics that might be shown to resemble the traits of American denominations. That European Catholicism was, increasingly in these years, stressing the contradictions between modern culture and genuine Catholicism ensured that the immigrant strain in the American church would generally be supported by European church leaders and especially by Rome. As a consequence, the Church of the Immigrants redoubled its efforts to protect Catholics against an American culture, which, one editor wrote, "exhales an atmosphere filled with germs poisonous and fatal to Catholic life." Catholics needed an array of separate institutions--churches, asylums, schools--to shelter them.
Most strikingly, they needed schools. In nineteenth-century America immigrants encountered a culture that wholeheartedly believed that children could not be satisfactorily educated in the home, the neighborhood, or the church. State after state passed laws requiring all children to attend schools. And state after state established public schools that reflected the values supposedly common to all its citizens. Inevitably, in a largely non-Catholic culture, many of the schools were oblivious to the special heritage, present needs, and future aspirations of Catholics, and some may even have been designed to "grind the Catholicity" out of Catholic children. As a result, Catholics undertook, sometimes reluctantly, to build a separate but equal school system. One bishop after another declared that "a parish without a parochial school is not a Catholic parish"--indeed, that a parish should build a school before it built a church. The fact that at no time did more than half the Catholic children of school age attend parochial schools does not diminish the church's remarkable achievement in providing a school system that would, as far as possible, educate their children in the ways, and to the ends, that they--not American society--desired.
The parish also assumed an increasing number of other obligations. Spiritual societies organized a new, more intense, and more public devotionalism. A Rosary Society or a Confraternity of the Sacred Heart required the regular recitation of certain prayers, regular attendance at Mass, regular reception of Communion. By the end of the nineteenth century, large urban parishes frequently sustained a myriad of additional societies designed to meet "spiritual, recreational, educational, and charitable" interests. For a large proportion of Catholics, the parish was the center of their lives.
A common characteristic of all these activities in the immigrant parish was the dominant role of the priest, who, as one observer wrote, was expected to be "cult leader, confessor, teacher, counselor, social director, administrator, recreation director ... and a social worker." Not surprisingly, priests claimed and were granted enormous authority. Whereas in earlier years, laypeople had sometimes been allowed to help manage parish life, by the mid-nineteenth century priests were roundly condemning lay initiatives as a "trusteeism" contrary to the right ordering of a hierarchical church. In the same spirit, bishops asserted their unqualified right to assign or reassign priests. Taking advantage of American law, bishops constituted themselves "corporations sole," which enabled them to hold all church property in a diocese in their own names. American Catholics, readily deferring to priestly authority, had little difficulty accepting the most extravagant interpretations of papal infallibility.
Most resistance to the exercise (if not the principle) of authority in nineteenth-century Catholicism derived from the presence in many dioceses of a large number of diverse nationalities. Bishops had frequently been willing to create "national parishes," to which all Catholics speaking the same foreign tongue could repair. But when it was not possible to assign a priest of the same nationality, controversies were likely to ensue. German Catholics were less disposed to yield trusting obedience when an Irish Catholic priest was assigned to "their" parish. Bishops almost invariably backed up priests against "disloyal" laypeople. And Rome made clear that in appointing a bishop it would not compromise its authority by deferring to the ethnic predilections of the priests and people in the diocese.
The two dominant notes of the nineteenth-century church--the Church of the Immigrants--were a heightened authority of the clergy and hierarchy and a pronounced public, communal devotionalism for the laity, both of them conducing to a preoccupation with specifically Catholic culture. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that Catholics in this era participated only gingerly in the American society of which they were an increasingly numerous part. They publicly celebrated their patriotism. In New York City, parochial schools installed an American flag in their classrooms before the public schools did. They did probably more than their share of the fighting in the Civil War, World War I, and even the Spanish-American War (which some Europeans saw as an assault on Catholic Spain). But they took no active role, as Catholics, in politics. Priests and bishops in large cities with substantial concentrations of Catholic voters no doubt benefited from the deferential attention paid them by machine bosses. But the clergy generally abstained from public partisanship. Most of them recognized that Catholic political action was all too likely to engender anti-Catholic outbursts. They also sensed that the political process was likely to require compromises.
In a century when many Americans were enthusiastic reformers, most Catholics chose to remain on the sidelines. Contemporary culture was undoubtedly sinful, but it was unlikely to be redeemed by social action. Although consistently preaching the virtue of temperance, Catholic leaders were disenchanted when the temperance crusade focused increasingly on political measures. The church sympathized with the plight of the disproportionately large numbers of Catholics in the working class, but it was the exceptional priest or bishop who condoned unions or supported labor legislation. Pope Leo xiii, in 1891, issued an encyclical on the condition of labor, but for a generation American Catholics pointed more enthusiastically to his criticism of socialism than to his demand that the church support the legitimate aspirations of the workers. When the National Catholic Welfare Conference (formed to foster the war effort in 1917) sponsored a program of postwar social reconstruction, the response of the bishops was lukewarm. The Church of the Immigrants would not easily abandon its traditional social conservatism.
By the middle of the twentieth century, however, the Catholic church in the United States had changed considerably. Although new Catholic immigrants continued to flood in--particularly from the Caribbean and Latin America--most American Catholics were no longer immigrants in fact, in memory, or in outlook. By the criteria of wealth, education, and occupational status, they outdid, as a group, American Protestants. They no longer had to fear discrimination; the election of John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, as president in 1960 corroborated the growing conviction that American culture was not innately hostile; the church need not be preoccupied with sheltering Catholics from the age. And American Catholics found in the papacy of John xxiii and in many of the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council reason to believe that Rome would not disapprove of a more confident, more activist stance in the American church.
The laity was encouraged to participate in new ways in the life of the parish. With much of the liturgy in English and with the priest facing the congregation and praying with them, not for them, laypeople were invited to sing hymns and exchange greetings of peace with each other. Increasingly the devotional spirit found expression less in parish missions than in meetings where Catholics could respond more personally and individually to the leadings of the spirit.
Fears of trusteeism abated sufficiently for many parishes to establish councils in which lay members could help shape policy. A sharp decline in vocations to holy orders made it almost inevitable that the laity would take on more responsibilities in the work of the church. The traditional conception of the priesthood was sometimes challenged by proposals--not yet accepted by the hierarchy--that women or married men be consecrated as priests. These developments did not constitute a challenge to the authority of the church, but rather an assertion that laypeople were, as much as the clergy, "people of God" with gracious freedoms as well as duties. Although the popes, generally supported by the American hierarchy, continued to proclaim that artificial birth control was a sinful violation of natural law, increasing numbers of American Catholics claimed, as Catholics, the right to act as their consciences dictated.
Many Catholics came to feel not only free but obliged on occasion to call on the nation to reform. Invoking both American traditions and Catholic principles, clergy and laity gave strong support to the civil rights movement, and a few were prominent critics of the Vietnam War. Many were particularly outspoken in demanding social justice, even to the point of casting doubt on the essential morality of the American capitalist system. And Catholics, deploring abortion, have taken a leading role in demanding that the government guarantee "the right to life."
It is no doubt premature to conclude that these striking developments of the latter part of the twentieth century defined the contours of a "new Catholicism." Considerable numbers of American Catholics did not welcome the new departures in liturgical practice, or the new roles of clergy and laity, or the provocative witness of the church against some of the failings of American culture. And the American church's options continued to be limited by its loyal membership in the world church. The pontificate of John Paul ii made it clear that the plans of American Catholics remained subject to authoritative criticism (as well as endorsement) from Rome.
Bibliography:
Jay P. Dolan, The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present (1985); James Hennesey, S.J., American Catholics: A History of the Roman Catholic Community in the United States (1981).
Author:
Robert D. Cross
See also Abortion; Birth Control; Coughlin, Father Charles E.; Day, Dorothy; Ethnicity; Missionaries; Religion; Serra, Junípero.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Roman Catholic Church |
Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. “Roman Catholic” is a 19th-century British coinage and merely serves to distinguish that church from other churches that are “Catholic” (see catholic church). The term “Roman Church,” when used officially, means only the archdiocese of Rome. Roman Catholics may be simply defined as Christians in communion with the pope.
Organization of the Church
There are within the church a number of rites, i.e., ancient, independent traditions of discipline and worship, differentiated through isolation (see also liturgy). Besides the Roman rite, to which the vast majority belong, there are among Catholics five Eastern rites, used by a number of communities (Eastern Catholics or Uniates; see patriarch). They are: the Byzantine (the rite also of the Orthodox Eastern Church, which is not in communion with Rome), to which belong many groups, including Melchites, Ruthenians, Romanians, and the Italo-Albanians of S Italy; the Antiochene (also the rite of the autonomous Jacobite Church), to which belong the Maronites, the Syrian Catholics, and the Malankarese of Malabar; the Alexandrian, to which belong the Catholic Copts and Ethiopians (see Copts); the Chaldaean (also the rite of the autonomous Nestorian Church), to which belong Chaldaean Catholics and Syro-Malabarese; and the Armenian (also the rite of the autonomous Armenian Church). These rites and communities have their own organizations under the pope and are protected from attempts to “Latinize” them. Best known, perhaps, of the non-Roman Western rites are the Ambrosian, the Dominican, and the Mozarabic.
Apart from the rites and foreign missions, the organization of the church is by diocese, the territory of a bishop. Important sees have archbishops, who often supervise neighboring, suffragan bishops. With certain restrictions, the pope names the bishops. Dioceses are made up of parishes, each of which has a church and a priest (the pastor). The pope controls bishops mainly by general legislation. His government, which is run by the cardinals living at Rome, is concerned with matters of wide significance, such as missions and relations with states (see also cardinal; papal election; Vatican City).
Cutting across territorial lines are the religious orders of men and women; their field is monastic life, nonparish activities, and schools; they frequently run missions, hospitals, and colleges (see monasticism). Their members generally receive subsistence only. The parish clergy support themselves, often with salaries fixed by the bishop. Most of the clergy are priests (see orders, holy); they are trained (usually from four to six years) in seminaries maintained by the bishops, the orders, or the Vatican. Members of the clergy do not marry, unless they are parish priests of Eastern rites.
There is no churchwide census, and there are various criteria for determining membership. However, the Roman Catholics in the world are estimated to be about half the total number of Christians and make the church one of the largest religions in the world, with more than 1 billion adherents. Roughly half of all Catholics live in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2003, there were 63.4 million Roman Catholics in the United States.
Beliefs, Doctrines, and Practices
To belong to the church one must accept as factually true the gospel of Jesus as handed down in tradition and as interpreted by the bishops in union with the pope. Fundamental in this divine tradition is the Bible, its text determined and disseminated by the church. Adherents must also accept the church as possessing the fullness of revelation, and the church, according to the Roman Catholic catechism, is the only Christian body that is “one, holy, catholic [universal], and apostolic.”
The doctrine of apostolic succession is one of the keystones of the Catholic faith; it holds that the pope (the vicar of Christ) and the bishops have in varying degrees the spiritual authority Jesus assigned to his apostles. The voice of the pope, either alone or in conjunction with his bishops in council, is regarded as infallible when speaking on matters of faith and morals taught in common with the bishops (see infallibility). Many features of the traditional teaching (dogma) have been analyzed and restated, by the councils and by great theologians (see council, ecumenical; creed; Thomas Aquinas, Saint; Trent, Council of; Vatican Council, First; Vatican Council, Second).
The chief teachings of the Catholic church are: God's objective existence; God's interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the soul of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the Gospels; and the divine commission of the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other's merits, the Virgin Mary and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten (see church; saint).
The church is seen as having from God a system of conveying God's grace direct to humanity (see sacrament). The ordinary Catholic frequents the sacraments of penance (required at least once a year) and the Eucharist (required once every Easter time; see also sin). The Eucharist is the center of public worship, often embellished with solemn ceremony (see Mass).
Private prayer is also regarded as essential; contemplation is the ideal (see mysticism), and all believers are expected to devote some time to prayer that is more than requesting favors. Different methods of prayer are recommended (see rosary; Saint Ignatius of Loyola; Thomas à Kempis). Self-renunciation is a necessary part of prayer (see fasting; Lent).
The church teaches that the main motive for ethical behavior is the love of God. Nothing that God has created is evil in itself, but evil use may be made of it. The doctrine concerning persons not Catholic is that since God affords each human being light sufficient to attain salvation, all will be saved who persevere in what they believe to be good, regardless of ignorance. Only those will be damned who persist in what they know to be wrong; among these are persons who resist the church when they know it to be the one, true church.
History
For the first centuries of the church's history, see Christianity.
The Church in the Middle Ages
From the 9th cent. to 1520 the church was simply Western Europe taken in its religious aspect, and no clear line divided spiritual from temporal life. In the West (unlike the East) the religious organization was free for centuries from grave interference from civil rulers. Charlemagne was an exception, but his influence was benign. In the chaotic 9th and 10th cent. every part of the church organization, including the papacy, became the prey of the powerful.
The restoration of order began in monasteries; from Cluny a movement spread to reform Christian life (see Cluniac order). This pattern of decline of religion followed by reform is characteristic of the history of the Roman Catholic Church; the reform goals have varied, but they have included the revival of spiritual life in society and the monasteries, and the elimination of politics from the bishops' sphere and venality from the papal court. The next reform (11th cent.) was conducted by popes, notably St. Gregory VII and Urban II. Part of this movement was to exclude civil rulers from making church appointments—the first, bold chapter in a 900-year battle between the church and the “Catholic princes” (see church and state; investiture).
The 12th cent. was a time of great intellectual beginnings. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians revived practical mystical prayer. Gratian founded the systematic study of the canon law, and medieval civil law began its development. This double study was to provide weapons to both sides in the duel between the extreme papal claims of Innocent III and Innocent IV, and the antipapal theories of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Also in the 12th cent., Peter Abelard and other thinkers pioneered in rationalist theology.
From early rationalist theology and from the teachings of Aristotle developed the philosophies and theologies of St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas (see also scholasticism). This was the work of the new 13th-century universities; to them, and to the friars—the Dominicans and Franciscans—who animated them, passed the intellectual leadership held by the monasteries. St. Dominic's order was formed to preach against the Albigenses (a campaign that also produced the Inquisition). The vast popular movement of St. Francis was a spontaneous reform contemporary with the papal reform of the Fourth Lateran Council. The 13th cent. saw also the flowering of Gothic architecture.
The contest between church and state continued, ruining the Hohenstaufen dynasty and, in the contest between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, bringing the papacy to near ruin. Then came the Avignon residence—the so-called Babylonian captivity of the papacy (1309–78), a time of good church administration, but of excessive French influence over papal policy. Except for isolated voices, such as that of St. Catherine of Siena, the church seemed to lose energy, and a long period devoid of reform began. A long-enduring schism and a series of ambitious councils (see Schism, Great) involved most churchmen in a welter of politics and worldliness.
There were popular religious movements, characterized by revivalism and a tendency to minimize the sacraments (along with church authority); they encouraged private piety, and one group produced the inspirational Imitation ascribed to Thomas à Kempis. The popular tendencies were extreme in John Wyclif, who developed an antisacramental, predestinarian theology emphasizing Bible study—a “protestant” movement 150 years before Protestantism.
The Reformation and Counter Reformation
The 15th-century councils did little for reform, and the popes, shorn of power, were reduced to being Renaissance princes. Such men could not cope with the Protestant revolt of Martin Luther and John Calvin (see also Reformation). The Protestants aimed to restore primitive Christianity (as described in the Bible), and they succeeded in weakening the hold of the church in all of N Europe, in Great Britain, and in parts of Central Europe and Switzerland. Politics and religion were completely intertwined (as in England, Scotland, and France); hence the admixture of religious issues in the Thirty Years War.
Within the church there triumphed the most extensive of all the church's reform movements (see Counter Reformation; Jesus, Society of). From it sprang a general revival of religion and much missionary activity in the new empires of Spain and Portugal and in East Asia. In France, Catholicism found new life, beginning with St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul. There, too, began the cult of the Sacred Heart (i.e., God's love for men), which would affect Catholic prayer everywhere. A contrary influence was Jansenism (see under Jansen, Cornelis), an antisacramental middle-class movement.
The Seventeenth through Nineteenth Centuries
The 17th cent. saw an increase of state control over the church (see Gallicanism) in all the Catholic countries, and in the 18th cent. the Bourbons began a course openly aimed at eliminating the papacy. The suppression of the Jesuits was part of the campaign, which reached a climax in the legislation of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. The revolutionary movement eventually destroyed the Catholic princes, and the church had to live with secular states, some anti-Catholic, some tolerant. The facts of the change were not clear at once, and for much of the 19th cent. the popes (and other Catholics) would look back to an idealized 18th-century golden age before “liberalistic” atheism and materialism. The last of these popes was Pius IX, who was forced to give up the Papal States. In enouncing the dogma of papal infallibility Pius did much to cement church unity.
In Pius's successor, Leo XIII, the church found new leadership; he and his successors worked and preached to urge Catholics to take part in modern life as Catholics, abandoning reactionary dreams and seeking some social reform. In some countries Catholic political parties were formed. Meanwhile oppressive conditions and the development of a mass socialist movement combined to detach much of the working class from the church. Otto von Bismarck (in Germany; see Kulturkampf) and “liberal” governments (in Italy, France, and Portugal) passed hostile measures, especially against religious orders.
The Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
In the 20th cent. the tensions between the church and national governments sometimes led to outright suppression of the church, as in the former Soviet Union and Communist Eastern Europe, Mexico, Spain, and China. Mussolini and Hitler also ruined as much of the church as they could. The century has been marked more noticeably, however, by new trends in the practice and outlook of the church. The encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (1891), was followed by the Quadrigesimo Anno (1931) of Pius XII, and the Mater et Magistra (1961) of John XXIII, the Progressio Populorum (1967) of Paul VI, and the Laborem Exercens (1981), Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987), and Centessimus Annus (1991) of John Paul II. The purpose of these was fundamental readjustment to the moral and social problems of modern life and a greater stress upon the role of the laity in the church. Linked with this was a movement for church “renewal” both by laity and the clergy. This was particularly strong in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States.
Some of the issues stressed were the need for liturgical reform, the recognition of the various regional contributions to the living existence of the church, and the recognition of the nonpolitical internationalism of the church (although declarations of implacable opposition to atheistic Communism persisted and were particularly strong under Pius XII, who urged the church to oppose all antireligious totalitarianism). Another growing revival involved the tightening of relations between the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and various Protestant churches.
All of these “progressive” currents came together at the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which, under John XXIII and Paul VI, initiated broad reforms in the areas of public worship, government, and ecumenism (see ecumenical movement). The long-reigning John Paul II made the church more international and continued his predecessors ecumenical trends, but he affirmed (as the popes preceding him did) the church's traditional stands on marriage, abortion, homosexuality, and other doctrinal matters, opposed relaxing the rule of celibacy, and reemphasized the primacy of the Vatican in church government.
The church in the United States began the 21st cent. confronting a major crisis concerning sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests and how it is and was handled by the U.S. hierarchy. Multiple revelations in 2002 that some bishops had allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to remain in the priesthood and to continue to perform their duties in situations where abuse could and sometimes did recur sparked outrage in the United States; such cases were also not reported to civil authorities. Various dioceses faced civil lawsuits and criminal investigations, several bishops resigned after their involvement in sexual relationships was revealed, and Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston resigned because of criticism over his handling of sex abuse charges. The issue led to a meeting between American cardinals and the pope in Rome, and, after a meeting of American bishops and discussions with the Vatican, to the establishment of new policies that included barring a priest who has sexually abused a minor from any ministerial role and that committed the hierarchy to alert legal authorities to instances of abuse.
Bibliography
See P. Hughes, A Popular History of the Catholic Church (1947, repr. 1961); L. Hertling, A History of the Catholic Church (tr. 1956); J. McSorley, Outline History of the Church by Centuries (11th ed. 1961); The New Catholic Encyclopedia (19 vol., 1967–95); M. A. Fitzsimons, The Catholic Church Today: Western Europe (1969); J. L. McKenzie, The Roman Catholic Church (1969); J. Seidler and K. Meyer, Conflict and Change in the Catholic Church (1989); C. R. Morris, American Catholic (1997); D. France, Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal (2004).
| WordNet: Roman Catholic Church |
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy
Synonyms: Roman Catholic, Western Church, Church of Rome, Roman Church
| Wikipedia: Catholic Church |
This article is about the church headquartered in Rome. For other uses, see Catholic Church (disambiguation).
| Part of a series on the Catholic Church |
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Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) |
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Roman Catholic Liturgy |
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Ecumenism • Monasticism |
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, [note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world's population.[12][13] The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite (Latin Rite) and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches (called particular churches), comprising 2,795 dioceses in 2008.
The Church's highest earthly authority in matters of faith, morality and governance is the Pope,[14] currently Pope Benedict XVI, who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops, of which he is the head.[15][16][17] The Catholic community is made up of an ordained ministry and the laity; members of either group may belong to organized religious communities.[18]
The Church defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity.[19] It operates social programs and institutions throughout the world, including schools, universities, hospitals, missions and shelters, as well as organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Internationalis and Catholic Charities that help the poor, families, the elderly and the sick.[20]
Through apostolic succession, the Church believes itself to be the continuation of the Christian community founded by Jesus in his consecration of Saint Peter,[21] a view shared by many historians.[22][23][24] It has defined its doctrines through various ecumenical councils, following the example set by the first Apostles in the Council of Jerusalem.[25] 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.[26][27][28]
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.[29] Formal Catholic worship, termed the liturgy, is regulated by Church authority. The Eucharist, one of seven Church Sacraments and the key part of every Catholic Mass or Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy, is the center of Catholic worship.
With a history spanning almost two thousand years, the Church is one of the world's oldest institutions[30] and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilization since at least the 4th century.[31] In the 11th century, a major split (the Great Schism) occurred between Eastern and Western Christianity, largely as a result of disagreements over papal primacy. The Eastern Orthodox churches became a separate entity from the Catholic Church in the resulting schism. Eastern churches who remained in or later re-established communion with the Bishop of Rome, the pope, form the Eastern Catholic churches. In the 16th century, partly in response to the Protestant schism, the Church engaged in a substantial 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 Christ where one can find 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] Modern challenges facing the Church include the rise of secularism and opposition to its stances on abortion, euthanasia, contraception, and sexual morality.[36]
Contents |
Origin and mission
See also: History of the Roman Catholic Church and History of the Papacy
The Catholic Church traces its foundation to Jesus and the twelve Apostles.[37] It sees the bishops of the Church as the successors of the apostles and the pope (the bishop of Rome), in particular, as the successor of Peter, the leader of the apostles.[21][38] Catholics cite Jesus' words, in the Gospel according to Matthew, to support this view: "... you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, .... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."[15][27][39] According to Catholic belief, this promised Church, the Catholic Church, was brought fully into the world when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in the event known as Pentecost.[38]
Many scholars agree that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus and that the historical record confirms that the See of Rome in particular was considered a Christian doctrinal authority from its beginning.[22][24] Henry Chadwick cites a letter from Pope Clement I to the church in Corinth (c. 95) as evidence of a presiding Roman cleric who exercised authority over all the other local churches which comprised the Catholic Church.[40] Other scholars disagree with these interpretations. Eamon Duffy for instance, affirms the existence of a Christian community in Rome and that Peter and Paul "lived, preached and died" there,[41] but doubts that there was a ruling bishop in the Roman church in the first century, and questions the Catholic concept of apostolic succession.[42]
The Church believes that its mission is founded upon Jesus' command to his followers to spread the faith across the world:[24] "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; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."[43][44][45] 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.[46] As part of its ministry of charity, the Church runs Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities, Caritas Internationalis, the St. Vincent dePaul Society, Marriage Encounter, Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, homeless shelters and ministries to the poor, as well as ministries to families, pregnant women, abused or "battered" women, the elderly, AIDS victims, and the marginalized.[20]
Beliefs
The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a mutual indwelling of three persons: God the Father; Jesus the Son; and the Holy Spirit. Catholic beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed[47] and detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[29][48] The Nicene Creed also forms the central statement of belief of other Christian denominations.[49] 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.[50][51] 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.[52]
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.[25][53][54] The most recent Church council was the Second Vatican Council, which closed in 1965.[55]
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.[15][56] The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.[57] Sacred Scripture, or the Catholic Bible, consists of the same books found in the Greek version of the Old Testament—known as the Septuagint[58]—and the 27 New Testament writings first found in the Codex Vaticanus and listed in Athanasius' Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter.[59] These scriptures make up the 73-book Catholic bible in contrast with the shorter, 66-book bible used by most Protestants.[58] The books and works that are upheld as canonical by the Catholic Church but not by some other groups are known as the Deuterocanonicals. Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the Church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.[56] 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.[60]
According to the Council of Trent, Jesus instituted seven sacraments and entrusted them to the Church.[61] 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).[62][63]
God the Father, creation, original sin and Baptism
See also: Original sin
God, in the teaching of the Nicene Creed, is the source and creator of nature and all that exists.[64] The Church teaches that God is a loving and caring entity who is directly involved in the world and in people's lives[65] desiring his creatures to love him and to love each other.[66][67] 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".[68] Some angels, however, chose to rebel against God, becoming demons who now seek to harm mankind.[69] Among other names, the leader of this rebellion has been called "Lucifer", "Satan" and the devil.[70] Satan is believed to have tempted the first humans, whose subsequent act of original sin brought suffering and death into the world.[71]
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 "... a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man" and 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.[72] The soul did not evolve, according to Catholic doctrine, but was infused into man and woman directly by God.[71] The Church believes that people can be cleansed of original sin and all personal sins through Baptism.[73] 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.[73]
Jesus, sin and Penance
Catholics believe that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament's Messianic prophecies.[74] 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 God descended from heaven for the salvation of humanity, became man by being conceived in the womb of a Jewish virgin named Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit and—after nine months in her womb—was born. It is believed that Jesus' mission on earth included giving people his word and example to follow, as recorded in the four Gospels.[75] Catholicism teaches that following the example of Jesus helps believers to become closer to him, and therefore to grow in true love, freedom, and the fullness of life.[76][77]
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.[78] Sins range from the less serious venial sins to more serious mortal sins which injure a person's relationship with God.[78][79] 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.[74][80] The Resurrection of Jesus, according to Catholic belief, gained for humans a possible spiritual immortality previously denied to us because of original sin.[81] John the Baptist called Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world",[82] in reference to the ancient Jewish practice of sacrificing lambs to God.[83][84] 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."[85][86]
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.[87] 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.[88] 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.[89][90]
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,"[91][92]
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.[93] Confirmation, sometimes called the "sacrament of Christian maturity", is believed to increase and deepen the grace received at Baptism,[94] 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).[95][96] The corresponding fruits of the Holy Spirit are charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.[95][96] 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.[96] They must also have prepared spiritually for the sacrament,[96] chosen a sponsor[96] for spiritual support, and selected a saint to be their special patron and intercessor.[94] In the Eastern Catholic Churches, baptism, including infant baptism, is immediately followed by Confirmation and the reception of the Eucharist.[96][97]
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 Jesus, based on the deeds of that individual's earthly life.[96][98] This teaching also attests to another day when Jesus will sit in a universal judgment of all mankind.[20][99] 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.[96][100]
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.[96][98] 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.[96][98] 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.[96][101] The Church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God and his love.[96][98] He predestines no one to hell and no one can determine whether anyone else has been condemned.[96][98] 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".[98][102]
Nature of the Church and social teaching
See also: Catholic social teaching
Catholic belief holds that the Church "... is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth."[103] 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."[104] 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.[105] This unity of the Church in heaven, in purgatory, and on earth is the "Communion of Saints".[105][106] Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church; one of the documents of the Second Vatican Council), 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 either directly through the Church or indirectly through the Church. One may be 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.[107][108] It teaches that Catholics are called by the Holy Spirit to work for unity among all Christians.[107][108]
The Church operates numerous social ministries throughout the world, but 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.[96] 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.[20][96] In conjunction with the work of mercy to visit the sick, the Church offers the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick,[96] administered only by a priest.[109] 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.[20][96]
Prayer and worship
Catholic liturgy is regulated by Church authority[110] 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,[96] confess sins at least once a year, receive the Eucharist at least once during Easter season, observe the prescribed days of fasting and of abstinence as established by the Church, and also help provide for the Church's needs.[111] (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.[112] Frequent reception of the Eucharist (daily, weekly, or at least once a year) and frequent confession of sins (weekly, monthly, or during Advent and Lent, or at least once a year) are common Catholic practices encouraged by the Church.
Liturgical rites
Differing liturgical traditions, or rites, exist throughout the universal Church, reflecting historical and cultural diversity rather than a difference in beliefs.[113] The most commonly used liturgy is the Latin rite (which is used in the Roman Catholic Church, but not in the Eastern Catholic Churches). Presently, this rite exists in two forms: the ordinary form (known as the Novus Ordo Mass, i.e., the 1969 Mass of Pope Paul VI, and celebrated primarily in the vernacular, i.e., the language of the people) and the extraordinary form (known as the Tridentine or Latin Mass standardized by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent).[114][115][note 2] 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 Latin rite when they join the Catholic Church. Such "Anglican Use" parishes exist only in the United States. Other Western rites 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 Roman 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.[117] 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.[117]
Eucharist
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The Eucharist is celebrated at each Mass and is the center of Catholic worship.[118][119] The Words of Institution for this sacrament are drawn from the Gospels and a Pauline letter.[120] The Church teaches that the Old Testament promise of God's salvation for all peoples was fulfilled when Jesus established a New Covenant with humanity through the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper—a covenant then consummated by his sacrifice on the cross,[121] which in contrast to some Protestant belief is made truly present in the celebration of the Eucharist.[114] 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.[121][122]
Mass consists of two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.[123] According to professor Alan Schreck, in its main elements and prayers, the Catholic Mass celebrated today "bears striking resemblance" to the form of the Mass described in the Didache and First Apology of Justin Martyr in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.[124][125]
Because the Church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,[114] 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.[126] 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).[126] 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, Old Catholic Church, and certain other churches — in "suitable circumstances and with Church authority" — is both possible and encouraged.[127] 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, but 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 community (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.[127][128] Catholics are not permitted to receive communion in Protestant churches because of their different beliefs and practices regarding Holy Orders and the Eucharist.[129]
Liturgy of the Hours
See also: Liturgy of the Hours
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus instructs his disciples to "pray always".[130] The Liturgy of the Hours,[131] 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.[132] It makes particular use of the Psalms as well as readings from the New and Old Testament, and various prayers.[132] 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.[133] 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.[132][134]
Devotional life, prayer, Mary and the saints
See also: Catholic spirituality and Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church
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.[135] 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."[136] 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."[136] Contemplative prayer is being with God, taking time to be close to and alone with him.[136] Three of the most common devotional prayers of the Catholic Church are The Lord's Prayer, the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.[137] 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.[136]
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.[138] 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."[106][138] 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 was 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.[139] 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.[137] 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[140] while others such as Međugorje are still under investigation. Affirmed or not, however, pilgrimages to these places are popular Catholic devotions.[141]
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 strongly connected with Jesus, Mary or the saints are considered an aid to spiritual growth, and can become meritorious acts if performed with the right intention. Western Europe alone has more than 6,000 pilgrimage destinations which generate around 60 million faith-related visits a year.[142]
Church organization and community
While the Church considers Jesus to be its ultimate spiritual head, the spiritual leader and head of the Church organization is the pope.[143] The pope governs from Vatican City in Rome, a sovereign nation of which he is also the civil head of state.[144] Each pope is elected for life by the College of Cardinals, a body composed of clerics (recently almost exclusively bishops) elevated to the status of cardinal by the Pope. The cardinals, who also serve as papal advisors, may select any male member of the Church as pope, but if the candidate is not already a bishop, he must become one before taking office.[145] The pope is assisted in the Church's administration by the Roman Curia, or civil service. The Church community 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.[146]
As of 2008 worldwide, the Catholic Church comprises 2,795 dioceses (also called sees or, in the East, eparchies) grouped into 23 particular rites – the Latin Rite and 22 Eastern rites – each with distinct traditions regarding the liturgy and the administering the sacraments.[147]
Each diocese is divided into individual communities called parishes, each staffed by one or more priests.[148] The community is made up of ordained members and the laity. Members of religious orders such as nuns, friars and monks are lay members unless individually ordained as priests.[149]
Ordained members and Holy Orders
Men may become ordained clergy, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, as bishops, priests or deacons. (see Catholic Church hierarchy) All clergy who are bishops [note 3] form the College of Bishops and are considered the successors of the apostles.[150][151] Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders; and, in the Latin Rite, Confirmation is ordinarily reserved to them.[152] Bishops are responsible for teaching and governing the faithful of their diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under them. Only priests and bishops may celebrate the Eucharist and administer the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick. They and deacons may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral services.[153] Baptism is normally performed by clergy but 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".[154]
Married men may become deacons, but only celibate men can ordinarily be ordained as priests in the Latin Rite.[155][156] Married clergymen who have converted to the Church from other denominations are sometimes exempted from this rule.[157] The Eastern Catholic Churches ordain both celibate and married men.[158][159] All rites 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.[160] [note 4]
All programs that aim to prepare men for the priesthood are governed by canon law, and are usually designed by national bishops' conferences, so they can vary from country to country.[164] The conferences consult Vatican documents such as Pastores Dabo Vobis, Novo Millennio Ineunte, Optatam Totius, and others to create these programs.[165] 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.[166] The sacrament of Holy Orders (ie ordination) can only be conferred by a bishop through the laying on of hands, following which the newly ordained priest is formally clothed in his priestly vestments.[152]
The Catholic view is that since the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus were all male, only men may be ordained in the Catholic Church.[167] While some consider this to be evidence of a discriminatory attitude toward women,[168] the Church believes that Jesus called women to different yet equally important vocations in Church ministry.[169] 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.[170] This belief in different and complementary roles between men and women is exemplified in Pope Paul VI's statement "If the witness of the Apostles founds the Church, the witness of women contributes greatly towards nourishing the faith of Christian communities".[170]
Lay members, marriage
See also: Laity
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.[18] 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.[171] Marriage and the consecrated life are lay vocations. The sacrament of Holy Matrimony in the Latin rite is not conferred by a priest—the spouses mutually confer the sacrament upon each other by expressing their consent before the priest who serves as a witness. In the Eastern liturgies 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.[172] 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.[173] Natural family planning is approved.[174]
Lay ecclesial movements consist of lay Catholics organized for purposes of teaching the faith, cultural work, mutual support or missionary work.[175] Such groups include: Communion and Liberation, Neocatechumenal Way, Regnum Christi, Opus Dei, Life Teen and many others.[175] Some non-ordained Catholics practice formal, public ministries within the Church.[176] These are called lay ecclesial ministers, a broad category which may include pastoral life coordinators, pastoral assistants, youth ministers and campus ministers.[177]
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.[178]
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.[179][180] 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.[181] Examples of religious institutes include the Sisters of Charity, Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Cistercians, Marist Brothers, Paulist Fathers and the Society of Jesus, but there are many others.[178]
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.[175] 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.[178] It also makes provision for the approval of new forms.[182]
Membership
Membership of the Catholic Church is attained through baptism.[183] 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. Those never baptized may be admitted to Baptism by participating in a formation program such as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.[184] Christians baptized outside of the Catholic Church are admitted through other formation programs but are not re-baptized.[185] In all rites, after going through formation and making a profession of faith, candidates receive the sacraments of initiation. This ordinarily occurs at the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday.[184]
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.[186] 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.[187] Throwing away or retaining for a sacrilegious purpose the Eucharist is considered an excommunicable offense.[188] 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.[189] A similar but different 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.[190]
Catholic institutions, personnel and demographics
Further information: Roman Catholicism by country
| 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 | |
| Religious sisters | 769,142 |
| Religious brothers | 55,057 |
| Diocesan and religious priests | 405,178 |
| Lay Ecclesial Ministers | 30,632 |
| Bishops | 3,475 |
| Archbishops | 914 |
| Cardinals | 183 |
| Permanent deacons | 27,824 |
| Seminarians (men studying for the priesthood) | 110,583 |
| Pope | 1 |
| Total | 1,402,989 |
Church membership in 2007 was 1.147 billion people,[192] increasing from the 1950 figure of 437 million[193] and the 1970 figure of 654 million.[194] The Catholic population increase of 139% outpaced the world population increase of 117% between 1950 and 2000.[193] It is the largest Christian church, and encompasses over half of all Christians, one sixth of the world's population, the largest organized body of any world religion.[13][195] It is known for its ability to use its transnational ties and organizational strength to bring significant resources to needy situations[196] and operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.[197] Although the number of practicing Catholics worldwide is not reliably known,[198] membership is growing particularly in Africa and Asia.[12]
Some parts of Europe and the Americas have experienced a shortage of priests in recent years as the number of priests has not increased in proportion to the number of Catholics.[199] The Church in Latin America, known for its large parishes where the parishioner to priest ratio is the highest in the world, considers this to be a contributing factor in the rise of Pentecostal and evangelical Christian denominations in the region.[200] Secularism has seen a steady rise in Europe, yet the Catholic presence there remains strong.[200]
With a high number of adult baptisms, the Church is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else.[201] It also operates a greater number of Catholic schools per parish here (3:1) than in other areas of the world.[202] Challenges faced include suppression of non-Islamic religious practices by Muslims in Sudan and a high rate of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.[203]
The Church in Asia is a significant minority among other religions, comprising only 3% of all Asians, yet it has a large proportion of religious sisters, priests and parishes relative to the total Catholic population.[200] From 1975 to 2000, total Asian population grew by 61% with an Asian Catholic population increase of 104%.[204] Challenges faced include oppression in communist countries like North Korea and China.[205]
In Oceania, an overwhelmingly Christian region, Catholicism is the major church tradition. There, the Church faces challenges in reaching indigenous populations where over 715 different languages are spoken.[200] Of Catholics worldwide, 12% reside in Africa, 50% in the American continents, 10% are in Asia, 27% in Europe and 1% live in Oceania.[206]
Cultural influence
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.[31] In addition, the Church has played a significant role in the Westernization of many other nations through its missionary efforts, often associated with the colonial era. By spreading Catholic Christianity it has battled, and in certain cases eventually ended, practices such as human sacrifice, slavery, infanticide, and polygamy, within evangelized cultures beginning with the Roman Empire.[208][209][210][211][212] Historians note that Catholic missionaries, Popes, and religious, were among the leaders in campaigns against slavery.[213][214][215] Christianity affected the status of women in evangelized cultures such as the Roman Empire by condemning infanticide (female infanticide was more common), divorce, incest, polygamy and counting the marital infidelity of men as equally sinful to that of women.[208][209][216] However, "the critics of Christian tradition" say Church teachings have perpetuated a notion that female inferiority was divinely ordained[217] even though official Church teaching[218] considers women and men to be equal, different, and complementary.
Catholic universities and many priests including Copernicus, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Robert Grosseteste, Nicholas Steno, Francesco Grimaldi, Giambattista Riccioli, Roger Boscovich, Athanasius Kircher, Gregor Mendel 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.[219][220] 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.[219] The 1633 Church condemnation of Galileo Galilei restricted scientific development in some European countries and created the perception of antagonism between the Church and science of that era.[219] In part because of lessons learned from the Galilei affair, the Church created the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a scientific organization that essentially began in 1603 but developed over time to reach its present form by 1936.[221]
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.[222] Renaissance artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci, were among a multitude of innovative virtuosos sponsored by the Church.[223] In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,[224] 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.[225]
History
Further information: History of Christianity, History of Western civilization, and Criticism of the Catholic Church
Roman Empire
The Catholic Church considers Pentecost to be the beginning of its own history.[226][227] According to historians, the Apostles traveled to northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and Rome to found the first Christian communities,[226][228] over 40 of which had been established by the year 100.[229] Early Christians refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods or to worship Roman rulers as gods and were thus subject to persecution.[230] This began under Nero in the first century and persisted through the great persecution of Diocletian and Galerius, which was seen as a final attempt to wipe out Christianity.[231] Nevertheless, Christianity continued to spread and was eventually legalized in 313 under Constantine's Edict of Milan.[232]
During this era of persecution, the early Church evolved both in doctrinal and structural ways. The apostles convened the first Church council, the Council of Jerusalem, in or around the year 50 to resolve issues concerning evangelization of Gentiles.[54] While competing forms of Christianity emerged early, the Roman Church retained this practice of meeting in ecumenical councils to ensure that any internal doctrinal differences were quickly resolved, which facilitated broad doctrinal unity within the mainstream churches.[53][233] 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.[24][40][234] 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.[235][236] From the year 100 onward, teachers like Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus defined Catholic teaching in stark opposition to Gnosticism.[237] Church teachings and traditions were influenced over time by other Church Fathers such as Pope Clement I, Justin Martyr, Augustine of Hippo.[238] In 325, the First Council of Nicaea convened in response to the threat of Arianism, formulated the Nicene Creed as a basic statement of Christian belief,[239] and divided the church into geographical and administrative areas called dioceses.[240] Although this council sanctioned the primacy of three dioceses—Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch—Rome had certain qualities that destined it for particular prominence; it was considered the see of Peter and Paul, it was located in the capital of the empire, church scholars were desirous of obtaining the Roman bishop's support in doctrinal disputes, and it was wealthy and known for supporting other churches around the world.[241]
Emperor Constantine I commissioned the first Basilica of St. Peter and several other sites of lasting importance to Christianity.[242] By this time, the altar as the focal point of each church, the sign of the cross, and the liturgical calendar had been established[243] and in 380, Christianity was declared the sole religion of the Empire.[244] The Council of Rome in 382 created the first Bible when it listed the accepted books of the Old and New Testament.[245] The Council of Ephesus in 431[246] and the Council of Chalcedon in 451 defined the relationship of Christ's divine and human natures, leading to split with the Nestorians and Monophysites.[53] The Council of Chalcedon also elevated the See of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".[247][248]
Early Middle Ages
Further information: Middle Ages and Christian monasticism
During the Migration Period, the Catholic faith competed with Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.[249] 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.[250] The Rule of St Benedict, composed by Benedict in 530, became a blueprint for the organization of monasteries throughout Europe.[251] The new monasteries preserved classical craft and artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, scriptoria and libraries. As well as providing a focus for spiritual life, they functioned as agricultural, economic and production centers, particularly in remote regions, becoming major conduits of civilization.[252]
Pope Gregory the Great reformed church practice and administration around 600 and launched renewed missionary efforts[253] which were complemented by other missionary efforts[254] from the Celtic monks of the British Isles.[255] Missionaries such as Augustine of Canterbury, Saint Boniface, Willibrord and Ansgar took Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic people.[254] In the same period the Visigoths and Lombards moved from Arianism toward Catholicism,[250] and in Britain the full reunion of the Celtic churches with Rome was effectively marked by the Synod of Whitby in 664.[255] 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.[256] While Christianity continued to expand in Europe, Islam presented a significant military threat to Western Christendom.[257] By 715, Muslim armies had conquered Syria, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Alexandria, Iraq and Persia, Carthage and all of Spain.[258]
A conflict arose in the Eastern Church in the 8th century, over the use of images in religious worship.[259][260] In 787, the Second Council of Nicaea ruled in favor of icons but the dispute continued into the early 9th century.[260] Leo III and Constantine V strongly supported Iconoclasm against iconodules, which led to a growing estrangement from the Papacy. The consequent alliance between the Pope and the Franks resulted in the creation of the papal states and the coronation of the Frankish King Charlemagne as Western Emperor in 800. This created its own problems for the Church as succeeding Western emperors sought to impose an increasingly tight control over the popes.[261][262]
Eastern and Western Christendom grew further 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.[259][263] Although this was resolved, further disagreements led to Pope and Patriarch excommunicating each other in 1054, commonly considered the date of the East–West Schism.[264] The Western (Latin) branch of Christianity has since become known as the Catholic Church, while the Eastern (Greek) branch became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church.[265][266] Efforts to mend the rift were attempted at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 and Council of Florence in 1439 and, even though in each case both the Eastern Emperor and Eastern Patriarch agreed to the reunion, both failed to heal the schism[267] because "they never affected the general life of the Churches".[268] Some Eastern churches have subsequently reunited with the Catholic Church.[266] In spite of recent attempts at reunification, the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Church remain in schism although excommunications were mutually lifted in 1965.[269]
High Middle Ages
Further information: High Middle Ages
The Cluniac reform of monasteries that had begun in 910 sparked widespread monastic growth and renewal.[270] 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.[271][272] Despite a church ban on the practice of usury the larger abbeys functioned as sources for economic credit.[273] 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.[274][275]
In 1095, Byzantine emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions,[276] which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control.[268][277] 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.[278] 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.[279][280]
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.[281] The Teutonic Knights conquered the then-pagan Prussia.[281] The Templars became noted bankers and creditors who were eliminated by a debtor, King Philip IV of France shortly after 1300.[282] Later, mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán which brought consecrated religious life into urban settings.[283] These orders also played a large role in the development of cathedral schools into universities, the direct ancestors of the modern Western institutions.[284] 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.[285]
12th century France witnessed the emergence of Catharism, a belief which stated that matter was evil, "prohibited marriage, encouraged suicide, and ... combined asceticism with immorality."[286] After a papal legate was put to death by the Cathars in 1208, Pope Innocent III declared the Albigensian Crusade.[287] Abuses committed during the crusade prompted Innocent III to informally institute the first papal inquisition to prevent future abuses and to root out the remaining Cathars.[288][289] Formalized under Gregory IX, this Medieval inquisition put to death an average of three people per year for heresy at its height.[282][289]
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.[290] King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain formed an inquisition in 1480, originally to deal with distrusted converts from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism.[291] Over a 350-year period, this Spanish Inquisition executed between 3,000 and 4,000 people,[292] representing around two percent of those accused.[293] In 1482 Pope Sixtus IV condemned the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, but Ferdinand ignored his protests.[294] Some historians argue that for centuries Protestant propaganda and popular literature exaggerated the horrors of the inquisitions in an effort to associate the entire Catholic Church with crimes most often committed by secular rulers.[295][296][297] 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.[292][298] The inquisition played a major role in the final expulsion of Islam from Sicily and Spain.[257]
At the end of the 13th century, Pope Boniface VIII was involved in a heated conflict with the French king. Subsequently, the Papacy came under French dominance, with Clement V in 1309 moving to Avignon, then located just outside the French borders.[299] The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the Pope returned to Rome[300][301] 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.[302] 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.[302] The council could not prevent religious schism and the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
Late Medieval and Renaissance
Further information: Roman Catholic Church and colonialism and Catholicism and the wars of religion
Just before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in 1453,[303] 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[304] and the ensuing patronato system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.[305] Although the Spanish monarchs tried to curb abuses committed against the Amerindians by explorers and conquerors,[306] 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.[307][308] King Ferdinand enacted the Laws of Burgos and Valladolid in response. The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain[308][309] 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[308] and to the birth of modern international law.[310][311] 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.[312] 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.[306]
In 1521 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.[313] 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.[314][315][316] Over the next 150 years, missions expanded into southwestern North America.[317] Native people were often legally defined as children, and priests took on a paternalistic role, sometimes enforced with corporal punishment.[318] Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelized in India and Japan.[319] By the end of the 16th century tens of thousands of Japanese followed Roman Catholicism. Church growth 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.[320] An underground minority Christian population survived throughout this period of persecution and enforced isolation which was eventually lifted in the 19th century.[320][321]
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.[241][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]
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 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, but the following monarch, Elizabeth I, 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 5] To popularize Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the Baroque style in art, music and architecture,[225] 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 "assumed a leading role in education as a battleground for hearts and minds" during the Counter-Reformation[346] and 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]
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. This and other religious conflicts of the Reformation era provoked a backlash against Christianity, which helped spawn 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.[349] 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".[349][note 6] Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of 1801.[350] The end of the Napoleonic wars brought Catholic revival, renewed enthusiasm, and new respect for the papacy.[351]
In the Americas, Franciscan priest Junípero Serra founded a series of new missions in cooperation with the Spanish government and military.[352] 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.[215] Yet in spite of these advances, the Amerindian population continued to suffer decline from exposure to European diseases.[353]
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.[354] 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.[355] The Jesuits were eventually restored in the 1814 papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.[356]
Industrial age
By the close of the 19th century, European powers had managed to gain control of most of the African interior.[357] The new rulers introduced cash-based economies which created an enormous demand for literacy and a western education—a demand which for most Africans could only be satisfied by Christian missionaries.[357] Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa, and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.[357] At the same time, 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.[358]
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.[359][360] This decision in many eyes gave the pope "enormous moral and spiritual authority over the worldwide" Church.[361] Reaction to the pronouncement resulted in the breakaway of a group of mainly German churches which subsequently formed the Old Catholic Church.[362] The loss of the papal states to the Italian unification movement created what came to be known as the Roman Question,[363] 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.[364] Church power and influence over Western society declined during this period with the rise of rationalism, secularism, nationalism, anti-clericalism, liberalism and freemasonry.[361]
In Latin America, a succession of anti-clerical regimes came to power beginning in the 1830s.[365] One such regime emerged in Mexico in 1860. Church properties were confiscated and basic civil and political rights were denied to religious orders and the clergy. The even more severe Calles Law introduced during the rule of atheist Plutarco Elías Calles eventually led to the "worst guerilla war in Latin American History", the Cristero War.[366] Between 1926 and 1934, over 3,000 priests were exiled or assassinated.[367][368] In an effort to prove that "God would not defend the Church", Calles ordered Church desecrations where services were mocked, nuns were raped and captured priests were shot.[366] Calles was eventually deposed[366] and despite the persecution, the Church in Mexico continued to grow. A 2000 census reported that 88 percent of Mexicans identify as Catholic.[369] In the twentieth century, General Juan Perón's, Argentina and Fidel Castro's Cuba saw extensive persecution of the priesthood, and confiscation of Catholic properties.[370][371] In Europe a particularly violent outbreak of anti-clerical persecution took place in 1936 Spain. Because priests and nuns were symbols of conservatism, they were murdered in "large numbers" during the Spanish Civil War by republicans and anarchists.[372] Confiscation of Church properties and restrictions on people's religious freedoms have generally accompanied secularist and Marxist-leaning governmental reforms.[373]
Before the outbreak of World War II in the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge, Pope Pius XI "condemned the neopaganism of the Nazi ideology – especially its theory of racial superiority...".[375] Drafted by the future Pope Pius XII[376] and read from the pulpits of all German Catholic churches, it described Adolf Hitler as an insane and arrogant prophet and was the first official denunciation of Nazism made by any major organization.[377] Pius XI later warned a group of pilgrims that antisemitism is incompatible with Christianity.[375] Nazi reprisals against the Church in Germany followed thereafter, including "staged prosecutions of monks for homosexuality, with the maximum of publicity".[378] When Dutch bishops protested against the wartime deportation of Jews, the Nazis responded with harsher measures[377] rounding up 92 converts including Edith Stein who were then deported and murdered.[379] "The brutality of the retaliation made an enormous impression on Pius XII."[379] In Poland, the Nazis murdered over 2,500 monks and priests and even more were imprisoned.[378] In the Soviet Union an even more severe persecution occurred.[378] After the war, historians such as David Kertzer accused the Church of encouraging centuries of antisemitism, and Pope Pius XII of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.[380] Prominent members of the Jewish community contradicted the criticisms of Pius and spoke highly of his efforts to protect Jews;[381] Pinchas Lapide declared Pius XII "was instrumental in saving at least 700,000, but probably as many as 860,000 Jews from certain death at Nazi hands".[382] Even so, in 2000 Pope John Paul II on behalf of all people, apologized to Jews by inserting a prayer at the Western Wall that read "We're deeply saddened by the behavior of those in the course of history who have caused the children of God to suffer, and asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant."[383] This papal apology, one of many issued by Pope John Paul II for past human and Church failings throughout history, was especially important because John Paul II emphasized Church guilt for, and the Second Vatican Council's condemnation of, anti-Semitism.[384] The papal letter We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, urged Catholics to repent "of past errors and infidelities" and "renew the awareness of the Hebrew roots of their faith."[384][385]
The aftermath of World War II saw atheistic communist governments in Eastern Europe severely restrict religious freedoms. Even though some clerics collaborated with the regime,[386] 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.[387] The Communist rise to power in China of 1949 led to the expulsion of all foreign missionaries, "often after cruel and farcical 'public trials'."[388] In an effort to further detach Chinese Catholics, the new government created the Patriotic Church independent of the worldwide Catholic Church.[388] Rome subsequently rejected its bishops.[389] The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s encouraged gangs of teenagers to eliminate all places of worship and turn their occupants into labourers. 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 break allegiance with Rome.[389]
Second Vatican Council and beyond
The Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process of reform following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).[390] Intended as a continuation of Vatican I, under Pope John XXIII the council developed into an engine of modernisation, making pronouncements on religious freedom, the nature of the church and the mission of the laity.[390] It also permitted the Latin liturgical rites to use vernacular languages as well as Latin during mass and other sacraments.[391] Christian unity became a greater priority.[392] In addition to finding more common ground with Protestant Churches, the Catholic Church has again discussed the possibility of unity with the Eastern Orthodox Church.[393]
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 the old liturgy with the help of sympathetic priests.[394] 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.[395]
In the 1960s, growing social awareness and politicization in the Latin American Church gave birth to liberation theology. The Peruvian priest, Gustavo Gutiérrez, became a primary theorist and, in 1979, the bishops' conference in Mexico officially declared the Latin American Church's "preferential option for the poor".[396] Archbishop Óscar Romero, a supporter of the movement, became the region's most famous contemporary martyr in 1980, when he was murdered while saying mass by forces allied with the government.[397] Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI (as Cardinal Ratzinger) denounced the movement.[398] The Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was twice ordered to cease publishing and teaching.[396] Pope John Paul II was criticized for his severity in dealing with proponents of the movement, but he maintained that the Church, in its efforts to champion the poor, should not do so by resorting to violence or partisan politics.[399] The movement is still alive in Latin America today, although the Church now faces the challenge of Pentecostal revival in much of the region.[398]
The sexual revolution of the 1960s precipitated Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae 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.[400] It approved Natural Family Planning as a legitimate means to limit family size.[400] 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 Evangelium Vitae.[401] This encyclical condemned the "culture of death" which the pope often used to describe societal embrace of euthanasia, contraception, genocide, suicide, capital punishment and abortion.[401][402] 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.[403][404] Feminists disagreed with these and other Church teachings and worked together with a coalition of American nuns to lead the Church to consider the ordination of women.[217] They noted that many of the major Church documents were full of anti-female prejudice and a number of studies were conducted to discover how this prejudice developed when it was deemed contrary to the openness of Jesus.[217] These events led Pope John Paul II to issue the 1988 encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem, which declared that women had a different, yet equally important role in the Church.[405][406] In 1994 the encyclical Ordinatio Sacerdotalis further explained that the Church follows the example of Jesus, who chose only men for the specific priestly duty.[169][407][408]
Major lawsuits emerged in 2001 claiming some priests had sexually abused minors.[409] In the US, the country with the vast majority of sex abuse cases,[410] the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a comprehensive study that found that four percent of all priests who served in the US from 1950 to 2002 faced some sort of sexual accusation.[411][412] The Church was widely criticized when it emerged that some bishops had known about abuse allegations, failed to report them to police and reassigned accused priests after first sending them to psychiatric counseling.[409][412][413][414] Some bishops and psychiatrists contended that the prevailing psychology of the times suggested that people could be cured of such behavior through counseling.[413][415] Pope John Paul II responded by declaring that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young".[416] Some commentators have argued that media coverage of the issue has been excessive given that similar problems affect other institutions such as US public schools with much greater frequency.[417][418][419] The US Church instituted reforms to prevent future abuse including requiring background checks for Church employees and volunteers;[420][421] and, because the vast majority of victims were teenage boys, the worldwide Church also prohibited the ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".[160][415][422]
Present
The Pope remains an international leader who regularly receives heads of state from around the world. As the representative of the Holy See, he also holds a seat at, and occasionally addresses, the United Nations.[423] 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 re-emphasizing marriage and the centrality of charity to the Church's mission.[46] On his 2008 visit to the United States he was received with special dignity by the president and his Masses were televised live on the major national news networks. Even though the Vatican condemned the Iraq War as a "defeat for reason and for the Gospel",[424] when asked why the Pope received such special attention, George W. Bush said, "One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith...".[425]
Following outcry from Muslims over 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.[426]
The Church also sponsors the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a body whose international membership includes Stephen Hawking and Nobel laureates such as Charles Hard Townes, which provides the Pope with information on scientific matters.[221] 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 views of marriage, welcoming and support for the poor and immigrants, and those who would work against abortion.[427]
See also
- Roman Catholicism by country
- Global organisation of the Roman Catholic Church
Criticism of the Roman Catholic Church
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] After the East-West Schism, the Western Church took the name "Catholic", while the Eastern Church took the name "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 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 Tridentine Mass was the ordinary form of the Mass since the 16th century and though superseded in 1969 by the Missal of Paul VI, it continues to be offered according to the missal of 1962, as authorised by the documents Quattuor Abhinc Annos (1984), Ecclesia Dei (1988)[116] and Summorum Pontificum (2007).
- ^ Bishops include those who hold the position of pope, cardinal (normally), patriarch, primate, archbishop and metropolitan.
- ^ 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,[161] 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.[162] In the 11th century, mandatory celibacy was enforced as part of efforts to reform the medieval church.[163]
- ^ 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]
- ^ In this period, all monasteries were destroyed, 30,000 priests were exiled and hundreds more were killed.[349] 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.
Footnotes
- ^ "Concise Oxford English Dictionary" (online version). Oxford University Press. 2005. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/catholic?view=uk. Retrieved on 10 April 2009.
- ^ Marthaler, Berard (1993). "The Creed". Twenty-Third Publications. http://books.google.com/books?id=TY3-aZIo9HEC&pg=PA303&dq=catholic+Ignatius+of+Antioch&lr=#PPA303,M1. Retrieved on 9 May 2008. p. 303
- ^ a b McBrien, Richard (2008). The Church. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available here. 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
- ^ Beal, John (2002). "New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law". Paulist Press. 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. Retrieved on 13 May 2008. 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. http://www.zenit.org/article-18894?l=english. Retrieved on 21 February 2008.
- ^ a b "CIA World Factbook". United States Government Central Intelligence Agency. 2008. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html#People. Retrieved on 22 December 2008.
- ^ Schreck, pp. 158–159.
- ^ a b c Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium chapter 3, section 22". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e Barry, pp. 98–99.
- ^ a b Paragraph number 881 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p4.htm#I. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ a b Derrett, p. 480, quote: "... the activities of Jesus, and of Paul of Tarsus, cannot be understood without a knowledge of the peculiar world in which they operated. Some believe that Christianity was not founded by Jesus, called Christ, but rather by Peter with such of his associates who were apostles after Jesus's anastasis, which is usually called 'resurrection'. The faith of Peter, and the subsequent faith of Paul, are the rocks upon which the early churches were founded. Their psychosociological position at any rate must be known if one is to understand their proceedings. Others, this writer included, take Jesus as the inspiring force of the church."
- ^ Wilken, p. 281, quote: "Some (Christian communities) had been founded by Peter, the disciple Jesus designated as the founder of his church. ... Once the position was institutionalized, historians looked back and recognized Peter as the first pope of the Christian church in Rome"
- ^ a b c d Norman, p. 11, p. 14, quote: "The Church was founded by Jesus himself in his earthly lifetime.", "The apostolate was established in Rome, the world's capital when the church was inaugurated; it was there that the universality of the Christian teaching most obviously took its central directive—it was the bishops of Rome who very early on began to receive requests for adjudication on disputed points from other bishops."
- ^ 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).
- ^ a b Orlandis, preface
- ^ Vatican Council, Second (1964). "Lumen Gentium paragraph 14". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. Retrieved on 17 December 2008.
- ^ Paragraph number 846 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM. Retrieved on 27 December 2008.
- ^ Paragraph number 819 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm. Retrieved on 16 May 2009.
- ^ a b Kreeft, pp. 110–112.
- ^ Shorto, Russel (8 April 2007). "Keeping the Faith". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/magazine/08pope.t.html. Retrieved on 29 March 2008.
- ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Barry, p. 46.
- ^ Duffy, p. 1.
- ^ a b 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."
- ^ Duffy, p. 6, quote: "For all these reasons, most scholars accept the early Christian tradition that Peter and Paul died in Rome. Yet, though they lived, preached and died in Rome, they did not strictly 'found' the Church there. Paul's Epistle to the Romans was written before either he or Peter ever set foot in Rome, to a Christian community already in existence."
- ^ Duffy, p. 7.
- ^ Matthew 28:19–20
- ^ Paragraph number 849 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm#IV. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ Norman, p. 12.
- ^ a b Benedict XVI, Pope (2005). "Deus Caritas Est". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html. Retrieved on 6 May 2008.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 17.
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (1997). "Laetamur Magnopere". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081997_laetamur_en.html. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Richardson, p. 132.
- ^ Langan, p. 118.
- ^ Parry, p. 292.
- ^ Collinson, pp. 254–260.
- ^ a b c 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."
- ^ 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. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c1a2.htm. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ 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. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm#II. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ 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. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm#II. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ Barry, p. 77.
- ^ Paragraph number 608 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p122a4p2.htm#III. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ 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. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a2.htm#IV. Retrieved on 11 February 2008.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1385, 1389 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm#IV. Retrieved on 11 February 2008.
- ^ 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 q r CCC, sec. 1831, 1303.
- ^ Paragraph number 1233 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Schreck, pp. 379–386.
- ^ Matthew 25:35–36
- ^ Schreck, p. 397.
- ^ Barry, p. 105.
- ^ Luke 23:39–43
- ^ Schreck, p. 131.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 777–778 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p1.htm. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ a b Kreeft, pp. 113–114.
- ^ a b Paragraph number 956 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm#II. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ a b Paul VI, Pope (1964). "Lumen Gentium chapter 2". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ a b Schreck, pp. 146–147.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 373.
- ^ Schreck, p. 141.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 2041–2043 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s1c3a3.htm#II. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ Schreck, p. 193.
- ^ Paragraph number 1200–1209 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a2.htm. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.
- ^ a b c Kreeft, pp. 326–327.
- ^ Benedict XVI, Pope (2007). "Summorum Pontificum". Eternal Word Television Network. http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16SummorumPontificum.htm. Retrieved on 27 March 2008.
- ^ John Paul II, Pope (1988). "Ecclesia Dei". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_02071988_ecclesia-dei_en.html. Retrieved on 27 March 2008.
- ^ a b Barry, p. 116.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 320.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1324–1331 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm. Retrieved on 11 June 2008.
- ^ See Luke 22:19, Matthew 26:27–28, Mark 14:22–24, 1Corinthians 11:24–25
- ^ a b Schreck, pp. 232–239.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 328.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 325.
- ^ 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. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.
- ^ a b Kreeft, p. 331.
- ^ a b Paragraph numbers 1399–1401 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm. Retrieved on 12 May 2008.
- ^ "[Canon 844(4)". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2T.HTM. Retrieved on 3 July 2009.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1400 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm#IV. Retrieved on 5 June 2008.
- ^ Luke 18:1
- ^ "General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours". The Catholic Liturgical Library. http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/DocumentContents/Index/2/SubIndex/39/DocumentIndex/2. Retrieved on 3 July 2009.; "The Divine Office: A Study of the Roman Breviary, by the Rev. E.J. Quigley". Sancta Missa. http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books/quigley/index.html. Retrieved on 3 July 2009.; "article on the Liturgy of the Hours / Divine Office / Breviary". Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/breviary.htm. Retrieved on 3 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Schreck, p. 198.
- ^ "Canon 276". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PY.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Paragraph numbers 1174–1178, 1196 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a1.htm#IV. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ Barry, p. 86, p. 98.
- ^ a b c d Paragraph numbers 2697–2724 (1994). "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm. Retrieved on 8 February 2008.
- ^ a b Barry, pp. 122–123.
- ^ a b Schreck, pp. 199–200.
- ^ Barry, p. 106.
- ^ Schreck, p. 368.
- ^ Baedeker, Rob (21 December 2007). "World's most-visited religious destinations". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-12-21-most-visited-religious-spots-forbes_N.htm. Retrieved on 3 March 2008.
- ^ Nolan, pp. 1–3.
- ^ Kreeft, p. 109.
- ^ "Country profile: Vatican". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1066140.stm. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Thavis, John (2005). "Election of new pope follows detailed procedure". Catholic News Service. http://www.catholicnews.com/jpii/stories/concl03.htm. Retrieved on 11 February 2008.
- ^ "Vatican Introduces Latin to 21st Century With New Dictionary". The New York Times. 14 May 2003. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED6113FF937A25756C0A9659C8B63. Retrieved on 13 May 2008.
- ^ Vatican, Annuario Pontificio p. 1172.
- ^ Barry, p. 52.
- ^ "Canon 207". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_PS.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Canon 42". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P16.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Canon 375". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ a b Barry, p. 114.
- ^ Committee on the Diaconate. "Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. http://www.usccb.org/deacon/faqs.shtml. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Schreck, p. 227.
- ^ "Canon 1037". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Canon 1031". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Cholij, Roman (1993). "Priestly Celibacy in Patristics and in the History of the Church". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_01011993_chisto_en.html. Retrieved on 6 April 2008.
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- ^ a b Barry, p. 56.
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- ^ Froehle, p. 46.