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from Seven Lies About Catholic History, by Diane Moczar
Unprovoked Muslim aggression in the seventh century brought large parts of the southern Byzantine Empire, including Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt under Arab rule. Christians who survived the conquests found themselves subject to a special poll tax and discriminated against as an inferior class known as dhimmi. Often their churches were destroyed and other harsh conditions imposed. For centuries their complaints had been reaching Rome, but Europe was having its own Dark Age of massive invasion, and nothing could be done to relieve the plight of eastern Christians.
By the eleventh century, under the rule of a new Muslim dynasty, conditions worsened. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, site of the Crucifixion was destroyed, along with a large number of other churches, and Christian pilgrims were massacred. In 1067 a group of seven thousand peaceful German pilgrims lost two-thirds of their number to Muslim assaults. By this time the popes, including St. Gregory VII, were actively trying to rally support for relief of eastern Christians, though without success. It was not until the very end of the century, in 1095, that Pope Urban's address at Clermont in France met with a response-though not quite the one he had hoped for. But the response was what we now call the First Crusade.
"The general consensus of opinion among medievalists . . . is that the Crusades were military expeditions organized by the peoples of Western Christendom, notably the Normans and the French, under the leadership of the Roman Popes, for the recover of the Holy Places from their Muslim masters." This seems to sum up most neatly what the Crusades really were and how their participants actually viewed them. The Crusades were not colonialist or commercial ventures, they were not intended to force Christianity on Jews and Muslims, and they were not the projects of individual warlords. Their primary goal, in addition to the defense of the Eastern Empire, was the recovery of the Holy Land for Christendom, and they acknowledged the leadership of the Popes. As French historian Louis Brehier wrote, 'the popes alone understood the menace of Islam's progress for christian civilization.'"
They felt that the Islamic faith had taken over the Holy Land, and were using it for unHoly Purposes. This belief started the Crusades.
To capture the Christian holy land To reconquer the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and free the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule. To take Jerusalem for the Catholic Church
The Crusades
Capture the Holy land from Islamic rulers.
APEX: The Islamic Empire directly governed the people it controlled, but the Roman Catholic Church relied only on its influence with rulers.
The Catholic religion started in Jerusalem in the first years of the first century when Our Blessed Lord stated His Church on the Apostle Peter and send them out to preach the Gospel to all nations.
It depends on whether you count the Council of Jerusalem or not. The Council of Jerusalem, in the book of Acts, was the first great Council of the Church, the next 21 are listed at the link below, starting with the Council of Nicea.
In Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday in the year 33 AD.
A major goal of the Christian Church during the Crusades was to reclaim Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control. The Church sought to protect and expand its influence in the region, as well as unify Christians under a common cause.
No, it was founded in Jerusalem in Palestine about the year 33 AD.
.Catholic AnswerSt. Peter, in Jerusalem, 33 A.D. on Pentecost, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
One AnswerBecause he was protected by Germanic kings Another AnswerMainly because the Catholic Church does not capture or execute people! The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, its mission on earth is to preach and bring Our Blessed Lord to the people in the sacraments, and the people to salvation in Christ. The Catholic Church did their best to show Luther the error of his ways, when that failed, they excommunicated him (the worst punishment that the Church has).
The Orthodox Church began as the first Christian Church (alongside the Roman Catholic Church--this was obviously before the schism which occurred in 1054 between the two churches) at Pentecost in Jerusalem. Short answer: Jerusalem