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Roman Catholic Church
Emblem of the Papacy
Classification	Roman Catholic
Orientation	Catholic
Polity	Episcopal
Region	Worldwide
Founder	Jesus
Origin	c. 50 AD Rome
Separations	All basal Protestant denominations (Lutheran, Calvinist, Church of England)
Members	1,114,966,000

The Catholic Church or Roman Catholic Church (see terminology below) is a Christian church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus and spread by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter.

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, representing over half of all Christians, and is the largest organized body of any world religion. According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Catholic Church's worldwide recorded membership at the end of 2005 was 1,114,966,000, approximately one-sixth of the world's population.

The worldwide Catholic Church is made up of one Western or Latin and 22 Eastern Catholic autonomous particular churches, all of which look to the Pope, alone or along with the College of Bishops, as their highest authority on earth for matters of faith, morals and church governance. It is divided into jurisdictional areas, usually on a territorial basis. The standard territorial unit is called a diocese in the Latin church and an eparchy in the Eastern churches. Each diocese or eparchy is headed by a bishop, patriarch or eparch. At the end of 2006, the total number of all these jurisdictional areas (or "Sees") was 2,782.

Origin and Mission

The Church traces its origins to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, and sees the bishops of the Church as the successors of the Apostles in general, and the Pope as the successor of Saint Peter, leader of the Apostles, in particular. The first known use of the term "Catholic Church" was in a letter by Ignatius of Antioch in 107, who wrote: "Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."

The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel to all men. Jesus instructed his disciples to "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, until the close of the age."

Papal Authority

Apostolic Succession, is the belief that the Pope and Catholic bishops are the spiritual successors of the original twelve apostles, through the historically unbroken chain of consecration (see: Holy Orders). The Pope is the spiritual head and leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He is elected by majority vote of the College of Cardinals and serves for life. Historically, the New Testament contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as Christianity, and shows how reference was made to the leaders of the church to decide what was true doctrine. The Catholic Church believes it is the continuation of those who remained faithful to the apostolic leadership and rejected false teachings based on the previously mentioned unbroken chain of consecration and beginning with the original twelve apostles.

Beliefs

The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, state the main principles of Catholic belief. The contents of the Apostles Creed are entirely contained in the Nicene Creed which is what is recited in all the Eastern and Western Catholic Masses today. This creed states "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is , seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."

Catholic belief on all subjects is summarized by the Vatican in a book called the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism gives members and others a "systematic presentation of the faith" and a "complete exposition of Catholic doctrine".

Catholicism embodies the main beliefs of orthodox trinitarian Christianity, placing particular importance on the Church as an institution founded by Jesus and kept from doctrinal error by the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, as the font of salvation for humanity. The seven sacraments of the Church, of which the most important is the Eucharist, are of prime importance in obtaining salvation.

The teachings of the Catholic Church are derived from two sources, firstly the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible) and secondly the Sacred Tradition. Both are ultimately governed and interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church. There is a variety of sources for knowledge of Sacred Tradition, taught by the Church to be originally passed from the apostles in the form of oral tradition. Many of the writings of the early Church Fathers reflect teachings of Sacred Tradition, such as apostolic succession. Sacred Tradition, unlike man-made traditions, is understood to be the lived experience of the teachings of Christ in the early Church.

Nature of God

Catholicism is monotheistic: it believes that God is one, eternal, all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), all-good (omnibenevolent), and omnipresent. God exists as distinct from and prior to his creation (that is, everything which is not God, and which depends directly on him for existence) and yet is still present intimately in his creation. In the First Vatican Council the Church taught that, while by the natural light of human reason God can be known in his works as origin and end of all created things, God has also chosen to reveal himself and his will supernaturally in the ways indicated in the Letter to the Hebrews 1:1–2.

Catholicism is also Trinitarian: it believes that, while God is one in nature, essence, and being, this one God exists in three divine persons, each identical with the one essence, whose only distinctions are in their relations to one another: the Father's relationship to the Son, the Son's relationship to the Father, and the relations of both to the Holy Spirit, constitute the one God as a Trinity.

Catholics are baptized in the Name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit — not three gods, but one God subsisting in three Persons. While sharing in the one divine essence, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct, not simply three "masks" or manifestations of one Person. The faith of the church and of the individual Christian is based on a relationship with these three Persons of the one God.

The Catholic Church believes that God has revealed himself to humanity as Father to his only-begotten Son, who is in an eternal relationship with the Father: "No one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

Catholics believe that God the Son, the Divine Logos, the second of the three Persons of God, became incarnate as Jesus Christ, a human being, born of the Virgin Mary. He remained truly divine and was at the same time truly human. In what he said, and by how he lived, he taught all people how to live, and revealed God as Love, the giver of unmerited favours or Graces.

After Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, his followers, foremost among them the Apostles, spread more and more extensively their faith with a vigour that they attributed to the presence of the Holy Spirit, the third of the three Persons of God, sent upon them by Jesus.

Original sin

Human beings, in Catholic belief, were originally created to live in union with God. Through the disobedience of the first humans (Adam and Eve), that relationship was broken and sin and death came into the world. The Fall of Man left humans in a state called original sin, that is, separated from their original state of intimacy with God which carried into death through the idea of the individual human soul being immortal. But when Jesus came into the world, being both God and man, he was able through his sacrifice to reconcile humanity with God. By becoming one in Christ, through the church, humanity was once again capable of intimacy with God and also offered participation in the divine life on Earth, which will reach its fullness in heaven in the beatific vision. The sacrament of baptism is the ordinary means for the remission of original sin.

The Church (Ecclesiology)

The Church is, "the body of Christ". Catholics teach that it is one united body of believers both in heaven and on earth. To this one church founded by Jesus on Peter and the Apostles, Jesus gave a mandate to be the authoritative teacher and guardian of the faith. The apostles were given the mandate to "preach the Gospel," which they performed both orally and in writing, and which they preserved by leaving bishops as their successors. This living transmission is called Tradition The Church is also a fount of divine grace which is administered through the sacraments (see below). The Church claims infallibility in teaching the faith, based on Jesus' scriptural promises to remain with his church always, and to maintain it in truth through the Holy Spirit,

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "the Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God." Thus the Church's "structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members."

Salvation

The Church teaches that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people, and that God grants it to sinners as a free gift, a grace, through the sacrifice of Christ. "With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator." It is God who justifies, that is, who frees from sin by a free gift of holiness (sanctifying grace, also known as habitual or deifying grace). We can either accept the gift God gives through faith in Jesus Christ and through baptism, or refuse it. Human cooperation is needed, in line with a new capacity to adhere to the divine will that God provides. The faith of a Christian is not without works, otherwise it would be dead. In this sense, "by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone," and eternal life is, at one and the same time, grace and the reward given by God for good works and merits. Faith, and subsequently works, are a result of God's grace - thus, it is only because of grace that the believer can be said to "merit" salvation.

The Church teaches that a person must be in a state of Sanctifying Grace at the moment of death in order to be saved. Sanctifying Grace is conferred at Baptism, and is lost when a soul commits a mortal sin. A mortal sin is a deliberate and serious transgression of God's law. Sanctifying Grace is regained when a person confesses his or her sin in the Sacrament of Penance. If a person repents of his or her sin before he or she dies but is unable to obtain the actual Sacrament of Penance before death due to reasons outside of the person's control, the person's sin is forgiven by nature of the person's desire to receive it.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that through the graces Jesus won for humanity by sacrificing himself on the cross, salvation is possible even for those outside the visible boundaries of the Church. Christians and even non-Christians, if in life they respond positively to the grace and truth that God reveals to them through the mercy of Christ, may be saved (an attitude often referred to, in the case of non-Christians, as "baptism of desire"). This may sometimes include awareness of an obligation to become part of the Catholic Church. In such cases, "whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved."

Practices: prayer and worship

In the Catholic Church, there is a distinction between Liturgy, which is the formal public and communal worship of the Church, and personal prayer or devotion, which may be public or private. The Liturgy is regulated by church authority and consists of the Eucharist (the Mass), the other Sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours. All Catholics are expected to participate in the liturgical life of the Church, but personal prayer and devotions are entirely a matter of personal preference.

Liturgy

The Catholic Church is fundamentally liturgical in its public life of worship. Liturgy is derived from the Greek for "work of the people." The Second Vatican Council stated "for the liturgy, 'through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,' most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church."

Eucharist

Catholics see the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life, and believe that the bread and wine brought to the altar are transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and the true Blood of Christ. The Holy Mass is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.

Sacraments

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131 teaches: "The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions."

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1113, "The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony." For a discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Biblical foundation of the Sacraments, go to Aquinas and the Sacraments.

Liturgy of the Hours

The Liturgy of the Hours, at least in the simple form of morning prayer and evening prayer, is the daily liturgy of all the Catholic faithful. It is intended as a communal experience, just as the Eucharist or the celebration of the other Sacraments, but is often recited by individuals.

Devotional life/Personal Prayer

In addition to the liturgy of the Church there is a variety of spirtual practices, devotions, and pietistic practices that Catholics may participate in, either communally or individually. Aside from the Mass, Catholics consider personal and communal prayer to be one of the most important elements of Christian life.

Important examples are blessings of people and of objects, as well as devotions to particular saints, spiritualities, prayers, or Catholic traditions. Popular devotions are not strictly part of the liturgy, but if they are judged to be authentic, the Church encourages them. They include veneration of relics of saints, visits to sacred shrines, pilgrimages, processions (including Eucharistic processions), the Stations of the Cross (also known as the Way of the Cross), Holy Hours, Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Rosary.

Likewise, the great variety of Catholic spirituality enables individual Catholics to pray privately in many different ways. The fourth and last part of the Catechism thus summarized the Catholic's response to the mystery of faith: "This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer."

Catholic life

Catholics are obliged to endeavour to be true disciples of Jesus. They seek forgiveness of their sins and follow the example and teaching of Jesus. They believe that Jesus has provided seven sacraments which give Grace from God to the believer.

If a person dies in unrepented mortal sin, which can be forgiven through the Sacrament of Penance, he loses God's promise of salvation and goes to Hell. However, if the sinner truly regrets his or her actions before the moment of death, then he or she can undergo a purification, known as Purgatory, and eventually enter Heaven.

Catholics believe that God works actively in the world. Catholics grow in grace through participation in the sacramental life of the Church, and through prayer, the work of mercy, and spiritual disciplines such as fasting and pilgrimage. The Catholic laity also grow in grace when they fulfill their secular duties and try to imbue society with Christian values by being a model of Christ and his teachings.

Prayer for others, even for enemies and persecutors is a Christian duty. Catholics say there are four types of prayer: adoration, thanksgiving, contrition, and supplication. Catholics may address their requests for the intercession of others not only to people still in earthly life, but also to those in heaven, in particular the Virgin Mary and the other Saints. As Mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary is also considered to be the spiritual mother of all Catholics.

Community

Ordained Ministry

The Church has a hierarchical structure, meaning a holy ordering (as opposed to a charismatic structure). This hierarchical nature applies to the entire Church, though it is often used to refer only to the ordained ministers of the Church, who belong to one of the three holy orders: episcopate (bishops), presbyterate (priests), or diaconate (deacons).

Episcopate

The Bishops, who possess the fullness of Christian priesthood, are as a body (the College of Bishops) the successors of the Apostles and are "constituted Pastors in the Church, to be the teachers of doctrine, the priests of sacred worship and the ministers of governance."

The pope, cardinals (in principle), patriarchs, primates, archbishops and metropolitans are all bishops and members of the Catholic episcopate or college of bishops.

Presbyterate (Priesthood)

Bishops are assisted by priests and deacons. Parishes, whether territorial or person-based, within a diocese are normally in the charge of a priest, known as the parish priest or the pastor.

Priests may perform many functions not directly connected with ordinary pastoral activity, such as study, research, teaching or office work. They may also be rectors or chaplains. Other titles or functions held by priests include those of Archimandrite, Canon Secular or Regular, Chancellor, Chorbishop, Confessor, Dean of a Cathedral Chapter, Hieromonk, Prebendary, Precentor, etc.

In the Latin Rite, only celibate men, as a rule, are ordained as priests, while the Eastern Rites, again as a rule, also ordain married men. Among the Eastern particular churches, the Ethiopic Catholic Church ordains only celibate clergy, while also having married priests who were ordained in the Orthodox Church. Other Eastern Catholic churches, which do ordain married men, do not have married priests in certain countries, such as the United States of America. The Western or Latin Rite does sometimes, but very rarely, ordain married men, usually Protestant clergy who have become Catholics. All rites of the Catholic Church maintain the ancient tradition that, after ordination, marriage is not allowed. Even a married priest whose wife dies may not then marry again.

Diaconate

Since the Second Vatican Council, the Latin church again admits married men of mature age to ordination as Permanent deacons. "Deacons are ordained as a sacramental sign to the Church and to the world of Christ, who came 'to serve and not to be served.' The entire Church is called by Christ to serve, and the deacon, in virtue of his sacramental ordination and through his various ministries, is to be a servant in a servant-Church. As ministers of Word, deacons proclaim the Gospel, preach, and teach in the name of the Church. As ministers of Sacrament, deacons baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages, and conduct wake and funeral services. As ministers of Charity, deacons are leaders in identifying the needs of others, then marshalling the Church's resources to meet those needs. Deacons are also dedicated to eliminating the injustices or inequities that cause such needs."

Candidates for the Diaconate go through a Diaconate Formation program that is designed based on the contemporaneous needs of their Diocese but must meet minimum standards set by the Bishops Conference in their home country. Upon completion of their formation program and acceptance by their local Bishop, Candidates receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders through Ordination. Generally, following Ordination, a Deacon is assigned by his Bishop to a local Parish in which he will perform his ministry and serve the local church and community.

Members of the Consecrated Life ("Religious")

Consecrated Life (also called the Religious Life) refers to the life of men and women dedicated to God in a binding manner that is recognized by the Church. Its members are not part of the hierarchy, unless they are also ordained priests, but remain members of the laity. The Catholic Church recognizes several forms of the Consecrated Life, namely, the cenobitic life in the religious institutes (often referred to as religious orders or religious congregations, cf. canons 607-709), the eremitic/anchoritic life (canon 603), the order of virgins (canon 604), the life of the consecrated widows/widowers, and in Secular Institutes (canons 710-730) and Societies of Apostolic Life (canons 731-746). It also makes a provision for the approval of "new forms of consecrated life" (canon 605). Most of the existing forms of the Consecrated Life require their members to consecrate themselves to God by their public profession, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, of the three Evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, or their Benedictine equivalent, as stipulated in Church Law, both proper to the institute and universal (Canon law). Today the majority of those that feel called to following Christ in a more exacting way in the Consecrated Life join a religious institute, in which they follow a common rule under the leadership of a superior. They usually live in community, although occasionally permission is given to individual members to live for a shorter or longer time as a hermit without ceasing to be a member of their religious institute, others may be given permission to reside elsewhere, for example as resident chaplain to a community of nuns, or as priest serving a non-local parish.

Laity

Those Catholics who are neither ordained clergy nor consecrated religious are called laity. They are equal in dignity, in the call to holiness, and in the work to build the Church. All are called to share in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and royal office. With the common priesthood in baptism, these ordinary Catholics — e.g., mothers, farmers, businessmen, writers, politicians — are to take initiative in "discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life." They exercise the common, baptism-based priestly office by offering their prayer and works as spiritual sacrifices, the prophetic office by their word and testimony of life in the ordinary circumstances of the world, and the kingly office by self-mastery and conforming worldly institutions to the norms of justice.

Some of the non-ordained exercise formal, public ministry in the name of the church, often on a full time and life-long basis, and often in ministries that were reserved to the presbyterate in the decades leading up to the Second Vatican Council. These are called Lay Ecclesial Ministers, a broad category which may include Pastoral Life Coordinators, Pastoral Associates, Pastoral Assistants, Youth Ministers, Campus Ministers, etc. .

Church History

The Early Church and Christological Councils

From the beginning, Christians were subject to various persecutions. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen (Acts 7:59) and James, son of Zebedee (12:2). Larger-scale persecutions followed at the hands of the authorities of the Roman Empire, beginning with the year 64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus, the Emperor Nero blamed them for that year's great Fire of Rome. According to Church tradition, it was under Nero's persecution that SS. Peter and Paul were each martyred in Rome. In AD 96 Pope Clement I wrote his first Epistle to the church of Corinth only a few years before the death of St. John, the last of the Apostles, in Ephesus. Further widespread persecutions of the Church occurred under nine subsequent Roman emperors including Domitian, Decius and Diocletian.

From AD 150 christian teachers began to produce theological and "apologetic" works aimed at defending the faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers, and study of them is called Patristics. Notable early Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, when Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan in 313. Constantine was instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to address the Arian heresy and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still currently used by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglican Communion, and various Protestant churches. In 326, Pope Sylvester I consecrated the first Basilica of St. Peter built by Constantine.

On 27 February 380, Emperor Theodosius I enacted a law establishing Catholic Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire and ordering others to be called heretics. This period of history was also marked by the inauguration of a series of Ecumenical (worldwide) Christological Councils which established and formally codified critical elements of the theology of the Church. In 382, the Council of Rome set the Canon of the Bible, listing the accepted books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Also, the Council of Ephesus in 431 declared that Jesus existed both as fully Man and fully God simultaneously, clarifying his status in the Trinity. The meaning of the Nicene Creed was also declared a permanent doctrine of the Church.

Medieval Period

In 452, Pope Leo the Great met Attila the Hun, and dissuaded him from sacking Rome. However, in 476, the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus was deposed . Following the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, the Church entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among the former barbarian tribes. Catholicism spread among the Germanic peoples (initially in competition with Arianism), the Celts, the Slavic peoples; the Vikings and other Scandinavians; the Hungarians, the Baltic peoples and the Finns. The rise of Islam from 630 onwards, took the formerly Christian lands of the Levant, North Africa and much of Spain out of Christian control.

In 480, St. Benedict set out his Monastic Rule, establishing a system of regulations for the foundation and running of monasteries. Monasticism became a powerful force throughout Europe, and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland and Gaul, contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century.

The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the Church. Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed ecclesiastical structure and administration. In the early eighth century iconoclasm became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The popes challenged imperial power and preserved the use of images outside the empire. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favour of icons. In the early tenth century, western monasticism was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny.

High Middle Ages

From the eleventh century onward, older cathedral schools developed into Universities (see University of Paris, University of Oxford, and University of Bologna.) Originally teaching only Theology, these steadily added subjects including Medicine, Philosophy and Law, becoming the direct ancestors of modern Western institutions of learning.

Accompanying the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans and the Dominicans founded by St. Francis and St. Dominic respectively. Both orders made significant contributions to the development of the great Universities of Europe. Another new order were the Cistercians, whose large isolated monasteries spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights, culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals.

From 1095 under the pontificate of Urban II, the Crusades were launched. These were a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking and occupation of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.

Beginning around 1184, following the wars brought about by the Cathar heresy, various institutions broadly referred to as the Inquisition, were established aimed at suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion, and prosecution, of alleged heretics. Historians distinguish between the Medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Roman Inquisition, and the Portuguese Inquisition as distinct historical institutions, some under state, and others under church control.

East-West Schism

Over a period stretching from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries, the church underwent a gradual schism that divided it into a Western (Latin) branch, generally known as the Catholic Church, and an Eastern (Greek) branch, which has become known as the Orthodox Church. These two churches disagree on a number of administrative, liturgical, and doctrinal issues, most notably the Filioque clause and papal primacy of jurisdiction.

The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases the Orthodox refused to ratify the decisions. Some Eastern churches have subsequently reunited with the Roman Catholic Church, and others claim never to have been out of communion with the Pope. (See Eastern Catholic Churches.) However the two principal churches remain in schism to the present day, although excommunications were lifted mutually between Rome and Constantinople in 1965.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

The fifteenth century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical learning, and a re-examination of accepted beliefs. The discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a new wave of missionary activity as the Catholic Church sought to spread the faith throughout the colonies. Pope Alexander VI awarded colonial rights over most of the newly-discovered lands to Spain and Portugal.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, which protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences. Others like Zwingli and Calvin developed even more radical and extreme critiques of catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into a movement called the Protestant Reformation. Repudiated issues included the primacy of the pope, clerical celibacy, the seven sacraments, the eucharist, and various other Catholic doctrines and practices.

In 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy making the King of England Supreme Head of the Church of England. Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales, and Ireland were dissolved. Pope Paul III then excommunicated King Henry VIII in 1538, beginning what would become a decisive schism between Rome and Canterbury.

The Counter-Reformation, or Catholic Reformation, is the name given to the response of the Catholic Church to the challenge of Protestantism. Spearheaded by the Council of Trent, the essence of the Counter-Reformation was a renewed conviction in the validity of traditional Catholic doctrine and practice. This was seen as the source of ecclesiastic and moral reform, and the answer to halting the spread of Protestantism. Renewed enthusiasm led to the founding of new religious orders, such as the Jesuits, the establishment of seminaries for the proper training of priests, worldwide missionary activity, and the development of new yet orthodox forms of spirituality, such as that of the Spanish mystics and the French school of spirituality. The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted doctrine, issued dogmatic definitions, and produced the Roman Catechism. Catholicism spread worldwide, at pace with European colonialism: to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

Modernity

In the 18th and 19th centuries the church found itself facing not only the teachings of Protestantism, but also Enlightenment and Modernist teachings about the nature of the human person, the state, and morality. Atheism and anti-clericalism were increasingly powerful forces. These expressed themselves in movements to secularise church lands , properties and functions. In many parts of the world religious orders were suppressed, worship discouraged, and education, healthcare and other functions were taken over by the state.

With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, and the increased concern about the deteriorating conditions of urban workers, 19th and 20th century popes issued encyclicals such as Rerum Novarum explaining Catholic Social Teaching. The First Vatican Council (1869-1870) affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility which Catholics hold to be in continuity with the history of Petrine supremacy in the church.

Second Vatican Council Reforms

The Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process of "reform" during and immediately after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Convened by Pope John XXIII, the Council stressed what it saw as positive rather than what it saw as negative in other Christian communities and other religions. It was a primarily pastoral but authoritative council, called to make the historical teachings of the Catholic Church clear to the modern world.

It issued documents on a number of topics, including the nature of the church, the mission of the laity, and religious freedom. It also issued directions for a revision of the liturgy, including permission for the Latin liturgical rites to use vernacular languages as well as Latin in the Mass and the other sacraments. For consequent changes in the liturgy, see Mass of Paul VI.

Terminology

The terms "Catholic Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" are used here as alternative names for the entire church that describes itself as "governed by the successor of Saint Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."

See also

• For a complete list of articles on the Roman Catholic Church, see http://en.wikipedia.org/Category:Roman_Catholic_Church
• Canon law (Catholic Church)
• Catholic church hierarchy
• Catholic social teaching
• Christianity
• Eastern Catholic Church
• History of the Roman Catholic Church
• Jesus
• Lay Ecclesial Ministry
• Marian doctrines of the Catholic Church

Footnotes

1. Matthew 16:17-18
2. "St. Peter - Founder of the Catholic Church" (MSN encarta Encyclopedia, 2007).
3. "Major Branches of Religions". adherents.com. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
4. Central Statistics Office (2007). Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2005. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
5. Number of Catholics and Priests Rises, Pontifical Yearbook of 2007 Releases Data. From: zenit.org (February 12, 2007). Retrieved on November 9, 2007.
6. The Catholic Church in the United States At A Glance. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved on November 9, 2007.
7. Lumen gentium, chapter III
8. Central Statistics Office (2007). Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. pp. p. 1172. ISBN 978-88-209-7908-9. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
9. "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Retrieved 2007-01-01. 881. The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. 'The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head.' This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.
10. Ignatius of Antioch. "Letter to the Smyrnaeans". Chapter VIII - Let nothing be done without the bishop.
11. Gospel of Matthew 28:19-20
12. Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 225 paragraph number 849
13. 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 2 Peter 2:1–17; 2 John 7–11; Jude 4–13
14. Acts 15:1–2
15. {{cite web |title=Nicene Creed |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11049a.htm%7Cauthor=J Wilhelm |publisher=Catholic Encyclopedia))
16. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Laetamur Magnopere
17. Romans 1:20
18. Matthew 11:27
19. Romans 5:12
20. Ephesians 1:22–23; cf. Romans 12:4–5
21. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 77–78
22. Matthew 28:20
23. John 14:16–17; John 14:26
24. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 773, 775
25. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2007
26. Romans 3:22
27. Romans 6:3–4
28. Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. "Response of the Catholic Church to the Joint Declaration of the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation on the Doctrine of Justification, 2–3". Vatican. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
29. James 2:26
30. James 2:24
31. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1987–2016
32. Pope Paul VI (1963). "Sacrosanctum Concilium, 2". Vatican. Retrieved 2006-09-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Catechism of the Catholic Church 1068–69
33. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2558
34. Pope Paul VI (1964). "Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), 11". Vatican. Retrieved 2006-09-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
35. Matthew 5:44
36. "Canon 42". Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
37. "Canon 375". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican.
38. Committee on the Diaconate. "Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
39. The Code of Canon Law 1983, canons 573-746
40. cf. canon 207; Chart of showing the place of the members of the Consecrated Life among the People of God
41. An exception are the Consecrated Virgins (canon 604) and the Societies of Apostolic Life (canons 731-746). The Consecrated Virgins do not profess the Evangelical counsels and do not make a vow; their act of consecration is the laying on of hands of the diocesan bishop.
42. Not applicable in the case of Consecrated Hermits (cf. canon 603), nor the Consecrated Virgins (canon 604) and Consecrated Widows/Widowers.
43. "Canons 573–746". Code of Canon Law. Vatican.
44. "Canons 573–602, 605–709". Code of Canon Law. Vatican.
45. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 871–2
46. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 899
47. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 901
48. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 905
49. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 908–9
50. St. John the Evangelist, Catholic Encyclopedia, retrieved Sep. 30, 2006
51. St. John the Evangelist, ewtn.com, retrieved Sep. 30, 2006
52. "It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our clemency and moderation should continue to the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. ... We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give their conventicles the name of churches." Halsall, Paul (1997). "Theodosian Code XVI.i.2". Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions. Fordham University. Retrieved 2006-09-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
53. Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford History of the Crusades New York:Oxford University Press, 1999.
54. The Great Schism: The Estrangement of Eastern and Western Christendom
55. Milton V. Anastos, Constantinople and Rome
56. Template:It icon "In view of the pastoral nature of the Council, it avoided any extraordinary statement of dogmas that would be endowed with the note of infallibility, but it still provided its teaching with the authority of the supreme ordinary Magisterium. This ordinary Magisterium, which is so obviously official, has to be accepted with docility, and sincerity by all the faithful, in accordance with the mind of the Council on the nature and aims of the individual documents." Pope Paul VI, at General Audience of 12 January 1966.
57. "The use of the Latin language, with due respect of particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites. But since the use of the vernacular, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or in other parts of the liturgy, may frequently be of great advantage to the people, a wider use may be made of it, especially in ... It is for the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority ... to decide whether, and to what extent, the vernacular language is to be used" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36)
58. Pope Paul VI (1964). "Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), 8". Vatican. Retrieved 2006-09-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

References and readings

• "Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1993.
• "Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2005.
• "Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (Annual Church Statistics)". EWTN. 2004. Retrieved 2006-09-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Carroll, Warren (2004). History of Christendom. Christendom Press. ISBN 0-931888-21-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) 4 Volumes.
• Central Statistics Office (2006). Annuario Pontificio. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 88-209-7806-7.
• Crocker, III, H. W. (2001). Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History. Prima Lifestyles. ISBN 0-7615-2924-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Herbermann, Charles G.; et al. (1913). "Catholic Encyclopedia". Encyclopedia Press. {{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Hughes, Philip (1947). A History of the Church: The World in Which the Church Was Founded. Sheed & Ward. ISBN 0-7220-7981-8.
• Miller, Adam S. (1997, 2006). The Roman Catholic Church: A Divine Institution or a Human Invention?. Tower of David Publications. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Woods, Jr., Thomas (2005). How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 0-89526-038-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Vatican: the Holy See the official website of the Vatican
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• Roman Catholicism Overview in Encyclopaedia Britannica
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• Template:PDFlink by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD
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