Roman Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world. In fact, the church has more followers than all other Christian groups combined and more than any non-Christian religion. About 1 billion people--nearly a fifth of the world's population--are followers of the Roman Catholic faith.

 

Roman Catholics believe that Jesus Christ founded their church to carry to all people the salvation He brought to the world. Catholics also believe that, through God's protection, the church has preserved the teachings of Christ. According to Catholic teaching, the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ to humanity, guides the church.

 

The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, serves as spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He governs the church from Vatican City, a tiny independent state within the city of Rome. A group of departments called the Roman Curia assists the pope in his direction and guidance of the worldwide church. Members of the clergy throughout the world serve the religious needs of Catholics in their particular areas.

 

Most Roman Catholics live in Europe, North America, and South America. In France, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Spain, and almost all Latin-American countries, nearly all the people belong to the church. The church operates schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages, and homes for the aged in these and other countries with large Catholic populations. In a few nations, Catholics have formed strong political parties.

 

The Roman Catholic Church has been an important force in world history. During much of the Middle Ages, for example, the church had great political power in Western Europe. Its universities and monasteries became centres of medieval learning. During the 1500's and 1600's, Catholic missionaries travelled to the New World, Africa, and Asia, where they played an important role in spreading Western culture.

 

Throughout its history, Catholicism has influenced the development of the arts. Church art has served both as decoration and as a means of expressing and teaching religious ideas. Many works of architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture have been inspired by Catholic beliefs or created with church support. These works include the soaring Gothic cathedrals built in France during the Middle Ages and the Italian poet Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, the Divine Comedy (1321). Other works include the magnificent frescoes painted in the Vatican during the early 1500's by the great Italian artists Michelangelo and Raphael.

 

Roman Catholic beliefs

 

To Catholics, religious faith means, above all else, a response to God. The Lord offers Himself to people in friendship and love, and people respond by giving themselves totally to God. A Catholic's basic faith in God involves certain doctrines. Catholics believe that these doctrines are true because the Bible and the church's tradition are an assurance that God has revealed them. These teachings can be found in declarations by church councils and popes, and in short statements called creeds. The most important creeds include the Apostles' Creed; the Nicene Creed; the Athanasian Creed; the Creed of Pius IV; and the Creed of the People of God, set forth by Pope Paul VI. These creeds summarize Catholic doctrines on (1) the Trinity and creation; (2) sin and salvation; (3) the nature of the church; and (4) life after death. These doctrines, in turn, form the basis of Catholic morality.

 

The Trinity and creation: Catholics believe there is only one God. But in this God there are three Persons--the Father; the Son, who is Christ; and the Holy Spirit. These three Persons form the Trinity. Each Person is distinct and is truly God. Yet there is only one God, who has no beginning or end, is beyond time and space, and is perfect and changeless. Catholics believe that the universe owes its beginning to God, who created everything freely, from love. They are convinced that humanity and its world could not survive without God's continuing care.

 

Sin and salvation: The Catholic Church teaches that humanity was created not only by God but also for God. Its destiny is to share God's life for eternity. God intended humanity to achieve this destiny by lovingly obeying His will. But the original sin interfered with God's plan for humanity. The Bible describes Adam, the first man, as committing this sin by an act of disobedience to God. Adam's sin passes on to each child born in the world.

 

Catholics believe that God sent His Son, the second Person of the Trinity, to save humanity from all sin, both from the original sin that individuals inherit, and also from the sins they commit during their lifetime by deliberately breaking God's law. Without ceasing to be God, the Son of God was born in human form to the Virgin Mary. He saved humanity through His life and death and by rising from the dead and passing into heaven. While on earth, Jesus taught that salvation would be given to all who believe and are sincerely sorry for their sins.

 

The nature of the church: Salvation was not complete when Christ left the earth. Salvation had to be brought to each new generation. Jesus therefore commissioned His apostles to gather all human beings into a church. Catholics describe this church as the people of God, united with Him and one another through Christ. They also consider the church to be a missionary people with the function of drawing everyone into a communion of love. Catholics believe their church has preserved to a greater extent than has any other Christian body the doctrine, organization, and worship willed by Jesus. But Catholics do not deny that other churches are also communities of grace and salvation.

 

Life after death: According to Catholic doctrine, life does not end with the death of the body. Instead, the soul leaves the body and goes to heaven, purgatory, or hell. On Judgment Day, when this world has ended, all souls will be reunited with their bodies.

 

Heaven is the community of those who have reached their destiny. They see God as He is and they love Him with complete joy. Purgatory is a temporary state for souls who die in God's love but must be purified of any remaining imperfections and/or make amends for sins already forgiven. The church defines hell as the endless absence of God, which means complete despair. It is the punishment for people who have rejected God through the enormity of their unforgiving sins.

 

Catholic morality--that is, the measure of right conduct--is only partly expressed in such negative commandments as do not kill, lie, or steal. Instead, Roman Catholic morality can be largely summarized in a positive statement. The church tells Catholics to love God with their whole heart and to love their fellow human beings as they love themselves. The Roman Catholic Church believes that all people must follow their consciences. But a Catholic's conscience is formed not only by personal opinion of what is right and wrong. It is also formed by the Bible's teachings, by instructions from the church, and by the faith and conduct of the Christian community.

 

Worship and liturgy: Catholics worship only God. But they also have deep respect for holy people closely related to God, especially Mary, the mother of Jesus. Catholics also show respect for holy places and objects, such as Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and the cross on which Christ was crucified.

 

The acts of worship that Catholics perform together are called the liturgy. The central act of the liturgy is the Eucharist, also called the Mass. Other important liturgical acts include the seven sacraments and various sacramental.

 

The Eucharist, or Mass, is a celebration of the Lord's Supper. According to Catholic teaching, the priest, acting in Jesus' name and with His power, changes bread and wine into Christ's body and blood, which the people receive in Holy Communion. Catholics also believe the Mass presents again the sacrifice Christ offered of Himself.

 

In the Mass, sins are forgiven, God's help is given, and the members of the congregation are closely united with their fellow human beings. Catholics must take part in the Mass on Saturday evenings or Sundays and on holy days of obligation, such as Christmas.

 

The Mass has two main divisions. The first division, the liturgy of the word, proclaims the message of the Gospel. It consists of a petition for forgiveness of sins, hymns, prayers, Bible readings, a sermon, and a declaration of faith. The second division of the Mass, the Eucharistic liturgy, has two parts. In the first part, the gifts of bread and wine are offered to God and are changed into the body and blood of Christ. The most solemn moment is the recitation of Jesus' words at the Last Supper: "This is my body ... this is the cup of my blood." In the second part of the Eucharistic liturgy, the congregation receives Christ in Holy Communion. In receiving Communion, Roman Catholics eat the body of Jesus Christ and drink His blood in the appearances of bread and wine.

 

The seven sacraments are ceremonial signs of God's action in people's lives. These signs take the form of words and gestures that are symbols of grace from God. The sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church are (1) baptism; (2) confirmation; (3) Eucharist; (4) penance; (5) holy orders; (6) marriage; and (7) anointing of the sick.

 

Baptism is a ceremony in which a child or adult is cleansed of sin to begin a new life with God. Water poured, in the name of the Trinity, over the head of the person being baptized is a sign of the person's cleansing from sin. Because water is necessary to life, the baptismal water also is a sign of new spiritual life. Baptism also marks the beginning of a Catholic's oneness with Christ and entry into the church.

 

Confirmation is a sign of a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It enables baptized people to grow to spiritual adulthood so that they can bear Christian witness with courage. During confirmation, a bishop, and sometimes a priest, puts holy oil, called chrism, on the forehead of the person being confirmed.

 

Eucharist, or Mass, is the central act of Catholics' worship of God. This sacrament reenacts the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in ritual form. In Holy Communion people receive the body and blood of Christ in the appearances of bread and wine.

 

Penance, also called confession, is a sacrament in which Roman Catholics confess their sins to a priest, express their sincere sorrow for having sinned, and promise to try not to sin in the future. The priest forgives the sinner in God's name. The effect of penance is to reconcile the Roman Catholic to God and to the Christian community.

 

Holy orders are the sacrament in which men chosen by the church are made deacons, priests, or bishops. They become ministers of God's word and sacraments.

 

Marriage is the sacrament in which a man and woman promise themselves to each other for life. This sacrament helps them be faithful to the duties of marriage and family life.

 

Anointing of the sick is a sacrament given to people who are dangerously ill or very old. The priest anoints the person with oil, a sign of curing. The priest prays that the person will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, so he or she may be freed from sin, comforted and strengthened in soul, and restored to health.

 

The sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy orders may be received only once. In general, a Catholic man and woman may also marry only once, unless one of the partners dies. Anointing of the sick may be repeated if the person becomes ill again or the danger becomes more acute. Holy Communion must be taken at least once a year, at Easter time. Catholics must also confess their sins at least once a year if the sins are serious. However, the church urges believers to receive both Eucharist and penance more frequently.

 

Sacramental are holy ceremonies that have two purposes. They prepare for and prolong what the sacraments do, and they raise the tone of everyday living into something sacred. Popular sacramental include the blessing of a harvest or a new school, and blessings of fishing boats, wedding rings, and cars.

 

Church organization: The organization of the Roman Catholic Church can be described in terms of the roles of the church and its members. These roles include (1) the church's functions; (2) the role of the clergy; and (3) the role of the laity.

 

The church's functions: The church has three closely related functions. (1) It helps people become and remain holy by the ministry of preaching and worship. (2) It teaches God's truths by such means as religious education. (3) It guides people toward God by means of wise laws.

 

The role of the clergy: The clergy's special responsibilities are leadership and service. They conduct the liturgy of the sacraments, such as presiding at the Eucharist. They preach and give religious instruction. They also hold official positions and respond to the spiritual needs of their people. There are three orders (ranks) within the clergy--bishops, priests, and deacons. The organization of the clergy by rank is called the church's hierarchy. Each order--from deacons up through the pope--has more responsibilities and wider powers of ministry and government than the one below it.

 

The role of the laity: The laity's special role is to be a witness to their faith--that is, to live according to the principles of their faith--at all times. The laity has an active role in the total function of the church. They become joined with the clergy in worship and prayer. They also teach others by their good example. The laity elects lay members to such governing bodies as parish councils and parish school boards. At Mass, some lay people act as readers of selections from the Bible. Others distribute Holy Communion. Some lay people work as teachers in a Catholic school and others give religious instruction to Catholic students who attend public schools. Lay people also hold important positions in church-owned hospitals and other institutions.

 

Church government: The hierarchy of the church has three levels: the pope holds responsibility for the whole church, a bishop for a diocese, and a pastor for a parish. The pope appoints bishops who in turn appoint pastors.

 

The Pope, who is the bishop of Rome, holds the church's highest office. Catholics believe that he is Jesus' representative on earth and a successor to St. Peter, the first pope. They regard him as the spiritual leader of the worldwide church.

 

Cardinals are generally clergymen: They are appointed by the pope to be his main advisers. As a group, they form what is called the College of Cardinals. They have the responsibility of electing a new pope, when necessary.

 

The Roman Curia serves as the pope's administrative arm. The Curia consists of the Secretariat of State and a number of other departments called congregations, secretariats, tribunals, and offices. Many cardinals work in the various departments of the Curia.

 

The Secretariat of State assists the pope most directly in governing the church and in communicating with the rest of the Curia. The various congregations carry on most of the Curia's administrative work. For example, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or Propagation of the Faith supervises missionary activity. The secretariats deal with matters of Christian unity and handle relations with non-Christians and with people who do not believe in God. Tribunals have judicial powers. For example, the tribunal called the Sacred Roman Rota serves as a court to settle disputes about the validity of marriages. The various offices are responsible for such functions as drafting papal letters and documents and gathering statistics about the church.

 

Bishops are considered successors of the apostles. The pope appoints bishops, and they are responsible to him. The body of bishops consists of all the church's bishops, including the pope as a member and its head. The body of bishops, like the pope, has responsibility to teach and guide the church as a whole. For example, the body of bishops that met at Vatican Council II (1962-1965) issued 16 historic statements. These statements had great impact on church policy concerning such subjects as religious freedom, relations between Catholics and other Christians, and the role of the church in the modern world. For a discussion of the 16 statements..

 

Dioceses and parishes: A diocese is a territorial district of the church. Catholics who live in a territory are said to belong to the diocese. A bishop called the Ordinary is the spiritual leader of a diocese. In large dioceses, the Ordinary has the assistance of other bishops called auxiliary bishops. Many church-supported agencies, including hospitals, newspapers, and schools, serve local needs in a diocese.

 

A diocese is divided into parishes. A territorial parish includes all Catholic residents in a given area. A national parish primarily serves an ethnic group whose members may live in several territorial parishes. Catholics belong to the parish in which they have stable residence. Active parishioners faithfully perform their religious duties and participate in parish events. The pastor of a parish is its spiritual leader. Pastors of large parishes are assisted by associate pastors.

 

Religious institutes are societies of Catholic men or women who live together under a set of regulations called a rule. They take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Well-known Catholic institutes for men include the Jesuits, the Franciscans, and the Dominicans. Institutes for women include the Sisters of Charity and the Ursulines. Religious institutes are governed directly by their own appointed or elected leaders. These leaders are called superiors.

 

The early church (The first 300 years) Catholics trace the beginnings of their church to Palestine. There, according to the Bible, Christ told the apostles to preach the gospel to all peoples. In Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit came upon the earliest believers.

 

The first Christians were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the saviour expected by the Jews. The early church gradually divorced itself from Judaism, the religion of the Jews. However, the church accepted the Jewish Scriptures, both as the record of God's dealings with His chosen people and as a guide leading to Jesus Christ.

 

Saint Paul became the most important person to carry the gospel to the gentiles (non-Jews). He regarded himself as a divinely appointed apostle to the gentiles. Paul founded many churches and exercised authority over them through visits and letters. He also represented their interests with the mother church in Jerusalem. After Paul's death, about A.D. 67, the number of gentile churches continued to expand rapidly. By about 140, the centre of Christianity had passed from Jerusalem to Christian communities in the cities of Antioch in Syria, Alexandria in Egypt, and especially Rome.

 

During the first three centuries, the church grew steadily in spite of persecution by the Romans, whose empire covered most of Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. The Romans believed that loyalty to the emperor involved honouring the gods of the state and often the emperor. They regarded Christians who refused to give such honour as traitors and atheists. The Christian ideal became the martyr--a person who suffered persecution and even death rather than abandon Christianity. Although the church suffered widespread persecution, many of these attacks were local and brief. The church thus had time to grow and improve its organization.

 

While the church faced persecution from outside, many movements threatened to divide it from within. Some of these movements taught what the church declared to be heresies--that is, teachings opposed to basic Christian beliefs. The most serious heresy during the church's first 200 years was Gnosticism. It was a religious philosophy that had many followers throughout the Roman Empire. The successful struggle against Gnosticism has been called the most difficult and important battle in church history.

 

The earliest Christians relied on the apostles, led by Saint Peter, as their authority in settling questions of doctrine and government. After the death of the apostles, the church faced the problem of where to turn for authority in such matters. In the 100's, two developments helped solve the problem. First, the church gradually recognized the books of the New Testament as sources of authority in doctrine. Second, the basic orders of Christian ministry--bishops, presbyters, and deacons--became more clearly defined. In time, presbyters became known as priests. Local councils of bishops strengthened church unity by discussing and sometimes settling many issues, from the date of Easter to the immortality of the soul.

 

The recognition of Christianity: Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to become a Christian. In 313, Constantine and Licinius, the emperor of Rome's eastern provinces, granted freedom of worship and equal rights to all religious groups in the empire. By the late 300's, Christianity had become a favoured religion of the empire.

 

The recognition of Christianity had some unfortunate effects on the church. For the first time, the church attracted many people who lacked the dedication of the early Christians. Emperors intruded into the internal affairs of the church. In the mid-300's, for example, the Roman Emperor Constantius II tried to force the Eastern heresy known as Arianism on the West. Arianism is named after Arius, a priest in Egypt who claimed that Christ was not truly God.

 

But on the whole, the empire's recognition of Christianity benefited the church. The church was able to influence civil laws. The church also expanded its work among the poor and began missionary activities outside the empire.

 

Bishops from throughout the Christian world met several times to resolve major theological disputes in the early church. These meetings are called general or ecumenical councils. The first council, Nicaea I, met in 325 and condemned the teachings of Arius. In 381, the first Council of Constantinople also took a stand against Arianism. The Council of Ephesus in 431 condemned the teachings of Nestorius, the patriarch (bishop) of Constantinople. Nestorius asserted that Mary was the mother of Christ but not the mother of God. In 451, the Council of Chalcedon denounced Monophysitism, which in its heretical form did not keep distinct and complete the two natures of Christ.

 

Some of the most distinguished literature in church history was produced between 325 and 451. The most notable writers of this period included the historian Eusebius, the bishop Saint Athanasius, the theologian Saint Augustine, the preacher Saint John Chrysostom, the poets Saint Ephrem and Prudentius, and the Biblical scholar Saint Jerome. The writings of these men had a great influence on church thought in later centuries.

 

Monasticism began to develop in the 300's. This way of life, in which a person withdraws from worldly affairs and is completely devoted to religion, was to play an important part in church history. As persecution ceased and Christianity prospered, the monk replaced the martyr as the Christian ideal. The two basic models for future monastic life were the Egyptians Saint Anthony and Saint Pachomius. Anthony lived the solitary life of a hermit. Pachomius organized monastic communities governed by a rule.

 

Pope Saint Leo I, who reigned from 440 to 461, was perhaps the greatest pope in early church history. Leo persuaded the Huns and the Vandals, two barbarian tribes, to halt their attacks on Italy. By the time Leo began his reign, the huge Roman Empire had been split into Eastern and Western empires. Leo emphasized that popes were successors to Saint Peter and so had primacy (supreme authority) as head of the universal church.

 

Conflict with the East: Before the 400's, a single Christian church existed. But it consisted of several nationalities. Each nationality expressed the Christian faith in its own language and liturgy and, at times, its own theology. Gradually, cultural, geographic, political, and religious differences led to the development of several separate churches in the East Roman Empire. Beginning in the 400's, the Eastern churches began to drift away from the authority of Rome and from the church in the West.

 

Several events helped widen the gulf between Western and Eastern Christianity. One event was the condemnation of the teachings of Patriarch Nestorius by the Council of Ephesus. Later, in reaction, the East Syrian Church separated itself from the Western Church. The gulf widened after the Council of Chalcedon condemned Monophysitism, which had many followers in the East. After this condemnation, the Armenian Church, the Coptic Church of Egypt, the Ethiopian Church, and the Syrian Jacobite Church all broke away from those churches that accepted the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon.

 

The Middle Ages: In A.D. 476, barbarian forces led by the Germanic general Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the West Roman Empire. Many historians use this date to mark the end of the Roman Empire in the West and the start of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the influence and power of the church reached their peak.

 

The collapse of the West Roman Empire meant that no one power had political control in the West. Instead, all of Western Europe except Ireland came to be ruled by barbarian kings, who were either Arians or non-Christians. Beginning with the reign of Pope Gregory the Great in 590, the church set out to create a Christian world in the West. Its chief instruments were the papacy and monasticism.

 

The papacy gradually replaced the empire as the centre of authority in Western Europe. Ireland had been converted to Christianity in the 400's, mainly through the efforts of Saint Patrick. In 496, the king of the Franks, Clovis I, was converted. His conversion brought Gaul into the church and checked the spread of the Arian heresy there. Gaul was a huge region now occupied mainly by Belgium, France, and part of western Germany. From the 500's to the 700's, the papacy directed the conversion of other peoples of the West. These peoples included the Visigoths in Spain, the Anglo-Saxons in England, and the Magyars in central Europe.

 

Monasticism: Meanwhile, the growth of monasticism played a large part in the increasing influence of the church. Monasticism created centers of Christian society, renewed the spiritual life of religious communities, and helped transform a dying Western culture into a Christian civilization. In the early 500's, Saint Benedict of Nursia founded Benedictine monasticism. The Benedictine rule was both moderate and humane in setting forth how its followers should live. These qualities influenced the rule of many later orders.

 

In the early 700's, Muslims, who followed the religion of Islam, conquered Spain. Also in the 700's, Viking raiders from northern Europe began to attack England and other Christian countries. The conquest of Spain and the Viking attacks greatly disrupted Western European economic, political, and social life. In the midst of these disruptions, the church stood out as the major force for unifying and civilizing the West.

 

Charlemagne, the greatest king of the Franks, became one of the most important people in European as well as church history. During his reign, he laid a foundation for the organized, civilized society later built in Western Europe. This foundation resulted from the ideals that Charlemagne pursued--orderly government, religious reform, and the expansion of the Christian world through conquest and missionary activity.

 

Charlemagne involved himself in church affairs and became protector of the popes. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans, restoring the idea of empire in the West. Charlemagne's empire formed the basis of what became the Holy Roman Empire in 962. The Holy Roman Empire lasted until 1806. It consisted largely of German and Italian states ruled by German emperors.

 

Cluniac reform was the name given to a vast reform movement within the church. This movement began during the 900's and lasted about 200 years. It was centred in the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, France. The movement introduced significant changes in the way monasteries were governed and monks lived. It also helped correct abuses within the church, such as simony (buying or selling sacred things or church offices). The Cistercian order--founded in 1098 in Citeaux, France--also became a leading force for church renewal, particularly under the leadership of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

 

Split with the East. Since the 400's, the Eastern churches had continued to drift away from the church in the West. Then, in the 800's, Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, had a serious dispute with the papacy. A major issue in the dispute was the pope's claim to authority over Eastern Christians. In the 1000's, another dispute developed between Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius. Part of this dispute arose from claims by each church that the other was interfering in its affairs. Serious splits emerged from these disputes. The disputes led to a formal division between the Eastern churches that employed the Byzantine rite and the Western church that followed the Latin rite and acknowledged the primacy of the bishop of Rome. However, some Eastern churches eventually reunited with the Roman Catholic Church, forming what are now called the Eastern Catholic Churches.

 

Innocent III became pope in 1198. Under Innocent, papal influence over public life in Christian Europe reached its peak. He was feudal lord over much of Europe, and he was a great administrator and jurist. In 1215, he called one of the greatest councils of the Middle Ages, the Fourth Lateran Council. The council's 70 decrees (rulings) on subjects such as the Eucharist and certain powerful heresies influenced church government, liturgy, and teaching for centuries.

 

Innocent died in 1216. But his reign laid the groundwork for the founding of the Dominican order later that year. It also led to the establishment of the religious court called the Inquisition in 1231. Both institutions were effective in fighting heresy.

 

Scholasticism: During the 1100's, the system of thought called medieval scholasticism began to develop. It reached its peak in the 1200's. Its scholars, called scholastics, tried to reach a better understanding of Christian doctrine by the use of reason, especially philosophy. They put various doctrines and the explanations of those doctrines into systematic order. They also tried to resolve conflicting viewpoints in Christian theology. The leading scholastics included Saint Albertus Magnus of Germany, Roger Bacon of England, Saint Bonaventure of Italy, and especially Saint Thomas Aquinas of Italy. The centre of scholasticism was the University of Paris, one of several universities established in Western Europe by the church during the 1100's and 1200's.

 

Boniface VIII became pope in 1294. He tried to unify the Christian world more closely under the papacy. Boniface insisted that kings of individual nations were subject to the Holy Roman emperor and that the emperor's power, in turn, came from the pope. In 1302, Boniface issued a bull (papal decree) of immense importance. This bull, called Unam sanctam, stated that "two swords" served the church. One sword was the spiritual power of priests. The other was the temporal (non-religious) power of rulers. The bull declared that, for salvation, every human being must be subject to the pope. Catholic theologians no longer regard the Unam sanctam as church doctrine.

 

The Avignon papacy: In 1309, the pope moved from Rome to Avignon, in what is now France. The popes did not return to Rome until 1377. The popes lived in Avignon for several reasons. One of the most important was the desire to avoid the civil wars that were disrupting Italy in the 1300's. During the Avignon period, the machinery of papal government was strengthened and reform efforts continued. The church sent missionaries to Asia and encouraged the expansion of universities.

 

The Great Schism: From 1378 to 1417, a controversy called the Great Schism deeply divided the church. During this period, two and later three churchmen claimed to be the rightful pope at the same time. Each man had his own following, his own College of Cardinals, and his own administrative organization. Each pope demanded obedience from the Christian faithful, which caused much confusion and doubt.

 

In 1417, bishops and other high-ranking clergymen meeting at the Council of Constance finally ended the Great Schism by electing Martin V as the single rightful pope. But the controversy had caused damage within the church. For example, reform efforts had been slowed. A conflict also had developed over the idea that a general council of bishops had greater authority than the pope.

 

The close of the Middle Ages: From the 1300's through to the 1500's, medieval Europe gradually gave way to modern Europe. During these 300 years, the Middle Ages overlapped a period in European history called the Renaissance. This was a time of great cultural and intellectual activity when ideas and customs that had been accepted for hundreds of years were questioned or swept away. The Renaissance began in Italy in the 1300's and spread throughout Western Europe during the 1400's and 1500's.

 

The Renaissance emphasized the importance of people and their life on earth and had both good and bad effects on Catholicism. Popes supported Renaissance artists and scholars, but the papacy suffered a moral decline. The church sponsored important historical scholarship, but reform efforts within the church slackened.

 

Meanwhile, during the 1400's, a revival of deep religious feeling occurred among clergy and the laity. Many Catholics expressed this feeling in emotional devotions (prayers and worship) to the sufferings and death of Jesus. During this time, however, piety was being divorced from its roots in theology, and theology was hardening into schools of thought and losing much of its vitality.

 

The Council of Florence, which began in 1438, reunited the Western church with some Eastern churches. However, the reunification lasted only a few years. In 1453, Muslims captured Constantinople and ruled over most Eastern Christians until the 1800's.

 

The Reformation and Counter Reformation: Medieval Christian civilization ended with the Reformation, a religious revolution that gave birth to Protestantism in the 1500's. As a result of the Reformation, Europe became divided between Roman Catholic and Protestant countries. The Reformation also led the Catholic Church to reform itself in a movement called the Counter Reformation.

 

The Reformation: By the early 1500's, the conditions in the church that led to the Reformation were apparent. The papacy was dominated by temporal concerns. The Roman Curia was incredibly corrupt. Many bishops lived like princes and ignored the faithful. A great number of clergymen were ignorant and neglected their pastoral duties. Members of religious orders had become worldly. Fear and superstition were common among the laity. The liturgy no longer held much meaning or inspiration for the people, and theology had generally become dry and unproductive.

 

Many councils, popes, saints, scholars, and movements among the people had attempted to reform the church during the late Middle Ages. However, the church remained largely unreformed.

 

In 1517, Martin Luther, a member of the Augustinian order, issued his famous Ninety-Five Theses in Wittenberg, Germany. The theses were statements attacking the church's doctrine of indulgences and the abuses that arose in granting indulgences. An indulgence is a release from part or all of temporal punishment due for sin, provided that the sin has already been forgiven. The church's doctrine on indulgences was basically sound. But it was not always understood properly. Many preachers sold indulgences. Many people bought them from the church, hoping the indulgences would hasten the release of a dead person's soul from purgatory. Luther's attack on indulgences began the Reformation.

 

By the late 1500's, the Reformation had divided Western Europe into Protestant and Roman Catholic lands. Catholicism was reduced primarily to the Mediterranean countries, as well as to Hungary, Poland, and small areas within the Holy Roman Empire.

 

The Reformation in Great Britain: In England, Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England by the Act of Supremacy (1534). Within the next 25 years, England had become a Protestant nation. Mary I, a devout Roman Catholic, tried to reverse the process but failed. Under Elizabeth I, Roman Catholics who refused to attend new church services or recognize the Queen as head of the Church were persecuted. The persecution grew worse after 1570, when the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth (cut her off from the Roman Catholic Church). Roman Catholics in England lost their civil rights. Many were fined, imprisoned, or put to death. But some families retained their faith in secret.

 

In the later 1800's, such men as Cardinals Manning and Newman helped to re-establish Roman Catholicism as an important element in English life.

 

In Scotland, the Scottish Parliament rejected papal authority and abolished the Mass in 1560. In Scotland, as in England, Roman Catholics were suppressed. But many people, especially in the Highlands and Western Isles, retained their Catholic faith. Roman Catholics played a prominent part in the Jacobite risings of the 1700's.

 

In Ireland, the attempts of the English government to impose the Protestant religion on the people in the 1500's were largely unsuccessful. The government then encouraged Protestants from England and Scotland to settle in the province of Ulster. In the 1700's, the government enacted penal laws to suppress Roman Catholicism. In the early 1800's, Daniel O'Connell, Member of Parliament for Clare, led the struggle to gain religious and political rights for Roman Catholics. Largely as a result of his efforts, Roman Catholics in Britain and Ireland received religious freedom in 1829. But conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland became part of the struggle over Irish nationalism.

 

There are now about 51/2 million Roman Catholics in Britain and more than 3 million in the Republic of Ireland. Roman Catholics believe that their Church is the same as the Christian Church established in Britain and Ireland in the A.D. 300's and 400's

 

The Counter Reformation was the Roman Catholic Church's self-reforming reaction to the Protestant Reformation. It is usually understood as extending from about the mid-1500's to the end of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). But indications of the church's move toward reform appear in the activities of three religious orders founded from 1524 to 1530--the Barnabites, Capuchins, and Theatines. Members of these orders tried to reform Catholic life through missionary and charitable work and by leading deeply religious lives.

 

Beginning in the 1520's, such reform popes as Adrian VI, Paul III, and especially Paul IV concentrated on correcting abuses in the Roman Curia and hierarchy. By the end of Saint Pius V's reign in 1572, the papacy had clearly committed itself to church reform.

 

A leading force in the Counter Reformation was the Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits. Saint Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuits in 1534, and Paul III confirmed the order in 1540. Loyola did not found the Jesuits specifically to counteract Protestantism. But the order proved perfect for the task. The Jesuits were flexible, practical, and completely at the pope's service. They were intelligent, deeply religious men who revived Catholicism both intellectually and spiritually. The Jesuits helped halt to a large extent the advances of Protestantism and even regained vast areas that had come under Protestant influence in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, and eastern and central Europe.

 

Perhaps the greatest single force in renewing Catholic life and worship was the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The council issued decrees on the Mass and other areas of doctrine and discipline that eliminated much confusion within the church. Its decrees on such topics as the training of priests and the granting of indulgences reformed church life wherever they were put into effect.

 

A number of religious wars broke out during the Counter Reformation. Between 1562 and 1598, the Catholic majority in France and French Protestants called Huguenots fought eight civil wars called the Wars of Religion. The Thirty Years' War destroyed much of Germany. The war began as a civil war between Protestants and Catholics in the German states but eventually involved most European countries. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the war in 1648, declared that the people of each state must follow the religion of their ruler. This principle greatly weakened the Holy Roman Empire. It also ended the medieval idea of a Christian commonwealth of nations directed by the supreme authority of pope and emperor.

 

Catholic revival in France: Perhaps the most outstanding example of church renewal in the 1600's occurred in France. Several persons especially helped to create this renewal. Saint Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, inspired many Christians by his wedding of humanism and piety. Saint Vincent de Paul devoted his life to serving the poor. He founded the Vincentians, an order of missionary priests to country districts in France. Saint Louise de Marillac worked closely with Vincent de Paul in assisting the poor and needy. She was one of many saintly women who helped restore a sense of charity and deep religious feeling to both convent and Catholic family life.

 

During the 1600's, several French clergymen founded religious institutes that helped inspire a new emphasis on spirituality in the priesthood. Pierre Cardinal de Berulle established the French Oratory in 1611. Jean Jacques Olier founded the Company of Saint Sulpice in 1642, and Saint John Eudes established the Congregation of Jesus and Mary in 1643.

 

The Revolt of the Catholic Kings : The period from the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 to the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789-1799) has been called the Revolt of the Catholic Kings. The period was marked by quarrels between church and state, especially over an issue called Gallicanism. At the same time, the church was disrupted from within by theological disputes, the most serious of which was over a religious movement known as Jansenism. During this period, much of the hostility toward the church centred in France.

 

Gallicanism: Quarrels between church and state affected the papacy's relations with almost every Catholic country. One of the major disputes involved Gallicanism--the idea that the authority of national churches should be increased at the expense of papal authority.

 

Gallicanism developed in France, and the dispute over it became most critical there. King Louis XIV and Pope Innocent XI quarrelled over Louis's attempts to increase his influence in French religious affairs. The quarrel led many French clergymen to adopt doctrines that the papacy could not in conscience accept. For example, some French clergymen believed that a general church council was superior to the pope. Although the controversy died down in the 1690's, the French clergy remained anti-Roman for many years.

 

Gallicanism, with its emphasis on nationalism, became popular in every European country ruled by a Catholic monarch. During the late 1700's, the Holy Roman emperor, Joseph II, tried to separate the Catholic Church in Austria from Rome. Joseph considered the church a department of state whose task was to promote morality. He controlled all levels of the clergy and even interfered with the liturgy. Rulers in Naples, Sardinia, Spain, and Venice followed Joseph's example.

 

Jansenism arose in France in the mid-1600's. This religious movement was based on the writings of Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Ypres, Belgium. Jansen developed doctrines on divine grace that played down human freedom and denied that Christ died for all humanity. The church attacked some Jansenist doctrines as heresy.

 

The movement tore Catholic France apart. It divided many French bishops from Rome and even attracted the attention of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XV. The Catholic philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal became a leading spokesman for Jansenism. Three popes condemned Jansenism--Innocent X in 1653, Alexander VII in 1656, and Clement XI in 1713. But their condemnation only increased the controversy.

 

Jansenism finally began to lose influence in the 1730's. But its harsh idea of God and emphasis on damnation still influence some Catholics today.

 

The Age of Reason was a period during which philosophers emphasized the use of reason as the best method of learning truth. The Age of Reason lasted from the late 1600's to the late 1700's. During this time, many people attacked religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular, which they claimed was unreasonable and filled with superstition. They also believed that the Catholic clergy's obedience to Rome violated France's sovereignty. The leaders of the period included such brilliant French intellectuals as Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire.

 

Suppression of the Jesuits: During the mid- and late 1700's, several nations banned the Jesuit Order from their country and colonies. Portugal banned the Jesuits in 1759, France in 1764, and Spain in 1767. In 1773, pressure from Catholic rulers helped force Pope Clement XIV to suppress the Jesuits in all countries.

 

The Jesuits were banned for several reasons. Some Catholic rulers and churchmen were jealous of the order's influence. Some accused the Jesuits of accumulating power and wealth. Gallicans opposed the order's complete devotion to the pope and the church.

 

The suppression of the Jesuits was never completely effective. For example, the order survived in Russia through the friendship of Empress Catherine the Great. Pope Pius VII lifted the ban in 1814. But the suppression caused a severe setback in Catholic education and missionary activity.

 

Nationalism and the church : The forces of democracy and nationalism swept across Europe from the start of the French Revolution through the 1800's. These forces were accompanied by strong feelings against the Catholic Church.

 

The decline of church influence: The church suffered enormous losses as a result of the French Revolution. For example, the great abbeys of Europe disappeared, and with them the influence of the monastic orders as the papacy's most effective instrument of government. Catholic influence over public life was seriously reduced, often by civil laws. Catholic universities yielded to state-sponsored education. The quality of theology came to be determined by seminaries rather than by universities. In many countries, the church suffered from a shortage of priests. This was especially true in