Catholic
doctrine teaches that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. It
interprets the Confession of Peter as acknowledging Christ's designation of
Apostle Peter and his successors to be the temporal head of his Church.
Thus,
it asserts that the Bishop of Rome has the sole legitimate claim to Petrine
authority and the primacy due to the Roman Pontiff. The Catholic Church
claims legitimacy for its bishops and priests via the doctrine of apostolic
succession and authority of the Pope via the unbroken line of popes, claimed as
successors to Simon Peter.
In
313, the struggles of the Early Church were lessened by the legalisation of
Christianity by the Emperor Constantine I. In 380, under Emperor Theodosius I,
Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire by the decree of the
Emperor, which would persist until the fall of the Western Empire, and later,
with the Eastern Roman Empire, until the Fall of Constantinople. During this
time (the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils) there were considered five
primary sees according to Eusebius: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem
and Alexandria, known as the Pentarchy.
After
the destruction of the western Roman Empire, the church in the West was a major
factor in the preservation of classical civilization, establishing monasteries,
and sending missionaries to convert the peoples of northern Europe, as far as
Ireland in the north. In the East, the Byzantine Empire preserved Orthodoxy,
well after the massive invasions of Islam in the mid-7th century. The invasions
of Islam devastated three of the five Patriarchal sees, capturing Jerusalem
first, then Alexandria, and then finally in the mid-8th century, Antioch.
In
the 16th century, in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Church engaged
in a process of substantial reform and renewal known as the
Counter-Reformation. In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across
the world despite experiencing a reduction in its hold on European populations
due to the growth of Protestantism and also because of religious scepticism
during and after the Enlightenment. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s
introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council
of Trent three centuries before.
Origins
Catholic
tradition holds that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. The New
Testament records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the twelve
Apostles, and his instructions to them to continue his work. The Catholic
Church teaches that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an
event known as Pentecost, signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the
Church. Peter is also thought to be Rome's first bishop and the consecrator of
Linus as its next bishop, thus starting the line which includes the most
current pontiff, Pope Francis. Conditions in the Roman Empire facilitated the
spread of new ideas. The empire's well-defined network of roads and waterways
allowed easier travel, while the Pax Romana made it safe to travel from one
region to another. The government had encouraged inhabitants, especially those
in urban areas, to learn Greek, and the common language allowed ideas to be
more easily expressed and understood. Jesus's apostles gained converts in
Jewish communities around the Mediterranean Sea, and over 40 Christian
communities had been established by 100. Although most of these were in the Roman
Empire, notable Christian communities were also established in Armenia, Iran
and along the Indian Malabar Coast. The new religion was most successful in
urban areas, spreading first among slaves and people of low social standing,
and then among aristocratic women.
At
first, Christians continued to worship alongside Jewish believers, which
historians refer to as Jewish Christianity, but within twenty years of Jesus's
death, Sunday was being regarded as the primary day of worship.[16] As
preachers such as Paul of Tarsus began converting Gentiles, Christianity began
growing away from Jewish practices to establish itself as a separate religion, though
the issue of Paul of Tarsus and Judaism is still debated today. To resolve
doctrinal differences among the competing factions within the Church, in or
around the year 50, the apostles convened the first Church council, the Council
of Jerusalem. This council affirmed that Gentiles could become Christians
without adopting all of the Mosaic Law. Growing tensions soon led to a starker
separation that was virtually complete by the time Christians refused to join
in the Bar Khokba Jewish revolt of 132,[ however some groups of Christians
retained elements of Jewish practice.
The
early Christian Church was very loosely organized, resulting in diverse interpretations
of Christian beliefs. In part to ensure a greater consistency in their
teachings, by the end of the 2nd century Christian communities had evolved a
more structured hierarchy, with a central bishop having authority over the
clergy in his city, leading to the development of the Metropolitan bishop. The
organization of the Church began to mimic that of the Empire; bishops in
politically important cities exerted greater authority over bishops in nearby
cities. The churches in Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome held the highest
positions. Beginning in the 2nd century, bishops often congregated in regional
synods to resolve doctrinal and policy issues. Duffy claims that by the 3rd
century, the bishop of Rome began to act as a court of appeals for problems
that other bishops could not resolve.
Doctrine
was further refined by a series of influential theologians and teachers, known
collectively as the Church Fathers. From the year 100 onward, proto-orthodox
teachers like Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus defined Catholic teaching in
stark opposition to other things, such as Gnosticism. In the first few
centuries of its existence, the Church formed its teachings and traditions into
a systematic whole under the influence of theological apologists such as Pope
Clement I, Justin Martyr and Augustine of Hippo.
Persecutions
Unlike
most religions in the Roman Empire, Christianity required its adherents to
renounce all other gods, a practice adopted from Judaism, see Idolatry.
Christians' refusal to join pagan celebrations meant they were unable to
participate in much of public life, which caused non-Christians–including
government authorities–to fear that the Christians were angering the gods and
thereby threatening the peace and prosperity of the Empire. In addition, the
peculiar intimacy of Christian society and its secrecy about its religious practices
spawned rumors that Christians were guilty of incest and cannibalism; the
resulting persecutions, although usually local and sporadic, were a defining
feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the
4th century.[29][30] A series of more centrally organized persecutions of
Christians emerged in the late 3rd century, when emperors decreed that the
Empire's military, political, and economic crises were caused by angry gods.
All residents were ordered to give sacrifices or be punished. Jews were
exempted as long as they paid the Jewish Tax. Estimates of the number of
Christians who were executed ranges from a few hundred to 50,000. Many fled[33]
or renounced their beliefs. Disagreements over what role, if any, these apostates
should have in the Church led to the Donatist and Novatianist schisms.
Relations between the Church and the Empire were not consistent: "Tiberius
wanted to have Christ placed in the Pantheon and refused first of all to
persecute the Christians. Later on his attitude changed. How are we to explain
the fact that men like Trajan and above all Marcus Aurelius should have so
relentlessly persecuted the Christians? On the other hand Commodus and other
villainous emperors rather favoured them." In spite of these persecutions,
evangelization efforts persisted, leading to the Edict of Milan which legalized
Christianity in 313. By 380, Christianity had become the state religion of the
Roman Empire. Religious philosopher Simone Weil wrote: " By the time of
Constantine, the state of apocalyptic expectation must have worn rather thin. The
imminent coming of Christ, expectation of the Last Day - constituted 'a very
great social danger.'] Besides , the spirit of the old law, so widely separated
from all mysticism, was not so very different from the Roman spirit itself.
Rome could come to terms with the God of Hosts."
Late antiquity
History of late
ancient Christianity
First
seven Ecumenical Councils, Rise of Christianity during the Fall of Rome, Constantine
I and Christianity and State church of the Roman Empire
When
Constantine became emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 312, he attributed
his victory to the Christian God. Many soldiers in his army were Christians,
and his army was his base of power. With Licinius, (Eastern Roman emperor), he
issued the Edict of Milan which mandated toleration of all religions in the
empire. The edict had little effect on the attitudes of the people. New laws
were crafted to codify some Christian beliefs and practices. Constantine's
biggest effect on Christianity was his patronage. He gave large gifts of land
and money to the Church and offered tax exemptions and other special legal
status to Church property and personnel. These gifts and later ones combined to
make the Church the largest landowner in the West by the 6th century. Many of
these gifts were funded through severe taxation of pagan cults. Some pagan
cults were forced to disband for lack of funds; when this happened the Church
took over the cult's previous role of caring for the poor. In a reflection of
their increased standing in the Empire, clergy began to adopt the dress of the
royal household, including the cope. Acts 8:9-21
During
Constantine's reign, approximately half of those who identified themselves as
Christian did not subscribe to the mainstream version of the faith. Constantine
feared that disunity would displease God and lead to trouble for the Empire, so
he took military and judicial measures to eliminate some sects. To resolve
other disputes, Constantine began the practice of calling ecumenical councils
to determine binding interpretations of Church doctrine.
Decisions
made at the Council of Nicea (325) about the divinity of Christ led to a
schism; the new religion, Arianism flourished outside the Roman Empire.[48]
Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholic devotion to Mary
became more prominent. This led to further schisms.
In
380, mainstream Christianity–as opposed to Arianism–became the official religion
of the Roman Empire. Christianity became more associated with the Empire,
resulting in persecution for Christians living outside of the empire, as their
rulers feared Christians would revolt in favor of the Emperor. In 385, this new
legal authority of the Church resulted in the first use of capital punishment
being pronounced as a sentence upon a Christian 'heretic', namely Priscillian.
During
this period, the Bible as it has come down to the 21st century was first
officially laid out in Church Councils or Synods through the process of
official 'canonization'. Prior to these Councils or Synods, the Bible had
already reached a form that was nearly identical to the form in which it is now
found. According to some accounts, in 382 the Council of Rome first officially
recognized the Biblical canon, listing the accepted books of the Old and New
Testament, and in 391 the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible was made. Other accounts list the Council of Carthage of
397 as the Council that finalized the Biblical canon as it is known today. The
Council of Ephesus in 431 clarified the nature of Jesus' incarnation, declaring
that he was both fully man and fully God. Two decades later, the Council of
Chalcedon solidified Roman papal primacy which added to continuing breakdown in
relations between Rome and Constantinople, the see of the Eastern Church. Also
sparked were the Monophysite disagreements over the precise nature of the
incarnation of Jesus which led to the first of the various Oriental Orthodox
Churches breaking away from the Catholic Church.
Middle Ages
Medieval
history of Christianity, Byzantine Papacy and Christian monasticism
Early Middle Ages
After
the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Catholic faith competed with
Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes. The 496 conversion of
Clovis I, pagan king of the Franks, saw the beginning of a steady rise of the
faith in the West.
Saint
Benedict, father of Western monasticism and author of Rule of St Benedict.
Detail from fresco by Fra Angelico, c. 1437–46.
In
530, Saint Benedict wrote his Rule of St Benedict as a practical guide for
monastic community life. Its message spread to monasteries throughout Europe.
Monasteries became major conduits of civilization, preserving craft and
artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools,
scriptoria and libraries. They functioned as agricultural, economic and
production centers as well as a focus for spiritual life. During this period
the Visigoths and Lombards moved away from Arianism for Catholicism. Pope
Gregory the Great played a notable role in these conversions and dramatically
reformed the ecclesiastical structures and administration which then launched
renewed missionary efforts. Missionaries such as Augustine of Canterbury, who
was sent from Rome to begin the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, and, coming the
other way in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Saints Colombanus, Boniface,
Willibrord, Ansgar and many others took Christianity into northern Europe and
spread Catholicism among the Germanic, and Slavic peoples, and reached the
Vikings and other Scandinavians in later centuries. The Synod of Whitby of 664,
though not as decisive as sometimes claimed, was an important moment in the
reintegration of the Celtic Church of the British Isles into the Roman
hierarchy, after having been effectively cut off from contact with Rome by the
pagan invaders.
In
the early 8th century, Byzantine iconoclasm became a major source of conflict
between the Eastern and Western parts of the Church. Byzantine emperors forbade
the creation and veneration of religious images, as violations of the Ten
Commandments. Other major religions in the East such as Judaism and Islam had
similar prohibitions. Pope Gregory III vehemently disagreed. A new Empress Irene siding with the pope,
called for an Ecumenical Council. In 787, the fathers of the Second Council of
Nicaea "warmly received the papal delegates and his message". At the
conclusion, 300 bishops, who were led by the representatives of Pope Hadrian I
"adopted the Pope's teaching", in favor of icons.
With
the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III in 800, his new title as
Patricius Romanorum, and the handing over of the keys to the Tomb of Saint
Peter, the papacy had acquired a new protector in the West. This freed the
pontiffs to some degree from the power of the emperor in Constantinople but
also led to a schism, because the emperors and patriarchs of Constantinople
interpreted themselves as the true descendants of the Roman Empire dating back
to the beginnings of the Church. Pope Nicholas I had refused to recognize
Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople, who in turn had attacked the pope as a
heretic, because he kept the filioque in the creed, which referred to the Holy
Spirit emanating from God the Father and the Son. The papacy was strengthened
through this new alliance, which in the long term created a new problem for the
Popes, when in the Investiture Controversy succeeding emperors sought to
appoint bishops and even future popes. After the disintegration of the
Charlemagne empire and repeated incursions of Islamic forces into Italy, the
papacy, without any protection, entered a phase of major weakness.
High Middle Ages
Saint Thomas Aquinas
carrying the whole Church with his theology
The
Cluniac reform of monasteries that began in 910 placed abbots under the direct
control of the pope rather than the secular control of feudal lords, thus eliminating
a major source of corruption. This sparked a great monastic renewal.
Monasteries, convents and cathedrals still operated virtually all schools and
libraries, and often functioned as credit establishments promoting economic
growth. After 1100, some older cathedral schools split into lower grammar
schools and higher schools for advanced learning. First in Bologna, then at
Paris and Oxford, many of these higher schools developed into universities and
became the direct ancestors of modern Western institutions of learning. It was
here where notable theologians worked to explain the connection between human
experience and faith. The most notable of these theologians, Thomas Aquinas,
produced Summa Theologica, a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of
Aristotelian thought and the Gospel. Monastic contributions to western society
included the teaching of metallurgy, the introduction of new crops, the
invention of musical notation and the creation and preservation of literature.
During
the 11th century, the East–West schism permanently divided Christianity. It
arose over a dispute on whether Constantinople or Rome held jurisdiction over
the church in Sicily and led to mutual excommunications in 1054. The Western
(Latin) branch of Christianity has since become known as the Catholic Church,
while the Eastern (Greek) branch became known as the Orthodox Church. The
Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) both failed to
heal the schism. Some Eastern churches have since reunited with the Catholic
Church, and others claim never to have been out of communion with the pope.
Officially, the two churches remain in schism, although excommunications were
mutually lifted in 1965.
The
11th century saw the Investiture Controversy between Emperor and Pope over the
right to make church appointments, the first major phase of the struggle
between Church and state in medieval Europe. The Papacy were the initial
victors, but as Italians divided between Guelphs and Ghibellines in factions
that were often passed down through families or states until the end of the
Middle Ages, the dispute gradually weakened the Papacy, not least by drawing it
into politics. The Church also attempted to control, or exact a price for, most
marriages among the great by prohibiting, in 1059, marriages involving
consanguinity (blood kin) and affinity (kin by marriage) to the seventh degree
of relationship. Under these rules, almost all great marriages required a
dispensation. The rules were relaxed to the fourth degree in 1215 (now only the
first degree is prohibited by the Church - a man cannot marry his stepdaughter,
for example).
Pope
Urban II at the Council of Clermont (1095), where he preached the First
Crusade; later manuscript illumination of c. 1490
Pope
Urban II launched the First Crusade in 1095 when he received an appeal from
Byzantine emperor Alexius I to help ward off a Turkish invasion.[83] Urban
further believed that a Crusade might help bring about reconciliation with
Eastern Christianity. Fueled by reports of Muslim atrocities against
Christians, the series of military campaigns known as the Crusades began in
1096. They were intended to return the Holy Land to Christian control. The goal
was not permanently realized, and episodes of brutality committed by the armies
of both sides left a legacy of mutual distrust between Muslims and Western and
Eastern Christians. The sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade left
Eastern Christians embittered, despite the fact that Pope Innocent III had
expressly forbidden any such attack. In 2001, Pope John Paul II apologized to
the Orthodox Christians for the sins of Catholics including the sacking of
Constantinople in 1204.
Two
new orders of architecture emerged from the Church of this era. The earlier
Romanesque style combined massive walls, rounded arches and ceilings of
masonry. To compensate for the absence of large windows, interiors were
brightly painted with scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints. Later,
the Basilique Saint-Denis marked a new trend in cathedral building when it utilized
Gothic architecture. This style, with its large windows and high, pointed
arches, improved lighting and geometric harmony in a manner that was intended
to direct the worshiper's mind to God who "orders all things". In
other developments, the 12th century saw the founding of eight new monastic
orders, many of them functioning as Military Knights of the Crusades.
Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux exerted great influence over the new
orders and produced reforms to ensure purity of purpose. His influence led Pope
Alexander III to begin reforms that would lead to the establishment of canon
law. In the following century, new mendicant orders were founded by Francis of
Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán which brought consecrated religious life into
urban settings.
12th
century France witnessed the growth of Catharism in Languedoc. It was in
connection with the struggle against this heresy that the Inquisition
originated. After the Cathars were accused of murdering a papal legate in 1208,
Pope Innocent III declared the Albigensian Crusade. Abuses committed during the
crusade caused Innocent III to informally institute the first papal inquisition
to prevent future massacres and root out the remaining Cathars. Formalized
under Gregory IX, this Medieval inquisition executed an average of three people
per year for heresy at its height. Over time, other inquisitions were launched
by the Church or secular rulers to prosecute heretics, to respond to the threat
of Moorish invasion or for political purposes. The accused were encouraged to
recant their heresy and those who did not could be punished by penance, fines,
imprisonment, torture or execution by burning.
Middle Ages
(1122–1517)
Lateran
I · Lateran II · Lateran III · Lateran IV · Lyon I · Lyon II · Vienne ·
Constance · Florence · Lateran V
Modern Era and
Contemporary Era (1545–1870)
A
growing sense of church-state conflicts marked the 14th century. To escape
instability in Rome, Clement V in 1309 became the first of seven popes to
reside in the fortified city of Avignon in southern France during a period
known as the Avignon Papacy. The papacy returned to Rome in 1378 at the urging
of Catherine of Siena and others who felt the See of Peter should be in the
Roman church. With the death of Pope Gregory XI later that year, the papal
election was disputed between supporters of Italian and French-backed
candidates leading to the Western schism. For 38 years, separate claimants to
the papal throne sat in Rome and Avignon. Efforts at resolution further
complicated the issue when a third compromise pope was elected in 1409. The
matter was finally resolved in 1417 at the Council of Constance where the
cardinals called upon all three claimants to the papal throne to resign, and
held a new election naming Martin V pope.
Renaissance and
reforms
Discoveries and
Missionaries
Counter-Reformation
and Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
Protestant
Reformation, Christianity in the 16th century and Catholicism and the wars of
religion
Through
the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European missionaries and explorers
spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Pope Alexander
VI, in the papal bull Inter caetera, awarded colonial rights over most of the
newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal. Under the patronato system, state
authorities controlled clerical appointments and no direct contact was allowed
with the Vatican.[105] On December 1511, the Dominican friar Antonio de
Montesinos openly rebuked the Spanish authorities governing Hispaniola for
their mistreatment of the American natives, telling them "... you are in
mortal sin ... for the cruelty and tyranny you use in dealing with these innocent
people". King Ferdinand enacted the Laws of Burgos and Valladolid in
response. Enforcement was lax, and while some blame the Church for not doing
enough to liberate the Indians, others point to the Church as the only voice
raised on behalf of indigenous peoples. The issue resulted in a crisis of
conscience in 16th-century Spain. An outpouring of self-criticism and
philosophical reflection among Catholic theologians, most notably Francisco de
Vitoria, led to debate on the nature of human rights and the birth of modern
international law.
In
1521, through the leadership and preaching of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan, the first Catholics were baptized in what became the first Christian
nation in Southeast Asia, the Philippines. The following year, Franciscan
missionaries arrived in what is now Mexico, and sought to convert the Indians
and to provide for their well-being by establishing schools and hospitals. They
taught the Indians better farming methods, and easier ways of weaving and
making pottery. Because some people questioned whether the Indians were truly
human and deserved baptism, Pope Paul III in the papal bull Veritas Ipsa or
Sublimis Deus (1537) confirmed that the Indians were deserving people. Afterward,
the conversion effort gained momentum. Over the next 150 years, the missions
expanded into southwestern North America. The native people were legally
defined as children, and priests took on a paternalistic role, often enforced
with corporal punishment. Elsewhere, in India, Portuguese missionaries and the
Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelized among non-Christians and a Christian
community which claimed to have been established by Thomas the Apostle.
Renaissance Church
In
Europe, the Renaissance marked a period of renewed interest in ancient and
classical learning. It also brought a re-examination of accepted beliefs.
Cathedrals and churches had long served as picture books and art galleries for
millions of the uneducated. The stained glass windows, frescoes, statues,
paintings and panels retold the stories of the saints and of biblical
characters. The Church sponsored great Renaissance artists like Michelangelo
and Leonardo da Vinci, who created some of the world's most famous artworks. The
acceptance of humanism had its effects on the Church, which embraced it as
well. In 1509, a well known scholar of the age, Erasmus, wrote The Praise of
Folly, a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the
Church. The Papacy itself was questioned by conciliarism expressed in the
councils of Constance and the Basel. Real reforms during these ecumenical
councils and the Fifth Lateran Council were attempted several times but
thwarted. They were seen as necessary but did not succeed in large measure
because of internal feuds within the Church, ongoing conflicts with the Ottoman
Empire and Saracenes and the simony and nepotism practiced in the Renaissance
Church of the 15th and early 16th centuries. As a result, rich, powerful and
worldly men like Roderigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) were able to win election
to the papacy.
Reformation Era wars
The
Fifth Lateran Council issued some but only minor reforms in March 1517. A few
months later, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses
in public, hoping to spark debate. His theses protested key points of Catholic
doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences. Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and
others also criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges, supported by
powerful political forces in the region, developed into the Protestant
Reformation. In Germany, the Reformation led to war between the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V. The first nine-year war
ended in 1555 but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict, the Thirty
Years' War, which broke out in 1618. In France, a series of conflicts termed
the French Wars of Religion was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots
and the forces of the French Catholic League. A series of popes sided with and
became financial supporters of the Catholic League. This ended under Pope
Clement VIII, who hesitantly accepted King Henry IV's 1598 Edict of Nantes,
which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants.
England
The
English Reformation was ostensibly based on Henry VIII's desire for annulment
of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, and was initially more of a political,
and later a theological dispute. The Acts of Supremacy made the English monarch
head of the English church thereby establishing the Church of England. Then,
beginning in 1536, some 825 monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland
were dissolved and Catholic churches were confiscated. When he died in 1547 all
monasteries, friaries, convents of nuns and shrines were destroyed or
dissolved. Mary I of England reunited the Church of England with Rome and,
against the advice of the Spanish ambassador, persecuted Protestants during the
Marian Persecutions. After some provocation, the following monarch, Elizabeth I
enforced the Act of Supremacy. This prevented Catholics from becoming members
of professions, holding public office, voting or educating their children. Executions
of Catholics under Elizabeth I, who reigned much longer, then surpassed the
Marian persecutions and persisted under subsequent English monarchs. Penal laws
were also enacted in Ireland but were less effective than in England. In part
because the Irish people associated Catholicism with nationhood and national
identity, they resisted persistent English efforts to eliminate the Catholic
Church.
Council of Trent
Historian
Diarmaid MacCulloch, in his book The Reformation, A History noted that through
all the slaughter of the Reformation era emerged the valuable concept of
religious toleration and an improved Catholic Church which responded to
doctrinal challenges and abuses highlighted by the Reformation at the Council
of Trent (1545–1563). The council became the driving-force of the
Counter-Reformation, and reaffirmed central Catholic doctrines such as
transubstantiation, and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to
attain salvation. It also reformed many other areas of importance to the
Church, most importantly by improving the education of the clergy and
consolidating the central jurisdiction of the Roman Curia. The criticisms of
the Reformation were among factors that sparked new religious orders including
the Theatines, Barnabites and Jesuits, some of which became the great missionary
orders of later years. Spiritual renewal and reform were inspired by many new
saints like Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales and Philip Neri whose writings
spawned distinct schools of spirituality within the Church (Oratorians, Carmelites,
Salesian), etc. Improvement to the education of the laity was another positive
effect of the era, with a proliferation of secondary schools reinvigorating
higher studies such as history, philosophy and theology. To popularize
Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the Baroque style in art,
music and architecture. Baroque religious expression was stirring and
emotional, created to stimulate religious fervor.
Elsewhere,
Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier introduced Christianity to Japan, and by the
end of the 16th century tens of thousands of Japanese followed Roman
Catholicism. Church growth came to a halt in 1597 under the Shogun Toyotomi
Hideyoshi who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences,
launched a severe persecution of Christians. Japanese were forbidden to leave
the country and Europeans were forbidden to enter. Despite this, a minority
Christian population survived into the 19th century.
Baroque, Enlightenment
and revolutions
Christianity
in the 17th century and Modern history of Christianity § Age of Enlightenment
(1640–1740)
Marian devotions
The
Council of Trent generated a revival of religious life and Marian devotions in
the Roman Catholic Church. During the Reformation, the Church had defended its
Marian beliefs against Protestant views. At the same time, the Catholic world
was engaged in ongoing Ottoman Wars in Europe against Turkey which were fought
and won under the auspices of the Virgin Mary. The victory at the Battle of
Lepanto (1571) was accredited to her "and signified the beginning of a
strong resurgence of Marian devotions, focusing especially on Mary, the Queen
of Heaven and Earth and her powerful role as mediatrix of many graces". The
Colloquium Marianum, an elite group, and the Sodality of Our Lady based their
activities on a virtuous life, free of cardinal sins.
Pope
Paul V and Gregory XV ruled in 1617 and 1622 to be inadmissible to state, that
the virgin was conceived non-immaculate. Supporting the belief that she was
born without original sin, through the intended protection of God's grace (aka
Immaculate Conception).[clarification needed] Alexander VII declared in 1661,
that the soul of Mary was free from original sin. Pope Clement XI ordered the
feast of the Immaculata for the whole Church in 1708. The feast of the Rosary
was introduced in 1716, the feast of the Seven Sorrows in 1727. The Angelus
prayer was strongly supported by Pope Benedict XIII in 1724 and by Pope
Benedict XIV in 1742. Popular Marian piety was even more colourful and varied
than ever before: Numerous Marian pilgrimages, Marian Salve devotions, new
Marian litanies, Marian theatre plays, Marian hymns, Marian processions. Marian
fraternities, today mostly defunct, had millions of members. After centuries of
French opposition, Pope Innocent XI was beatified by Pius XII in 1956
Enlightenment
secularism
The
Enlightenment constituted a new challenge of the Church. Unlike the Protestant
Reformation, which questioned certain Christian doctrines, the enlightenment
questioned Christianity as a whole. Generally, it elevated human reason above
divine revelation and down-graded religious authorities such as the papacy
based on it. Parallel the Church attempted to fend off Gallicanism and
Councilarism, ideologies which threatened the papacy and structure of the
Church.
Toward
the latter part of the 17th century, Pope Innocent XI viewed the increasing
Turkish attacks against Europe, which were supported by France, as the major
threat for the Church. He built a Polish-Austrian coalition for the Turkish
defeat at Vienna in 1683. Scholars have called him a saintly pope because he
reformed abuses by the Church, including simony, nepotism and the lavish papal
expenditures that had caused him to inherit a papal debt of 50,000,000 scudi.
By eliminating certain honorary posts and introducing new fiscal policies,
Innocent XI was able to regain control of the church's finances. In France, the
Church battled Jansenism and Gallicanism, which supported Conciliarism, and
rejected papal primacy, demanding special concessions for the Church in France.
This weakened the Church's ability to respond to gallicanist thinkers such as
Denis Diderot, who challenged fundamental doctrines of the Church.
In
1685 gallicanist King Louis XIV of France issued the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes, ending a century of religious toleration. France forced Catholic
theologians to support conciliarism and deny Papal infallibility. The king
threatened Pope Innocent XI with a general council and a military take-over of
the Papal state. The absolute French State used Gallicanism to gain control of
virtually all major Church appointments as well as many of the Church's
properties. State authority over the Church became popular in other countries
as well. In Belgium and Germany, Gallicanism appeared in the form of
Febronianism, which rejected papal prerogatives in an equal fashion. Emperor
Joseph II of Austria (1780–1790) practiced Josephinism by regulating Church
life, appointments, and massive confiscation of Church properties.
Church in North
America
In
what is now the Western United States, the Catholic Church expanded its
missionary activity but, until the 19th century, had to work in conjunction with
the Spanish crown and military. Junípero Serra, the Franciscan priest in charge
of this effort, founded a series of missions and presidios in California which
became important economic, political, and religious institutions. These
missions brought grain, cattle and a new political and religious order to the
Indian tribes of California. Coastal and overland routes were established from
Mexico City and mission outposts in Texas and New Mexico that resulted 13 major
California missions by 1781. European visitors brought new diseases that killed
off a third of the native population, primarily through disease.[160] Mexico
shut down the missions in the 1820s and sold off the lands. Only in the 19th
century, after the breakdown of most Spanish and Portuguese colonies, was the
Vatican able to take charge of Catholic missionary activities through its Propaganda
Fide organization.
Church in South
America
During
this period the Church faced colonial abuses from the Portuguese and Spanish
governments. In South America, the Jesuits protected native peoples from
enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called reductions.
Pope Gregory XVI, challenging Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty, appointed his
own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave
trade in 1839 (papal bull In Supremo Apostolatus), and approved the ordination
of native clergy in spite of government racism.
Jesuits
Jesuits in India
Christianity
in India has a tradition of Thomas establishing the faith in Kerala. The
community was very small until the Jesuit Francis Xavier (1502–1552) began
missionary work. Roberto de Nobili (1577–1656), a Tuscan Jesuit missionary to
Southern India followed in his path. He pioneered (inculturation), adopting
many Brahmin customs which were not, in his opinion, contrary to Christianity.
He lived like a Brahmin, learned Sanskrit, and presented Christianity as a part
of Indian beliefs, not identical with the Portuguese culture of the
colonialists. He permitted the use of all customs, which in his view did not
directly contradict Christian teachings. By 1640 there were 40 000 Christians
in Madurai alone. In 1632, Pope Gregory XV gave permission for this approach.
But strong anti-Jesuit sentiments in Portugal, France, and even in Rome, resulted
in a reversal. This ended the successful Catholic missions in India. On
September 12, 1744, Benedict XIV forbade the so-called Malabar rites in India,
with the result, that leading Indian casts who wanted to adhere to their
traditional cultures, turned away from the Catholic Church.
Jesuits in China
Jesuits
such as Matteo Ricci, Adam Schall von Bell and others successfully introduced
Christianity to China via inculturation. Ricci and Schall were appointed by the
Chinese Emperor as court mathematicians and astronomers and even Mandarins. The
first Catholic Church was built in Peking in 1650 The emperor granted freedom
of religion to Catholics. Ricci adopted the Catholic faith to Chinese thinking,
permitting the veneration of the dead. The Vatican disagreed and forbade any
adaptation in the so-called Chinese Rites controversy in 1692 and 1742. The
Bull "Ex Quo Singulari" of Pope Benedict XIV of 1742 stressed the
purity of Christian teachings and traditions, which must be uphold against all
heresies. This bull virtually destroyed the Jesuit goal of Christianizing the
influential upper classes in China. The Church experienced missionary setbacks
in 1721 when the Chinese Rites controversy led the Kangxi Emperor to outlaw Christian
missions.
In
1939 Pope Pius XII reverted the 250 year old Vatican policy and permitted the
veneration of dead family members.[169] The Church began to flourish again with
twenty new arch-dioceses, seventy-nine dioceses and thirty-eight apostolic
prefects, but only until 1949, when the Communist revolution took over the
country.
Jesuit existence
Sebastião
José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal, "The Expulsion of the
Jesuits" by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1766.
Throughout
the inculturation controversy, the very existence of Jesuits were under attack
in Portugal, Spain, France, and the Kingdom of Sicily. The inculturation
controversy and the Jesuit support for the native Indians in Brazil, Paraguay
and Argentina added fuel to growing criticism of the order, which seemed to
symbolize the strength and independence of the Church. Defending the rights of
native peoples in South America, hindered the efforts of Spain and Portugal to
maintain absolute rule over their domains. Portugal's Sebastião José de
Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal was the main enemy of the Jesuits. Pope
Benedict XIV attempted to keep the Jesuits in existence without any changes:
Sint ut sunt aut not sint, They must be the way they are or they will not be,. He
went far to mollify Portuguese pride, even allowing the local Cardinal to wear
a papal tiara and have his seminarians dressed like cardinals In 1773, European
rulers united to force Pope Clement XIV to dissolve the order. Several decades
later Pius VII restored the Jesuits in the 1814 papal bull Sollicitudo omnium
ecclesiarum.
On
March 13, 2013, Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of
Argentina, became the first member of the Jesuit order to be elected pope. Pope
Francis was elected on the second day of the papal conclave.
French Revolution
Christianity
in the 18th century and Modern history of Christianity § Revivalism (1720–1906)
The
anti-clericalism of the French Revolution. saw direct attacks on the wealth of
the Church and associated grievances led to the wholesale nationalisation of
church property and attempts to establish a state-run church. Large numbers of
priests refused to take an oath of compliance to the National Assembly, leading
to the Church being outlawed and replaced by a new religion of the worship of
"Reason". In this period, all monasteries were destroyed, 30,000
priests were exiled and hundreds more were killed. When Pope Pius VI sided
against the revolution in the First Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded
Italy. The 82 year old pope was taken as a prisoner to France in February 1799
and died in Valence August 29, 1799 after six months of captivity. To win
popular support for his rule, Napoleon re-established the Catholic Church in
France through the Concordat of 1801. The end of the Napoleonic wars, signaled
by the Congress of Vienna, brought Catholic revival and the return of the Papal
States.
19th century France
France
remained basically Catholic. The 1872 census of 1872, counted 36 million
people, of whom 35.4 million were listed as Catholics, 600,000 as Protestants,
50,000 as Jews and 80,000 as freethinkers The Revolution failed to destroy the
Catholic Church, and Napoleon's concordat of 1801 restored its status. The
return of the Bourbons in 1814 brought back many rich nobles and landowners who
supported the Church, seeing it as a bastion of conservatism and monarchism.
However the monasteries with their vast land holdings and political power were
gone; much of the land had been sold to urban entrepreneurs who lacked historic
connections to the land and the peasants. Few new priests were trained in the
1790-1814 period, and many left the church. The result was that the number of
parish clergy plunged from 60,000 in 1790 to 25,000 in 1815, many of them elderly.
Entire regions, especially around Paris, were left with few priests. On the
other hand some traditional regions held fast to the faith, led by local nobles
and historic families. The comeback was slow—very slow in the larger cities and
industrial areas. With systematic missionary work and a new emphasis on liturgy
and devotions to the Virgin Mary, plus support from Napoleon III, there was a
comeback. In 1870 there were 56,500 priests, representing a much younger and
more dynamic force in the villages and towns, with a thick network of schools,
charities and lay organizations. Conservative Catholics held control of the
national government, 1820-1830, but most often played secondary political roles
or had to fight the assault from republicans, liberals, socialists and
seculars.
Third Republic
1870-1940
Throughout
the lifetime of the Third Republic there were battles over the status of the
Catholic Church. The French clergy and bishops were closely associated with the
Monarchists and many of its hierarchy were from noble families. Republicans
were based in the anticlerical middle class who saw the Church's alliance with
the monarchists as a political threat to republicanism, and a threat to the
modern spirit of progress. The Republicans detested the church for its
political and class affiliations; for them, the church represented outmoded
traditions, superstition and monarchism. The Republicans were strengthened by
Protestant and Jewish support. Numerous laws were passed to weaken the Catholic
Church. In 1879, priests were excluded from the administrative committees of
hospitals and of boards of charity; in 1880, new measures were directed against
the religious congregations; from 1880 to 1890 came the substitution of lay
women for nuns in many hospitals. Napoleon's 1801 Concordat continued in
operation but in 1881, the government cut off salaries to priests it disliked.
The
1882 school laws of Republican Jules Ferry set up a national system of public
schools that taught strict puritanincal morality but no religion.[184] For a
while privately funded Catholic schools were tolerated. Civil marriage became
compulsory, divorce was introduced and chaplains were removed from the army.
When
Leo XIII became pope in 1878 he tried to calm Church-State relations. In 1884 he
told French bishops not to act in a hostile manner to the State. In 1892 he
issued an encyclical advising French Catholics to rally to the Republic and
defend the Church by participating in Republican politics. This attempt at
improving the relationship failed. Deep-rooted suspicions remained on both
sides and were inflamed by the Dreyfus Affair. Catholics were for the most part
anti-dreyfusard. The Assumptionists published anti-Semitic and anti-republican
articles in their journal La Croix. This infuriated Republican politicians, who
were eager to take revenge. Often they worked in alliance with Masonic lodges.
The Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry (1899–1902) and the Combes Ministry (1902–05)
fought with the Vatican over the appointment of bishops. Chaplains were removed
from naval and military hospitals (1903–04), and soldiers were ordered not to
frequent Catholic clubs (1904). Combes as Prime Minister in 1902, was
determined to thoroughly defeat Catholicism. He closed down all parochial
schools in France. Then he had parliament reject authorisation of all religious
orders. This meant that all fifty four orders were dissolved and about 20,000
members immediately left France, many for Spain.[186] In 1805 the 1801
Concordat was abrogated; Church and State were finally separated. All Church
property was confiscated. Public worship was given over to associations of
Catholic laymen who controlled access to churches. In practise, Masses and
rituals continued. The Church was badly hurt and lost half its priests. In the
long run, however, it gained autonomy—for the State no longer had a voice in
choosing bishops and Gallicanism was dead.
Church from the Indian
settlement of San Ignacio Miní
Africa
At
the end of the 19th century, Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments
into Africa and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.
Industrial
age
Modern
history of Christianity § Late modern history (1848–present) and Christianity
in the 19th century
First Vatican Council
Before
the council, in 1854 Pope Pius IX with the support of the overwhelming majority
of Roman Catholic Bishops, whom he had consulted between 1851–1853, proclaimed
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Eight years earlier, in 1846, the Pope
had granted the unanimous wish of the bishops from the United States, and
declared the Immaculata the patron of the USA.
During
First Vatican Council, some 108 council fathers requested to add the words
"Immaculate Virgin" to the Hail Mary. Some fathers requested, the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception to be included in the Creed of the Church,
which was opposed by Pius IX Many French Catholics wished the dogmatization of
Papal infallibility and the assumption of Mary by the ecumenical council. During
Vatican One, nine mariological petitions favoured a possible assumption dogma,
which however was strongly opposed by some council fathers, especially from
Germany. In 1870, the First Vatican Council affirmed the doctrine of papal
infallibility when exercised in specifically defined pronouncements. Controversy over this and other issues
resulted in a very small breakaway movement called the Old Catholic Church.
Social teachings
Catholic social
teaching
The
Church was slow to react to the growing industrialization and impoverishment of
workers, trying first to remediate the situation with increased charity. In
1891 Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum in which the Church defined the dignity
and rights of industrial workers.
The
Industrial Revolution brought many concerns about the deteriorating working and
living conditions of urban workers. Influenced by the German Bishop Wilhelm
Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler, in 1891 Pope Leo XIII published the encyclical
Rerum Novarum, which set in context Catholic social teaching in terms that
rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions. Rerum
Novarum argued for the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers
to form trade unions.
Quadragesimo
Anno was issued by Pope Pius XI, on 15 May 1931, 40 years after Rerum Novarum.
Unlike Leo, who addressed mainly the condition of workers, Pius XI concentrated
on the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He called for the
reconstruction of the social order based on the principle of solidarity and
subsidiarity. He noted major dangers for human freedom and dignity, arising
from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism.
The
social teachings of Pope Pius XII repeat these teachings, and apply them in
greater detail not only to workers and owners of capital, but also to other professions
such as politicians, educators, house-wives, farmers, bookkeepers,
international organizations, and all aspects of life including the military.
Going beyond Pius XI, he also defined social teachings in the areas of
medicine, psychology, sport, television, science, law and education. There is
virtually no social issue, which Pius XII did not address and relate to the
Christian faith. He was called "the Pope of Technology, for his
willingness and ability to examine the social implications of technological
advances. The dominant concern was the continued rights and dignity of the
individual. With the beginning of the space age at the end of his pontificate,
Pius XII explored the social implications of space exploration and satellites
on the social fabric of humanity asking for a new sense of community and
solidarity in light of existing papal teachings on subsidiarity.
Role of women's
institutes
Catholic
Sisters and the leper children of Hawaii in 1886. Catholic women like St
Marianne Cope played a central role in developing and running of many the
modern world's education and health care systems.
Catholic
women have played a prominent role in providing education and health services
in keeping with Catholic social teaching. Ancient orders like the Carmelites
had engaged in social work for centuries. The 19th century saw a new flowering
of institutes for women, dedicated to the provision of health and education
services - of these the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, Claretian Sisters and
Franciscan Missionaries of Mary became among the largest Catholic women's religious
institutes of all.
The
Sisters of Mercy was founded by Catherine McAuley in Ireland in 1831, and her
nuns went on to establish hospitals and schools across the world. The Little
Sisters of the Poor was founded in the mid-19th century by Saint Jeanne Jugan
near Rennes, France, to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the
streets of French towns and cities. In Britain's Australian colonies,
Australia's first canonised Saint, Mary MacKillop, co-founded the Sisters of
St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart as an educative religious institute for the poor
in 1866, going on to establish schools, orphanages and refuges for the needy. In
1872, the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco (also called Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians) was founded by Maria Domenica Mazzarello. The teaching order was to
become the modern world's largest institute for women, with around 14,000
members in 2012. Saint Marianne Cope opened and operated some of the first
general hospitals in the United States, instituting cleanliness standards which
influenced the development of America's modern hospital system Also in the
United States, Saint Katharine Drexel founded Xavier University of Louisiana to
assist African and Native Americans.
Mariology
Madonna and Child, by
Filippo Lippi
Popes
have always highlighted the inner link between the Virgin Mary as Mother of God
and the full acceptance of Jesus Christ as Son of God. Since the 19th century,
they were highly important for the development of mariology to explain the
veneration of Mary through their decisions not only in the area of Marian
beliefs (Mariology) but also Marian practices and devotions. Before the 19th
century, Popes promulgated Marian veneration by authorizing new Marian feast
days, prayers, initiatives, the acceptance and support of Marian congregations.
Since the 19th century, Popes begin to use encyclicals more frequently. Thus
Leo XIII, the Rosary Pope issued eleven Marian encyclicals. Recent Popes
promulgated the veneration of the Blessed Virgin with two dogmas, Pius IX the
Immaculate Conception in 1854 and the Assumption of Mary in 1950 by Pope Pius
XII. Pius XII also promulgated the new feast Queenship of Mary celebrating Mary
as Queen of Heaven and he introduced the first ever Marian year in 1954, a
second one was proclaimed by John Paul II. Pius IX, Pius XI and Pius XII
facilitated the veneration of Marian apparitions such as in Lourdes and Fátima.
Later Popes such from John XXIII to Benedict XVI promoted the visit to Marian
shrines (Benedict XVI in 2007 and 2008). The Second Vatican Council highlighted
the importance of Marian veneration in Lumen Gentium. During the Council, Paul
VI proclaimed Mary to be the Mother of the Church.
Anti-clericalism
Christianity in the
20th century
The
20th century saw the rise of various politically radical and anti-clerical
governments. The 1926 Calles Law separating church and state in Mexico led to
the Cristero War in which over 3,000 priests were exiled or assassinated, churches
desecrated, services mocked, nuns raped and captured priests shot. In the
Soviet Union following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, persecution of the Church
and Catholics continued well into the 1930s. In addition to the execution and
exiling of clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of religious implements
and closure of churches was common. During the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War, the
Catholic hierarchy supported Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist forces
against the Popular Front government, citing Republican violence directed
against the Church. The Church had been an active element in the polarising
politics of the years preceding the Civil War. Pope Pius XI referred to these
three countries as a "terrible triangle" and the failure to protest
in Europe and the United States as a "conspiracy of silence".
Dictatorships
Italy
Pope
Pius XI aimed to end the long breach between the papacy and the Italian
government and to gain recognition once more of the sovereign independence of
the Holy See. Most of the Papal States had been seized by the armies of King
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1861–1878) in 1860 suing Italian unification. Rome
itself was seized by force in 1870 and the pope became the "prisoner in
the Vatican." The Italian government's policies had always been
anti-clerical until the First World War, when some compromises were reached.
Boundary map of
Vatican City
To
bolster his own dictatorial Fascist regime, Benito Mussolini was also eager for
an agreement. Agreement was reached in 1929 with the Lateran Treaties, which
helped both sides. According to the terms of the first treaty, Vatican City was
given sovereignty as an independent nation in return for the Vatican
relinquishing its claim to the former territories of the Papal States. Pius XI
thus became a head of a tiny state with its own territory, army. radio station,
and diplomatic representation. The Concordat of 1929 made Catholicism the sole
religion of Italy (although other religions were tolerated), paid salaries to
priests and bishops, recognized church marriages (previously couples had to
have a civil ceremony), and brought religious instruction into the public
schools. In turn the bishops swore allegiance to the Italian state, which had a
veto power over their selection. The Church was not officially obligated to
support the Fascist regime; the strong differences remained but the seething
hostility ended. The Church especially endorsed foreign policies such as
support for the anti-Communist side in the Spanish Civil War, and support for the
conquest of Ethiopia. Friction continued over the Catholic Action youth
network, which Mussolini wanted to merge into his Fascist youth group. A
compromise was reached with only the Fascists allowed to sponsor sports teams.
Italy
paid the Vatican 1750 million lira (about $100 million) for the seizures of
church property since 1860. Pius XI invested the money in the stock markets and
real estate. To manage these investments, the Pope appointed the lay-person
Bernadino Nogara, who through shrewd investing in stocks, gold, and futures
markets, significantly increased the Catholic Church's financial holdings. The
income largely paid for the upkeep of the expensive-to-maintain stock of
historic buildings in the Vatican which previously had been maintained through
funds raised from the Papal States up until 1870.
The
Vatican's relationship with Mussolini's government deteriorated drastically
after 1930 as Mussolini's totalitarian ambitions began to impinge more and more
on the autonomy of the Church. For example, the Fascits tried to absorb the
Church's youth groups. In response Pius XI issued the encyclical Non Abbiamo
Bisogno ("We Have No Need)") in 1931. It denounced the regime's
persecution of the church in Italy and condemned "pagan worship of the
State.
Austria and Nazi
Germany
Pope Pius XI and
Germany
Signing
of the Reichskonkordat on 20 July 1933. From left to right: German prelate
Ludwig Kaas, German Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, representing Germany,
Monsignor Giuseppe Pizzardo, Cardinal Pacelli, Monsignor Alfredo Ottaviani,
German ambassador Rudolf Buttmann.
The
Vatican supported the Christian Socialists in Austria, a country with a
majority Catholic population but a powerful secular element. Pope Pius XI
favored the regime of Engelbert Dollfuss (1932–34), who wanted to remold
society based on papal encyclicals. Dollfuss suppressed the anti-clerical
elements and the socialists, but was assassinated by the Austrian Nazis in
1934. His successor Kurt von Schuschnigg (1934–38) was also pro-Catholic and received
Vatican support. Germany annexed Austria in 1938 and imposed its own policies.
Pius
XI was prepared to negotiate concordats with any country that was willing to do
so, thinking that written treaties were the best way to protect the Church's
rights against governments increasingly inclined to interfere in such matters.
Twelve concordats were signed during his reign with various types of
governments, including some German state governments. When Adolf Hitler became
Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 and asked for a concordat, Pius XI
accepted. The Concordat of 1933 included guarantees of liberty for the Church
in Nazi Germany, independence for Catholic organisations and youth groups, and
religious teaching in schools.
Nazi
ideology was spearheaded by Heinrich Himmler and the SS. In the struggle for
total control over German minds and bodies, the SS developed an anti-religious
agenda. No Catholic or Protestant chaplains were allowed in its units (although
they were allowed in the regular army). Himmler established a special unit to
identify and eliminate Catholic influences. The SS decided the German Catholic
Church was a serious threat to its hegemony and while it was too strong to be
abolished it was partly stripped of its influence, for example by closing its
youth clubs and publications.
After
repeated violations of the Concordat, Pope Pius XI issued the 1937 encyclical
Mit brennender Sorge which publicly condemned the Nazis' persecution of the
Church and their ideology of neopaganism and racial superiority.
World War II
After
the Second World War began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion
of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions. In the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII
directed the Church hierarchy to help protect Jews from the Nazis. While Pius
XII has been credited with helping to save hundreds of thousands of Jews. The Church
has also been falsely accused of encouraging anti-Semitism Albert Einstein,
addressing the Catholic Church's role during the Holocaust, said the following:
"Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked
to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their
devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were
silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming
editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like
the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks... "Only the Church
stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I
never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great
affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and
persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus
to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly." This
quote appeared in the December 23, 1940 issue of Time magazine on page 38.
Other commentators have accused Pius of not doing enough to stop Nazi
atrocities. Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.
Post-Industrial age
Second Vatican Council
History of the
Catholic Church since 1962
The
Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process of reform following the
Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Intended as a continuation of Vatican I,
under Pope John XXIII the council developed into an engine of modernisation. It
was tasked with making the historical teachings of the Church clear to a modern
world, and made pronouncements on topics including the nature of the church,
the mission of the laity and religious freedom. The council approved a revision
of the liturgy and permitted the Latin liturgical rites to use vernacular
languages as well as Latin during mass and other sacraments. Efforts by the
Church to improve Christian unity became a priority. In addition to finding
common ground on certain issues with Protestant churches, the Catholic Church
has discussed the possibility of unity with the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Reforms
Changes
to old rites and ceremonies following Vatican II produced a variety of
responses. Some stopped going to church, while others tried to preserve the old
liturgy with the help of sympathetic priests. These formed the basis of today's
Traditionalist Catholic groups, which believe that the reforms of Vatican II
have gone too far. Liberal Catholics form another dissenting group who feel
that the Vatican II reforms did not go far enough. The liberal views of
theologians such as Hans Küng and Charles Curran, led to Church withdrawal of
their authorization to teach as Catholics. According to Professor Thomas
Bokenkotter, most Catholics "accepted the changes more or less gracefully.
In 2007, Benedict XVI eased permission for the optional old Mass to be
celebrated upon request by the faithful.
A
new Codex Juris Canonici - Canon Law called for by John XXIII, was promulgated
by Pope John Paul II on January 25, 1983. It includes numerous reforms and
alterations in Church law and Church discipline for the Latin Church. It
replaced the 1917 version issued by Benedict XV.
Theology
Modernism
Main article:
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Liberation theology
In
the 1960s, growing social awareness and politicization in the Latin American
Church gave birth to liberation theology. The Peruvian priest, Gustavo
Gutiérrez, became its primary proponent and, in 1979, the bishops' conference
in Mexico officially declared the Latin American Church's "preferential
option for the poor". Archbishop Óscar Romero, a supporter of the
movement, became the region's most famous contemporary martyr in 1980, when he
was murdered while celebrating Mass by forces allied with the government. Both
Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI (as Cardinal Ratzinger) denounced the
movement. The Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was twice ordered to cease
publishing and teaching. While Pope John Paul II was criticized for his
severity in dealing with proponents of the movement, he maintained that the
Church, in its efforts to champion the poor, should not do so by resorting to
violence or partisan politics. The movement is still alive in Latin America
today, though the Church now faces the challenge of Pentecostal revival in much
of the region.
Sexuality and gender
issues
The
sexual revolution of the 1960s brought challenging issues for the Church. Pope Paul
VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae reaffirmed the Catholic Church's traditional
view of marriage and marital relations and asserted a continued proscription of
artificial birth control. In addition, the encyclical reaffirmed the sanctity
of life from conception to natural death and asserted a continued condemnation
of both abortion and euthanasia as grave sins which were equivalent to murder.
Efforts
to lead the Church to consider the ordination of women led Pope John Paul II to
issue two documents to explain Church teaching. Mulieris Dignitatem was issued
in 1988 to clarify women's equally important and complementary role in the work
of the Church. Then in 1994, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis explained that the Church
extends ordination only to men in order to follow the example of Jesus, who
chose only men for this specific duty.
Catholicism today
See also: Christianity
in the 21st century
Sex abuse cases (Catholic
sex abuse cases)
Major
lawsuits emerged in 2001 claiming that priests had sexually abused minors. In
response to the ensuing scandal, the Church has established formal procedures
to prevent abuse, encourage reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle
such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their
effectiveness.
Some
priests resigned, others were defrocked and jailed, and there were financial
settlements with many victims. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
commissioned a comprehensive study that found that four percent of all priests
who served in the US from 1950 to 2002 had faced some sort of accusation of
sexual misconduct.
Benedict XVI
With
the election of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the Church has so far seen largely a
continuation of the policies of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, with some notable
exceptions: Benedict decentralized beatifications and reverted the decision of
his predecessor regarding papal elections. In 2007, he set a Church record by
approving the beatification of 498 Spanish Martyrs. His first encyclical Deus
Caritas Est discussed love and sex in continued opposition to several other
views on sexuality.
Roman
Catholic attempts to improve ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox
Churches have been complicated by disputes over both doctrine and the recent
history of the Orthodox Eastern Catholic Churches, involving the return of
expropriatiated properties of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which the Orthodox
Church took over after World War II at the request of Joseph Stalin.
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