...Roman Catholicism, Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major branches of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Over the course of centuries it developed a highly sophisticated theology and an elaborate organizational structure headed by the papacy, the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in the world. The number of Roman Catholics in the world (nearly 1.1 billion) is greater than that of nearly all other religious traditions. There are more Roman Catholics than all other Christians combined and more Roman Catholics than all Buddhists or Hindus. Although there are more Muslims than Roman Catholics, the number of Roman Catholics is greater than that of the individual traditions of Shīʿite and Sunni Islam. These incontestable statistical and historical facts suggest that some understanding of Roman Catholicism—its history, its institutional structure, its beliefs and practices, and its place in the world—is an indispensable component of cultural literacy, regardless of how one may individually answer the ultimate questions of life and death and faith. Without a grasp of what Roman Catholicism is, it is difficult to make historical sense of the Middle Ages, intellectual sense of the works of Thomas Aquinas, literary sense of The Divine Comedy of Dante, artistic sense of the Gothic cathedrals...
Words: 1257 - Pages: 6
...(Borghese, 2015). On the eve of a major three-week assembly with the Synod of Bishops, an assembly of the clergy and sometimes also the laity in a diocese or other division of a particular church, Charamsa came out with the hopes of changing the Church’s stance on homosexuality. The timing of the announcement was intended to put the topic before the Synod of Bishops (Borghese,...
Words: 1011 - Pages: 5
...On March 25th, 2018, I attended a Catholic church service at Immaculate Conception Parish church in Fairbank, Iowa. The church service that I attended was on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of Lent, and it is also the first day of Holy Week. The Palm Sunday service included the passing out of palm leaves to the congregation. The Palm leaves symbolize Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem because people of his time offered them as sort of a welcoming path into their city. A practice that I found interesting from the Palm Sunday service was the fact that the Palm leaves could not be thrown away. After asking, I learned that the leaves had been blessed, so instead of throwing them away, the church kept and burned them to use as the ashes...
Words: 1141 - Pages: 5
...My First Experience At Catholic Church Introduction Christianity today is one of the dominant religions in the world with over 2 billion followers. It has an extensive variety of beliefs, forms and exercises, despite this extensiveness all have one common thing, which is faith in Jesus Christ (Hastings, 2000). I having been brought up in the Baptist beliefs and practices had not gotten a chance to attend a church outside my traditional church the Baptist. Lately I got an expected opportunity to attend the Catholic Church mass and the experience was one of its kinds. The Experience On arrival at the church, I felt a bit nervous, as it was my first time to be in a catholic church. the environment around was still and this made me feel nervous. The first impression that I received was the beauty of the church. I was convinced that much attention was directed towards maintaining the quality of the church. The inside was good looking stained window glasses, candles, and the portrayal of Christ on the cross. The architects and arts inside the church was a clear indication of how holly and clean the place was for worship. The presence of Christ portrait made me feel in place, as it was an indication that the people had faith in Jesus Christ (Rasmussen, 2003). Being a visitor in this church the shaking of everyone’s hands by the priest at the entrance as they entered the service brought a feeling of warm welcome to the church and eliminated the weird feeling of being a stranger...
Words: 973 - Pages: 4
...Decline of the Catholic Church There are many people who challenged he Catholic Church, accepted church doctrines, and the bible. But why? John Wycliffe was one of the people who challenged the Catholic Church. In his writing, he said that monarchs should rule/take over the church, in their own kingdoms. The church was abusing their power. They were afraid someone would overrule them. So they proved this by translating the bible. The bible was translated from Latin to English. This threatened the clergy. If the bible was read and translated into English, people would interpret the bible’s meaning themselves. When the bible was translated, many people got mad. They got mad because people believed they were being told what was truly in the bible, but instead the church said lies to make people do what they wanted them to do. This has to do with church doctrines. John Wycliffe’s work influenced John Hus, an Eastern European priest. John Hus went against the practice of selling indulgences. He called for reform. Hus went up to the Council of Constane to defend his statement. But, things went wrong, they burned him at stake. This made all of the other people scared to stand up to the Catholic Church. Martin Luther was the first after John Hus to stand up to the church. Luther was a priest. He had been authorized to preach indulgences, which people donated money. Luther was protesting his ninety-five theses. He saw the practices as proof of how corrupt the church was. Luther...
Words: 445 - Pages: 2
...What was going on in the church before the reformation era took place: Many things were happening behind peoples back one being abuses of indulgence. Some priest and bishops were giving indulgences to people for a price of money. Some brothers and sister claimed that they were authorised by the pope to forgive all sins. They took the money from people who believed in them and respected them, they promised them they would go the heaven and have happiness in their lives. An indulgence is the extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment due, in God's justice, to sin that has been forgiven, which remission is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys, through the application of the superabundant merits of Christ and of the saints, and for some just and reasonable motive. The practice ended up becoming a concoction of evil and corruption; it was almost like they were buying their way into heaven. The years leading up to the reformation were indulgences very popular Martin Luther’s ideas of the church and what he taught: When martin Luther found out that pope Leo x and the archbishop of Mainz were selling indulgences for the construction of St Peters basilica in Rome he objected. He was against fooling people that they could buy their way out of sins without any faith what so ever. These people would believe that they were going to Heaven when in fact they would go to Hell. How could they be repentant when self-loathing and self-disgust was needed...
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...During the twentieth century, the tensions between the church and national governments occasionally led to absolute suppression of the church, as in the former Soviet Union and Communist Eastern Europe, Mexico, Spain, and China. Mussolini and Hitler also destroyed much of the church as they could. The century was noticeably marked because of the new trends which came into practice and in the case of the outlook of church. The main objective was basically a need for primary readjustment to overcome the problems associated with ethical aspects that were quite important regarding new ways of life and much higher anxiety due to difficult task that needs to be carried out in the church. Then the other movement followed after that was the revival of church by both laity and the clergy. In Western countries, it was especially very strong. The major issues that were highlighted were latest reforms, the acknowledgment with the diverse contributions related to the region and the present situation of the church, and the identification of the non-political value of the church. The other factor that was quite vital was the increase in revival because of the strengthening of relations between the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and various Protestant churches. During the 1962-1965, the growing value of currents which had lot of value at the time when Second Vatican Council was established during 1960s and even came under John XXIII and Paul VI which started large changes...
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...Throughout the past millennia, a commanding influence in the shaping of Europe's future has been the Christian Church. The largest branch, the Catholic Church, spearheaded the growth of Christianity throughout the world. Through this mass expansion, they gained an immense amount of power due to their existence in many European Countries. An example is the presence of the Roman Catholic Church, a specific rite of Catholicism, in Italy. Being home to the Pope, Italy served as the Catholic capital. Structured upon strict, specific beliefs, the Catholic Church was rarely challenged due to their presence in the Italian Government. Some of these beliefs, however, were challenged by the Scientific Revolution, or the origin of modern science, which was catalyzed by Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, or On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. This publication, Copernicus rejected the previously agreed upon theory of geocentrism, a model of the solar system in which the Earth is the center of revolution, in favor of heliocentrism, a model of the solar system in which the Sun is the center of revolution. The Church quickly refuted Copernicus's ideas, claiming that they were absurd and borderline heretical, but not before it piqued the interest of other notable scientists. Galileo Galilei, a respected intellectual...
Words: 1586 - Pages: 7
...has virtually no transparency. All of this is following the pope stepping down last week, stirring rumors and very important unanswered questions. The pope reasoned his health had deteriorated to the point where he cannot hold the position. This seems rather odd considering all popes are typically elderly and vulnerable. It seems The Vatican theoretically can do whatever they please - which shouldn't be the case, especially if your the symbol of Catholicism worldwide. I have a very strong opinion regarding the Vatican but I digress. The article relates to our class in many ways. The pope is the leader of the Catholic nation and Vatican City. Catholicism is a sect of Christianity, which is a globalizing religion. If the accusations of the Vatican are confirmed, it would be devastating to the Catholic Church and its followers. I chose this particular article because I have read similar articles concerning the pope, from his resignation to the rumors of blackmail. In my opinion, there has to...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
...want to become an active member and participant in the Catholic Church. Receiving Confirmation will allow me to be closer to God. I will be better able to participate in many events within my church community and in all become a more active member of the Church. I have done many services projects to help out with my family and community it has shown me how to become humble such as my saint. For one service project I went with my basketball team to serve the homeless and others in need of food at the place of hope seeing where I stand compared to those people really got me to think about how good of life I have and how thankful I should be and live life to the fullest in the foot steps of good because some people don’t have everything they wont people struggle but with the support of my family and god I can make it through life and conformation with ease....
Words: 577 - Pages: 3
...Miranda Coker Mrs. Ashley Coker English IV Honors 9 January 2015 The Corruption of the Medieval Catholic Church in The Canterbury Tales In the Fourteenth Century, the Catholic Church took over Ireland, England, and almost all of Europe. Through a number of Crusades, which spanned about two hundred years, the church acquired a great amount of wealth. As a result of this tremendous accumulation of wealth, as well as an over emphasis on lavish places of worship, cathedrals were built in all of the larger cities. However, the communities of the middle and lower class in society suffered from poverty, resulting in sickness and death (“Greed and Corruption in The Canterbury Tales” 1). Why sit back, turn a deaf ear, and watch the people suffer and die while spending a fortune on places of worship? This is most likely the reason why Geoffrey Chaucer portrays some characters in The Canterbury Tales, such as the Pardoner, Friar, and Monk, as being greedy and often hypocritical. The Pardoner is a perfect example of this corruption. His work in the church is to hear the confessions of wrong-doers and pardon them of their sins. As he travels, he confesses to using a particular tale to manipulate his audiences. The Pardoner explains that he pushes guilt into the people by telling them that greed is the root of all evil, in order to coax them into giving him offerings. These offerings go directly into his greedy hands. Hardly a man of God, he demonstrates or reveals his self-centered...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...In the 15th century, the Roman Catholic Church was very powerful in Europe. Popes had both spiritual power and political power. Meanwhile, Catholicism was the only religion recognized in the middle Ages. The questions then arise as to why was there a reformation or what was the state of the Church right before the reformation. In this essay, I will briefly talk about the corruption in the European Catholic Church with references to the film The Borgias and the lecture notes on Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. Simony The act of selling and buying church offices had widespread in Europe. In the first episode of The Borgias, the story starts with the death of Pope Innocent VIII in 1492, cardinals are fighting for the position of being the new pope. Rodrigo Borgias, aided by his eldest son, bribes the most of the cardinals in order to win this fight. It is absurd that Rodrigo becomes the new pope because he paid sufficient amount of gold and jewels to his colleague cardinals. Therefore, simony was a fundamental cause of the corruption of Catholic Church since positions were given to people who were able to afford it, not to the ones who are qualified as spiritual leaders. Too Rich In the film of The Borgias, I was surprised by the first glance of the luxury house of the Borgias’s. Additionally, when the eldest son, Cesare, helps his father to bribe the rest of the cardinals, he takes lots of gold ornaments and precious jewelries from the Church of Romagna. Those scenes reveal...
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...reformation was not the work of a single rebel deciding the Church had gone too far. It was not a single act of the Church going too far. It was a culmination that had been building for centuries of the laity’s festering anger and doubt at the clergy’s unbridled depravity. The Church needed reform because the Church was corrupt, immoral and politically driven. The corruption of the Catholic Church was present on every level of the organization in every possible from. The corruption of the Church was very apparent in the sexual activities of the clergy and the rampant nepotism present in the Vatican. The Pope that truly exemplifies both of these common and widespread activities. This Pope had three children with Vanozza dei Cattanai and...
Words: 882 - Pages: 4
...the Roman Catholic Church, and forming the first Protestant Church, the Lutheran Church. He protested against the injustices the Catholic clergy and the pope were making against the poor believers of Europe. Without Martin Luther, the Protestant Church, with its estimated 800 million members, would not exist. Martin Luther was born on November 10th, 1483, in Eisleben, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was born to Hans and Margarethe Luther. He was a German, who became a priest, hymn-writer, and founder of the Lutheran Church. Hans Luther wanted Martin to have a successful life and be a lawyer, so he enrolled him in schools in Mansfield, Magdeburg, and Eisenach. Martin also enrolled at...
Words: 646 - Pages: 3
...The Catholic church is an extremely influential interest group throughout Mexico, however they are not politicians or directly take part in government. This is due the freedom of religion Mexico upholds to its citizens. Though there is freedom of religion in Mexico, Catholicism is the majority religion of most citizens. President Fox made it clear in 2002 that the Catholic church was an accepted influence when he kissed the pope’s hand during an official papal visit to Mexico (55). The success of an interest group is determined based on the influence it has over constituents as well as the efficiency of influencing legislation and initiatives passed by politicians to better the lives of members. Camp wrote that many Mexicans did not feel they could...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
