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The Church teaches that, immediately after death, the soul of each person will receive a particular judgement from God.[146] This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in a universal judgement of all mankind. This final judgement, according to Church teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.[147] The basis on which each person's soul is judged is detailed in the Gospel of Matthew, which lists works of mercy to be performed even to people considered "the least of Christ's brothers".[148] Emphasis is upon Christ's words that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven".[149] According to the Catechism, "The Last Judgement will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life."[149] Depending on the judgement rendered, a soul may enter one of three states of afterlife: Heaven is a time of glorious union with God and a life of unspeakable joy that lasts forever.[150] Purgatory is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although saved, are not free enough from sin to enter directly into heaven.[151] Souls in purgatory may be aided in reaching heaven by the prayers of the faithful on earth and by the intercession of saints.[152] Final Damnation: Finally, those who persist in living in a state of mortal sin and do not repent before death subject themselves to hell, an everlasting separation from God.[153] The Church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God.[154] No one is predestined to hell and no one can determine whether anyone else has been condemned.[155] Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death and be saved.[156] Some Catholic theologians have speculated that the souls of unbaptised infants who die in original sin are assigned to limbo although this is not an official doctrine of the Church.[157] Virgin Mary The Blessed Virgin Mary is highly regarded in the Catholic Church, proclaiming her as Mother of God, free from original sin and an intercessor. Main articles: Veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism and Roman Catholic Mariology See also: Mary (mother of Jesus) Devotions to Mary are part of Catholic piety but are distinct from the worship of God.[158] The Church holds Mary, as Perpetual Virgin and Mother of God, in special regard.[159] Catholic beliefs concerning Mary include her Immaculate Conception without the stain of original sin and bodily assumption into heaven at the end of her life, both of which have been infallibly defined as dogma, by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and Pope Pius XII in 1950 respectively.[160] Mariology deals not only with her life but also her veneration in daily life, prayer and Marian art, music and architecture. Several liturgical Marian feasts are celebrated throughout the Church Year and she is honoured with many titles such as Queen of Heaven. Pope Paul VI called her Mother of the Church because, by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the Body of Christ.[160] Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions such as the Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Salve Regina and the Memorare are common Catholic practices.[161] The Church has affirmed certain Marian apparitions, such as at Lourdes, Fátima, and Guadalupe.[162] Pilgrimages to these sites are popular Catholic devotions.[163] History Main article: History of the Catholic Church See also: Early history of Christianity, Historiography of early Christianity and Apostolic Age Painting a haloed Jesus Christ passing keys to a kneeling man. This fresco (1481–82) by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel shows Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter. Catholic tradition and doctrine hold that the Catholic Church is the one true church[164] founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD in the province of Judea of the Roman Empire.[3][4] The New Testament records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the twelve Apostles and his instructions to them to continue his work.[165][166] The Catholic Church teaches that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as Pentecost, signalled the beginning of the public ministry of the Catholic Church.[167] Catholic doctrine teaches that the contemporary Catholic Church is the continuation of this early Christian community. It interprets the Confession of Peter found in the Gospel of Matthew as Christ's designation of Saint Peter the Apostle and his successors, the Bishops of Rome to be the temporal head of his Church, a doctrine known as apostolic succession. Antiquity and Roman Empire See also: Early centers of Christianity and List of Christian heresies Conditions in the Roman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas. The empire's well-defined network of roads and waterways facilitated travel, and the Pax Romana made travelling safe. The empire encouraged the spread of a common culture with Greek roots, which allowed ideas to be more easily expressed and understood.[168] Unlike most religions in the Roman Empire, however, Christianity required its adherents to renounce all other gods, a practice adopted from Judaism (see Idolatry). The 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. The resulting persecutions were a defining feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalised in the 4th century.[169] Nineteenth-century drawing of Old St. Peter's Basilica, originally built in 318 by Constantine In 313, Emperor Constantine I's Edict of Milan legalised Christianity, and in 380 the Edict of Thessalonica made Catholic Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire which would persist until the empire itself ended with the Fall of Constantinople. During this time (the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils) five primary sees emerged, an arrangement formalised by Emperor Justinian I as the pentarchy of Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria.[170][171] On 11 May 330, Constantine moved the imperial capital to Constantinople, modern Istanbul, Turkey, and in 451 the Council of Chalcedon, in a canon of disputed validity,[172] elevated the see of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".[173] But from c. 350 to c. 500, in spite of these developments, the bishops, or popes, of Rome, a city no longer the capital of the empire, steadily increased in authority.[174] Most of the Germanic tribes who in the following centuries invaded the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity in its Arian form, which the Catholic Church declared heretical.[175] The resulting religious discord between Germanic rulers and Catholic subjects[176] was avoided when, in 497, Clovis I, the Frankish ruler, converted to orthodox Catholicism, allying himself with the papacy and the monasteries.[177] The Visigoths in Spain followed his lead in 589,[178] and the Lombards in Italy in the course of the 7th century. Western Christianity, particularly through its monasteries, was a major factor in preserving classical civilisation, with its art (see Illuminated manuscript) and literacy.[179][180] [note 9] The massive Islamic invasions of the mid-7th century began a long struggle between Christianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The Byzantine Empire soon lost the lands of the eastern patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch and was reduced to that of Constantinople, the empire's capital. The battles of Toulouse and Poitiers halted the Islamic advance in the West, although Rome itself later suffered the pillaging of its outskirts in 846. Medieval and Renaissance periods The Catholic Church was the dominant influence on Western civilisation from late antiquity to the dawn of the modern age.[2] It was the primary sponsor of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque styles in art, architecture and music.[181] Renaissance figures such as Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Titian, Bernini and Caravaggio are examples of the numerous visual artists sponsored by the Church.[182] In the eleventh century, the efforts of Hildebrand of Sovana led to the creation of the College of Cardinals to elect new Popes, starting with Pope Alexander II in the papal election of 1061. When Alexander II died, Hildebrand was elected to succeed him, as Pope Gregory VII. The basic election system of the College of Cardinals which Gregory VII helped establish has continued to function into the twenty-first century. Pope Gregory VII further initiated the Gregorian Reforms regarding the independence of the clergy from secular authority. This led to the Investiture Controversy between the church and the Holy Roman Emperors, over which had the authority to appoint bishops and Popes. In 1095, Byzantine emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions in the Byzantine–Seljuk Wars,[183] which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control.[184] In the 11th century, strained relations between the primarily Greek church and the Latin Church separated them in the East–West Schism, partially due to conflicts over papal authority. The Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople by renegade crusaders proved the final breach. The Renaissance period was a golden age for Roman Catholic art. Pictured: the Sistine Chapel ceiling. In the early 13th century mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán. The studia conventuale and studia generale of the mendicant orders played a large role in the transformation of Church sponsored cathedral schools and palace schools, such as that of Charlemagne at Aachen, into the prominent universities of Europe.[185] Scholastic theologians and philosophers such as the Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas studied and taught at these studia. Aquinas' Summa Theologica was an intellectual milestone in its synthesis of the legacy of Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle with the content of Christian revelation.[186] 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[187] during a period known as the Avignon Papacy. The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the Pope returned to Rome,[188] but was followed in 1378 by the 38-year-long Western schism with claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa.[188] 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.[189] Reformation See also: Protestant Reformation and Criticism of Catholic actions in history Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church in 1517 In Germany in 1517, Martin Luther sent his Ninety-Five Theses to several bishops.[190] His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences.[190][191] In Switzerland, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and others further criticised Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into the European movement called the Protestant Reformation.[192] The English Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII began as a political dispute. When the pope denied Henry's petition for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, he had the Acts of Supremacy passed, making him head of the English Church.[193] 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.[194] 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.[195] 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.[194][195] The Council of Trent (1545–1563) became the driving force behind the Counter-Reformation in response to the Protestant movement. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.[196] In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world despite experiencing a reduction in its hold on European populations due to the growth of religious scepticism during and after the Enlightenment.[citation needed] Early Modern Period See also: Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery saw the expansion of Western Europe's political and cultural influence worldwide. Because of the prominent role the strongly Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal played in Western Colonialism, Catholicism was spread to the Americas, Asia and Oceania by explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries, as well as by the transformation of societies through the socio-political mechanisms of colonial rule. Pope Alexander VI had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal[197] and the ensuing patronato system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.[198] In 1521 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.[199] Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelised in India, China, and Japan.[200] Ruins of the Jesuit Reduction at São Miguel das Missões in Brazil. From the 17th century onward, the Enlightenment questioned the power and influence of the Catholic Church over Western society.[201] 18th century writers such as Voltaire and the Encyclopedists wrote biting critiques of both religion and the Church. One target of their criticism was the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV, which ended a century-long policy of religious toleration of Protestant Huguenots. The French Revolution of 1789 brought about a shifting of powers from the Church to the State, destruction of churches and the establishment of a Cult of Reason.[202] In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte's General Louis Alexandre Berthier invaded Italy, imprisoning Pope Pius VI, who died in captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of 1801.[203] The end of the Napoleonic wars brought Catholic revival and the return of the Papal States.[204] In 1854 Pope Pius IX, with the support of the overwhelming majority of Roman Catholic bishops, whom he had consulted from 1851 to 1853, proclaimed the Immaculate Conception as a dogma.[205] In 1870, the First Vatican Council affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility when exercised in specifically defined pronouncements.[206][207] Controversy over this and other issues resulted in a breakaway movement called the Old Catholic Church.[208] Italian unification of the 1860s incorporated the Papal States, including Rome itself from 1870, into the Kingdom of Italy, thus ending the papacy's millennial temporal power. The pope rejected the Italian Law of Guarantees, which granted him special privileges, and to avoid placing himself in visible subjection to the Italian authorities remained a "prisoner in the Vatican".[209] This stand-off, which was spoken of as the Roman Question, was resolved by the 1929 Lateran Treaties, whereby the Holy See acknowledged Italian sovereignty over the former Papal States and Italy recognised papal sovereignty over Vatican City as a new sovereign and independent state. Twentieth 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[210] in which over 3,000 priests were exiled or assassinated,[211] churches desecrated, services mocked, nuns raped and captured priests shot.[210] In the Soviet Union following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, persecution of the Church and Catholics continued well into the 1930s.[212] In addition to the execution and exiling of clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of religious implements and closure of churches was common.[213] In the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War, the Catholic hierarchy allied itself with Franco's Nationalists against the Popular Front government,[214] citing Republican violence against the Church[215] and "foreign elements which have brought us to ruin".[216] 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". After violations of the 1933 Reichskonkordat that had guaranteed the Church in Nazi Germany some protection and rights,[217] Pope Pius XI issued the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge,[218] which publicly condemned the Nazis' persecution of the Church and their ideology of neopaganism and racial superiority.[219] After the Second World War began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions.[220] Thousands of Catholic priests, nuns and brothers were imprisoned and murdered throughout the areas occupied by the Nazis including Saints Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein.[221] In the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII directed the Church hierarchy to help protect Jews from the Nazis.[222] While Pius XII has been credited with helping to save hundreds of thousands of Jews by some historians,[223] the Church has also been accused of encouraging centuries of antisemitism[224] and Pius himself of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.[225] Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.[223] Postwar Communist governments in Eastern Europe severely restricted religious freedoms.[226] Although some priests and religious collaborated with Communist regimes,[227] many were imprisoned, deported or executed and the Church would be an important player in the fall of communism in Europe.[228] The rise to power of the Communists in China in 1949 led to the expulsion of all foreign missionaries.[229] The new government also created the Patriotic Church whose unilaterally appointed bishops were initially rejected by Rome before many of them were accepted.[230] The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s led to the closure of all religious establishments. When Chinese churches eventually reopened they remained under the control of the Patriotic Church. Many Catholic pastors and priests continued to be sent to prison for refusing to renounce allegiance to Rome.[231] |
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