Catholic (fromGreek:καθολικός,romanized: katholikos,lit. 'universal') was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century.[30] The first known use of the phrase "the catholic church" (Greek:καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία,romanized: katholikḕ ekklēsía) occurred in the letter written about 110 AD fromSaint Ignatius of Antioch to theSmyrnaeans,[note 2] which read: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal [katholike] Church."[31] In theCatechetical Lectures (c. 350) ofSaint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name "Catholic Church" was used to distinguish it from other groups that also called themselves "the church".[31][32] The "Catholic" notion was further stressed in the edictDe fide Catolica issued 380 byTheodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both theeastern and thewestern halves of theRoman Empire, when establishing thestate church of the Roman Empire.[33]
Since theEast–West Schism of 1054, theEastern Orthodox Church has taken the adjectiveOrthodox as its distinctive epithet; its official name continues to be the Orthodox Catholic Church.[34] TheLatin Church was described asCatholic, with that description also denominating those in communion with theHoly See after theProtestant Reformation of the 16th century, when those who ceased to be in communion became known as Protestants.[35][36]
While theRoman Church has been used to describe the pope'sDiocese of Rome since theFall of the Western Roman Empire and into theEarly Middle Ages (6th–10th century),Roman Catholic Church has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in the late 16th century.[37] Further, some will refer to the Latin Church asRoman Catholic in distinction from the Eastern Catholic churches.[38] "Roman Catholic" has occasionally appeared also in documents produced both by the Holy See,[note 3] and notably used by certain nationalepiscopal conferences and local dioceses.[note 4]
TheNew Testament, in particular theGospels, records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the Twelve Apostles and hisGreat Commission of the apostles, instructing them to continue his work.[44][45] The bookActs of Apostles, tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire.[46] The Catholic Church teaches that its public ministry began onPentecost, occurring fifty days following the date Christ is believed to haveresurrected.[47] At Pentecost, the apostles are believed to have received the Holy Spirit, preparing them for their mission in leading the church.[48][49] The Catholic Church teaches that thecollege of bishops, led by thebishop of Rome are thesuccessors to the Apostles.[50]
In the account of theConfession of Peter found in theGospel of Matthew, Christ designates Peter as the "rock" upon which Christ's church will be built.[51][52] The Catholic Church considers the bishop of Rome, the pope, to be the successor toSaint Peter.[53] Some scholars state Peter was the first bishop of Rome.[54] Others[who?] say that the institution of the papacy is not dependent on the idea that Peter was bishop of Rome or even on his ever having been in Rome.[55] Many scholars hold that a church structure of plural presbyters/bishops persisted in Rome until the mid-2nd century, when the structure of a single bishop and plural presbyters was adopted,[56] and that later writers retrospectively applied the term "bishop of Rome" to the most prominent members of the clergy in the earlier period and also to Peter himself.[56] On this basis protestant scholarsOscar Cullmann,[57]Henry Chadwick,[58] andBart D. Ehrman[59] question whether there was a formal link between Peter and the modern papacy.Raymond E. Brown also says that it is anachronistic to speak of Peter in terms of local bishop of Rome, but that Christians of that period would have looked on Peter as having "roles that would contribute in an essential way to the development of the role of the papacy in the subsequent church". These roles, Brown says, "contributed enormously to seeing the bishop of Rome, the bishop of the city where Peter died and where Paul witnessed the truth of Christ, as the successor of Peter in care for the church universal".[56]
Conditions in theRoman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas. The empire's network of roads and waterways facilitated travel, and thePax 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.[60]
Unlike most religions in the Roman Empire, however, Christianity required its adherents to renounce all other gods, a practice adopted from Judaism (seeIdolatry). The Christians' refusal to joinpagan 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. Theresulting persecutions were a defining feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the 4th century.[61]
Most of the Germanic tribes who in the following centuries invaded the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity in itsArian form, which theCouncil of Nicaea declaredheretical.[71] The resulting religious discord between Germanic rulers and Catholic subjects[72] was avoided when, in 497,Clovis I, theFrankish ruler, converted to orthodox Catholicism, allying himself with the papacy and the monasteries.[73] The Visigoths in Spain followed his lead in 589,[74] and the Lombards in Italy in the course of the 7th century.[75]
Western Christianity, particularly through itsmonasteries, was a major factor in preservingclassical civilization, with its art (seeIlluminated manuscript) and literacy.[76] Through hisRule,Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–543), one of the founders ofWestern monasticism, exerted an enormous influence on European culture through the appropriation of the monastic spiritual heritage of the early Catholic Church and, with the spread of the Benedictine tradition, through the preservation and transmission of ancient culture. During this period, monastic Ireland became a centre of learning and early Irish missionaries such asColumbanus andColumba spread Christianity and established monasteries across continental Europe.[76]
An interior view of theSainte-Chapelle on theÎle de la Cité inParis, France, completed in 1248. During the Middle Ages, many buildings in theGothic architecture-style were erected as places of worship for the Catholic Church.
In WesternChristendom, thefirst universities in Europe were established by monks.[80][81][82] Beginning in the 11th century, several older cathedral schools became universities, such as theUniversity of Oxford,University of Paris, andUniversity of Bologna. Higher education before then had been the domain of Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools, led bymonks andnuns. Evidence of such schools dates back to the 6th century CE.[83] These new universities expanded the curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians.[84] The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in theMedieval Christian setting.[85][86][87]
The massive Islamic invasions of themid-7th century began a long struggle betweenChristianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The Byzantine Empire soon lost the lands of the easternpatriarchates ofJerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch and was reduced to that of Constantinople, the empire's capital. As a result ofIslamic domination of the Mediterranean, the Frankish state, centred away from that sea, was able to evolve as the dominant power that shaped the Western Europe of the Middle Ages.[88] The battles ofToulouse andTours halted the Islamic advance in the West and the failedsiege of Constantinople halted it in the East. Two or three decades later, in 751, the Byzantine Empire lost to the Lombards the city of Ravenna from which itgoverned the small fragments of Italy, including Rome, that acknowledged its sovereignty. The fall of Ravenna meant that confirmation by a no longer existent exarch was not asked for during the election in 752 ofPope Stephen II and that the papacy was forced to look elsewhere for a civil power to protect it.[89] In 754, at the urgent request of Pope Stephen, the Frankish kingPepin the Short conquered the Lombards. He thengifted the lands of the former exarchate to the pope, thus initiating thePapal States. Rome and the Byzantine East would delve into further conflict during thePhotian schism of the 860s, whenPhotius criticized the Latin west of adding of thefilioque clause after being excommunicated byNicholas I. Though the schism was reconciled, unresolved issues would lead to further division.[90]
In the 11th century, the efforts ofHildebrand of Sovana led to the creation of theCollege of Cardinals to elect new popes, starting withPope Alexander II in thepapal election of 1061. When Alexander II died, Hildebrand was elected to succeed him, asPope Gregory VII. The basic election system of the College of Cardinals which Gregory VII helped establish has continued to function into the 21st century. Pope Gregory VII further initiated theGregorian Reforms regarding the independence of the clergy from secular authority. This led to theInvestiture Controversy between the church and theHoly Roman Emperors, over which had the authority to appoint bishops and popes.[91][92]
In 1095, Byzantine emperorAlexius I appealed toPope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions in theByzantine–Seljuk wars,[93] which caused Urban to launch theFirst Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning theHoly Land to Christian control.[94] In the11th century, strained relations between the primarily Greek church and the Latin Church separated them in the East–West Schism, partially due to conflicts overpapal authority. TheFourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople by renegade crusaders proved the final breach.[95] In this age great gothic cathedrals in France were an expression of popular pride in the Christian faith.
In the early 13th centurymendicant orders were founded byFrancis of Assisi andDominic de Guzmán. Thestudia conventualia andstudia generalia of the mendicant orders played a large role in the transformation of church-sponsored cathedral schools and palace schools, such as that ofCharlemagne atAachen, into the prominent universities of Europe.[96]Scholastic theologians and philosophers such as the Dominican priestThomas Aquinas studied and taught at these studia. Aquinas'Summa Theologica was an intellectual milestone in its synthesis of the legacy ofancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle with the content of Christian revelation.[97]
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 ofAvignon in southern France[98] during a period known as theAvignon Papacy. The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the pope returned to Rome,[99] but was followed in 1378 by the 38-year-longWestern Schism, with claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa.[99] The matter was largely resolved in 1414–1418 at theCouncil of Constance, with the claimants in Rome and Pisa agreeing to resign and the third claimant excommunicated by the cardinals, who held a new election namingMartin V pope.[100]
In 1438, theCouncil of Florence convened, which featured a strong dialogue focussed on understanding the theological differences between the East and West, with the hope of reuniting the Catholic and Orthodox churches.[101] Several eastern churches reunited, forming the majority of theEastern Catholic Churches.[102]
With the rise of Protestantism, the Catholic Church lost some adherents in Europe. Counter-Reformation groups such as theJesuits were founded to tackle this. At the same time, Catholicism spread in the Americas through evangelisation, represented by the apparition ofOur Lady of Guadalupe.
TheAge of Discovery beginning in the 15th century saw the expansion of Western Europe's political and cultural influence worldwide. Because of the rise in power overseas of strongly Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal (as well as France), Catholicism was spread to the Americas, Asia and Oceania by explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries, as well as by the conversion of people who lived in these societies to the Catholic faith.Pope Alexander VI had awarded sovereignty rights over most of the newly discovered lands toSpain andPortugal (later confirmed by theTreaty of Tordesillas)[103] and the ensuingpatronato system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.[104] In 1521 the Portuguese explorerFerdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in thePhilippines.[105] Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish JesuitFrancis Xavier evangelized in India, China, and Japan.[106] TheFrench colonization of the Americas beginning in the 16th century established a CatholicFrancophone population and forbade non-Catholics to settle inQuebec.[107]
TheCouncil of Trent (1545–1563) became the driving force behind theCounter-Reformation in response to the Protestant movement. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such astransubstantiation and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.[115] In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world, in part through missionaries andimperialism, although its hold on European populations declined due to the growth ofreligious scepticism during and after the Enlightenment.[116]
TheItalian unification of the 1860s incorporated the Papal States, including Rome itself from 1870, into theKingdom of Italy, thus ending the papacy'stemporal power. In response, Pope Pius IX excommunicatedKing Victor Emmanuel II, refused payment for the land, and rejected the ItalianLaw of Guarantees, which granted him special privileges. To avoid placing himself in visible subjection to the Italian authorities, he remained a "prisoner in the Vatican".[126] This stand-off, which was spoken of as theRoman Question, was resolved by the 1929Lateran Treaties, whereby the Holy See acknowledged Italian sovereignty over the former Papal States in return for payment and Italy's recognition of papal sovereignty over Vatican City as a new sovereign and independent state.[127]
Catholic missionaries generally supported, and sought to facilitate, the European imperial powers'conquest of Africa during the late nineteenth century. According to the historian of religionAdrian Hastings, Catholic missionaries were generally unwilling to defend African rights or encourage Africans to see themselves as equals to Europeans, in contrast to Protestant missionaries, who were more willing to oppose colonial injustices.[128]
During the 20th century, the church's global reach continued to grow, despite the rise ofanti-Catholic authoritarian regimes and the collapse of European Empires, accompanied by a general decline in religious observance in the West. Under PopesBenedict XV, andPius XII, theHoly See sought to maintain public neutrality through the World Wars, acting as peace broker and delivering aid to the victims of the conflicts. In the 1960s,Pope John XXIII convened theSecond Vatican Council, which ushered in radical change to church ritual and practice, and in the later 20th century, the long reign ofPope John Paul II contributed to thefall of communism in Europe, and a new public and international role for the papacy.[129][130]From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has beencriticized for its doctrines onsexuality, its inability toordain women, and its handling ofsexual abuse cases.
PopePius X (1903–1914) renewed the independence of papal office by abolishing the veto of Catholic powers in papal elections, and his successors Benedict XV (1914–1922) andPius XI (1922–1939) concluded the modern independence of the Vatican State within Italy.[131] Benedict XV was elected at the outbreak of theFirst World War. He attempted to mediate between the powers and established a Vatican relief office, to assist victims of the war and reunite families.[132] The interwarPope Pius XI modernized the papacy, appointing 40 indigenous bishops and concluding fifteen concordats, including theLateran Treaty with Italy which founded theVatican City State.[133]
His successorPope Pius XII led the Catholic Church through theSecond World War and earlyCold War. Like his predecessors, Pius XII sought to publicly maintain Vatican neutrality in the War and established aid networks to help victims, but he secretlyassisted the anti-Hitler resistance and shared intelligence with the Allies.[132] His first encyclicalSummi Pontificatus (1939) expressed dismay at the1939 Invasion of Poland and reiterated Catholic teaching against racism.[134] He expressed concern against race killingson Vatican Radio, and intervened diplomatically to attempt to block Nazi deportations of Jews in various countries from 1942 to 1944. However, the Pope's insistence on public neutrality and diplomatic language has become a source of much criticism and debate.[135] Nevertheless, in every country under German occupation, priests played a major part in rescuing Jews.[136] Israeli historianPinchas Lapide estimated thatCatholic rescue of Jews amounted to somewhere between 700,000 and 860,000 people.[137]
TheNazi persecution of the Catholic Church was at its most intensein Poland, andCatholic resistance to Nazism took various forms. Some 2,579 Catholic clergy were sent to thePriest Barracks ofDachau Concentration Camp, including 400 Germans.[138][139] Thousands of priests, nuns and brothers were imprisoned, taken to a concentration camp, tortured and murdered, including SaintsMaximilian Kolbe andEdith Stein.[140][141] Catholics fought on both sides in the conflict. Catholic clergy played a leading role in the government of the fascistSlovak State, which collaborated with the Nazis, copied their anti-Semitic policies, and helped them carry out the Holocaust in Slovakia.Jozef Tiso, the President of the Slovak State and a Catholic priest, supported his government's deportation of Slovakian Jews to extermination camps.[142] The Vatican protested against these Jewish deportations in Slovakia and in other Nazi puppet regimes includingVichy France, Croatia,Bulgaria, Italy and Hungary.[143][144]
Around 1943,Adolf Hitler planned the kidnapping of the Pope and his internment in Germany. He gave SS General Wolff a corresponding order to prepare for the action.[145][146] While Pope Pius XII has been credited with helping tosave hundreds of thousands of Jews during theHolocaust,[147][148] the church has also been accused of having encouraged centuries ofantisemitism by its teachings[149] and not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.[150] Many Nazi criminals escaped overseas after the Second World War, also because they had powerful supporters from the Vatican.[151][152][153] The judgment of Pius XII is made more difficult by the sources, because the church archives for his tenure as nuncio, cardinal secretary of state and pope are in part closed or not yet processed.[154]
The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council of Trent, four centuries before.[155] Initiated by Pope John XXIII, this ecumenical council modernized the practices of the Catholic Church, allowing the Mass to be said in thevernacular (local language) and encouraging "fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations".[156] It intended to engage the church more closely with the present world (aggiornamento), which was described by its advocates as an "opening of the windows".[157] In addition to changes in the liturgy, it led to changes to the church's approach toecumenism,[158] and a call to improved relations with non-Christian religions, especially Judaism, in its documentNostra aetate.[159]
The council, however, generated significant controversy in implementing its reforms: proponents of the "Spirit of Vatican II" such as Swiss theologianHans Küng said that Vatican II had "not gone far enough" to change church policies.[160]Traditionalist Catholics, such asArchbishopMarcel Lefebvre, however, strongly criticized the council, arguing that its liturgical reforms led "to the destruction of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments", among other issues.[161] The teaching on the morality ofcontraception also came under scrutiny; after a series of disagreements,Humanae vitae upheld the church's prohibition of all forms of contraception.[162][163][note 5][164]
In 1978, PopeJohn Paul II, formerlyArchbishop of Kraków in thePolish People's Republic, became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. His 26 1/2-yearpontificate was one of the longest in history and was credited with hastening the fall of communism in Europe.[165][166] John Paul II sought to evangelize an increasinglysecular world. He travelled more than any other pope, visiting 129 countries,[167] and used television and radio as means of spreading the church's teachings. He also emphasized thedignity of work and natural rights of labourers to havefair wages and safe conditions inLaborem exercens.[168] He emphasized several church teachings, including moral exhortations against abortion,euthanasia, and against widespread use of the death penalty, inEvangelium Vitae.[169]
Pope Francis, the current pope of the Catholic Church, became in 2013 the first pope from the Americas, the first from theSouthern Hemisphere, and the first Pope from outside Europe since the eighth-centuryGregory III.[173][174] Francis has made efforts to further close Catholicism's estrangement with the Eastern churches.[175] His installation was attended byPatriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church,[176] the first time since theGreat Schism of 1054 that the Eastern OrthodoxEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has attended a papal installation,[177] while he also metPatriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the largest Eastern Orthodox church, in 2016; this was reported as the first such high-level meeting between the two churches since theGreat Schism of 1054.[178] In 2017 during a visit inEgypt, Pope Francis reestablished mutual recognition of baptism with theCoptic Orthodox Church.[179]
The crossed keys of the Holy See symbolize those ofSimon Peter; the triple crownpapal tiara symbolizes the triple power of the pope as "father of kings", "governor of the world" and "Vicar of Christ"; the gold cross symbolizes the sovereignty of Jesus.
The Catholic Church follows anepiscopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament ofHoly Orders who are given formaljurisdictions of governance within the church.[180][181] There are three levels of clergy: the episcopate, composed of bishops who hold jurisdiction over a geographic area called adiocese oreparchy; the presbyterate, composed of priests ordained by bishops and who work in local dioceses or religious orders; and the diaconate, composed of deacons who assist bishops and priests in a variety of ministerial roles. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is thebishop of Rome, known as the pope (Latin:papa,lit. 'father'), whose jurisdiction is called theHoly See (Sancta Sedes in Latin).[182] In parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety ofreligious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both. Additionally,lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services. The Catholic Church has been described as the oldestmultinational organization in the world.[183][184][185]
Holy See, papacy, Roman Curia, and College of Cardinals
Thehierarchy of the Catholic Church is headed[note 6] by the pope, currentlyPope Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013 bya papal conclave.[191] The office of the pope is known as thepapacy. The Catholic Church holds that Christ instituted the papacy upon giving thekeys of Heaven toSaint Peter. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See, or theApostolic See (meaning the see of the apostle Peter).[192][193] Directly serving the pope is the Roman Curia, the central governing body that administers the day-to-day business of the Catholic Church.
The pope is alsosovereign of Vatican City,[194] a smallcity-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome, which is an entity distinct from the Holy See. It is as head of the Holy See, not as head of Vatican City State, that the pope receives ambassadors of states and sends them his own diplomatic representatives.[195] The Holy See also confersorders, decorations and medals, such as theorders of chivalry originating from theMiddle Ages.
The position ofcardinal is a rank of honour bestowed by popes on certain clerics, such as leaders within the Roman Curia, bishops serving in major cities and distinguished theologians. For advice and assistance in governing, the pope may turn to theCollege of Cardinals.[196]
Following the death or resignation of a pope,[note 7] members of the College of Cardinals who are under age 80 act as anelectoral college, meeting in apapal conclave to elect a successor.[198] Although the conclave may elect any male Catholic as pope, since 1389 only cardinals have been elected.[199]
Catholic canon law (Latin:jus canonicum)[200] is thesystem of laws andlegal principles made and enforced by thehierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church.[201] The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Westernlegal system,[202] and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West,[203][204] while the distinctive traditions ofEastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholicparticular churchessui iuris.
Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law ornatural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws frompromulgation by the supreme legislator—theSupreme Pontiff—who possesses the totality of legislative, executive and judicial power in his person,[205] while particular laws derive formal authority from promulgation by a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator, whether an ordinary or a delegated legislator. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition. It has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system:[206] laws,courts, lawyers, judges,[206] a fully articulatedlegal code for the Latin Church[207] as well as acode for the Eastern Catholic Churches,[207] principles oflegal interpretation,[208] and coercive penalties.[209][210]
Canon law concerns the Catholic Church's life and organization and is distinct from civil law. In its own field it gives force to civil law only by specific enactment in matters such as the guardianship of minors.[211] Similarly, civil law may give force in its field to canon law, but only by specific enactment, as with regard to canonical marriages.[212] Currently, the1983 Code of Canon Law is in effect for the Latin Church.[213] The distinct 1990Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO, after the Latin initials) applies to the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches.[214]
In the first thousand years of Catholic history, different varieties of Christianity developed in the Western andEastern Christian areas of Europe, Asia and Africa. Though most Eastern-tradition churches are no longer in communion with the Catholic Church after theGreat Schism of 1054 (as well as the earlierNestorian Schism andChalcedonian Schism), 23 autonomousparticular churches of eastern traditions participate in the Catholic communion, also known as "churchessui iuris" (Latin:"of one's own right"). The largest and most well known is the Latin Church, the only Western-tradition church, with more than 1 billion members worldwide. Relatively small in terms of adherents compared to the Latin Church, are the 23 self-governing Eastern Catholic Churches with a combined membership of 17.3 million as of 2010[update].[215][216][217][218]
The Latin Church is governed by the pope and diocesan bishops directly appointed by him. The pope exercises a directpatriarchal role over the Latin Church, which is considered to form the original and still major part ofWestern Christianity, a heritage of certain beliefs and customs originating in Europe and northwestern Africa, some of which are inherited by manyChristian denominations that trace their origins to the Protestant Reformation.[219]
The Eastern Catholic Churches follow the traditions and spirituality ofEastern Christianity and are churches that have always remained in full communion with the Catholic Church or who have chosen to re-enter full communion in the centuries following theEast–West Schism or earlier divisions. These churches are communities of Catholic Christians whose forms of worship reflect distinct historical and cultural influences rather than differences in doctrine. The pope's recognition of Eastern Catholic Churches, though, has caused controversy inecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox and other eastern churches. Historically, pressure to conform to the norms of the Western Christianity practised by the majority Latin Church led to a degree of encroachment (Liturgical Latinisation) on some of the Eastern Catholic traditions. TheSecond Vatican Council document,Orientalium Ecclesiarum, built on previous reforms to reaffirm the right of Eastern Catholics to maintain their distinct liturgical practices.[220]
A churchsui iuris is defined in theCode of Canons for the Eastern Churches as a "group of Christian faithful united by a hierarchy" that is recognized by the pope in his capacity as thesupreme authority on matters of doctrine within the church.[221] The Eastern Catholic Churches are infull communion with the pope, but have governance structures and liturgical traditions separate from that of the Latin Church.[216] While the Latin Church's canons do not explicitly use the term, it is tacitly recognized as equivalent.
Some Eastern Catholic churches are governed by a patriarch who is elected by thesynod of the bishops of that church,[222] others are headed by amajor archbishop,[223] others are under ametropolitan,[224] and others are organized as individualeparchies.[225] Each church has authority over the particulars of its internal organization,liturgical rites,liturgical calendar and other aspects of its spirituality, subject only to the authority of the pope.[226] The Roman Curia has a specific department, theCongregation for the Oriental Churches, to maintain relations with them.[227] The pope does not generally appoint bishops or clergy in the Eastern Catholic Churches, deferring to their internal governance structures, but may intervene if he feels it necessary.
Dioceses are divided into parishes, each with one or morepriests,deacons, orlay ecclesial ministers.[231] Parishes are responsible for the day to day celebration of the sacraments and pastoral care of the laity.[232] As of 2016[update], there are 221,700 parishes worldwide.[8]
In the Latin Church, Catholic men may serve as deacons or priests by receiving sacramentalordination. Men and women may serve asextraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, as readers (lectors), or asaltar servers. Historically, boys and men have only been permitted to serve as altar servers; however, since the 1990s, girls and women have also been permitted.[233][note 8]
"Religious institutes" is a modern term encompassing both "religious orders" and "religious congregations", which were once distinguished incanon law.[235] The terms "religious order" and "religious institute" tend to be used as synonyms colloquially.[236]
As of 2020, Catholicism is the second-largestreligious body in the world afterSunni Islam.[237] Catholics represent about half of all Christians.[238] According to the World Christian Database, there are 1.278 billion Catholics globally, as of 2024.[4] According to theAnnuario Pontificio, church membership, defined as baptized Catholics, was 1.378 billion at the end of 2021, which was 17.7% of the world population:[5]
Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world, followed by Mexico, thePhilippines, and the United States.[239]
Geographic distribution of Catholics worldwide continues to shift, with 19.3% inAfrica, 48.0% in theAmericas, 11.0% inAsia, 20.9% inEurope, and 0.8% inOceania.[5]
Catholic ministers include ordained clergy,lay ecclesial ministers,missionaries, andcatechists. Also as of the end of 2021, there were 462,388 ordained clergy, including 5,353 bishops, 407,730 priests (diocesan and religious), and 50,150 deacons (permanent).[5] Non-ordained ministers included 3,157,568 catechists, 367,679 lay missionaries, and 39,951lay ecclesial ministers.[240]
Catholics who have committed to religious or consecrated life instead of marriage or single celibacy, as a state of life or relational vocation, include 49,414 male religious and 599,228 women religious. These are not ordained, nor generally considered ministers unless also engaged in one of the lay minister categories above.[5]
Catholic doctrine has developed over the centuries, reflecting direct teachings of early Christians, formal definitions ofheretical andorthodox beliefs byecumenical councils and inpapal bulls, and theological debate by scholars. The church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit as it discerns new theological issues and is protectedinfallibly from falling into doctrinal error when a firm decision on an issue is reached.[241][242]
It teaches that revelation has one common source,God, and two distinct modes of transmission: Sacred Scripture andSacred Tradition,[243][244] and that these are authentically interpreted by theMagisterium.[245][246] Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 books of theCatholic Bible, consisting of 46Old Testament and 27New Testament writings. Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.[247] Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (depositum fidei in Latin). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (frommagister, Latin for "teacher"), the church's teaching authority, which is exercised by the pope and theCollege of Bishops in union with the pope, the Bishop of Rome.[248] Catholic doctrine is authoritatively summarized in theCatechism of the Catholic Church, published by the Holy See.[249][250]
An anonymous 18th century Catholic painting from the PeruvianCuzco School. This work depicts the Holy Triune God; one in essence, with three persons; holding the theological diagram of theShield of the Trinity.
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the "Second Person" of the Trinity, God the Son. In an event known as theIncarnation, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature through the conception of Christ in the womb of theBlessed Virgin Mary. Christ, therefore, is understood as being both fully divine and fully human, including possessing a humansoul. It is taught that Christ's mission on earth included giving people his teachings and providing his example for them to follow as recorded in the fourGospels.[252] Jesus is believed to have remained sinless while on earth, and to have allowed himself to be unjustly executed bycrucifixion, as a sacrifice of himself to reconcile humanity to God; this reconciliation is known as thePaschal Mystery.[253] The Greek term "Christ" and the Hebrew "Messiah" both mean "anointed one", referring to the Christian belief that Jesus' death and resurrection are the fulfilment of the Old Testament'smessianic prophecies.[254]
The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that "the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles but as from one single principle".[255] It holds that the Father, as the "principle without principle", is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that he, as Father of the only Son, is with the Son the single principle from which the Spirit proceeds.[256] This belief is expressed in theFilioque clause which was added to the Latin version of the Nicene Creed of 381 but not included in the Greek versions of the creed used in Eastern Christianity.[257]
The Catholic Church teaches that it is the "one true church",[16][258] "the universal sacrament of salvation for the human race",[259][260] and "the one true religion".[261] According to theCatechism, the Catholic Church is further described in the Nicene Creed as the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church".[262] These are collectively known as theFour Marks of the Church. The church teaches that its founder is Jesus Christ.[263][44] TheNew Testament records several events considered integral to the establishment of the Catholic Church, including Jesus' activities and teaching and his appointment of theapostles as witnesses to his ministry, suffering, and resurrection. TheGreat Commission, after his resurrection, instructed the apostles to continue his work. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known asPentecost, is seen as the beginning of the public ministry of the Catholic Church.[47] The church teaches that all duly consecrated bishops have a lineal succession from the apostles of Christ, known asapostolic succession.[264] In particular, the Bishop of Rome (the pope) is considered the successor to the apostleSimon Peter, a position from which he derives hissupremacy over the church.[265]
Catholic belief holds that the church "is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth"[266] and that it alone possesses the full means ofsalvation.[267] Through thepassion (suffering) of Christ leading to hiscrucifixion as described in the Gospels, it is said Christ made himself an oblation to God the Father toreconcile humanity to God;[268] theResurrection of Jesus makes him the firstborn from the dead, the first among many brethren.[269] By reconciling with God and following Christ's words and deeds, an individual can enter theKingdom of God.[270] The church sees its liturgy and sacraments as perpetuating the graces achieved through Christ's sacrifice to strengthen a person's relationship with Christ and aid in overcoming sin.[271]
The Catholic Church teaches that, immediately after death, thesoul of each person will receive aparticular judgement from God, based on theirsins and their relationship to Christ.[272][273] This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in universal judgement of all mankind. Thisfinal judgement, according to the church's teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of both a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.[274]
Depending on the judgement rendered following death, it is believed that a soul may enter one of three states of the afterlife:
Heaven is a state of unending union with the divine nature of God, not ontologically, but by grace. It is an eternal life, in which the soul contemplates God in ceaselessbeatitude.[275]
Purgatory is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although destined for Heaven, are not fully detached from sin and thus cannot enter Heaven immediately.[276] In Purgatory, the soul suffers, and is purged and perfected. Souls in purgatory may be aided in reaching heaven by the prayers of the faithful on earth and by theintercession of saints.[277]
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.[278] The church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God.[279] No one ispredestined to hell and no one can determine with absolute certainty who has been condemned to hell.[280] Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death, be illuminated with the truth of the Catholic faith, and thus obtain salvation.[281] Some Catholic theologians have speculated that the souls of unbaptized infants and non-Christians without mortal sin but who die inoriginal sin are assigned tolimbo, although this is not an officialdogma of the church.[282]
While the Catholic Church teaches that it alone possesses the full means of salvation,[267] it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use ofChristian communities separated from itself to "impel towards Catholic unity"[283] and "tend and lead toward the Catholic Church",[283] and thus bring people to salvation, because these separated communities contain some elements of proper doctrine, albeit admixed witherrors. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved through the Catholic Church but that people can be saved outside of the ordinary means known asbaptism of desire, and by pre-baptismal martyrdom, known asbaptism of blood, as well as when conditions ofinvincible ignorance are present, although invincible ignorance in itself is not a means of salvation.[284]
A saint (also historically known as a hallow) is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God, while canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares that a person who has died was a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the "canon", or list, of recognized saints.[285][286] The first persons honoured as saints were themartyrs. Pious legends of their deaths were considered affirmations of the truth of their faith in Christ. By the fourth century, however, "confessors"—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by suffering—began to be venerated publicly.
In the Catholic Church, both in Latin and Eastern Catholic churches, the act of canonization is reserved to theApostolic See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the candidate for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the person is now inHeaven and that he may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in theliturgy of the church, including in theLitany of the Saints.Canonization allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of theRoman Rite; for permission to venerate merely locally, onlybeatification is needed.[287]
Devotions are "external practices of piety" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics.[288] These include various practices regarding the veneration of the saints, especiallyveneration of the Virgin Mary. Other devotional practices include theStations of the Cross, theSacred Heart of Jesus, theHoly Face of Jesus,[289] the variousscapulars, novenas to various saints,[290]pilgrimages[291] and devotions to theBlessed Sacrament,[290] and the veneration ofsaintly images such as thesantos.[292] The bishops at the Second Vatican Council reminded Catholics that "devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them."[293]
Catholic Mariology deals with thedogmas and teachings concerning the life ofMary, mother of Jesus, as well as the veneration of Mary by the faithful. Mary is held in special regard, declared theMother of God (Greek:Θεοτόκος,romanized: Theotokos,lit. 'God-bearer'), and believed as dogma to have remained avirgin throughout her life.[294] Further teachings include the doctrines of theImmaculate Conception (her own conception without the stain of original sin) and theAssumption of Mary (that her body was assumed directly into heaven at the end of her life). Both of these doctrines were defined as infallible dogma, byPope Pius IX in 1854 andPope Pius XII in 1950 respectively,[295] but only after consulting with the Catholic bishops throughout the world to ascertain that this is a Catholic belief.[296] In the Eastern Catholic churches, however, they continue to celebrate the feast of the Assumption under the name of theDormition of the Mother of God on the same date.[297] The teaching that Mary died before being assumed significantly precedes the idea that she did not. St John Damascene wrote that "St Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to Heaven."[298]
Mass at the Grotto atLourdes, France. Thechalice is displayed to the people immediately after the consecration of the wine.
The Catholic Church teaches that it was entrusted with seven sacraments that were instituted by Christ. The number and nature of the sacraments were defined by severalecumenical councils, most recently the Council of Trent.[303][note 9] These areBaptism,Confirmation, theEucharist,Penance,Anointing of the Sick (formerly called Extreme Unction, one of the "Last Rites"),Holy Orders andHoly Matrimony. Sacraments are visible rituals that Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God'sgrace to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (ex opere operato).[304] TheCatechism of the Catholic Church categorizes the sacraments into three groups, the "sacraments of Christian initiation", "sacraments of healing" and "sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful". These groups broadly reflect the stages of people's natural and spiritual lives which each sacrament is intended to serve.[305]
The liturgies of the sacraments are central to the church's mission. According to theCatechism:
In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social—indeed, all human affinities.[306]
According to church doctrine, the sacraments of the church require the proper form, matter, and intent to be validly celebrated.[307] In addition, theCanon Laws for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches govern who may licitly celebrate certain sacraments, as well as strict rules about who may receive the sacraments.[308] Notably, because the church teaches that Christ ispresent in the Eucharist,[309] those who are conscious of being in a state of mortal sin are forbidden to receive the sacrament until they have received absolution through thesacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).[310] Catholics are normally obliged to abstain from eating for at least an hour before receiving the sacrament.[310] Non-Catholics are ordinarily prohibited from receiving the Eucharist as well.[308][311]
Catholics, even if they were in danger of death and unable to approach a Catholic minister, may not ask for the sacraments of the Eucharist, penance or anointing of the sick from someone, such as a Protestant minister, who is not known to be validly ordained in line with Catholic teaching on ordination.[312][313] Likewise, even in grave and pressing need, Catholic ministers may not administer these sacraments to those who do not manifest Catholic faith in the sacrament. In relation to the churches of Eastern Christianity not in communion with the Holy See, the Catholic Church is less restrictive, declaring that "a certaincommunion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged."[314]
As viewed by the Catholic Church, Baptism is the first of three sacraments of initiation as a Christian.[315] It washes away all sins, bothoriginal sin and personal actual sins.[316] It makes a person a member of the church.[317] As a gratuitous gift of God that requires no merit on the part of the person who is baptized, it isconferred even on children,[318] who, though they have no personal sins, need it on account of original sin.[319] If a new-born child is in a danger of death, anyone—be it a doctor, a nurse, or a parent—may baptize the child.[320] Baptism marks a person permanently and cannot be repeated.[321] The Catholic Church recognizes as valid baptisms conferred even by people who are not Catholics or Christians, provided that they intend to baptize ("to do what the Church does when she baptizes") and that they use theTrinitarian baptismal formula.[322]
The Catholic Church sees the sacrament of confirmation as required to complete the grace given in baptism.[323] When adults are baptized, confirmation is normally given immediately afterwards,[324] a practice followed even with newly baptized infants in the Eastern Catholic Churches.[325] In the West confirmation of children is delayed until they are old enough to understand or at the bishop's discretion.[326] In Western Christianity, particularly Catholicism, the sacrament is calledconfirmation, because it confirms and strengthens the grace of baptism; in the Eastern Churches, it is calledchrismation, because the essential rite is the anointing of the person withchrism,[327] a mixture ofolive oil and some perfumed substance, usuallybalsam, blessed by a bishop.[327][328] Those who receive confirmation must be in a state of grace, which for those who have reached theage of reason means that they should first be cleansed spiritually by the sacrament of Penance; they should also have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to show in their lives that they are Christians.[329]
For Catholics, the Eucharist is the sacrament which completes Christian initiation. It is described as "the source and summit of the Christian life".[330] The ceremony in which a Catholic first receives the Eucharist is known asFirst Communion.[331]
The Eucharistic celebration, also called theMass orDivine liturgy, includes prayers and scriptural readings, as well as an offering of bread and wine, which are brought to thealtar andconsecrated by the priest to become the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, a change calledtransubstantiation.[332][note 10] Thewords of consecration reflect the words spoken by Jesus during theLast Supper, where Christ offered his body and blood to his Apostles the night before his crucifixion. The sacrament re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross,[333] and perpetuates it. Christ's death and resurrection give grace through the sacrament that unites the faithful with Christ and one another, remits venial sin, and aids against committing moral sin (though mortal sin itself is forgiven through the sacrament of penance).[334]
The Sacrament of Penance (also called Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Confession, and Conversion[335]) exists for the conversion of those who, after baptism, separate themselves from Christ by sin.[336] Essential to this sacrament are acts both by the sinner (examination of conscience, contrition with a determination not to sin again, confession to a priest, and performance of some act to repair the damage caused by sin) and by the priest (determination of the act of reparation to be performed andabsolution).[337] Serious sins (mortal sins) should be confessed at least once a year and always before receiving Holy Communion, while confession ofvenial sins also is recommended.[338] The priest is bound under the severest penalties to maintain the "seal of confession", absolute secrecy about any sins revealed to him in confession.[339]
While chrism is used only for the three sacraments that cannot be repeated, a different oil is used by a priest or bishop to bless a Catholic who, because of illness or old age, has begun to be in danger of death.[340] This sacrament, known as Anointing of the Sick, is believed to give comfort, peace, courage and, if the sick person is unable to make a confession, even forgiveness of sins.[341]
The sacrament is also referred to asUnction, and in the past asExtreme Unction, and it is one of the three sacraments that constitute thelast rites, together with Penance andViaticum (Eucharist).[342]
Sacraments at the service of communion
According to the Catechism, there are two sacraments ofcommunion directed towards the salvation of others: priesthood and marriage.[343] Within the general vocation to be a Christian, these two sacraments "consecrate to specific mission orvocation among the people of God. Men receive the holy orders to feed the Church by the word andgrace. Spouses marry so that their love may be fortified to fulfil duties of their state".[344]
Priests lay their hands on the ordinands during the rite of ordination.
The sacrament of Holy Orders consecrates and deputes some Christians to serve the whole body as members of three degrees or orders: episcopate (bishops), presbyterate (priests) and diaconate (deacons).[345][346] The church has defined rules on who may be ordained into theclergy. In the Latin Church, the priesthood is generally restricted to celibate men, and the episcopate is always restricted to celibate men.[347] Men who are already married may be ordained in certain Eastern Catholic churches in most countries,[348] and the personal ordinariates and may become deacons even in the Latin Church[349][350] (seeClerical marriage). But after becoming a Catholic priest, a man may not marry (seeClerical celibacy) unless he is formally laicized.
All clergy, whether deacons, priests or bishops, may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.[351] Only bishops and priests can administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance) and Anointing of the Sick.[352][353] Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders, whichordains someone into the clergy.[354]
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a social and spiritual bond between a man and a woman, ordered towards the good of the spouses and procreation of children; according to Catholic teachings on sexual morality, it is the only appropriate context for sexual activity. A Catholic marriage, or any marriage between baptized individuals of any Christian denomination, is viewed as a sacrament. A sacramental marriage, once consummated, cannot be dissolved except by death.[355][note 11] The church recognizes certainconditions, such as freedom of consent, as required for any marriage to be valid; In addition, the church sets specific rules and norms, known ascanonical form, that Catholics must follow.[358]
The church does not recognize divorce as ending a valid marriage and allows state-recognized divorce only as a means of protecting the property and well-being of the spouses and any children. However, consideration of particular cases by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal can lead to declaration of the invalidity of a marriage, a declaration usually referred to as anannulment. Remarriage following a divorce is not permitted unless the prior marriage was declared invalid.[359]
Among the 24 autonomous (sui iuris) churches, numerous liturgical and other traditions exist, called rites, which reflect historical and cultural diversity rather than differences in belief.[360] In the definition of theCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, "a rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Churchsui iuris".[361]
The liturgy of the sacrament of theEucharist, called theMass in the West andDivine Liturgy or other names in the East, is the principal liturgy of the Catholic Church.[362] This is because it is considered the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ himself.[363] Its most widely used form is that of theRoman Rite as promulgated byPaul VI in 1969 (seeMissale Romanum) and revised byPope John Paul II in 2002 (seeLiturgiam Authenticam). In certain circumstances, the1962 form of the Roman Rite remains authorized in the Latin Church. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own rites. The liturgies of the Eucharist and the other sacraments vary from rite to rite, reflecting different theological emphases.
The Roman Rite is the most commonrite of worship used by the Catholic Church, with theOrdinary Form of the Roman Rite form of the Mass. Its use is found worldwide, originating in Rome and spreading throughout Europe, influencing and eventually supplanting local rites.[364] The present ordinary form of Mass in the Roman Rite, found in the post-1969 editions of theRoman Missal, is usually celebrated in the localvernacular language, using an officially approved translation from the original text inLatin. An outline of its major liturgical elements can be found in the sidebar.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the licitness of continued use of the1962 Roman Missal as an "extraordinary form" (forma extraordinaria) of the Roman Rite, speaking of it also as anusus antiquior ("older use"), and issuing new more permissive norms for its employment.[365] An instruction issued four years later spoke of the two forms or usages of the Roman Rite approved by the pope as the ordinary form and the extraordinary form ("theforma ordinaria" and "theforma extraordinaria").[366]
The 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, published a few months before theSecond Vatican Council opened, was the last that presented the Mass as standardized in 1570 byPope Pius V at the request of theCouncil of Trent and that is therefore known as the Tridentine Mass.[309] Pope Pius V's Roman Missal was subjected to minor revisions byPope Clement VIII in 1604,Pope Urban VIII in 1634,Pope Pius X in 1911,Pope Pius XII in 1955, andPope John XXIII in 1962. Each successive edition was the ordinary form of the Roman Rite Mass until superseded by a later edition. When the 1962 edition was superseded by that of Paul VI, promulgated in 1969, its continued use at first required permission from bishops;[367] butPope Benedict XVI's 2007motu proprioSummorum Pontificum allowed free use of it for Mass celebrated without a congregation and authorized parish priests to permit, under certain conditions, its use even at public Masses. Except for the scriptural readings, which Pope Benedict allowed to be proclaimed in the vernacular language, it is celebrated exclusively inliturgical Latin.[368] These permissions were largely removed by Pope Francis in 2021, who issued themotu proprioTraditionis custodes to emphasize the Ordinary Form as promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II.[369]
Since 2014, clergy in the smallpersonal ordinariates set up for groups of former Anglicans under the terms of the 2009 documentAnglicanorum Coetibus[370] are permitted to use a variation of the Roman Rite called "Divine Worship" or, less formally, "Ordinariate Use",[371] which incorporates elements of theAnglican liturgy and traditions,[note 12] an accommodation protested by Anglican leaders.
In theArchdiocese of Milan, with around five million Catholics the largest in Europe,[372] Mass is celebrated according to theAmbrosian Rite. OtherLatin Church rites include theMozarabic[373] and those of some religious institutes.[374] These liturgical rites have an antiquity of at least 200 years before 1570, the date of Pope Pius V'sQuo primum, and were thus allowed to continue.[375]
The Eastern Catholic Churches share common patrimony and liturgical rites as their counterparts, includingEastern Orthodox and otherEastern Christian churches who are no longer in communion with the Holy See. These include churches that historically developed in Russia, Caucasus, the Balkans, North Eastern Africa, India and the Middle East. The Eastern Catholic Churches are groups of faithful who have either never been out of communion with the Holy See or who have restored communion with it at the cost of breaking communion with their associates of the same tradition.[376]
Catholic social teaching, reflecting the concern Jesus showed for the impoverished, places a heavy emphasis on thecorporal works of mercy and thespiritual works of mercy, namely the support and concern for the sick, the poor and the afflicted.[380][381] Church teaching calls for a preferentialoption for the poor while canon law prescribes that "The Christian faithful are also obliged to promotesocial justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor."[382] Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letterRerum novarum which upholds the rights and dignity of labour and the right of workers to form unions.
Catholic teaching regarding sexuality calls for a practice ofchastity, with a focus on maintaining the spiritual and bodily integrity of the human person. Marriage is considered the only appropriate context for sexual activity.[383] Church teachings about sexuality have become an issue of increasing controversy, especially after the close of the Second Vatican Council, due to changing cultural attitudes in the Western world described as thesexual revolution.
The church has also addressed stewardship of the natural environment, and its relationship to other social and theological teachings. In the documentLaudato si', dated 24 May 2015, Pope Francis critiquesconsumerism andirresponsible development, and lamentsenvironmental degradation andglobal warming.[384] The pope expressed concern that the warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet as humans pursue short-term economic gains.[385]
SaintTeresa of Calcutta advocated for the sick, the poor and the needy by practising the acts ofcorporal works of mercy.
The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world.[26] In 2010, the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers said that the church manages 26% of health care facilities in the world, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, pharmacies and centres for those with leprosy.[386]
The church has always been involved in education, since the founding of thefirst universities of Europe.[83] It runs and sponsors thousands of primary and secondary schools,colleges and universities throughout the world[387][8] and operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.[388]
The Catholic Church calls all members to practisechastity according to their state in life. Chastity includestemperance,self-mastery, personal and cultural growth, anddivine grace. It requires refraining fromlust,masturbation,fornication, pornography, prostitution and rape. Chastity for those who are not married requires living incontinence, abstaining from sexual activity; those who are married are called to conjugal chastity.[394]
In the church's teaching, sexual activity is reserved to married couples, whether in asacramental marriage among Christians or in anatural marriage where one or both spouses are unbaptized. Even in romantic relationships, particularlyengagement to marriage, partners are called to practise continence, in order to test mutual respect and fidelity.[395] Chastity in marriage requires in particular conjugal fidelity and protecting the fecundity of marriage. The couple must foster trust and honesty as well as spiritual and physical intimacy. Sexual activity must always be open to the possibility of life;[396] the church calls this the procreative significance. It must likewise always bring a couple together in love; the church calls this the unitive significance.[397]
Contraception and certain othersexual practices are not permitted, althoughnatural family planning methods are permitted to provide healthy spacing between births, or to postpone children for a just reason.[398] Pope Francis said in 2015 that he is worried that the church has grown "obsessed" with issues such as abortion,same-sex marriage andcontraception, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over helping the poor and marginalized.[399][400]
The Catholic Church also teaches that "homosexual acts" are "contrary to the natural law", "acts of grave depravity" and "under no circumstances can they be approved", but that persons experiencing homosexual tendencies must be accorded respect and dignity.[401] According to theCatechism of the Catholic Church,
The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided...Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.[401]
This part of theCatechism was quoted by Pope Francis in a 2013 press interview in which he remarked, when asked about an individual:
I think that when you encounter a person like this [the individual he was asked about], you must make a distinction between the fact of a person being gay from the fact of being a lobby, because lobbies, all are not good. That is bad. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I to judge them?[402]
Canon law makes no provision for divorce between baptized individuals, as a valid, consummated sacramental marriage is considered to be a lifelong bond.[406] However, a declaration of nullity may be granted when the proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a valid marriage were absent from the beginning—in other words, that the marriage was not valid due to some impediment. A declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment, is a judgement on the part of anecclesiastical tribunal determining that a marriage was invalidly attempted.[407] In addition, marriages among unbaptized individuals may be dissolved with papal permission under certain situations, such as a desire to marry a Catholic, underPauline orPetrine privilege.[356][357] An attempt at remarriage following divorce without a declaration of nullity places "the remarried spouse ... in a situation of public and permanent adultery". An innocent spouse who lives in continence following divorce, or couples who live in continence following a civil divorce for a grave cause, do not sin.[408]
Worldwide, diocesan tribunals completed over 49000 cases for nullity of marriage in 2006. Over the past 30 years about 55 to 70% of annulments have occurred in the United States. The growth in annulments has been substantial; in the United States, 27,000 marriages were annulled in 2006, compared to 338 in 1968. However, approximately 200,000 married Catholics in the United States divorce each year; 10 million total as of 2006[update].[409][note 13] Divorce is increasing in some predominantly Catholic countries in Europe.[411] In some predominantly Catholic countries, it is only in recent years that divorce was introduced (Italy (1970),Portugal (1975), Brazil (1977), Spain (1981), Ireland (1996), Chile (2004) andMalta (2011)), while thePhilippines and the Vatican City have no procedure for divorce (ThePhilippines does, however, allow divorce for Muslims.).
The church teaches thatsexual intercourse should only take place between a man and woman who are married to each other, and should be without the use ofbirth control orcontraception. In his encyclicalHumanae vitae[412] (1968),Pope Paul VI firmly rejected all contraception, thus contradicting dissenters in the church that saw thebirth control pill as an ethically justifiable method ofcontraception, though he permitted the regulation of births by means of natural family planning. This teaching was continued especially byJohn Paul II in his encyclicalEvangelium Vitae, where he clarified the church's position on contraception,abortion andeuthanasia by condemning them as part of a "culture of death" and calling instead for a "culture of life".[413]
Many Western Catholics have voiced significant disagreement with the church's teaching on contraception.[414] Overturning the church's teaching on this point features high on progressive agendas.[415]Catholics for Choice, a political lobbyist group that is not associated with the Catholic Church, stated in 1998 that 96% of U.S. Catholic women had used contraceptives at some point in their lives and that 72% of Catholics believed that one could be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching on birth control.[416] Use of natural family planning methods among United States Catholics purportedly is low, although the number cannot be known with certainty.[note 14] As Catholic health providers are among the largest providers of services to patients withHIV/AIDS worldwide, there is significant controversy within and outside the church regarding the use of condoms as a means of limiting new infections, ascondom use ordinarily constitutes prohibited contraceptive use.[419]
Similarly, the Catholic Church opposesartificial insemination regardless of whether it is homologous (from the husband) or heterologous (from adonor) andin vitro fertilization (IVF), saying that the artificial process replaces the love and conjugal act between a husband and wife.[420] In addition, it opposes IVF because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with asoul who must be treated as such.[421] For this reason, the church also opposes abortion.[422]
Due to the anti-abortion stance, some Catholics oppose receiving vaccines derived from fetal cells obtained via abortion. On 21 December 2020, and regardingCOVID-19 vaccination, theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith emitted a document stating that "it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process" when no alternative vaccine is available, since "the moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent."[426][427] The document states that receiving the vaccine does not constitute endorsement of the practice of abortion, and that "the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good."[427] The document cautions further:
Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.[427]
The Catholic Church is committed to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in any circumstance.[428] The currentCatechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "in the light of theGospel" the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability anddignity of the person" and that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide."[429] In his 2020 encyclicalFratelli tutti, Francis repeated that the death penalty is "inadmissible" and that "there can be no stepping back from this position".[430] On 9 January 2022, Pope Francis stated in his annual speech to Vatican ambassadors: "The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance".[431]
There is controversy about whether the Catholic Church considers the death penalty intrinsically evil.[432] American ArchbishopJosé Horacio Gómez[432] and Catholic philosopherEdward Feser argue that this is a matter of prudential judgement and that the church does not teach this as ade fide statement;[433] others, such as CardinalsCharles Maung Bo andRino Fisichella, state that it does.[432]
The Catholic Church opposes active euthanasia andphysician-assisted suicide on the grounds that life is a gift from God and should not be prematurely shortened. However, the church allows dying people to refuseextraordinary treatments that would minimally prolong life without hope of recovery.[434][435]
Women and men religious engage in a variety of occupations such as contemplative prayer, teaching, providing health care, and working as missionaries.[389][436] WhileHoly Orders are reserved for men,Catholic women have played diverse roles in the life of the church, with religious institutes providing a formal space for their participation andconvents providing spaces for their self-government, prayer and influence through many centuries.Religious sisters andnuns have been extensively involved in developing and running the church's worldwide health and education service networks.[437]
Efforts in support of theordination of women to the priesthood led to several rulings by the Roman Curia or popes against the proposal, as inDeclaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (1976),Mulieris Dignitatem (1988) andOrdinatio sacerdotalis (1994). According to the latest ruling, found inOrdinatio sacerdotalis,Pope John Paul II affirmed that the Catholic Church "does not consider herself authorised to admit women to priestly ordination".[438] In defiance of these rulings, opposition groups such asRoman Catholic Womenpriests have performed ceremonies they affirm as sacramental ordinations (with, reputedly, an ordaining male Catholic bishop in the first few instances) which, according tocanon law, are both illicit and invalid and considered meresimulations[439] of the sacrament of ordination.[440][note 15] TheCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded by issuing a statement clarifying that any Catholic bishops involved in ordination ceremonies for women, as well as the women themselves if they were Catholic, would automatically receive the penalty ofexcommunication (latae sententiae, literally "with the sentence already applied", i.e. automatically), citing canon 1378 ofcanon law and other church laws.[441]
From the 1990s, the issue ofsexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and other church members has become the subject of civil litigation, criminal prosecution, media coverage and public debate incountries around the world. The Catholic Church has been criticized for the way it handled abuse complaints when it became known that many bishops and various officials in the Church hierarchy had protected accused priests, transferring them to other assignments elsewhere, where they continued to commit sex crimes.[442]
In response to the scandals, formal procedures have been established to help prevent abuse, encourage the reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their effectiveness.[443] In 2014, Pope Francis instituted thePontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for the safeguarding of minors.[444]
See also
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^While the Catholic Church considers itself to be the authentic continuation of the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ, it teaches that other Christian churches and communities can be in an imperfect communion with the Catholic Church.[18][19]
^Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 AD)
^Example use of "Roman" Catholic by a bishop's conference:The Baltimore Catechism, an official catechism authorized by the Catholic bishops of the United States, states: "That is why we are called Roman Catholics; to show that we are united to the real successor of St Peter" (Question 118) and refers to the church as the "Roman Catholic Church" under Questions 114 and 131 (Baltimore Catechism).Archived 23 September 2015 at theWayback Machine
^While ruling contraception to be prohibited, Pope Paul VI did, however, consider natural family planning methods to be morally permissible if used with just cause.
^According to Catholic teaching, Jesus Christ is the 'invisible Head' of the Church[186][187][188] while the pope is the 'visible Head'.[189][190]
^The last resignation occurred on 28 February 2013, whenPope Benedict XVI retired, citing ill health in his advanced age. The next most recent resignation occurred in 1415, as part of theCouncil of Constance's resolution of theAvignon Papacy.[197]
^In 1992, the Vatican clarified the 1983 Code of Canon Law removed the requirement that altar servers be male; permission to use female altar servers within a diocese is at the discretion of the bishop.[233]
^For an outline of the Eucharistic liturgy in the Roman Rite, see theside bar in the "Worship and liturgy".
^Marriages involving unbaptized individuals are considered valid, but not sacramental. While sacramental marriages are insoluble, non-sacramental marriages may be dissolved under certain situations, such as a desire to marry a Catholic, underPauline orPetrine privilege.[356][357]
^The Divine Worship variant of the Roman Rite differs from the "Anglican Use" variant, which was introduced in 1980 for the few United States parishes established in accordance with apastoral provision for former members of theEpiscopal Church (the American branch of the Anglican Communion). Both uses adapted Anglican liturgical traditions for use within the Catholic Church.
^With regard to divorce in the United States, according to the Barna Group, among all who have been married, 33% have been divorced at least once; among American Catholics, 28% (the study did not track religious annulments).[410]
^According to Roman Catholic Womanpriests: "The principal consecrating Roman Catholic male bishop who ordained our first women bishops is a bishop with apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church in full communion with the pope."[440]
^"Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the ChurchDominus Iesus § 17". Vatican.va.Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The Churches which, while not existing in perfectKoinonia with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are trueparticular churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church. ... 'The Christian faithful are therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church of Christ is nothing more than a collection—divided, yet in some way one—of Churches andecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists, and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches and ecclesial communities must strive to reach.'
^Colin Gunton. "Christianity among the Religions in the Encyclopedia of Religion",Religious Studies, Vol. 24, no. 1, p. 14. In a review of an article from the Encyclopedia of Religion, Gunton writes: "[T]he article [on Catholicism in the encyclopedia] rightly suggests caution, suggesting at the outset that Roman Catholicism is marked by several different doctrinal, theological and liturgical emphases."
^abThurston, Herbert (1908)."Catholic". InKnight, Kevin (ed.).The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved17 August 2012.
^"catholic, adj. and n."Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press, June 2014. Web. 7 August 2014. Excerpt: "After the separation of East and West 'Catholic' was assumed as its descriptive epithet by the Western or Latin Church, as 'Orthodox' was by the Eastern or Greek. At the Reformation, the term 'Catholic' was claimed as its exclusive right by the body remaining under the Roman obedience, in opposition to the 'Protestant' or 'Reformed' National Churches. These, however, also retained the term, giving it, for the most part, a wider and more ideal or absolute sense, as the attribute of no single community, but only of the whole communion of the saved and saintly in all churches and ages. In England, it was claimed that the Church, even as Reformed, was the national branch of the 'Catholic Church' in its proper historical sense." Note: The full text of the OED definition of "catholic" can be consultedhere.
^McBrien, Richard (2008).The Church. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version availableBrowseinside.harpercollins.comArchived 27 August 2009 at theWayback Machine. Quote: "[T]he use of the adjective 'Catholic' as a modifier of 'Church' became divisive only after the East–West Schism... and the Protestant Reformation. ... In the former case, the Western Church claimed for itself the titleCatholic Church, while the East appropriated the nameOrthodox Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were calledProtestant."
^Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Holy Ghost" .Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. "He [the Holy Spirit] is essentially the Spirit of truth (John 14:16–17; 15:26), Whose office it is to ... to teach the Apostles the full meaning of it [of the truth] (John 14:26; 16:13). With these Apostles, He will abide forever (John 14:16). Having descended on them at Pentecost, He will guide them in their work (Acts 8:29)...
^"Was Peter in Rome?". Catholic Answers. 10 August 2004. Archived fromthe original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved9 November 2014.if Peter never made it to the capital, he still could have been the first pope, since one of his successors could have been the first holder of that office to settle in Rome. After all, if the papacy exists, it was established by Christ during his lifetime, long before Peter is said to have reached Rome. There must have been a period of some years in which the papacy did not yet have its connection to Rome.
^Duffy, Eamon. 1997.Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press. pp. 66–67
^Le Goff, p. 14: "The face of the barbarian invaders had been transformed by another crucial fact. Although some of them had remained pagan, another part of them, not the least, had become Christian. But, by a curious chance, which was to leave serious consequences, these converted barbarians—the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Burgundians, Vandals, and later the Lombards—had been converted to Arianism, which had become a heresy after the council of Nicaea. They had in fact been converted by followers of the 'apostle of the Goths', Wulfilas."
^Le Goff, p. 14: "Thus what should have been a religious bond was, on the contrary, a subject of discord and sparked off bitter conflicts between Arian barbarians and Catholic Romans."
^Le Goff, p. 21: "Clovis' master-stroke was to convert himself and his people not to Arianism, like the other barbarian kings, but to Catholicism."
^Den Heijer, Alexandra (2011).Managing the University Campus: Information to Support Real Estate Decisions. Academische Uitgeverij Eburon.ISBN9789059724877.Many of the medieval universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali.
^A. Lamport, Mark (2015).Encyclopedia of Christian Education. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 484.ISBN9780810884939.All the great European universities—Oxford, to Paris, to Cologne, to Prague, to Bologna—were established with close ties to the Church.
^B M. Leonard, Thomas (2013).Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Routledge. p. 1369.ISBN9781135205157.Europe established schools in association with their cathedrals to educate priests, and from these emerged eventually the first universities of Europe, which began forming in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
^abRiché, Pierre (1978): "Education and Culture in the Barbarian West: From the Sixth through the Eighth Century", Columbia: University of South Carolina Press,ISBN0-87249-376-8, pp. 126–27, 282–98
^Rudy,The Universities of Europe, 1100–1914, p. 40
^Verger, Jacques. "The Universities and Scholasticism", inThe New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume V c. 1198–c. 1300. Cambridge University Press, 2007, 257.
^Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in:A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1992,ISBN0-521-36105-2, pp. xix–xx
^Vidmar,The Catholic Church Through the Ages (2005), pp. 107–11
^Duffy,Saints and Sinners (1997), p. 78, quote: "By contrast, Paschal's successorEugenius II (824–27), elected with imperial influence, gave away most of these papal gains. He acknowledged the Emperor's sovereignty in the papal state, and he accepted a constitution imposed by Lothair which established imperial supervision of the administration of Rome, imposed an oath to the Emperor on all citizens, and required the pope–elect to swear fealty before he could be consecrated. UnderSergius II (844–847) it was even agreed that the pope could not be consecrated without an imperial mandate and that the ceremony must be in the presence of his representative, a revival of some of the more galling restrictions of Byzantine rule."
^Fernández, Luis Martínez (2000). "Crypto-Protestants and Pseudo-Catholics in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean".Journal of Ecclesiastical History.51 (2):347–65.doi:10.1017/S0022046900004255.S2CID162296826.
^Erika Weinzierl: Kirchlicher Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus. In:Themen der Zeitgeschichte und der Gegenwart. Vienna 2004,ISBN3-8258-7549-0, p. 76.
^James Ward,Priest, Politician, Collaborator: Jozef Tiso and the Making of Fascist Slovakia, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013, 202–45
^Martin Gilbert;The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy; Collins; London; 1986; pp. 202, 203, 206–07, 212–14, 451, 466.
^Mark Mazower;Hitler's Empire – Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe; Penguin; 2008;ISBN978-0-7139-9681-4; p. 395
^Pope Paul VI (28 October 1965)."Nostra aetate: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions". Archived fromthe original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved16 June 2011.According to Section 4: "True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures."
^Peter and Margaret Hebblethwaite and Peter Stanford (2 April 2005)."Obituary: Pope John Paul II".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved28 October 2010.
^Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. (2006).Chronicle of the Popes: Trying to Come Full Circle. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 234.ISBN978-0-500-28608-1.
^John Paul II (15 May 1981)."Laborem exercens". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Archived fromthe original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved16 November 2014.
^John Paul II (25 March 1995)."Evangelium Vitae". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Archived fromthe original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved16 November 2014.
^Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraphs 880–883.'[T]he Roman Pontiff [the pope], ... has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.' 'The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head.' As such, this college has 'supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff.'
^Van Hove, A. (1913)."Hierarchy" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. "It is usual to distinguish a twofold hierarchy in the Church, that oforder and that of jurisdiction, corresponding to the twofold means of sanctification, grace, which comes to us principally through the sacraments, and good works, which are the fruit of grace."
^"Canonical Basics"(PDF).Christifidelis. Vol. 30, no. 7. St. Joseph Foundation. 25 December 2012. p. 3. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 14 July 2014.
^Pink, Thomas (1 August 2012)."Conscience and Coercion".First Things. The Institute on Religion and Public Life.Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved24 March 2015.The 1983 Code of Canon Law still teaches that the Church has a coercive authority over the baptized, with the authority to direct and to punish, by temporal as well as spiritual penalties, for culpable apostasy or heresy.
^abColin Gunton. "Christianity among the Religions in the Encyclopedia of Religion",Religious Studies, Vol. 24, no. 1, p. 14. In a review of an article from theEncyclopedia of Religion, Gunton writes "... [T] he article [on Catholicism in the encyclopedia] rightly suggests caution, suggesting at the outset that Roman Catholicism is marked byseveral different doctrinal and theological emphases."
^"Canon 519 1983 Code of Canon Law".Intratext.com.Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved25 March 2015.The parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of thediocesan bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling with the cooperation of other priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance with the law.
^"Definition of Catholic Church on the Your Dictionary website". Yourdictionary.com.Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved3 June 2020.The Roman Catholic Church, which consists of 23 particular Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church is the world's second largest religious body after Sunni Islam.
^Chryssides, George D.; Wilkins, Margaret Z. (2014).Christians in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. p. 9.ISBN978-1-317-54558-3.Roughly half of all Christians worldwide are Roman Catholics
^Second Vatican Council."Chapter III, paragraph 25".Lumen Gentium. Vatican. Archived fromthe original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved24 July 2010.by the light of the Holy Spirit ... vigilantly warding off any errors that threaten their flock.
^Kreeft, p. 98, quote "The fundamental reason for being a Catholic is the historical fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, was God's invention, not man's;... As the Father gave authority to Christ (Jn 5:22; Mt 28:18–20), Christ passed it on to his apostles (Lk 10:16), and they passed it on to the successors they appointed as bishops." (see also Kreeft, p. 980)
^abCatechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraph 816.The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: 'For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God.' [Unitatis redintegratio 3 § 5.]
^Fanning, William (1913)."Baptism" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. (See: "Necessity of baptism" and "Substitutes for the sacrament")
^Wilson, Douglas; Fischer, Ty (2005).Omnibus II: Church Fathers Through the Reformation. Veritas Press. p. 101.ISBN978-1-932168-44-0.Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved31 March 2021.The word 'hallow' means 'saint,' in that 'hallow' is just an alternative form of the word 'holy' ('hallowed be Thy name').
^"Beatification, in the present discipline, differs from canonization in this: that the former implies (1) a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate, which is (2) a mere permission, and no precept; while canonization implies a universal precept" (Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonisation".Archived 24 July 2018 at theWayback MachineThe Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Accessed 27 May 2009.).
^ab"CoCC 291". Vatican.va.To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in mortal sin. Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion. Also important for those receiving Holy Communion are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast prescribed by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gestures and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ.
^Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraphs 1365–1372.Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice, thus, in the ritual text of the Mass, the priest asks of the congregation present, 'Pray, brothers and sisters, that this my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.' The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: 'This is my body which is given for you' and 'This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.' [Lk 22:19–20] In the Eucharist, Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he 'poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' [Mt 26:28]
^Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraphs 1601, 1614.The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
^abRev. Mark J. Gantley."Petrine or Pauline Privilege". EWTN Global Catholic Network. 3 September 2004. Accessed 15 November 2014.
^"CCEO, Canon 28 § 1". Vatican.va (official textArchived 4 June 2011 at theWayback Machine). Intratext.com (English translation). 1990. Excerpt: "Ritus est patrimonium liturgicum, theologicum, spirituale et disciplinare cultura ac rerum adiunctis historiae populorum distinctum, quod modo fidei vivendae uniuscuiusque Ecclesiae sui iuris proprio exprimitur." (A rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary heritage, differentiated by peoples' culture and historical circumstances, that finds expression in eachsui iuris Church's own way of living the faith).
^Dobszay, Laszlo (2010)."3".The Restoration and Organic Development of the Roman Rite. New York: T&T Clark International. pp. 3–5.ISBN978-0-567-03385-7.
^"Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to bishops". 7 July 2007. Archived fromthe original on 29 September 2010. "The last version of theMissale Romanum prior to theCouncil, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration. [...] As for the use of the 1962 Missal as aforma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted."—Pope Benedict XVI
^Fortescue, Adrian (1913)."Eastern Churches" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. See "Eastern Catholic Churches"; In part: "The definition of an Eastern-Rite Catholic is: A Christian of any Eastern Catholic churches in union with the pope: i.e. a Catholic who belongs not to the Roman, but to an Eastern rite. They differ from other Eastern Christians in that they are in communion with Rome, and from Latins in that they have other rites"
^Parry, Ken; David Melling; et al., eds. (1999).The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 357–85.ISBN978-0-631-23203-2.
^"Canon 222 § 2".1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican.va. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved12 February 2016.
^Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraphs 2337, 2349.'People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.' (CDF,Persona humana 11.) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practise chastity in continence: 'There are three forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to the exclusion of the others. ... This is what makes for the richness of the discipline of the Church.' (St. Ambrose, De viduis 4,23:PL 16,255A.)
^Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.).Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019.Paragraph 2332.Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.
^A summary and restatement of the debate is available in Roderick Hindery. "The Evolution of Freedom as Catholicity in Catholic Ethics."Anxiety, Guilt, and Freedom. Eds. Benjamin Hubbard and Brad Starr, UPA, 1990.
^"Front Page".Ten Commandments for Church Reform. Retrieved8 November 2022.
^"Pope speaks out on condoms".The Catholic Leader. CNS. 29 March 2009. Retrieved27 March 2017.Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that distribution of condoms only increases the problem of AIDS is the latest and one of the strongest statements in a simmering debate inside the church... he was asked whether the church's approach to AIDS prevention—which focuses primarily on sexual responsibility and rejects condom campaigns—was unrealistic and ineffective... The pope did not get into the specific question of whether in certain circumstances condom use was morally licit or illicit in AIDS prevention, an issue that is still under study by Vatican theologians.
^abcTrabbic, Joseph G. (16 August 2018)."Capital punishment: Intrinsically evil or morally permissible?".Catholic World Report. Retrieved27 February 2023.The revision of no. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church recently authorized by Pope Francis to develop magisterial teaching on the death penalty has generated a variety of conflicting interpretations. These interpretations could be divided up in different ways. One division might note that some interpretations claim—or strongly imply—that the revision teaches that the death penalty is intrinsically evil, whereas others claim that it continues to teach, in line with past magisterial declarations, that the death penalty is morally permissible in certain circumstances.
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