When was roman catholicism founded

Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholic devotion to Mary became more prominent. This led to further schisms. While the civil power in the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the church, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the capital, wielded much power, in the Western Roman Empire the Bishops of Rome were able to consolidate the influence and power they already possessed. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, barbarian tribes were converted to Arian Christianity or Catholicism; Clovis I, king of the Franks, was the first important barbarian ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than Arianism, allying himself with the papacy.

Other tribes, such as the Visigoths, later abandoned Arianism in favor of Catholicism. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity. Pope Gregory I c. Gregory was from an ancient senatorial family, and worked with the stern judgement and discipline typical of ancient Roman rule.

Theologically, he represents the shift from the classical to the medieval outlook; his popular writings are full of dramatic miracles, potent relics, demons, angels, ghosts, and the approaching end of the world. Gregory the Great: Pope Gregory I c. The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from to , when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii liaisons from the pope to the emperor or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Syria, or Byzantine Sicily.

Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War — and appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna.

With the exception of Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome before consecration could occur. From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was a turning of the papacy to the West and an escape from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople.

This phase has sometimes incorrectly been credited to Pope Gregory I who reigned from to CE , who, like his predecessors, represented to the people of the Roman world a church that was still identified with the empire. Unlike some of those predecessors, Gregory was compelled to face the collapse of imperial authority in northern Italy. As the leading civil official of the empire in Rome, he was compelled to take over the civil administration of the cities and negotiate for the protection of Rome itself with the Lombard invaders threatening it.

Another part of this phase occurred in the 8th century, after the rise of the new religion of Islam had weakened the Byzantine Empire and the Lombards had renewed their pressure in Italy. The popes finally sought support from the Frankish rulers of the West and received from the Frankish king Pepin The Short the first part of the Italian territories later known as the Papal States.

This attack spawned the protracted civil and ecclesiastical strife in Germany and Italy known as the Investiture Controversy. At issue was who, the pope or the monarchs, had the authority to appoint invest local church officials such as bishops of cities and abbots of monasteries.

The conflict ended in , when Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II agreed on the Concordat of Worms, which differentiated between the royal and spiritual powers and gave the emperors a limited role in selecting bishops. However, the emperor did retain considerable power over the Church. Both these efforts, although ultimately unsuccessful, greatly enhanced papal prestige in the 12th and 13th centuries. Such powerful popes as Alexander III r. Throughout the rest of the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.

Christian monasticism, which consists of individuals living ascetic and often cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship, became popular during the Middle Ages and gave rise to several monastic orders with different goals and lifestyles.

Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship.

Monasticism became quite popular in the Middle Ages, with religion being the most important force in Europe. Monks and nuns were to live isolated from the world to become closer to God.

Monks provided service to the church by copying manuscripts, creating art, educating people, and working as missionaries. Convents were especially appealing to women. It was the only place they would receive any sort of education or power.

It also let them escape unwanted marriages. From the 6th century onward most of the monasteries in the West were of the Benedictine Order. He then attracted followers with whom he founded the monastery of Monte Cassino, between Rome and Naples, around He established the Rule, adapting in part the earlier anonymous Rule of the Master Regula magistri , which was written somewhere south of Rome around , and defined the activities of the monastery, its officers, and their responsibilities.

Early Benedictine monasteries were relatively small and consisted of an oratory, a refectory, a dormitory, a scriptorium, guest accommodation, and out-buildings, a group of often quite separate rooms more reminiscent of a decent-sized Roman villa than a large medieval abbey.

A monastery of about a dozen monks would have been normal during this period. Medieval monastic life consisted of prayer, reading, and manual labor. Apart from prayer, monks performed a variety of tasks, such as preparing medicine, lettering, and reading. These monks would also work in the gardens and on the land. They might also spend time in the Cloister, a covered colonnade around a courtyard, where they would pray or read.

Some monasteries held a scriptorium where monks would write or copy books. When the monks wrote, they used very neat handwriting and would draw illustrations in the books. As a part of their unique writing style, they decorated the first letter of each paragraph. The monasteries were the central storehouses and producers of knowledge. The next wave of monastic reform after the Benedictines came with the Cistercian movement.

The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to a literal observance of the Benedictine Rule, rejecting the developments of the Benedictines. The most striking feature in the reform was the return to manual labour, and especially to field work. Inspired by Bernard of Clairvaux, the primary builder of the Cistercians, the Cistercians became the main force of technological diffusion in medieval Europe.

By the end of the 12th century the Cistercian houses numbered , and at its height in the 15th century the order claimed to have close to houses. Most of these were built in wilderness areas, and played a major part in bringing such isolated parts of Europe into economic cultivation. During the rule of Pope Innocent III — , two of the most famous monastic orders were founded.

They were called the mendicant, or begging, orders because their members begged for the food and clothes. At their foundation these orders rejected the previously established monastic model of living in one stable, isolated community where members worked at a trade and owned property in common, including land, buildings, and other wealth.

By contrast, the mendicants avoided owning property, did not work at a trade, and embraced a poor, often itinerant lifestyle. They depended for their survival on the goodwill of the people to whom they preached. They would usually travel in pairs, preaching, healing the sick, and helping the poor.

When was the Roman Catholic Church started and is their proof that Peter was the founder and the first Pope. I have already answered a similar question with regard to when the Roman Catholic Church started at the site. I am copying and pasting below.

As for Peter, as far as I know, no one claims that he began the church in Rome. You may have found a Roman Catholic friend who claims that Peter founded the church in Rome. In that case, this was not a particularly sophisticated Catholic, as well-informed Catholics would not make such an obviously false claim.

What Catholic apologists do claim is that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and that the succession of bishops of Rome can be traced all the way back to Peter.

They do this in order to make the claim that the church in Rome has ultimate authority of the Christian Church. Historical facts do not back this claim. They even began to claim to have primacy over all of the churches. It was not until the fifth century before there was anything remotely like a pope in Rome. Some say that Leo was the first true pope. His reign was from AD Also, historical evidence from the earliest of the church historians do not support the claim that Peter was even first bishop of Rome, although he did spend time there and was very likely martyred in Rome.

The conclusion on Peter is that he certainly did not found the church in Rome, he certainly was not a pope, and therefore obviously was not the first pope. However, is possible that he was at one time one of the bishops elders in Rome.

The evidence is not conclusive on this. Claims to the contrary are made only to support the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and are not based on evidence. In Britain, Catholics suffered a long period of persecution following Henry VIII's break with the papacy in the s and were sometimes regarded as servants of a foreign power - particularly in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot of , orchestrated by Catholic figures in the hope of restoring a co-believer to the throne.

By the start of the nineteenth century, however such 'anti-popery' prejudices started to die away and full civic rights were restored in Today there are as many as five million Catholics - or about one in 12 people - but of these only about one million attend church regularly. Catholics are encouraged to attend weekly mass and are under an obligation during the Easter season to attends the sacraments of reconciliation formerly known as confession and holy communion.

For almost a thousand years, Catholicism and Christianity were as one. The break, or schism between the Church of Rome and other Christian faiths began with the split with Orthodox Christians in over questions of doctrine and the absolute authority and behaviour of the popes. For similar reasons in the sixteenth century, the Protestant churches also went their own way.

The modernising Second Vatican Council saw Catholicism which post-Reformation was often labelled Roman Catholicism, though this is not a description much favoured by Catholics themselves addressing itself in earnest to its relationships with other Christian churches. Significantly it abandoned the notion of the Catholic Church as the sole means of salvation. There were, it was acknowledged, other routes to heaven.

This opened the way for dialogue with other churches. It has produced an atmosphere of good will and much talk of reunion, but key questions on authority, the sacraments and ministry continue to present seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Catholics share with other Christians a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ , the son of God made man who came to earth to redeem humanity's sins through His death and resurrection. They follow His teachings as set out in the New Testament and place their trust in God's promise of eternal life with Him.

Catholicism, however, is distinct from other Christian churches in both its organisation and its teaching. The Catholic Church ordains only celibate men to the priesthood since Jesus was, it teaches, male and celibate. In the Protestant churches married and female clergy are the norm. Orthodoxy allows married men to become priests but not bishops.

Moreover, the hierarchical nature of Catholicism sets it apart from other Christian churches. It is a pyramid with the Pope at the top, followed by cardinals who have the right to elect a new pope on the death of the current incumbent , archbishops, bishops, priests , deacons and laity. Traditionally clerics were seen as having a higher calling than the laity but, since the landmark Second Vatican Council, both laity and clergy have been regarded as jointly 'the people of God'.

That same reforming council stressed the need for popes and bishops to consult widely before pronouncing on matters of faith, but in practice they retain the unfettered power to teach on such questions.

All major decisions rest with the Pope and his advisors.