The Roman Catholic Church: The Holy Roman Empire

Rulers opposed papal power because the canon laws that restricted things the rulers were allowed to do with churches within their kingdom. They would have to get approval from the pope before they did certain things. This forced them to have to make compromises where secular and religious claims coincide.

In Medieval Europe, the church played a critical role in shaping government and society. Most of the contemporary leaders were drawn from the church and contributed in championing the ideals of the church, leading to the papacy (Cook 33). During the papacy, the Pope of the Catholic Church assumed the position of the world leader, administering over the church flock and the non-Christian subjects. However, before the church rose to this eminent posit, its relationship with the government was tumultuous. Often, the people who professed the Christian faith were publicly persecuted. The ancient societies viewed the church with suspicion and suspected the church leaders incitement and sedition (Rublack 37). Based on the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the emotions the event evoked, the Roman rulers were wary of another public incident that may sway the loyalty of the subjects. The history of the church and the Eastern and Western factions of Rome shaped modern day Europe political landscape. The interaction between the Empire and the Papacy in Medieval Europe shaped modern day governments by influencing the rise to power or decline of some.

Centralized monarchs used religious issues to make their states stronger and to increase there our authority. They were the ones that had the most benefits do to the Reformation. The Holy Roman Empire started in the nineteenth century but its power did not go far, only to northern Italy and Germany. Charles V became the emperor in 1519 he worked to establishing the Holy Roman Empire the have ultimate authority in Europe. This was a difficult process because the empire tended to scare others such as France. The French were Catholics but they got support by allying with German Lutherans and Muslim Ottoman Turks against the emperor. Which their help they made it so that it was not possible for Charles to extend his

The rise of papacy in the Western Catholic Church is debatably the most corrupt and darkest time in Christianity. The collapse of the greatest and longest running empire in human history created an immense void in society which the church attempted to fill. The bishops of the roman churches who had previously been politicians were now in a position to usurp even more power. The power of the pope continued to rise even to the point of deposing and appointing the kings of Europe. The ramifications of the papacy on history are many.

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

The Great Schism or The Western Schism was kind of like a separation within the Roman Catholic Church. What happened was, three men/popes all claimed to be the one true pope. It lasted from 1378 to 1417. Many people had doubt about the true authority of the Church because of this, and many people came to preach/debate about it. Though, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance between 1414 and

According to Strayer and Nelson, “The roman catholic church had more power than many empires during the 15th century.” This power was generated from the morality it introduced to its people bringing many together. This brought many people together for a similar belief making the church even more powerful socially and politically. As stated by Strayer and Nelson, “the empires often selected church officials for the catholic church.” This gave the kings a perception of power that would keep them at peace with the power that the church actually had. It also kept the empires from fighting for the power keeping the number of followers strong. Which kept the social and political cohesion between the empires strong. The roman catholic church generated social and political power that was hard to destroy

In an age filled with war and political instability, the Roman Catholic Church served as a way to unify members of Europe during the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages was a time of low literacy rates. The Roman Catholic Church allowed members of medieval society (both literate and illiterate) an understanding of how the world worked. Although political leaders had only great local power, the Church was recognized as the most powerful institution, as its power covered all of Europe. The Roman Catholic Church was able to touch everyone’s life, no matter their class or ranking. In a time of darkness and suffering, The Church gave everyone a sense of belonging and place in the world. During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church stood as the central

The medieval society was a low period for civilization. Many things in this period can help describe how medieval society ran. The church was a big part of medieval society in the way that it was the responsibility for most of the problems that arose during this time. The Roman empire was also had an impact on medieval society, it shifted political and economic power to the north. In this time, the Roman Catholic church was the high power and had a pope as the head of Medieval Europe. The church established supreme power and many new ideas took place in medieval society.

Culture is one aspect of Italy that is highly influenced by religion. Religion was part of the state constitution. The people of Italy are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. The Muslim community is still continuing to grow. The Jews, Muslim, Orthodox, or Eastern Rite Catholics make up about 2% of the

to date,” was one of the key words used by bishops, clergy, and media attending the

The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II as it is often called, was an Ecumenical Council, (which means it affected the worldwide Christian community) of the Roman Catholic Church. It began on October 11, 1962 under, Pope John XXIII with over two thousand attendants (Hollis 23). The council ended on December 8, 1965, with Pope Paul VI presiding over the council due to the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963. The council consisted of four different sessions convening in the fall of the four years during which the council took place. Topics discussed and debated throughout the council were issues concerning the church, the liturgy, revelation and scripture, and the clergy.

The Great Papal Schism is also known as the Western Schism that lasted from 1378 – 1417, during which the papacy (the position itself) was in great divide between three popes in the Roman Catholic Church. This political upheaval within the Roman Catholic Church caused distrust of the western civilization towards the church. It began after the Avignon Papacy or the more commonly referred to, “Babylonian captivity of the papacy” which was when the papal court was moved to France and French cardinals who later became popes from 1309-1378 resided in Avignon, France (a total of seven French popes by the papal names Clement V all the way to Gregory XI, who moved the court back to Rome) while being heavily influenced by the French kings; this also resulted to the decline of the papal power and authority (Miller, Study.com).

The Libyan born Presbyter and theologian, Arius (d. 336), believed that Jesus was created by god and therefore not eternal. He taught many things in his church in Alexandria and he attempted to address complexities such as the divinity of Christ in relation to God according to monotheism. Perhaps God had a reason for the work of Arius in the Empire. Until now the church hadn’t resolved an issue of this magnitude and Arius brought it to the main stage. Perhaps Arius was meant to argue for the sake of change within the church according to God’s ultimate design, saving the dissolution of the Roman Empire. In this paper I will describe the beliefs held by Arius on eternity and the divinity of Jesus, as well as the issue of Monotheism in both points of view and the controversy that enveloped. I will then talk about the views and response of the church to Arius’ teachings and the reasoning behind the formation of the Council of Nicaea, as well as attempt to prove that Arius was wrong in his belief. Lastly I will discuss the influence of Emperor Constantine in the formation of the council and the politics within the church in regards to the growing issue that Arius started, as well as explain the role of argumentation that Arius had (knowingly or unknowingly) in the preservation of the church according to God’s ultimate plan for Christianity.

Throughout the semester, we examined many different topics that are important to know and which are beneficial to the priestly ministry. One of these is the church’s Magisterium which is held as the authoritative teaching office of those who teach the community in the name of Christ. It serves its role to safeguard the truth of God by faithfully interpreting and applying God’s revelation. It seems that, in our current society, many people don’t know what to believe anymore. This crisis of people not knowing what to believe has affected the Catholic Church even moreso because of the whole sex scandal in recent years. Because of incidents like this, Catholics no longer trust nor do they know what to believe when it comes to morality, faith, and