Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholicism is a worldwide religious tradition of some 1.1 billion members. It traces its history to Jesus of Nazareth, an itinerant preacher in the area around Jerusalem during the period of Roman occupation, in the late 20's of the common era. Its members congregate in a communion of churches headed by bishops, whose role originated with the disciples of Jesus. Over a period of some decades after Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, the bishops spread out across the world to form a "universal" (Greek "katholikos") church, with the bishop of Rome (originally Peter) holding primacy. The pope is the inheritor of Peter's role; today Vatican City--and specifically, Saint Peter's Basilica--stands over the grave of the disciple. Catholic Christianity began as a persecuted religious community, illegal in the Roman Empire in its earliest days, but within some three hundred years and with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, it became a tolerated and eventually official religion of the Empire. With the decline and fall of the Empire in the 5th century, the Church assumed both temporal and spiritual authority; it thus had enormous influence on the development of the art and culture of the western world through the Middle Ages. Today, its growth is fastest in Africa, South America, and Asia.

Contributors : Jacob N. Kinnard, Kathleen A. Mulhern, Christopher Bellitto, Cynthia Stewart, Tim Muldoon

What came to be called Roman Catholicism was born as the new Christian faith grounded in the teachings and passion of Jesus Christ, who lived in 1st-century Palestine under Roman occupation.

Early Christianity drew on a variety of sources - Jewish ideas, Greek philosophy, Greek and Latin vocabulary - in an attempt to explain complex theological formulations.

Jesus' first apostles handed authority down in an apostolic succession that developed into a system of bishops, but the specific jurisdiction of Rome's bishop was initially unclear.

As she attempts to interpret and implement the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church is reexamining her relationship with the world, other faiths, and fellow Christians.

Several centuries passed before Church authorities weighed a variety of scriptural writings to establish a definitive canon of authoritative texts known as the New Testament.

Within 400 years after Jesus' passion, Christianity developed from an illegal, persecuted, and underground religion into the official, only, and dominating faith of the Roman Empire.

Catholicism experienced intermittent theological heresies and three major schisms - the Great Schism between east and west, the Great Western Schism of rival papacies, and the Protestant Reformation.

Before and after Columbus's voyages starting in 1492, Catholicism's expansion was marked not only by growth and innovation, but also sometimes by violence, persecution, and imperialistic tendencies.

Roman Catholicism has often tried to adapt itself to the cultures her missionaries have encountered while attempting to centralize the Church under an increasingly monarchical papal bureaucracy.

Catholicism responded to the Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and modernity's push to democracy first by closing its doors to the world, but then by opening its windows.

Catholics hold both scripture (the stories in the Bible) and tradition (the living transmission of the truth through Church teaching) to be sacred.

Catholics believe in one God in three persons: a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They also believe in angels as heavenly messengers, and they venerate the saints, especially Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Human nature is intrinsically good, although it has been corrupted by sin. The purpose of existence is to attain salvation through God's grace.

Humans suffer as a result of sin and as a call to turn to God. Evil is the absence of good rather than having existence in itself.

Catholics believe that Christ makes salvation possible for all people. As a result of the lives they willingly choose to live on earth, humans will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

Catholics believe all time to be sacred because it is the medium through which humans move toward salvation. The Church's sacraments and rituals mark the flow of sacred time.

Cathedrals of great artistry and more modest churches serve as worship spaces for Catholics, who believe that all the earth is holy as God's handiwork and the place of God's Incarnation in Jesus Christ.

The main Catholic worship service is the Mass. Catholic life is geared around the seven sacraments, which confer grace on the believer.

Catholic life is full of prayer and the use of sacramentals that prepare the Catholic to receive grace, such as the rosary, the wearing of medals, and the giving of blessings.

Catholic rituals and sacred spaces are filled with symbols pointing to the divine life of God and salvation, and the greatest work of symbolism is nature itself.

The Catholic clergy is comprised of the sacramental roles of deacons, priests, and bishops, with administrative roles extending up to the pope as leader of the world's Catholics. The magisterium is the Church' teaching authority.

The Catholic Church is highly organized, with local parishes as its building blocks and a central government in the Vatican. Catholics are defined as those who are in communion with the pope.

Moral thought begins in the conscience informed by natural law. The Ten Commandments and Jesus' life are the foundations for Catholic moral action, which has resulted in the Church's strong social teachings.

Though Catholics previously envisioned a society in which all people would be Catholic, today they celebrate society's diversity. All of society should be organized around the principle of human dignity.

Women are excluded from clerical orders in the Catholic Church, although many call for this to change. Catholics have a conservative and sacred view of human sexuality.