The Roman Catholic Church Essay

billion adherents, Roman Catholicism is the largest sect of religion in the world, and is led by the Pope. Upon the rise of Islam in the Middle East, tension between Eastern and Western Catholics intensified. As a result of this conflict, the Roman Catholic sect broke free as an alternative to Orthodox Catholicism (Brom). The Eastern Orthodox Church undertook the role of Catholics who wanted to practice simplified Catholicism after the divergence with Roman Catholics. Rather than recognizing the Pope as their leader, Orthodox Catholicism recognizes Bishops as leaders. Orthodox Catholicism deviates from the ecumenical doctrine that established Catholicism, and is not considered a part of the Catholic faith by Roman Catholics (Azkoul). The Eastern sect has less of a following than the Roman sect, but nonetheless remains a crucial following of the Catholic faith. Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholicism are both rooted in early Christian principles and have traditional Christian beliefs. Both sects are important to the Catholic faith due to the fact they share the same roots and many of the same beliefs and customs. The successful divide between Orthodox and Roman Catholicism shows the adaptability of Catholicism over the past 2000 years, and proves it will continue to evolve for thousands of years in the…

In the 1500 the Roman Catholic Church was super powerful in western Europe. The Catholic Church guarded its position and anybody who was deemed to have gone against the Catholic Church was labelled a heretic and burnt at the stake. The Catholic Church did not tolerate any unusual behavior from anyone if they were to “go soft” might have been a sign of weakness. The catholic church's power had been built up over many centuries and relied on ignorance and superstition on people from other…

The Roman Catholic Church in its modern time seems spotless and corruption free, but before the Medieval Period, that was not the case. The establishment date of the Roman Catholic Church is quite indeterminable, but scholars have estimated that it was formed between the 1st and 5th centuries. Since the beginning of the church, there has been latent corruption rippling through it without any effort being put forth to attempt to restore the church to a nature it should have begun with. Although…

During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church was the only church at that time. The church was in control of all people and made their rules and regulations. The 3 types of power in the Roman Catholic Church is religious power, economic power, and political power. One important type of power that helped the Roman Catholic Church grow and help the church keep running is the religious power. Religious power gave the people hope because life was so hard there was a short life. Most people…

The Roman Catholic Church was first established by Jesus Christ, but Jesus made Simon Peter, one of His Twelve Disciples, head of the Church. Since Jesus Christ came down to Earth, the Roman Catholic Church gained a strong presence and power in the world. As the Roman Empire grew, leaders brought Catholicism to different lands in Europe; the Roman Catholic Church expanded through these lands and as a result, the Roman Catholic Church gained great political power over these lands. The Roman…

The Roman Catholic Church experienced a major split in the early 16th century. Humanism, which expanded the power of writing and reasoning beyond religious scholars, along with the consequences of plagues and wars, and the secular involvement and corruption of the Church led many to lose credibility in the what-was-then-current establishment of Christianity. One of the people that were unhappy with the church was Martin Luther, who in the early 1500s posted his Ninety-Five Theses on a church…

Italy in the year 1620 is a very trying time for individuals who go against the Roman-Catholic doctrine. From the beginning of the first century when Christianity was introduced to the Italian peninsula, it rose to a powerhouse status as a social and religious leviathan (Kirsch). During this time period, the Church had the power to mandate, shape and enforce laws, giving harsh repercussions such as imprisonment or in exceptional cases, death for those who publically spoke against it (Wolfgang).…

biblical matters to those that did not follow Christ. There were several icons that were used everywhere throughout the world, but then a vital discrepancy appeared. There was a huge conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church brought up valid points, the Eastern Orthodox Church had a stronger argument. Before looking at the dispute over icons, one must first…

Catholic is an uncomfortable word for many protestants because of its modern day association with the Roman church. However, the church fathers who wrote the Nicene Creed did not understand catholic to mean the Roman Catholic Church. The visible and invisible idea can also be helpful when determining what it means to be catholic. Along with a distinction of true and imitating Christians, a distinction must be drawn between true and imitating churches. The early church differentiated between the…

In the 1300s, the Roman Catholic Church reached their zenith as Roman Catholicism was the most popular religion in Western Europe at the time. While it was at its peak, the papacy maintained most of the power amongst the citizens. Even though the Papacy held a large amount of influence during this time, they were set in their own ways and were unwilling to reform their systems. Protestantism was a revolt against the Medieval position of the Roman Catholic clergy. This led to the corruption of…