Essay on A Very Brief History of the Papacy

The Pope is the head of the Church: he represents the ultimate religious authority. However, as a Bishop of Rome, the Pope is also in command of certain secular affairs, including some military aspects. Certainly, the Pope is a link between the earthly and the divine realms. Problems arise when the imperfect world the Pope physically lives in interferes with his heavenly objectives. Taking Pope Gregory I as an example, I am going to look at his letters to analyze how he reconciled his political and spiritual goals, whether he valued one category over the other, and how he justified it.

Pope John XXIII played a vital role in shaping Christianity as we know it today. He contributed socially, politically and liturgically and was a major influence in the establishment of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue between other churches and religions. He advocated Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace, and his openness to all people led to him obtaining the name “Good Pope John”.

In response to the how and why the papacy in Rome became the center of power as it did. Shortly after

In addition to the horrors carried out by the Seljuk horde on Christians and their shrines, the Byzantines were also begging the pope to protect their empire from other Turkish tribes. Urban II's main incentive for answering this plea for help was not entirely contingent on the letter he received from the Holy Roman Emperor, but more so from the notion that the Eastern and Western sects of the church could be unified. Moreover, they might be fused under the Pope, granting him sovereignty over the entire Christian church. This Papal hope has been revealed to historians through, among other sources, the different accounts of his speech at Clermont. For example, Guibert of Nogent recalls the pope declaring: "And you ought, furthermore, to consider with the utmost deliberation, ..., that the Mother of churches should flourish anew to the worship of Christianity, whether perchance, [God] may not wish other regions of the East to be restored to the faith against the approaching time of the Antichrist" (Peters, Guibert of Nogent, 35). Unfortunately, the Holy Roman Emperor feared his throne was in jeopardy due to the large number of crusaders that arrived to drive out the Turks. He demanded that they press on towards the Holy Land, and for reasons that need not be discussed, strong ties with the Papacy were severed soon

Pope St. Gregory VII had his vision on how the Church was supposed to be structured and what needed to change. He firmly planted his beliefs because he could see that the Church did not live up to its standards. He became a leader when the Church needed him the most. He did not conform to the current state of the Church and encountered incessant obstacles with a relentless determination overcome them. As pope, St. Gregory VII valiantly confronted the challenges, social issues, and corruption of the Church to cleanse its noticeable defects.

Once Attila tried to take over Rome and the Catholic Church. When he reached Rome, he met Pope Leo the Great, but behind him was Saint Peter and Saint Paul with swords who were trying to protect the Church and go to war against Attila if necessary, Attila explained to the soldiers that he would not fight because of what he saw.

My doctor of the church is St. Leo the Great. St. Leo the Great was born in Tuscany, Italy where he was sent to Gaul, somewhere in Western Europe, to settle a dispute between Aetius and Albinus, the two highest officials. While he was away Pope Sixtus 111 died and Leo was elected by the people to become pope. On his mission Leo defended the true divinity and true humanity of Christ. He also taught about Christ’s presence in the Church. St. Leo the Great fought heresies and at one time even burned their books and warned the Roman Christians against them. Leo strongly said that everything he did and said as pope for the administration of the church represented Christ, the head of the Mystical Body. In 452 Attila the Hun advanced toward Rome to

In the void left by the collapse of the Roman Empire, the bishop of Rome grew even more in both power and prestige beginning in the sixth century and continuing to the reformation in the ninth century. It is the aim of this paper to explain how and why the papacy in Rome became the center of power of the medieval world, the factors contributing to this dominance over Western Europe, and the positive and negative ramifications of the position becoming so powerful. Through this paper you will discover how papacy was able to fill the vacuum of power left by the fall of an empire.

In the year of 1475 in december 11 was born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, but was called Pope leo X. Pope was a title very sacred to the community and right after two older Popes died it was Giovanni's turn to rule. Giovanni ruled and his first action as a Pope was to lead the costly war, that succeeded after rescuing his nephew and securing him as duke of Urbino, but which also damage the papal finances. Later on The pope escaped on some cardinal finances of poisoning him Pope Leo was best remembered for granting indulgences of those who donated to reconstruct st. Peters basilica. Pope did not take the reconstruction of the church seriously, so the reformation became a protestant reformation. His papal bull of 1520 simply condemned Luther

On January 19th, the Pope excommunicated King Henry IV for challenging the authority of Pope Gregory VII. The excommunication wasn’t a shock for many of us. The authority of the Pope has been challenged many times before. But as we have seen, the divine Christ must truly have the back of our holy Pope. Never have we seen him lose. By this time, we clearly knew how mighty our dear Pope is. But we seem to have discovered a new trait of him- not just a mighty man but a complete saint at heart.

As you may already know, Pope Leo has been very influential in past political affairs. Earlier this past week, in the village where the rivers Po and Mincio meet, just north of Rome, Pope Leo spoke to the barbaric tyrant, Attila the Hun, to head off his attack on Rome. Attila has already attacked various other northern Italian cities and towns and was marching on Rome.Pope Leo managed to negotiate a way to keep the Empire safe and you may be surprised about how he did it. A contemporary account states that Pope Leo said, “The senate and the people of Rome, once conquerors of the world, now indeed vanquished, come before thee as suppliants. We pray for mercy and deliverance. O Attila,

The early and medieval years of the papacy consisted of numerous strategic, political tactics that increased the authority of the papacy, and ultimately led to the Protestant reformation. As stated by George Weigel, in Papacy and Power, “Popes have been ‘players’ in the world since at least the fifteenth century pontificate of pope Leo the Great.” Weigel was precise, the political role of the pope has been in place since 440 A.D. and significantly increased following the sack of Rome. As stated earlier, the unbroken line of bishops starting with St. Peter was not recognized as the papacy until centuries later. In 312, churches emerged and became public buildings.

Leo IX was the Catholic Church's 151st pope. He served from February 12, 1049, until his death on April 19, 1054. He was declared a saint by the Church, and his feast day is April 19. A feast day is a day on which a celebration, especially an annual Christian holiday, is held. Pope Leo IX caught my attention because he voluntarily walked hundreds of miles barefooted to Rome when he was elected to be the Pope. He also reformed clerical marriage and simony.

Pope Leo X was born in December 11, 1475 in Florence, Italy. He was Lorenzo the Magnificent second son, the ruler of the republic. Following the death of Pope Julius II, he got elected after securing members of the Sacred College. Early in his rule he observed the closing sessions of the Fifth Council of the Lateran, but he wasn't able to put the reforms. In 1517 a war that its reason was to secure his nephew as duke of Urbino, that damaged the finances. He is highlighted in this era because he granted indulgences (a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has) for who that donated for the Basilica to be rebuilt, that presence of the 95 Theses. He did not take it seriously the sequence of commands for church reform quickly. His Papal Bull

Similar to that of the rise of classical liberal theology and Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church experienced a change in theological thought. “Modernism” led to increased biblical criticism and called for Catholic theologies to adapt to the surrounding modern world. Just like those who opposed liberalism, this new way of thinking was also faced with many within the church who opposed it. In 1959 however, John XXIII was elected as the new pope who would set out to bring the church up to speed with the modern world. The result was the formation of the Second Vatican Council also commonly referred to as the “Vatican II.” Theologians Karl Rahner and Hans Küng’s attendance to the council had a major impact because their ideas helped to advance a Catholic theology which focused on bridging the gap between the church and contemporary culture.