Catholic Church In The 20th Century

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.

This was agreed on the 20th July through the Concordat agreement between state and Vatican. Their actions in the end, regarding the Church, proved to be effective indeed for he obtained his ultimate goal – eliminate political opposition – by granting something that didn’t carry substantial drawbacks itself.

None the less the Papacy was now divide. The saying "United we stand, while divided we fall." is very valid in this instance. The church is having many problems around this time period and many people are converting, or shale we say shifting, to other forms or Christianity. Whereas before these problems occurred the church was the central power in Western Europe and had great influence over the governments in their sphere of power. This event, the schism, caused a split in the Catholic Church and divided countries among the two popes. "Everyone realized that the schism resulting from the counter-election of Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII . . . was a tragedy for the church . . ."

The essence of the contribution made by Pope John XXIII was his calling together of the Second Vatican Council that aimed to address modernisation of the Catholic Church,

During his Papacy, Pope John XXIII published several encyclicals promoting world peace(Pacem in Terris) and increasing the consciousness of one’s dignity and rights of workers, women and newly independent nations (Mater et Magisterum). Pacem in Terris was addressed to the whole world and received warmly by Christians and non-Christians alike. It altered thinking about the Cold War and initiated the resurgence of Catholic social teaching.

In the United States, there has often been debate over whether the U.S. Constitution is a “living constitution.” A “living constitution” is the idea that the interpretation of constitutional phrases should take into account the contemporaneous society. In other words, practices and traditions of the government have the ability to change and transform over time in accordance with the changes in society. Similarly, there has often been debate in the religious community as to whether the practices and traditions of the church have the ability to change and transform in order to better suit the needs of its constituents. Two Popes in the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis and Pope Pius IX, have published documents with opposing viewpoints about the church’s ability to change and transform over time. The aforementioned documents also highlight other issues commonly debated within the church. Ultimately, Pope Francis favors a more progressive church, that is opento change, while Pope Pius IX favors a church with more rigid guidelines that follow traditional practices.

When the Roman Empire collapsed, the Catholic Church was the only powerful authority not complete disrupted by the attack by barbarians. In fact, the work of great Popes is what helped their power increase even more. The newly christened barbarians, done by the Pope Gregory the Great, inaugurated a new age in Jesus Christ called Christendom. All culture in Christendom conformed to that of the Church’s, and, with its headquarters in Rome, the powerful “papal monarchs”, as they were called, controlled the machine that was the Catholic Church.

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.

"In the later eleventh century, mystically enchanted war turned into a categorical and cozy concern of the ameliorated papacy, one which was to transmute Christian states of mind and practices for an immensely colossal portion of a thousand years." The vicissitude was gone for ecclesiastical reinforcing and decontamination of the ministry including another procedure for the decision of incipient popes and assaulting indecencies, for example, administrative espousement and the purchasing and offering of religious workplaces. Pope Gregory VII was the primary impact behind ecclesiastical change. "With nervy tenaciousness, he distinguished what he accepted to be the main driver of the Church's issues the dirtying impact of the people and afterward start assaulting it with close out of control tirelessness, in what has been termed the 'Instatement Controversy'." For every one of his prospects and objective in ecclesiastical change and endeavoring to coalesce the Latin Church, when he kicked the bucket and Pope Urban II took office, the Church was powerless and defenseless. In the terminus however, Urban did instaurate ecclesiastical power probably in light of the fact that he was a "much more aptitudinal ambassador then his forebear, in his dealings with the mainstream and clerical forces of Europe." He had a more adaptable way to deal with change than Gregory and that availed him win back backing for the ecclesiastical reason. In 1095, the year prior to the First Crusade, the papacy was incrementing a plethora of its glory back. When he was requested avail by the Byzantines against the Turks the pope's preparatory replication was "to enhearten 'numerous to ensure, by taking a vow, to avail the sovereign most reliably to the extent they were capable against the agnostics'." This did little to motivate the masses, yet it had planted the

Religion in British history is greatly influenced by who is reigning at the time. Throughout the 1300s to the 1600s religion changed with each leader. Sometimes the change was quite monumental and other times the leader coming into reign would primarily agree with was laid out before and only change things slightly. Religion includes the church, and sometime the King simply wanted the benefits and the power that the church had and could care less about the doctrine that was being taught, but that is not always the case. We see throughout the 1300s to about the 1500s that the church and religion are typically used for its power. Then in the 1500s to the 1600s a lot of rulers change the doctrine being taught and were being very passionate about religion. Religion in England today was greatly shaped by the religious decisions and movements made during this time period.

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.

Despite the age of these systems, the Catholic Church continues to operate close to them, similar to when they were adopted. The misunderstanding and prejudice towards these systems cause many people to adopt anti-Catholic beliefs for contemporary issues in America. The democratic political system in America clashes with the hierarchical lineage that the Catholic Church possesses. The problem arises when anti-Catholics claim that Catholics are un-American because they follow a hierarchy, rather than the “American” system of democracy. The democratic system allows the people to vote for their leader to govern them, however, the Catholic leader, the Pope, is not chosen by the people of the Catholic Church. Un-American criticism continues with the debates and movements on Sexism and Feminism. As women’s roles are changed, the Catholic Church is keeping true to its origins by keeping the governing body, the priesthood, bishops, Cardinals, and the Pope, a completely male role. The Church is criticized by many as being sexist and by that, un-American, for not allowing ordination for women. “Many Americans / view the church’s ban on women’s ordination largely in terms of democratic principles, or ‘rights’ and representation’” (Martin). Anti-Catholics throw up these accusations of sexism without contemplating the true role of women in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said in an interview “’Look, in the Church women are more important than men, because the church is a woman / The Church is the bride of Jesus Christ. And the Madonna is more important that popes and bishops and priests’” (Ruiz). This governing structure, as well as other beliefs of the Catholic Church, seem confusing or silly to post-enlightenment ideas. As human philosophy has developed after the Enlightenment, the Church has kept the doctrine the same. This has not caused the anti-Catholic community to criticize

“In the thirteenth century, the Catholic Church reached the height of its political, intellectual, and secular power (322). ” The Pope Innocent III was very honest with his desire for power within

This essay will focus on the theological aspects of Catholics and the catholic church ideals and treatment on immigrants. I contend that the well the catholic church has become more progressive towards immigration views, however, Catholics have been more apprehensive about welcoming immigration. The paper will focus on immigration views within the contently US during two time periods, 1920’s and late 2010’s. In comparing these two eras I will compare and contrast political, religious, and theological difference and similarity, thus highlighting racial discrimination towards certain races of immigration at the specific time period and how that helped form calichs thoughts on immigration.

This paper will look into the primary reasons for the rise of the Roman papacy to power, and a few of the many things that aided the papacy in getting there. The fall of the Roman Empire is clearly a key factor in the rise of the papacy, so a look into the factors that caused the fall of the Roman Empire is essential. Secondly, a look into how the church positioned itself, to step into the vacuum of power left behind by the fall of the Roman Empire will prove to be needed. Lastly, there will be a brief look at the positive and negative ramifications that ensued from the churches rise to power. This paper will not be an exhaustive look into the rise of the papacy, but instead will provide a good place to start ones study into