The Weakening Of The Catholic Church

Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth centuries, witch trials occurred in Europe. Many people were accused of being witches some of these people were accused of being witches for not following Christian beliefs at that time and others followed witch prosecutions for goods and money. Furthermore, the stereotypes of witches at this period also had a role in causing witch prosecutions. In this essay I argue how these three components led to the death of so-called witches. Firstly, I will discuss how the Catholic Church had an impact on most prosecutions. Secondly, I will explain how social stereotypes of that period have also influenced with the causes of prosecution of many alleged witches. Thirdly, I will discuss how

In the time of 1500s the Catholic Church, the papacy, was known to hold a large amount of power, both religiously and politically. With this power it allowed for a lot of different corruption to seep into the different seeds of the religious power. This corruption was due to the fact that the church became a lot about the different money that was gained, power in the church was able to be bought by the rich with their money. The church also used money gained from the people

For most civilizations, religious figures have had a large influence over the lives of the common people. The Roman Catholic Church was a very influential figure in many civilizations. It can trace its origins to over 2000 years ago. One of the Church’s most influential periods of this time was the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church played a very big role in the lives of the people during that period. For many, it was the center of their life. The three most important impacts of the Church on medieval life were their secular roles concerning laws and their position over the state, the way that the Church unified Europe, and their power over the common people.

As the tenth century rolled about, the power of the Roman Catholic Church grew steadily stronger, the church had an argument with the normal Kingdom over who should rule supreme out of the Pope or the King, the church believed that the Pope who is the voice of God on Earth should be the ruler of the world while the peasants thought that the King should, the power struggle eventually ended with the Church coming out as the dominant force in the West. The Church passed a law that stated that everyone (mostly peasants) is forced to pay 10% of their income to the Church. The church had the ability to stop any laws that they did not like or make some new laws that benefited them, they were a very powerful group that could manipulate the peasants and knights in any way they liked, in Church there were photos of people being tortured in hell, this intensified the peoples longing for heaven and therefore extended the power and influence of the church. All Christians were expected to attend the mass and, by the 13th century, were expected to take the Eucharist at least once a year.

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).

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

The weakening of the Catholic Church helped start the Reformation. During the Late Middle Ages, the weakening was caused by two reasons. The first was worldliness and corruption. Many church leaders broke vows and sold indulgences, grants from the Catholic Church releasing a person from punishment. The church was also caught doing simony, the buying and selling of spiritual goods. The second cause of the weakening was the disagreement in power between the Pope and other European monarchs. The European leaders wanted more power and began questioning the Pope’s authority which led to conflicts weakening the church.

Over through course of time religion has been a big part of people's life. During the 1300 there was a sudden change in behavior and belief. The Italian started, and it caused a change in belief. The belief of Humanism as well caring more about how they live now than the afterlife. It was the sense of rebirth at the time, but caused a lot of problems. While the Renaissance lead Italians to accomplish great things, in relationship to Christianity it was disrespectful to social norms.

During the Medieval Ages the Church was considered to be reliable; however, during the Renaissance the way of thinking changed, and the Church was challenged to adapt to this change. With the idea of individualism and humanism, the Europeans no longer needed to rely on the

In the 1300s’ the black plague struck parts of Asia, Europe and parts of northern Africa. Many people believed that this was an act of God, and it disrupted the growth of the people of Europe. This was big on the Church because priests left their duties, and the Church was on the decline. Although there were many ways the church was on the decline, the black plague is the main reason. The priests abandoned their duties, many people suffered, and the church became richer. Therefore, I believe the black plague played a key role on the churches decline.

The most important recurring issues in the study of the history of Christianity during our time period is sexual abuse amongst the Catholic Clergy and abortion, the killing of a living entity, as it is a sin against God according to biblical doctrine. Many believe that sexual abuse happening in the Catholic Church, is directly related to celibacy. The Churches restriction on priests that directs them to abstain from sexual relations. This issue has been debated since the reformation in which Martin Luther and other reformers opposed celibacy. They based their argument against celibacy on the bible scripture, namely Genesis 1:28, where God wanted people to “be fruitful and multiply”. There is nothing in the bible that directly mentions celibacy. There are many versions that mention fornication and uncleanliness and the interpretation of the Catholic Church seems to have made this deduction based on those scriptures. The other major issue that is common in most of the world’s religions is abortion; the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Church still adopt the early church’s belief to oppose the practice of abortion. Abortion is considered murder and a mortal sin in accordance which many versus in the bible as it relates to each of these faiths. Even between the Old Testament, where the law or Tora refers to the 10 commandments, where Exodus 20:13 states “Thou shall not Murder” and

During the Middle Ages, Catholicism played a huge role in supporting feudalism and the people of the feudal society. In the medieval society, the Church had a significant amount of power, allowing it to rebuild the mess of the fall of Rome and continue the society. The Church had gained its power because of the fact that it was the only thing left after the fall of Rome. It became extremely rich and powerful due to people turning to religion to get them through tough times (Havlidis, "The Life of a Villager" 1). Clearly, the Church was superior because it was the center of medieval religious life. From day one of their lives, medieval Christians were always around religion. Children confirmed their faith with the bishop, weddings took place by the Church, and funerals were exhibited there too. In addition, each week, Christians would attend Mass and they went to the Church to confess their sins to the priest (Howarth 37). The Church had significance to Christians in the Middle Ages. Churches were used for many purposes, not just being the center of religion. Most churches were built of stone so for this reason, churches were used as a safe place to store valuables. Another purpose the church served was schooling or providing a hospital where sick people could stay. Parish Priests

By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not

The role of the Catholic Church going to the peripheries is huge for the community. First off, the Catholic Church helps those in need by donating to people who don’t have shelter, or people who don’t have food or water to drink. They also help by holding volunteer work, so people who want to help those in need can by being there. Another thing the Catholic Church does to help those in need is praying. Some people get together to help those in need by asking the Lord to help them. Others pray for them by themselves to help for those in need. The Catholic Church is very generous for being there when people are in need. The Catholic church greatly represents the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. They would help feed the hungry by bringing goods to those who need it. The Church can give drink to the thirsty by not wasting water. The Catholic Church helps people to shelter the homeless by collecting supplies they need. They can clothe the naked by donating clothes to those who don’t have enough. The Church can visit the sick and imprisoned giving blood and spending time volunteering at nursing homes. They bury the dead by sending a card to to someone who has lost a loved one. Finally, the Catholic Church give alms to the poor by donating money, like a the poor box in the Church. The Spiritual Works of Mercy can also represent the Catholic Church helping those in need. Overall, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy really represent how the Catholic Church helps those in need, and the Church is a good role model for all Catholics alike.

During the Medieval Ages the Catholic Church was able to rise to one of the most powerful institutions in Europe. After Rome subsequently