Perhaps one of the largest Christian churches is the Roman Catholic Church. It branched off from the general direction of Christianity back in the distant first centuries of its occurrence. The very word "Catholicism" is derived from the Greek "universal", or "universal." We will talk more about the origin of the church, as well as its features in this article.
Origin
The history of the Roman Catholic Church begins in 1054, when an event occurred that remained in the annals under the name “Great schism”. Although Catholics do not deny that all events before the split, - and their history. Just from that moment they went their own way. In the indicated year, the Patriarch and the Pope exchanged formidable messages and anathematized each other. After this, Christianity finally split and two streams formed - Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
As a result of the split of the Christian church, a Western (Catholic) trend emerged, with Rome as its center, and an Eastern (Orthodox) trend centered in Constantinople. Of course, the apparent reason for this event was the disagreement in dogmatic and canonical issues, as well as in liturgical and disciplinary matters, which began long before the indicated date. And this year, disagreement and misunderstanding reached a peak.
However, in reality, everything was much deeper, and the matter here concerned not only differences between dogmas and canons, but also the usual confrontation between the rulers (even church ones) over the recently baptized lands. Also, the confrontation was greatly influenced by the unequal position of the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople, because due to the division of the Roman Empire, it was split into two parts - Eastern and Western.
The eastern part retained its independence much longer, therefore the Patriarch, although he was controlled by the emperor, had protection in the person of the state. The Western one ceased to exist in the V century, and the Pope gained relative independence, but also the possibility of an attack by barbarian states that appeared on the territory of the former Western Roman Empire. Only in the middle of the VIII century, the Pope was given the land, which automatically makes him a secular sovereign.
The modern spread of Catholicism
Catholicism is today the most numerous branch of Christianity, which is distributed throughout the world. As of 2007, there were about 1.147 billion Catholics on our planet. Most of them are in Europe, where in many countries this religion is state or prevails over others (France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, etc.).
Catholics are ubiquitous throughout the Americas. Also, followers of this religion can be found on the Asian continent - in the Philippines, East Timor, China, South Korea, and Vietnam. In Muslim countries, there are also many Catholics, but most of them live in Lebanon. On the African continent, they are also common (from 110 to 175 million).
The internal management structure of the church
Now we should consider what is the managerial structure of this direction of Christianity. The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is the highest authority in the hierarchy, as well as jurisdiction over the laity and the clergy. The head of the Roman Catholic Church on the conclave is elected by the College of Cardinals. Usually he retains his authority until the end of his life, except in cases of lawful self-denial. It should be noted that in the Catholic teaching, the Pope is considered to be the successor of the Apostle Peter (and, upon giving him, Jesus ordered that the whole church be tutored), therefore his authority and decisions are infallible and true.
Further in the structure of the church there are the following posts:
- Bishop, priest, deacon - priesthood degrees.
- Cardinal, Archbishop, Primate, Metropolitan, etc. - Church degrees and positions (there are much more).
The territorial units in Catholicism are as follows:
- Separate churches, which are called dioceses, or dioceses. The bishop dominates here.
- Special dioceses of great importance are called archdioceses. The archbishop leads them.
- Those churches that do not have diocese status (for one reason or another) are called apostolic administrations.
- Several dioceses joined together are called metropolises. Their center is that diocese, the bishop of which has the rank of metropolitan.
- Parishes are the foundation of every church. They are formed within a single locality (for example, a small town) or due to their general nationality, linguistic differences.
Existing Church Rites
It should be noted that the Roman Catholic Church has differences in rites during the service (however, unity in faith and morality is maintained). The following popular rites are:
- Latin;
- Lyon
- Ambrosian;
- mosarabsky etc.
Their difference may be in some disciplinary issues, in the language in which the service is read, etc.
Monastic orders in the church
Due to the wide interpretation of church canons and divine dogmas, the Roman Catholic Church has about one hundred and forty monastic orders in its composition. They lead their history from ancient times. We list the most famous orders:
- Augustinians . Its history begins approximately from the 5th century with the writing of the charter by St. Augustine. The direct formation of the order occurred much later.
- Benedictines . It is considered the first officially founded monastic order. This event occurred at the beginning of the VI century.
- Hospitallers . The Knightly Order, begun in 1080 by the Benedictine monk Gerard. The religious charter of the order appeared only in 1099.
- Dominicans . The mendicant order founded by Dominic de Guzmán in 1215. The purpose of its creation is the fight against heretical teachings.
- Jesuits . This direction was created in 1540 by Pope Paul III. His goal became prosaic: the fight against the growing movement of Protestantism.
- Capuchins . This order was founded in Italy in 1529. His original goal is still the same - the fight against the Reformation.
- Carthusians . The first monastery of the order was built in 1084, but it was officially approved only in 1176.
- Templars . The military monastic order is perhaps the most famous and shrouded in mysticism. Some time after its creation, it became more military than monastic. The original goal was to protect pilgrims and Christians from Muslims in Jerusalem.
- Teutons . Another military monastic order founded by the German crusaders in 1128.
- Franciscans . The order was created in 1207-1209, but was approved only in 1223.
In addition to orders in the Catholic Church are the so-called Uniates - those believers who have maintained their traditional worship, but at the same time accepted the creed of Catholics, as well as the authority of the Pope. This may include:
- Armenian Catholics;
- redemptorists;
- Belarusian Greek Catholic Church;
- Romanian Greek Catholic Church;
- Russian Orthodox Catholic Church;
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Holy churches
Below we look at the most famous saints of the Roman Catholic Church:
- St. John the Theologian.
- St. Stephen the First Martyr.
- St. Carl Borromeo.
- St. Faustin Kowalska.
- St. Jerome.
- St. Gregory the Great.
- St. Bernard
- St. Augustine
The difference between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Now about how the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church differ from each other in the modern version:
- For the Orthodox, the unity of the church is faith and sacraments, and for Catholics, the infallibility and inviolability of the authority of the Pope are added here.
- For the Orthodox, the Ecumenical Church is every local church that is headed by a bishop. For Catholics, her communion with the Roman Catholic Church is imperative.
- The Orthodox Holy Spirit comes only from his father. For Catholics, both from the Father and from the Son.
- In Orthodoxy, divorces are possible. For Catholics, they are unacceptable.
- In Orthodoxy there is no such thing as purgatory. This dogma was proclaimed by Catholics.
- The Orthodox recognize the holiness of the Virgin Mary, but deny her immaculate conception. Catholics have a dogma that the Virgin Mary was just as born as Jesus.
- Orthodox have one rite that arose in Byzantium. In Catholicism, there are many.
Conclusion
Despite some differences, the Roman Catholic Church is still fraternal in faith for the Orthodox. Misunderstandings in the past divided Christians, turning them into irreconcilable enemies, but this should not continue now.