Roman Catholic Church, the largest single Christian body, composed of those Christians who acknowledge the supreme authority of the bishop of Rome, the pope, in matters of faith. The word catholic (Greek katholikos) means "universal" and has been used to designate the church since its earliest period, when it was the only Christian church. The Roman Catholic Church regards itself as the only legitimate inheritor, by an unbroken succession of bishops descending from Saint Peter to the present time, of the commission and powers conferred by Jesus Christ on the 12 apostles. The church has had a profound influence on the development of European culture and on the introduction of European values into other civilizations. Its total membership in the late 1990s was about 1 billion (about 52 percent of the total number of affiliated Christians, or 16 percent of the world population). The church has its greatest numerical strength in Europe and Latin America but also has a large membership in other parts of the world.

In keeping with early Christian traditions, the fundamental unit of organization in the Roman Catholic Church is the diocese, headed by a bishop. The church comprises nearly 2,000 dioceses and 561 archdioceses, which are more distinguished sees (areas of jurisdiction) that have certain responsibilities for governance in the dioceses attached to them. The major church in a diocese is the cathedral, where the bishop presides at worship and other ceremonies. The cathedral contains the bishop’s "throne" or "chair" (Latin cathedra), from which in the early church he preached to his congregation.

The bishop is the chief liturgical figure in the diocese and is distinguished from the priest principally by the power to confer holy orders and to act as the usual minister of confirmation. The bishop has the highest jurisdictional powers within the diocese: He has the right to admit priests to his diocese and to exclude them from the practice of ministry within it, and he assigns priests of his diocese to parishes and other duties. The bishop often delegates administrative details to his vicar-general, his chancellor, or other officials. In larger dioceses he may be assisted by auxiliary or coadjutor bishops.

Directly under the bishop are the clergy, both secular and religious. Secular clergy are not members of religious orders or congregations and have permanently been incorporated (incardinated) into the diocese under the authority of the local bishop. Secular clergy generally staff the parishes of the diocese and serve as pastors in them.

The religious clergy, on the other hand, are primarily committed to their orders or congregations, which transcend diocesan boundaries (see Monasticism). While working within a given diocese, these clergy must adhere to the bishop’s decisions in matters of public worship but otherwise enjoy considerable discretion in their ministry. The same can be said of nuns (or sisters) and brothers, who are members of orders or congregations but are not clergy. Religious clergy and laity tend to staff the schools, hospitals, and other institutions of mercy and social service in the diocese. Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the laity who are not members of religious orders have assumed an increasingly active role in advising pastors and bishops, especially in practical matters, and in the pastoral ministry, such as catechesis (instruction given in preparation for adult baptism).

At the head of the Roman Catholic Church is the pope, who is the bishop of Rome. He has final authority in all matters (see Infallibility). The pope appoints bishops to dioceses and transfers them to others. Although bishops enjoy their jurisdictional powers by reason of their office, they cannot legitimately exercise them without the permission of the pope. On September 15, 1965, Pope Paul VI instituted the Synod of Bishops, a representative body of bishops and others that may be called by the pope to consult on major issues. The first such synod met in Vatican City in 1967, and a number of synods have been held since then. Synods are not to be confused with ecumenical councils, which are solemn convocations of all the bishops of the world (see Council). The Catholic Church numbers only 21 such councils in its long history, the most recent being the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). While they are in communion with the pope, the councils exercise the highest authority in the church.

Cardinals are the highest dignitaries in the church after the pope. Appointed by the pope, they constitute the supreme council of the church, the Sacred College, and on the death of the pope they elect his successor (see Conclave). Most cardinals are bishops of dioceses located throughout the world; others are the chief members of the Sacred Congregations of the papal administration. The Sacred Congregation of Cardinals was formerly limited to 70 members, but this limit was abolished by Pope John XXIII in 1958. By 2001 the number of cardinals had exceeded 180, and all but 24 of the cardinals had been named by Pope John Paul II.

The Curia assists the pope in his administration of the church. Of ancient origin, the Curia is located in Vatican City. It is a complex bureaucracy directed by the Secretariat of State, to which the various other offices report. These offices now consist of nine congregations and three tribunals, as well as other councils and offices.

Although most members of the Roman Catholic Church follow a discipline, ritual, and canon law that developed in the early years of the diocese of Rome, others adhere in these matters to their own centuries-old traditions. These are the Eastern Rite churches, or Uniate churches, such as the Maronite, Chaldean, Ruthenian, and Ukrainian. Some of these churches practice Holy Communion under both kinds (the use of both bread and wine) and baptism by immersion, and allow marriage of the clergy.

Although the Roman Catholic Church holds certain doctrines that distinguish it from other Christian churches, it is most characteristic in the breadth and comprehensiveness of its doctrinal tradition. Locating its beginnings in the earliest Christian communities and refusing to acknowledge any decisive break in its history, the Roman Catholic Church considers itself heir to the theological traditions of the apostolic, patristic, medieval, and modern periods. The church does not in principle exclude any theological method, and since the encyclical of Pope Pius XII Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943) it has officially sanctioned modern principles of exegesis for interpreting the Bible. Participation since the Second Vatican Council in the ecumenical movement has helped Catholics appreciate the doctrinal viewpoint of the Protestant reformers who broke with the church in the 16th century.

Like other Christian churches, the Roman Catholic Church accepts the Bible as the basis for its teaching. This was an unquestioned assumption until the Reformation, and great theologians such as the 13th-century Italian Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that "Scripture alone" was a source for theology. Even while maintaining a "Scripture alone" position, however, theologians also held that certain truths or practices (such as infant baptism), although not found in Scripture, were validated by the tradition of the church. They agreed, moreover, that the solemn decisions of the church, especially those that were arrived at by the ecumenical councils, were authentic interpretations of Christian doctrine and therefore irrevocably binding on the church.

In reaction to the Protestant insistence during the Reformation on a seemingly unqualified "Scripture alone" principle, the Council of Trent affirmed (Fourth Session) that Christian revelation was contained in "written books" and in "unwritten traditions." Although this decree speaks at length and almost exclusively about the Bible, the insertion of the phrase about "unwritten traditions" was interpreted until recently as indicating a "two-source" theory. Today the interpretation of the decree is debated, but its significance has been somewhat diminished by a general agreement among both Catholic and Protestant scholars that the books of the New Testament are themselves the product of various traditions or schools in the early church (see Biblical Scholarship).

Somewhat related to the theological notion of tradition is the doctrine of apostolic succession—that is, the continuous transmission of ministry from the time of Jesus until today. The doctrine is found as early as the Epistle to the Corinthians (about ad 96), traditionally attributed to Pope Clement I. It is present in a qualified form in some Protestant churches, but it is more expressly affirmed in Roman Catholicism. It is identified with the succession of bishops in office and interpreted as the source of the bishops’ authority and leadership role. The most specific instance of this teaching is that the pope is the successor of Saint Peter, who was chosen by Jesus as head of his church (see Matthew 16:16-18). Thus, Catholicism teaches that the same authority and spiritual gifts operative in the church today were operative in the apostolic communities.

Almost implicit in this belief in apostolic succession is the belief that the church has the right and duty to teach Christian doctrine and morals authoritatively and that the substantial correctness of this teaching is guaranteed by the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in the church. Catholic theology locates this authority in the bishops, the pope, and the ecumenical councils; under certain circumstances it acknowledges this teaching as infallible. The teaching authority of the church is referred to collectively as the magisterium, a term that came into common use in the 19th century.

Because of Catholic emphasis on the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the church, Catholic theology has given more attention to ecclesiology than has the theology of other Christian bodies. Trying to correct an excessively juridical concept of the church, the Second Vatican Council consistently spoke of it as a mystery and favored images such as the "people of God" to describe it. Fundamental to Catholic belief in all ages has been the assumption that God’s love and grace are mediated to the world in a uniquely efficacious way through the ministry of the church.

With greater enthusiasm than other Western churches, Roman Catholicism fosters the veneration of the saints and especially of Mary. In 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and in 1950 Pope Pius XII proclaimed her assumption (see Assumption of the Virgin). Often criticized for letting veneration of the saints obscure the worship due God, the church has tried to limit it, for instance by reducing the number of saints whose feasts are observed in the liturgy. Catholics also believe that they can help by their prayers and good works those who have died without being fully purified of their sins. This belief is closely associated with the doctrines of purgatory and indulgence.

The celebration of the Eucharist, commonly referred to as the Mass, is the center of Catholic worship. Catholics are expected to be present at Mass every Sunday and on a few major feast days during the year. Mass is also celebrated daily in most churches and is the essential element of the service at marriages, funerals, and other Catholic observances.

The Mass consists of two principal parts, namely the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist during which Holy Communion is distributed. Within this set structure considerable variation is possible in the use of music, pageantry, and other devices to render the service appropriate for a given occasion.

This potential for variation is graphically illustrated in the history of the Mass and in the differences that exist today between the Roman rite and the rites of the Eastern churches. Major changes were made in the Roman rite by the Second Vatican Council in its decree Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 4, 1963). The general tendency of these changes was to excise accretions to the liturgy that obscured its purpose and basic outline. Of all the provisions legislated or inspired by the council, none was more dramatic than the translation of the liturgy and rites of the church from their traditional Latin language into modern vernaculars (spoken languages).

The Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, which are the most important liturgical rites of the church through which participants experience God’s love and power. Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist through the change of bread and wine into his body and blood (transubstantiation) and are encouraged to receive the Eucharist at every Mass in which they participate. The other sacraments are baptism, confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony, and the anointing of the sick. Catholic theology teaches that these signs, instituted by Christ, effect their spiritual benefit on the recipient independent of the faith or virtue of the minister (ex opere operato).

Liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council revised the sacrament of penance to shift attention away from confession of a detailed list of sins (see Sin) to the healing nature of the divine mercy mediated through the sacrament. To highlight these purposes the alternative term sacrament of reconciliation was devised. Besides other revisions in sacramental rites, the council determined that the anointing of the sick should be administered in every serious illness or old age and not be delayed until the point of death. Hence, it should no longer be called extreme (last) unction.

The minister for the sacrament of matrimony is not the officiating priest, as is usually thought, but the bride and groom themselves. The bond this sacrament creates between two baptized persons cannot, according to Catholic theology, be dissolved. Numerous prior conditions exist for a valid bond, however, so that it is sometimes possible for the church to declare, after examination, that a marriage was null and void from the beginning. Often viewed as the Catholic equivalent of divorce, annulment is based on different principles. The church teaches that the purpose of matrimony is to foster mutual love and procreate children.

Catholics express piety in many ways in addition to the Mass and sacraments. The rosary of the Virgin Mary, for instance, is still a popular devotion. In recent years the strict obligation to fast (see Fasting) and to abstain from meat on certain days has been made optional, but it is still observed by many. Although the earlier insistence of bishops, especially in the United States, that children be sent to schools operated by the church has been abandoned, many Catholics continue to do so, maintaining a strong system of elementary and secondary education. Throughout the world the church sponsors a number of universities and an even larger number of faculties of theology. The church is directly or indirectly responsible for an immense number of publications that range from popular journalism to highly sophisticated scholarship.

The Roman Catholic Church has been characterized in modern times by strong positions on some controversial issues. Beginning with the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII, the popes have consistently decried the injustices of the economic and social conditions created by modern industrial societies and proposed remedies for them. They have denounced nuclear warfare, repeatedly urged an end to the arms race, and sought to halt the exploitation of poor nations by rich ones. The protection and promotion of basic human rights in the social, economic, and political orders have been central to these pronouncements. In Latin America some Catholic intellectuals have developed a new theology, known as liberation theology, to address these concerns.

At the Second Vatican Council the church encouraged Catholics to work with members of other religions for common human goals and for the reunion of the various Christian churches. Although the Roman Catholic Church has never joined the World Council of Churches, it does maintain contact with it. In recognition of the genuine spiritual values in other religions, Catholic missionary practice since the council has been modified from proselytizing to a dialogue more respectful of those values (see Missionary Movements).

On certain other issues the church has been more conservative but no less forceful. The prohibition of "artificial" means of birth control was reiterated by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968). This document provoked objections in some theological circles and even among some bishops—a unique phenomenon for the modern papacy. Although its import continues to be debated, it is certainly the most authoritative statement on the issue. The Roman Catholic Church has been a fierce opponent of liberalized abortion laws and has inspired political resistance to such legislation in several Western countries. Although the church permits women under certain circumstances to administer the Eucharist and perform some other ministries, it has not allowed them to be ordained priests or deacons. For priests of the Roman rite, marriage is strictly forbidden. In recent years the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy has become an issue of major concern in some European countries as well as the United States. In 2002 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a Charter for the Protection of Young People and Children. The Vatican, however, withheld approval of the charter, citing potential conflicts between the plan’s policies and church law, and requested that discussions be held to modify and clarify certain parts of the charter. The bishops later revised their policy.

Until the break with the Eastern church (see Orthodox Church) in 1054 and the break with the Protestant churches in the 16th century, it is impossible to separate the history of the Roman Catholic Church from the history of Christianity in general. The distinct Roman Catholic view of history, however, is its claim to unbroken continuity with the church of the New Testament and its consequent acceptance as legitimate of the major developments in doctrine and structure that it has assimilated since then. The great shifts in culture, theology, and discipline within Christian history are not necessarily viewed, therefore, as deviations from some absolute norm of the apostolic church. They tend to be viewed, rather, as expressions in different and more elaborate ways of impulses that were already present from the beginning.

The first great change in Christian history was Christianity’s spread from Palestine to the rest of the Mediterranean world in the first few decades after Jesus’ death. Within a short time Christianity had adopted the language and philosophical vocabulary of the Greco-Roman world to express its message, and it also adopted some procedural and organizational practices of the Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the characteristically Christian figure of the bishop had clearly emerged by the middle of the 2nd century. The recognition of the church by Emperor Constantine the Great in 313 consolidated these developments and gave the church support in the great doctrinal controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries that determined orthodoxy. By the time of 5th-century pope Leo I, the bishop of Rome was claiming and to some extent was exercising a primacy of leadership over the other churches (see Papacy).

The decline of the Roman Empire in the West and the assimilation of the Germanic peoples into the church had great impact on all aspects of religious life, including a diminution of episcopal (bishops’) authority from the 7th to the 11th century. Under the leadership of a reformed papacy in the late 11th century, however, episcopal rights were restored amid the bitter Investiture Controversy waged by the papacy with various rulers in Europe. As a result, the papacy emerged as the acknowledged leader of the Western church, possessing a centralizing and increasingly efficient Curia. Canon law was revitalized and implemented, with an emphasis on the role of the papacy in governing the church. These developments, plus the Crusades, made reconciliation with the Eastern church more difficult after the Great Schism of 1054.

Partly in reaction to the changes resulting from the Investiture Controversy, the Protestant Reformation broke out in the 16th century. The Catholic Church responded during the era of the Counter Reformation by reaffirming the traditions that had developed through the ages and especially by emphasizing those elements that were most under attack, such as Scholastic theology (see Scholasticism), the efficacy of the sacraments, and the primacy of the pope.

The attacks against the church inspired by the 18th-century Enlightenment (see Enlightenment, Age of) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) were largely responsible for the defensive postures adopted by Catholicism in the 19th century. The Second Vatican Council reversed this trend. Although the changes introduced by the council did engender confusion for some Catholics, the church has remained fundamentally stable and flourishing in many parts of the world. The ecumenical process of reaching out to other faiths, begun in the 1960s, continued during the remainder of the 20th century through papal visits and dialogues.

Pope John Paul II sought to end the schism that has split the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions for nearly 1,000 years. A series of dialogues were held between the leaders of the two churches in an effort to find common ground. John Paul also reached out to other groups, reaching accord in 1999 with the Lutheran World Federation on the means of salvation—an issue that had led Martin Luther to break from the Catholic Church in the early 1500s. Papal visits to sacred sites in Israel and in Islamic countries were intended to smooth relations with Judaism and Islam. In a further effort to heal relations, in the year 2000 John Paul issued a series of apologies for past errors of Roman Catholics.

The history of Catholicism in the United States began with the Spanish conquest of Central and South America in the 16th century. During the course of this conquest Spain began to colonize regions north of Mexico. Missionaries, mainly Spanish Franciscans and Jesuits, were a central part of these expeditions. From the middle of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century they established settlements in what are now the states of Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and California. These settlements became the centers for an intense effort to Christianize the Native American population living in those regions. French missionaries during the same time were evangelizing the Native Americans living along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, in areas that are now Maine and northern New York, and even around the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi River valley. Before 1789 Catholics living in the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania were under the jurisdiction of the vicar apostolic of London, but in that year a see was established in Baltimore, and on August 15, 1790, American prelate John Carroll was ordained as its first bishop.

During the 19th century the tide of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere swelled the ranks of the Roman Catholic communion, and the Catholic population of the United States, which had been 35,000 in 1790, increased to 195,000 in 1820, about 1.6 million in 1850, and about 12 million in 1900. In the year 2000 the estimated Roman Catholic population of the United States had reached 63.6 million. During the same period, the U.S. Catholic hierarchy was composed of 11 cardinals (increasing to 13 in 2001), 45 archbishops, 373 bishops, and 46,075 priests. The total number of Roman Catholic parishes was 19,544. The church maintained 218 seminaries for the training of the clergy. Other educational institutions under Roman Catholic sponsorship were about 7,000 elementary schools, about 1,600 high schools, and 235 colleges and universities; the total number of students enrolled in these institutions was about 3.5 million.

Catholicism in Canada began with the colonization of New France in the 17th century. New France was a Catholic colony stretching from the St. Lawrence River to the western Great Lakes. French missionaries, most notably the Jesuits, evangelized the native Indian population, setting up mission towns throughout New France. The first Canadian martyrs were a number of Jesuits killed by Indians in the 1640s. François Xavier de Laval-Montmorency was the chief religious authority in New France from 1659 to 1684. A Jesuit priest, he was ordained the first bishop of Québec in 1674. Because New France was a Catholic colony, the clergy had charge of education, hospitals, and welfare; and the state enforced tithes and gave the church land and money. After the British conquest of New France in 1760, opposition to the church arose, but the Québec Act (1774) opened public office to Catholics and authorized continuation of tithes.

As a result of 19th- and 20th-century immigration, the Roman Catholic Church in Canada grew rapidly, and it was removed from mission status in 1908. The newcomers, however, changed its character. Irish immigration in the early 1800s reduced the French Canadians to a minority among Catholics outside Québec and led to conflict over language and episcopal appointments. Such tension continued in the 20th century with the arrival of southern and eastern Europeans. In the late 1990s the Roman Catholic Church was the largest religious group in the country: 45 percent of all Canadians were Catholic. In 2000 there were about 9,600 priests and 5,681 parishes spread throughout 18 archdioceses and 45 dioceses.

Reviewed By:
Jay P. Dolan

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