The Roman Catholic Church in the 13th century

The Foundation of Christianity

The foundation of Christianity has always been the Roman Catholic Church. It is the most widely practiced religion in the entire planet. It is especially noticeable in western civilization. When compared to all other religions and ways of life, Roman Catholics are the majority worldwide; they outnumber Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, and all other Christians combined. Roman Catholicism’s culture is the most intriguing part because it combines elements from various other religions. Its beliefs and practices encompass all the religions known to man and the only way to really know how they are related is to use a comparative of the Roman Catholicism with each religion. Through the use of two journal articles and one film, the paper will illustrate how the facts about the catholic church’s history.

The Catholic Church and the Papacy

The Catholic Church comes with the papacy title. The articles and the film show that the pope is the leader of the worldwide community of Roman Catholics. The pope however bears different meanings of his title to different people. Some people believe he is the Vicar of Christ, the Divine messenger, while others believe he is the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies about the coming of the Antichrist. Either way, there is no argument the papacy is the world’s oldest absolute monarchy that is still on in the present times. The catholic organization is in the shape of a pyramid, where the pope is at the tip of the pyramid and the congregation on the pews at the very bottom. In between, there are many institutions ranging from Archdioceses, dioceses, seminaries, provinces, sacred congregations, just to mention a few.

The Beginnings of the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church begun at the beginning of Christianity. The sources all agree that it is impossible to separate the two; history of the Roman Catholic Church and history of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church is said to have been the first church. According to Catholicism, it is believed that Christ builds the church and appointed Peter as its head. The church that Peter built was catholic and he was the first viable head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was a reformed movement of Judaism. However, they continued to follow most of the Jewish practices in their worship. The first church was in Rome which was the capital of the Roman Empire. The church that was built there was the main in all the churches. The church attracted many tourists who often came to pay pilgrimage; thus the city came to be known as ’the church from which every church took its start’ as the film says.

The Thirteenth Century

The 13th century proved to be the peak of the Roman Catholic history. This was the era that marked a change in the history of the Roman Catholic churches around the world. Needham says that this era had Pope Innocent III as the head of the catholic churches. Pope innocent had a lot of reforms in his mind when he became pope. First of all, he aimed at making the papacy the central leadership point around which all other churches would revolve around. For instance, one of the reforms he made was appointing pope ambassadors in different regions around the world. These ambassadors were meant to report directly to him. The main job of the ambassadors would be to foresee the actions of the bishops around the world. The bishops were to ensure the church policies followed the papal principals. The pope also exercised the right to appoint bishops in some instances. He extensively used this power in England.

The Rise of Monastic Orders

During this time, several monastic orders came into existence within the Catholic Church. They played a very important role within the church. There were groups which had been formed to deal with specific problems that were affecting members of the church. The film shows that the main monastic orders included the Benedictines, Premonstratensians, and Cistercians. There was a group of the mendicant orders. This order was focused on ministry, pastoral teachings, and eradication of poverty. The members of this group believed in living a life that Jesus did. The members included; the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Augustinians, and the Carmelites. Each of these groups had their specific function. For instance, the Dominicans were the preachers. The other groups were named after their founder respectively and worked to make the world a better living place for the people.

The Fourth Crusade and Pope Innocent III

One of the activities that Innocent took part in was crusades. The fourth crusade is the most renowned crusade that Pope Innocent III took part in. He led people in an attempt to take over the holy land. They were to go through Egypt to get to the Holy land. The major challenge of this crusade was that the Christians lacked the funds to pay for provisions and the fleet they had acquired from Venetians. They, therefore, resorted to restoring the city of Zara back to Christianity. They had to ensure that this city upheld the issue of obedience. The leaders realized that they had to take care of their followers. According to Needham, since they did not have enough provisions for the whole crusade, the leaders decided to go to Constantinople. At Constantinople, the crusade leaders tried to take over the throne. Guisepi says that there was a series of violent attacks because the original owners of the town would not allow that. However, the crusaders were able to overthrow the throne. They, however, renamed the city to the Latin empire. This was the beginning of the eastern orthodox. The members of the crusade decided to stay in the Latin empire and begin their own church. This was the last crusade the papacy ever took part in. From there on, the crusades were organized by individuals, but never by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Innocent went back to Rome to continue with his ruling over the Catholic Church.

The Reforms of Pope Innocent III

The reforms of Innocent III came to a completion in 1215. During this year, he made certain reforms in the fourth Lateran council of 2015. The council was responsible for enacting the rules that were made. The reforms that they enacted were in a wide scope; ranging from the moral conduct of the clergy to the issues of church disciplines. They also emphasized the importance of preaching. One of the reforms that were made at that time and is active to date is the confession policy. All Christians, or rather Catholics, were supposed to make a confession of their sins once every year. Needham says they were supposed to go to their residential priests and give an account of the sins they have committed between that time and the last time they made a confession. This was supposed to enable their sins to be forgiven and for them to start a new life. They were also supposed to attend mass at least once in a year. There were no permissible excuses that would spare any Christian at the time to not attend mass once a year at least, during Easter. The other major reform involved the enactment of the theology of mass. The process of transubstantiation was finally defined for the first time in history. The two authors agree that the doctrine ensured that all catholic churches around the world followed one strict rule when performing mass. This meant that despite the location of a church in the world, the mass would be similar to all the other catholic churches in the world.

Challenges and Controversies

Some groups were not comfortable with all the reforms that had been made in the Catholic Church. These groups were known as the Cathars and the Waldensians. These two groups taught against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The two movements were the most widespread. The film insists that such groups came about because they lost their sense of security. After the pope came from the crusades, these two groups could not bear to stay as part of the Catholic denomination. They, therefore, disengaged themselves to form other movements. The fourth Lateran council was not comfortable with the teachings of these movements, and neither were they comfortable with the rate at which they were spreading. The council, therefore, decided to preach against these movements and their teachings. They claimed that these movements were. Based on their teachings, the council concluded that their spirits were not influenced by God. Therefore they taught their people saying that their way to hell would be through these movements. The Waldensians had friction with the local episcopal community which led them to leave the church and start their own. Instead of fading away as the Catholic leaders had expected, they flourished more and more. With each passing day, they were able to grow and increase the number of believers in their circle. On the other hand, the Cathars were also a controversial movement in relation to the church. They were among the first people to join the protestant community. According to Needham, they were a more controversial group compared to the Waldensians. They are said to have been part of a gnostic movement. Some of the modern-day scholars like Guisepi insist that the Cathars did not exist. However, their roots are found in modern-day France. The Cathars, just like the Waldensians, flourished more outside the church compared to when they were operating within the confines of the church. They flourished because they could now make their own decisions which were not governed by the Roman Catholic movement. This was the beginning of the protestant movement.

The Influence of the Roman Catholic Empire

The Roman Catholic empire during the 13th century formed a base for most scholars and their theology research. This was the century that had the most influence on Christianity. This century marked a rich knowledge in western theology. Schools started coming up in the twelfth century and by the thirteenth century, there was a rich culture built around the western Christendom. Theology was one of the main topics taught in the universities, amongst law and medicine. The knowledge of theology in this era revolved around the Roman Catholic Church.

The Importance of the Catholic Church

In conclusion, the Catholic Church is the base of all the churches in the world. It is the mother church. It was the first church, headed by Peter. Peter suffered because of the church until his death where he was crucified upside down. Paul, who was initially Saul, took the church further and won more souls than any other person. The first church was situated in Rome, the capital city of the Roman Empire. The church attracted more people to the empire; tourists alike. They came to worship and to witness the marvel of the church. The Roman Catholic grew to form a monarchy that has been in control to date. The 13th century brought about the rise of Pope Innocent III who came with many reforms to the church. It was during this era that a group of the church broke away to form its own denomination. Christianity was divided because of the reforms brought about by the pope. However, The Roman Catholic has managed to remain as the largest religious tradition in the whole world, all other religions considered. It is larger than even the Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other Christians. The Catholic Church is believed to have been the first church, and it has traditions based on all other religious traditions in the world. The Roman Catholic Church is the mother of all churches.

References

Needham, N. (2013). The 13th century. Table Talk Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/13th-century/

Guisepi, R. (2017). Christianity, A History of the Catholic Church. History-world.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from http://history-world.org/a_history_of_the_catholic_church.htm

Power of the Church in the Middle Ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJH0V_Uhp5E