Roman Catholicism | Britannica.com

<!doctype html>    <html data-ytrk-page="TOPIC PAGINATED LARGE" class="no-js " lang="en"> <head prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns# fb: http://ogp.me/ns/fb# "><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.britannica.com:80/topic/Roman-Catholicism","20150615002703","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1434328023"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />   <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init mendel"> Mendel = {}; $UI = {}; (function() { var html = document.getElementsByTagName('html')[0]; html.className = html.className.replace( 'no-js', ''); })(); </script> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=Edge,chrome=1"/> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"/> <meta name="description" content="Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major..."/><meta name="keywords" content="Roman Catholicism, encyclopedia, encyclopaedia, britannica, article"/><link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism"/><link rel="next" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/External-factors"/><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@britannica"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Roman Catholicism"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major..."/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Encyclopedia Britannica"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/60/8860-004-7F7FA024.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpg"/> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init opengraph"> Mendel.openGraph = { type: 'article', title: 'Roman Catholicism', description: 'Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major...', siteName: 'Encyclopedia Britannica', url: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism', image: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/60/8860-004-7F7FA024.jpg', imageType: 'image/jpg' }; </script> <title>Roman Catholicism | Britannica.com</title> <link href="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Coustard|Asap:400,700|Open+Sans:400,700,800" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20150615002703cs_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/css/libs/reset.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20150615002703cs_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/css/min-mendel.css?v=2.31.58"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703cs_/https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.3.0/css/font-awesome.min.css"/> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init mendel config"> Mendel.config = { page: 'Topic', testVersion: 'A', server: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com', mediaServer: "https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://media.web.britannica.com", currentUrl: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism', sharedUrl: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism', userType: 'ANONYMOUS', userInfo: { statId: '-1' ,userId: '' ,currency: 'USD' ,country: 'US' ,bcomId: '-3791508515389002514' ,mvst: { "HEADER_UPSELL_IMAGE" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/header_upsell_apr2015.jpg", "HEADER_UPSELL" : "HU_1", "SMALL_ADDTNL_RESOURCES" : "YES", "RR_PROMO" : "RR_1", "BKID_UPSELL_IMAGE" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/EBOK_300x200A.jpg", "PINNED_AD_IMAGE" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/Anchor_newsize.png" } ,provider: 'NONE' ,preferences: {} }, isLoggedInAsUser: false, hasAds: true, hasVideoAds: true, adapTvId: 'nj232', adapTvZid: 'Eb_autoplay-free', n0ticeReturnUrl: 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://projects.britannica.com/signin/return', logGoogleGPT: false, isMobile: false, isTablet: false, isPhone: false, analytics: [ { type: 'google', id: 'UA-6636134-11', logClickAction: true, logPageLoad: true, logFakePageLoad: true }, { type: 'eb', logClickAction: false, logPageLoad: false, logFakePageLoad: true } ], logAnalytics: false, includeGigya: true, gigyaProviders: 'facebook,twitter,googleplus,linkedin,yahoo' ,mendelCookie: { "pagesViewed" : 3, "topicPagesViewed" : 2, "articlePageUrl" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism", "mwQuizGroupNumber" : null, "mwQuizGroupExcept" : null, "vistedTopics" : [ 507284, 553609 ], "currentReadingList" : 4220, "galleryReferrer" : null },topicUrl: '/topic/Roman-Catholicism' ,topicContentType: 'ARTICLE' ,freeTopicReason: 'FREE_TOPIC_FOR_READING_LIST' ,channel: 'HISTORY_AND_SOCIETY' ,topicId: 507284 ,topicTitle: 'Roman Catholicism' ,topicAkw: 'history society,social sciences,sports recreation,tourism' ,isIndexEntry: false ,template: 'LARGE' ,hasToc: true ,pageNumber: 1 }; </script><script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/https://pixel.quantserve.com/seg/p-fePJXh17dNmkk.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Quantcast"> Mendel._quantsegs = null; Mendel._getQsegs = function() { if ( Mendel._quantsegs != null ) { return Mendel._quantsegs; } var cn = '__qseg'; var c=document.cookie;if(!c)return ''; var i=c.indexOf(cn+"=");if(-1==i)return ''; var len=i+cn.length+1; var end=c.indexOf(";", len); var value = c.substring(len,end<0?c.length:end); var quantSegs = []; var _qsegs = value.split('|'); for (i=0;i < _qsegs.length;i++) { var qArr=_qsegs[i].split("_"); if (qArr.length>1) { quantSegs.push( qArr[1] ); } } Mendel._quantsegs = quantSegs.join(','); return Mendel._quantsegs; } </script><script type="text/javascript" data-type="load GPT"> (function() { var src = '//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js'; document.write('<scr' + 'ipt src="' + src + '"></scr' + 'ipt>'); })(); </script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/http://js.indexww.com/ht/bri2.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="load openX"> (function() { var src = '//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://ox-d.merriamwebster.servedbyopenx.com/w/1.0/jstag?nc=34444486-EB'; document.write('<scr' + 'ipt src="' + src + '"></scr' + 'ipt>'); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init GPT slots"> var googletagSlots = []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletagSlots.push( googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_FREE', [300,250],'div-gpt-ad-5c09177f-eb9b-45ee-9cb6-4aeadfbf92f1') .setTargeting('POS',['TOP']) .addService(googletag.pubads()) ); googletagSlots.push( googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_FREE', [300,250],'div-gpt-ad-904cc083-e261-48ab-9303-a8939e57dfd7') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT']) .addService(googletag.pubads()) ); googletagSlots.push( googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_FREE', [300,250],'div-gpt-ad-2eef0dae-5df5-403e-98a4-0908fe68df7a') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT2']) .addService(googletag.pubads()) ); googletagSlots.push( googletag.defineSlot('/34444486/EB_A/ARTICLES_FREE', [728,90],'div-gpt-ad-2aba5893-bdac-476d-a7f9-7ff1af1ae044') .setTargeting('POS',['BOT']) .addService(googletag.pubads()) ); googletag.pubads().setTargeting('dc_ref',['https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism']); if ( this.Mendel && this.Mendel._getQsegs ) { googletag.pubads().setTargeting('QSEGS',[ Mendel._getQsegs() ]); } googletag.pubads().setTargeting('ARTICLE',['507284']);googletag.pubads().setTargeting('CAT',['history society,social sciences,sports recreation,tourism']);googletag.pubads().setTargeting('PAGE',[3]); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.pubads().enableAsyncRendering(); googletag.enableServices(); }); </script><script type="text/javascript" data-type="load Taboola"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({article:'auto'}); !function (e, f, u) { e.async = 1; e.src = u; f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f); }(document.createElement('script'),document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0], '//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/merriamwebster-ebcom/loader.js'); </script> </head> <body ng-app class="topicPage topic-page-large user-ANONYMOUS md-desktop font-sans has-footer-ad no-toolbar leg-a"> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <header class="font-sans-ui"> <div class="header-content"> <div class="header-title"> <h4> <a class="logo-homepage" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/"><img src="/web/20150615002703im_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/images/header/eb-logo-header.png" alt="Encyclopedia Britannica"/></a> <a class="header-thistle" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/"></a> </h4> <div class="header-nav"> <ul> <li><a data-ytrk="127" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://help.eb.com/premium2/index.htm" target="_blank">Help</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="27" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://info.eb.com/" target="_blank">School & Library Products</a></li> <li> <a data-ytrk="25" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://store.britannica.com/" target="_blank">SHOP</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="header-login "> <div class="header-login-links"> <span data-ytrk="262" class="md-header-join-link">JOIN</span><span data-ytrk="17" class="login-link">LOGIN</span> <a data-ytrk="/19" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://safe1.britannica.com/registrations/signup.do?partnerCode=EBOPPGSUB_LP_MDL_A" rel="nofollow">Activate Your Free Trial!</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div id="header-global-nav" data-position-fixed="0"> <div class="header-global-nav-content"> <a data-ytrk="/655" class="header-global-nav-home" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/"><img src="/web/20150615002703im_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/images/header/homepage-small-thistle.png" alt="home"/></a> <ul id="header-global-nav-buttons" data-title="navigation"> <li><a data-ytrk="/439" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/popular-topics/browse">Popular Topics</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="/440" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse">quizzes</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="/441" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/gallery/browse">galleries</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="/442" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/list/browse">lists</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="/700" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary">Dictionary</a></li> </ul> <div class="search-form"> <form method="get" action="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/search" id="searchCriteria" class=""> <div class="search-box"> <input name="query" type="text" id="header-query" placeholder="Search Britannica..." class="query font-sans" maxlength="200"/> <button data-ytrk="21" type="submit" class="search-submit" value=""><i class="fa fa-search"></i></button> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-after-header"><div class="container md-reading-list ui-away" data-position-fixed="0"> <a data-ytrk="/680" class="md-reading-list-story-link" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/popular-topics/story/irelands-same-sex-marriage-referendum">Read This Story and Join the Conversation</a> <ul class="md-reading-list-dropdown"> <li class="selected"> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/same-sex-marriage"> <span class="spotlight"> SPOTLIGHT: </span> Ireland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ornette-Coleman"> <span class="behind-the-news"> BEHIND THE NEWS: </span> Jazz Musician Ornette Coleman Dies</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marta"> <span class="behind-the-news"> BEHIND THE NEWS: </span> Marta Breaks World Cup Record</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Texas-Revolution"> <span class="spotlight"> SPOTLIGHT: </span> How Texas Rose</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Felipe-Herrera"> <span class="behind-the-news"> BEHIND THE NEWS: </span> Herrera First Hispanic U.S. Poet Laureate</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Magna-Carta"> <span class="spotlight"> SPOTLIGHT: </span> 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey"> <span class="behind-the-news"> BEHIND THE NEWS: </span> Major Shake-Up in Turkish Election</a> </li> </ul> <div class="md-reading-list-list "> <div class="md-reading-list-scroller ui-hidden-opacity"> <a data-ytrk="/676" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/same-sex-marriage" class=""> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/57/93057-003-C367663A.jpg" alt=""/></div> <div class="description"> What countries and U.S. states have legalized same-sex marriage?</div> </a> <a data-ytrk="/676" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/marriage" class=""> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/06/93506-003-B7943DEC.jpg" alt=""/></div> <div class="description"> How has the institution of marriage changed over time?</div> </a> <a data-ytrk="/676" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism" class="visited selected"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/60/8860-003-653EBBDF.jpg" alt=""/></div> <div class="description"> Who is spearheading the opposition?</div> </a> <a data-ytrk="/677" class="next-story behind-the-news" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ornette-Coleman"> <div class="image-wrapper"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/52/7652-118-BC9B5EB7.jpg"/> </div> <div class="description"> <span>Next story:</span> Jazz Musician Ornette Coleman Dies</div> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-reading-list-arrows"> <a data-ytrk="/679" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/marriage" class="prev-story"> <i class="arrow fa fa-chevron-left" title="Previous"></i> <div class="description"> <div class="story spotlight"> <span>Spotlight:</span> Ireland’s Same-Sex Marriage Referendum</div> <div class="item"> <div class="label">Next</div> How has the institution of marriage changed over time?</div> </div> </a> <a data-ytrk="/679" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ornette-Coleman" class="next-story" data-position-fixed="0"> <div class="description"> <div class="story behind-the-news"> <span>Behind The News:</span> Jazz Musician Ornette Coleman Dies</div> <div class="item"> <div class="label">Next</div> How did Coleman get his start?</div> </div> <i class="arrow fa fa-chevron-right" title="Next"></i> </a> </div></div> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="md-page-h1-wrapper"> <h1><span>Roman Catholicism</span></h1> <div class="md-navigator hide-on-edit"> <div class="fa fa-bars fa-fw fa-2x" data-ytrk="586"></div> <ul class="md-navigator-dropdown font-sans"> <li> <strong>Article</strong> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/295" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-websites">Web sites</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/294" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-bibliography">Bibliography</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/211" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-year-in-review">Year in Review</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/299" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-supplemental-information">Additional Information</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/292" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-contributors" rel="nofollow">Contributors</a> </li> </ul> </div><div class="subheading hide-on-edit"> <div class="md-horizontal-social-toolbar2 no-text"> <span class="md-horizontal-social-toolbar2-contributor">Written by: <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/bps/user-profile/2275/jaroslav-jan-pelikan" data-ytrk="/212">Jaroslav Jan Pelikan</a> </span> <ul class="md-toolbar "> <li class="comments" title="Comments" data-ytrk="587"> <a href="#_comments"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-comment fa-stack-2x"></i><strong class="comments-text fa-stack-1x fa-inverse"></strong></span> </a> </li> <li class="share" title="Share" data-ytrk="113"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-share-alt fa-stack-2x"></i></span> </li> <li class="t-email" title="Email" data-ytrk="112"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-envelope fa-stack-2x"></i></span> </li> <li class="t-print" title="Print" data-ytrk="111"> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/print/article/507284" target="_blank"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-print fa-stack-2x"></i></span> </a> </li> <li class="t-cite" title="Cite" data-ytrk="117"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-square-o fa-stack-2x"></i><i class="fa fa-quote-right fa-stack-1x"></i></span> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <ul class="md-topic-title-links"> <li> <span id="md-topic-title-link-read">Read</span></li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/669" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/images-videos">View All Media (42)</a> </li> <li> <a id="md-topic-title-link-history" data-ytrk="/291" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-history" rel="nofollow">View History</a></li> <li> <a class="md-topic-title-link-edit" href="#" rel="nofollow" data-ytrk="263">Edit</a> </li> <li> <a id="md-topic-title-link-feedback" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-feedback" data-ytrk="/267" rel="nofollow">Feedback</a></li> </ul></div> <div id="edit-toolbar-placeholder"></div> <div class="md-topic-alternate-titles font-sans-ui"> <strong>Alternate title: </strong> Roman Catholic Church</div><div class="md-content-wrapper topic-content"> <article class="content-body font-sans-ui" vocab="http://schema.org" resource="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/507284/Roman-Catholicism" typeof="Article"> <meta property="url" href="/topic/Roman-Catholicism"/> <meta property="name" content="Roman Catholicism"/> <div id="long-toc" class="md-toc hide-on-edit fancy-scrollbar" data-position-fixed="50" data-unfix=".pagination-toolbar"> <div class="title font-sans">Table of Contents</div> <div class="topic-toc-tree"> <ul class="toc-ul"><li class="lv1" data-section="507284main" data-toc="toc507284main"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism" data-ytrk="131">Introduction</a></li><li class="lv1" data-section="507284main" data-toc="toc257667"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism#toc257667" data-ytrk="131">History of Roman Catholicism</a><ul><li class="lv2" data-section="507284main" data-toc="toc257668"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism#toc257668" data-ytrk="591">The emergence of Catholic Christianity</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="507284main" data-toc="toc257669"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism#toc257669" data-ytrk="591">The emergence of Roman Catholicism</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="257673" data-toc="toc257673"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-church-of-the-early-Middle-Ages" data-ytrk="/591">The church of the early Middle Ages</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="257676" data-toc="toc257677"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Popular-Christianity-c-1000#toc257677" data-ytrk="/591">The church of the High Middle Ages</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="257689" data-toc="toc257691"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-golden-age-of-Scholasticism#toc257691" data-ytrk="/591">From the late Middle Ages to the Reformation</a></li></ul></li><li class="lv1" data-section="257700" data-toc="toc43743"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Roman-Catholicism-and-the-emergence-of-national-consciousness#toc43743" data-ytrk="/131">The age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation</a><ul><li class="lv2" data-section="43744" data-toc="toc43744"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Roman-Catholicism-and-the-Protestant-Reformation" data-ytrk="/591">Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43745" data-toc="toc43745"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Roman-Catholic-Reformation" data-ytrk="/591">The Roman Catholic Reformation</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43748" data-toc="toc43748"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Counter-Reformation" data-ytrk="/591">The Counter-Reformation</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43748" data-toc="toc43749"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Counter-Reformation#toc43749" data-ytrk="/591">Post-Reformation conditions</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43748" data-toc="toc43750"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Counter-Reformation#toc43750" data-ytrk="/591">Developments in France</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43752" data-toc="toc43754"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Jansenism#toc43754" data-ytrk="/591">Controversies involving the Jesuits</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43756" data-toc="toc43757"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Suppression-of-the-Jesuits#toc43757" data-ytrk="/591">Religious life in the 17th and 18th centuries</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43756" data-toc="toc43758"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Suppression-of-the-Jesuits#toc43758" data-ytrk="/591">The church in the modern period</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="257701" data-toc="toc43765"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Aftermath-of-the-council#toc43765" data-ytrk="/591">Roman Catholicism outside Europe</a></li></ul></li><li class="lv1" data-section="43647" data-toc="toc43647"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Structure-of-the-church" data-ytrk="/131">Structure of the church</a><ul><li class="lv2" data-section="43647" data-toc="toc43648"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Structure-of-the-church#toc43648" data-ytrk="/591">Doctrinal basis</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43647" data-toc="toc43651"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Structure-of-the-church#toc43651" data-ytrk="/591">The papacy</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43658" data-toc="toc43660"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Historical-conceptions-of-the-relationship-of-the-papacy-to-the-world#toc43660" data-ytrk="/591">The offices of the clergy</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43663" data-toc="toc43665"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Ecumenical-councils#toc43665" data-ytrk="/591">Religious communities</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43668" data-toc="toc43669"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Nuns-and-brothers#toc43669" data-ytrk="/591">The laity</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43670" data-toc="toc43670"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Canon-law" data-ytrk="/591">Canon law</a></li></ul></li><li class="lv1" data-section="43670" data-toc="toc43671"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Canon-law#toc43671" data-ytrk="/131">Beliefs and practices</a><ul><li class="lv2" data-section="43670" data-toc="toc43672"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Canon-law#toc43672" data-ytrk="/591">Faith</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43674" data-toc="toc43676"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Preambles-and-motivation-of-faith#toc43676" data-ytrk="/591">Revelation</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43679" data-toc="toc43679"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Tradition-and-Scripture" data-ytrk="/591">Tradition and Scripture</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43679" data-toc="toc43680"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Tradition-and-Scripture#toc43680" data-ytrk="/591">The magisterium</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43684" data-toc="toc43684"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Major-dogmas-and-doctrines" data-ytrk="/591">Major dogmas and doctrines</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43684" data-toc="toc43689"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Major-dogmas-and-doctrines#toc43689" data-ytrk="/591">Sacraments</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43696" data-toc="toc43685"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Marriage#toc43685" data-ytrk="/591">Liturgy</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43688" data-toc="toc43698"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-liturgical-year#toc43698" data-ytrk="/591">Paraliturgical devotions</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="43701" data-toc="toc257702"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Mysticism#toc257702" data-ytrk="/591">The order of the mass</a></li><li class="lv2" data-section="257705" data-toc="toc43702"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-liturgy-of-the-Eucharist#toc43702" data-ytrk="/591">The role of the church in society</a></li></ul></li><li class="lv1" data-section="43709" data-toc="toc43709"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-church-since-Vatican-II" data-ytrk="/131">The church since Vatican II</a></li></ul></div> </div><section id="toc507284main" class="eb-topic-section" data-level="intro"><p><b><span class="srTitle">Roman Catholicism</span></b><b>,</b> Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/177174/Eastern-Orthodoxy">Eastern Orthodoxy</span></a> and <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Protestantism"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/479892/Protestantism">Protestantism</span></a>, it is one of the three major branches of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/115240/Christianity">Christianity</span></a>.</p><p>The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to <a name="ref931846" id="ref931846"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus-Christ"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/303091/Jesus-Christ">Jesus Christ</span></a> and the Apostles. Over the course of centuries it developed a highly sophisticated theology and an elaborate organizational structure headed by the <a name="ref479349" id="ref479349"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/papacy"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/441722/papacy">papacy</span></a>, the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in the world.</p><div id="md-media-strip-loaded" class="wait hide-on-edit"></div><p>The number of Roman Catholics in the world (nearly 1.1 billion) is greater than that of nearly all other religious traditions. There are more Roman Catholics than all other Christians combined and more Roman Catholics than all Buddhists or Hindus. Although there are more Muslims than Roman Catholics, the number of Roman Catholics is greater than that of the individual traditions of Shīʿite and Sunni Islam.</p><p>These incontestable statistical and historical facts suggest that some understanding of Roman Catholicism—its history, its institutional structure, its beliefs and practices, and its place in the world—is an indispensable component of cultural literacy, regardless of how one may individually answer the ultimate questions of life and death and faith. Without a grasp of what Roman Catholicism is, it is difficult to make historical sense of the Middle Ages, intellectual sense of the works of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Thomas-Aquinas"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/31211/Saint-Thomas-Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</span></a>, literary sense of <i>The Divine Comedy</i> of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dante-Alighieri"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/151164/Dante">Dante</span></a>, artistic sense of the Gothic cathedrals, or musical sense of many of the compositions of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Haydn"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/257714/Joseph-Haydn">Haydn</span></a> and <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/395455/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart">Mozart</span></a>.</p><p>At one level, of course, the interpretation of Roman Catholicism is closely related to the interpretation of Christianity as such. By its own reading of history, Roman Catholicism originated with the very beginnings of Christianity. An essential component of the definition of any one of the other branches of Christendom, moreover, is its relation to Roman Catholicism: How did Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism come into schism? Was the break between the Church of England and Rome inevitable? Conversely, such questions are essential to the definition of Roman Catholicism itself, even to a definition that adheres strictly to the official Roman Catholic view, according to which the Roman Catholic Church has maintained an unbroken continuity since the days of the Apostles, while all other denominations, from the ancient Copts to the latest storefront church, are deviations from it.</p><p>Like any intricate and ancient phenomenon, Roman Catholicism can be described and interpreted from a variety of perspectives and by several methodologies. Thus the Roman Catholic Church itself is a complex institution, for which the usual diagram of a pyramid, extending from the pope at the apex to the believers in the pew, is vastly oversimplified. Within that institution, moreover, sacred congregations, archdioceses and dioceses, provinces, religious orders and societies, seminaries and colleges, parishes and confraternities, and countless other organizations all invite the social scientist to the consideration of power relations, leadership roles, social dynamics, and other sociological phenomena that they uniquely represent. As a world religion among world religions, Roman Catholicism encompasses, within the range of its multicoloured life, features of many other world faiths; thus only the methodology of comparative religion can address them all. Furthermore, because of the influence of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/464109/Plato">Plato</span></a> and <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/34560/Aristotle">Aristotle</span></a> on those who developed it, Roman Catholic doctrine must be studied philosophically even to understand its theological vocabulary. Nevertheless, a historical approach is especially appropriate to this task, not only because two millennia of history are represented in the Roman Catholic Church but also because the hypothesis of its continuity with the past, and the divine truth embodied in that continuity, are central to the church’s understanding of itself and essential to the justification of its authority.</p><p>For a more detailed treatment of the early church, <em>see</em> <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/115240/Christianity">Christianity</span></a>. The present article concentrates on the historical forces that transformed the primitive Christian movement into a church that was recognizably “catholic”—that is, possessing identifiable norms of doctrine and life, fixed structures of authority, and a universality (the original meaning of the term <em>catholic</em>) by which the church’s membership could extend, at least in principle, to all of humanity.</p></section><section class="eb-topic-section" data-level="1" id="toc257667"><h2 class="h2"><span><a name="ref479348" id="ref479348"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Roman-Catholicism"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/507489/history-of-Roman-Catholicism">History of Roman Catholicism</span></a></span></h2><section class="eb-topic-section" data-level="2" id="toc257668"><h2 class="h3"><span>The emergence of Catholic <a name="ref931826" id="ref931826"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/115240/Christianity">Christianity</span></a></span></h2><p>At least in an inchoate form, all the elements of catholicity—doctrine, authority, universality—are evident in the <a name="ref479351" id="ref479351"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Testament"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/412114/New-Testament">New Testament</span></a>. The Acts of the Apostles begins with a depiction of the demoralized band of the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem, but by the end of its account of the first decades, the Christian community has developed some nascent criteria for determining the difference between authentic (“apostolic”) and inauthentic teaching and behaviour. It has also moved beyond the geographic borders of <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/307197/Judaism">Judaism</span></a>, as the dramatic sentence of the closing chapter announces: “And thus we came to Rome” (Acts 28:14). The later epistles of the New Testament admonish their readers to “guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Timothy 6:20) and to “contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones” (Jude 3), and they speak about the Christian community itself in exalted and even cosmic terms as the church, “which is [Christ’s] body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way” (Ephesians 1:23). It is clear even from the New Testament that these catholic features were proclaimed in response to internal challenges as well as external ones; indeed, scholars have concluded that the early church was far more pluralistic from the very beginning than the somewhat idealized portrayal in the New Testament might suggest.</p><p>As such challenges continued in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, further development of catholic teaching became necessary. The schema of <a name="ref479352" id="ref479352"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/apostolic-church"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/30267/apostolic-church">apostolic</span></a> authority formulated by the bishop of Lyon, <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Irenaeus"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/293911/Saint-Irenaeus">Irenaeus</span></a> (<em>c.</em> 130–<em>c.</em> 200), sets forth systematically the three main sources of authority for catholic Christianity: the Scriptures of the New Testament (alongside the Hebrew Scriptures, or “Old Testament,” which Christians interpret as prophesying the coming of Jesus); the episcopal centres established by the Apostles as the seats of their identifiable successors in the governance of the church (traditionally at Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome); and the apostolic tradition of normative doctrine as the “rule of faith” and the standard of Christian conduct. Each of the three sources depended on the other two for validation; thus, one could determine which purportedly scriptural writings were genuinely apostolic by appealing to their conformity with acknowledged apostolic tradition and to the usage of the apostolic churches, and so on. This was not a circular argument but an appeal to a single catholic authority of apostolicity, in which the three elements were inseparable. Inevitably, however, there arose conflicts—of doctrine and jurisdiction, of worship and pastoral practice, and of social and political strategy—among the three sources, as well as between equally “apostolic” bishops. When bilateral means of resolving such conflicts proved insufficient, there could be recourse to either the precedent of convoking an apostolic council (Acts 15) or to what Irenaeus had already called “the preeminent authority of this church [of Rome], with which, as a matter of necessity, every church should agree.” Catholicism was on the way to becoming Roman Catholic.</p></section><section class="eb-topic-section" data-level="2" id="toc257669"><h2 class="h3"><span>The emergence of Roman Catholicism</span></h2><section class="eb-topic-section" data-level="3" id="toc257670"><h2 class="h4"><span>Internal factors</span></h2><p>Several historical factors, which vary in importance depending on the time, help to account for the emergence of Roman Catholicism. The two factors that are often regarded as most decisive—at any rate by the champions of the primacy of Rome in the church—are the primacy of <a name="ref931845" id="ref931845"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle">Peter</span></a> among the Twelve Apostles of Christ and the identification of Peter with the church of Rome. Although there are considerable variations in the enumerations of the Apostles in the New Testament (Matthew 10:2–5; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13) and further variations in the manuscripts, what they all have in common is that they list (in Matthew’s words) “first, Simon called Peter.” “But I have prayed,” Jesus said to Peter, “that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32) and “Feed my lambs.…Tend my sheep.…Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17). In perhaps the most important passage, at least as it was later understood, Jesus said to Peter,</p><blockquote class="eb-content-poetry">And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock [Greek <em>petra</em>] I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.<br>I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.<br><br><span class="eb-content-attribution">—(<a name="ref931844" id="ref931844"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-Matthew"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/369708/Gospel-According-to-Matthew">Matthew</span></a> 16:18–19)</span></blockquote><p></p><p>According to Roman Catholic teaching, this is the charter of the church—i.e., of the Roman Catholic Church.</p><p>The identification of this obvious primacy of Peter in the New Testament with the primacy of the church of Rome is not self-evident. For one thing, the New Testament is almost silent about a connection between Peter and Rome. The reference at the close of the Acts of the Apostles to the arrival of the apostle <a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/447019/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle">Paul</span></a> in Rome gives no indication that Peter was there as the leader of the Christian community or even as a resident, and the epistle that Paul had addressed somewhat earlier to the church at Rome devotes its entire closing chapter to greetings addressed to many believers in the city but fails to mention Peter’s name. On the other hand, in what is presumably a reference to a Christian congregation, the first of the two epistles ascribed to Peter uses the phrase “the chosen one at Babylon” (1 Peter 5:13), Babylon being a code name for Rome. It is, moreover, the unanimous testimony of early Christian tradition that Peter, having been at Jerusalem and then at Antioch, finally came to Rome, where he was crucified (with his head down, according to Christian tradition, in deference to the Crucifixion of Christ); there was and still is, however, disagreement about the exact location of his grave. Writing at about the end of the 2nd century, the North African theologian <a name="ref931849" id="ref931849"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tertullian"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/588511/Tertullian">Tertullian</span></a> (<em>c.</em> 160–<em>c.</em> 225) spoke of</p><blockquote class="bps-article-qt"><p>Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority of the apostles themselves. How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s! where Paul wins his crown in a death like that of John [the Baptist]!</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Indeed, Rome could claim affiliation with two apostles, Peter and Paul, as well as numerous other martyrs for the faith.</p><p>In addition to this apostolic argument for Roman primacy—and often interwoven with it—was the argument that Rome should be honoured because of its position as the capital of the <a name="ref479362" id="ref479362"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Rome"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/507905/ancient-Rome">Roman Empire</span></a>: the church in the prime city ought to be prime among the churches. Rome drew tourists, pilgrims, and other visitors from throughout the empire and beyond and eventually became, for church no less than for state, what Jerusalem had originally been called, “the church from which every church took its start, the mother city [metropolis] of the citizens of the new covenant.” Curiously, after the newly converted emperor Constantine (died 337) transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, Rome’s civil authority was weakened, but its spiritual authority was strengthened: the title “supreme priest” (<em><a name="ref479359" id="ref479359"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/pontifex-maximus"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/469749/pontifex-maximus">pontifex maximus</span></a></em>), which had been the prerogative of the emperor, now devolved upon the pope. The transfer of the capital also occasioned a dispute between Rome (“Old Rome”) and Constantinople (“New Rome”) over whether the new capital should be entitled to a commensurate ecclesiastical preeminence alongside the see (seat of a bishop’s office) of Peter. The second and fourth ecumenical councils of the church (at Constantinople in 381 and at Chalcedon in 451) both legislated such a position for the see of Constantinople, but Rome refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of that prerogative.</p><p>It was also at the <a name="ref479360" id="ref479360"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/event/Council-of-Chalcedon"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/104580/Council-of-Chalcedon">Council of Chalcedon</span></a>—which was convoked to resolve the doctrinal controversy between Antioch and Alexandria over the person of Jesus Christ—that the council fathers accepted the formula proposed by Pope <a name="ref479363" id="ref479363"></a><a data-ytrk="/548" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Leo-I"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/336187/Saint-Leo-I">Leo I</span></a> (reigned 440–461), which offered the orthodox teaching of Christ’s Incarnation and of the union of both his natures. Recognizing the authority with which Leo spoke, the council fathers declared, “Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo!” The council was only one in a long series of occasions when the authority of Rome, sometimes by invitation and sometimes by its own intervention, served as a court of appeal in jurisdictional and dogmatic disputes that had erupted in various parts of Christendom. During the first six centuries of the church, the bishop of every major Christian centre was, at one time or another, charged with and convicted of heresy—except the bishop of Rome (though his turn would come). The titles that the see of Rome gradually assumed and the claims of primacy that it made within the life and governance of the church were, in many ways, little more than the formalization of what had become widely accepted practice.</p></section></section></section><div id="md-media-strip-load"> <div id="md-media-strip" class="md-media-strip font-sans-ui"> <ul id="md-media-strip-tabs" class="ui-tabs md-media-strip-tabs nav nav-tabs font-sans"> <li id="md-media-strip-tab-IMAGE" class="has-carousel"><a data-ytrk="87" href="#md-media-strip-tab-IMAGE-content">Images</a></li> <li id="md-media-strip-tab-VIDEO" class="has-carousel"><a data-ytrk="88" href="#md-media-strip-tab-VIDEO-content">Videos</a></li> <li id="md-media-strip-tab-quizzes" class="green has-carousel"> <a data-ytrk="177" href="#md-media-strip-tab-quizzes-content">quizzes</a> </li> <li id="md-media-strip-tab-lists" class="green has-carousel"> <a data-ytrk="178" href="#md-media-strip-tab-lists-content">Lists</a> </li> </ul> <div class="ui-tabs-content"> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-IMAGE-content" class="md-media-strip-media-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/images/US"></div> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-VIDEO-content" class="md-media-strip-media-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/videos"></div> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-AUDIO-content" class="md-media-strip-media-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/audios"></div> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-INTERACTIVE-content" class="md-media-strip-media-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/interactives"></div> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-quizzes-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/quizzes"></div> <div id="md-media-strip-tab-lists-content" rel="/ajax/topic/507284/lists"></div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <div class="hide-on-edit"> <div id="topic-pagination" class="pagination hide-on-edit"> <ul> <li class="active"><span>1</span></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/External-factors" title="External factors">2</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-church-of-the-early-Middle-Ages" title="The church of the early Middle Ages">3</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-concept-of-Christendom" title="The concept of Christendom">4</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/A-period-of-decadence" title="A period of decadence">5</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Popular-Christianity-c-1000" title="Popular Christianity c. 1000">6</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/Gregorian-Reform" title="Gregorian Reform">7</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Investiture-Controversy-Gregory-VII-to-Calixtus-II" title="The Investiture Controversy: Gregory VII to Calixtus II">8</a></li><li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-Crusades" title="The Crusades">9</a></li><li>…</li> <li><a data-ytrk="/75" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/The-church-since-Vatican-II" title="The church since Vatican II">62</a></li> </ul> <a class="pagination-next-button" data-ytrk="/130" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/External-factors" title="External factors"> Next Page <span class="pagination-button-arrow"></span> </a> </div> <div class="md-horizontal-social-toolbar2 "> <ul class="md-toolbar pagination-toolbar"> <li class="comments" title="Comments" data-ytrk="587"> <a href="#_comments"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-comment fa-stack-2x"></i><strong class="comments-text fa-stack-1x fa-inverse"></strong></span> <span class="label">Comments</span></a> </li> <li class="share" title="Share" data-ytrk="113"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-share-alt fa-stack-2x"></i></span> <span class="label">Share</span></li> <li class="t-email" title="Email" data-ytrk="112"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-envelope fa-stack-2x"></i></span> <span class="label">Email</span></li> <li class="t-print" title="Print" data-ytrk="111"> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/print/article/507284" target="_blank"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-print fa-stack-2x"></i></span> <span class="label">Print</span></a> </li> <li class="t-cite" title="Cite" data-ytrk="117"> <span class="fa-stack"><i class="fa fa-square-o fa-stack-2x"></i><i class="fa fa-quote-right fa-stack-1x"></i></span> <span class="label">Cite</span></li> <li class="last-modified" data-ytrk="/588"> <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-history">Last Updated <time>1-28-2014</time></a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="read-more hide-on-edit"> <h3 class="md-extra-content-title">You may also be interested in...</h3> <ul class="row font-sans-ui"> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-rite-church" title="Eastern rite church">Eastern rite church</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Immaculate-Conception-Roman-Catholicism" title="Immaculate Conception">Immaculate Conception</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/papacy" title="papacy">papacy</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/inquisition" title="inquisition">inquisition</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/purgatory-Roman-Catholicism" title="purgatory">purgatory</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/conclave" title="conclave">conclave</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/indulgence" title="indulgence">indulgence</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/cardinal-Roman-Catholicism" title="cardinal">cardinal</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lateran-Council-Roman-Catholicism" title="Lateran Council">Lateran Council</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/limbo-Roman-Catholic-theology" title="limbo">limbo</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/mendicant-Roman-Catholicism" title="mendicant">mendicant</a></li> <li class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-6" data-ytrk="/584"><a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberation-theology" title="liberation theology">liberation theology</a></li> </ul> </div> <h3 class="md-extra-content-title">Keep exploring</h3> <ul class="md-high-engagement font-sans-ui"> <li> <a data-ytrk="/250" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/298/charlemagne-fact-or-fiction"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/97/122197-118-6AA5EC84.jpg"/> <br/>Charlemagne: Fact or Fiction?</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/250" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/15/world-religions-traditions"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/20/102120-118-A0459C02.jpg"/> <br/>World Religions & Traditions</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/250" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/381/world-religions-quiz"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/51/174451-118-AA16A61E.jpg"/> <br/>World Religions Quiz</a> </li> <li> <a data-ytrk="/251" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/list/9-precursors-to-science-fiction"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/00/126000-118-9FEAFDA7.jpg"/> <br/>9 Precursors to Science Fiction</a> </li> </ul><div class="toc-watch" data-position-fixed=".eb-topic-section" data-unfix="#topic-pagination">Roman Catholicism <span class="current-section"></span><a href="#" class="pull-right" data-scroll="0">Table of Contents <i class="fa fa-chevron-up"></i></a></div> </div> <div class="md-fb-comments hide-on-edit" id="_comments"> <div id="comments" class="md-extra-content-title"> What made you want to look up Roman Catholicism? </div> <div id="gigya-comments"></div> </div> <div id="taboola-below-article-thumbnails" class="hide-on-edit"></div> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Taboola"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'organic-thumbs-1r', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'LARGE Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' }); </script> <form method="POST" id="md-email-dialog" class="ui-hidden"> <label for="md-email-dialog-form-to">To</label><input class="span6" type="text" name="to" data-validation="email" required="true" id="md-email-dialog-form-to"/> <label for="md-email-dialog-form-from">From</label><input class="span6" type="text" name="from" data-validation="email" required="true" id="md-email-dialog-form-from"/> <label for="md-email-dialog-form-subject">Subject</label><input class="span6" type="text" name="subject" id="md-email-dialog-form-subject"/> <label for="md-email-dialog-form-comments">Comments</label><textarea class="span6" name="comments" id="md-email-dialog-form-comments" maxlength="900"></textarea> <div class="md-email-dialog-form-msg">(Please limit to 900 characters)</div> <input type="hidden" name="url" id="md-email-dialog-url"/> <input type="hidden" name="title" id="md-email-dialog-title"/> <input type="submit" value="Send"/><button>Cancel</button> </form></div> <aside class="md-sidebar "><div class="hide-on-edit"> <div class="google-ad-iframe"> <div class="sliding-box-300x50"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://safe1.britannica.com/registrations/signup.do?partnerCode=EBOK_300x50_A" class="sidebar-in-house-upsell"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/EBOK_300x200A.jpg"/></a> </div> </div> <div id="adaptvDiv" class="md-video-player-wrapper ui-hide-on-modal" style="width: 300px; height: 250px;" data-media-info="{'id':136885,'renditionPaths':['http:\/\/video-4.web.britannica.com\/eb-media\/85\/136885-024-639DBEB1.mp4','http:\/\/video-3.web.britannica.com\/eb-media\/85\/136885-047-E9A211D7.flv'],'width':320,'height':240,'poster':'http:\/\/video-1.web.britannica.com\/eb-media\/85\/136885-049-77035E1A.jpg','posterWidth':320,'posterHeight':240}"> <div class="md-video-player-container"></div> <div class="md-video-player-poster"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://video-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/85/136885-049-77035E1A.jpg"/> <div class="md-video-player-loading"></div> </div> </div> <div id="div-gpt-ad-5c09177f-eb9b-45ee-9cb6-4aeadfbf92f1" data-slot="TOP" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-5c09177f-eb9b-45ee-9cb6-4aeadfbf92f1'); });</script> </div> <div class="google-ad-iframe"> <div class="sliding-box-300x50"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://projects.britannica.com/" target="_blank" data-ytrk="306"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/mendel/projects-promo/default_small.png"/> </a> </div> </div> <div id="div-gpt-ad-904cc083-e261-48ab-9303-a8939e57dfd7" data-slot="BOT" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-904cc083-e261-48ab-9303-a8939e57dfd7'); });</script> </div> <div class="md-sidebar-box font-sans sidebar-quiz-box"> <div class="md-sidebar-box-title font-sans-ui"> <span>FEATURED QUIZZES</span> </div> <div class="md-sidebar-box-content md-sidebar-box-content-list"> <ul> <li class="font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//438" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/10000/vocabulary-quiz" alt="Take this quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge of English words and their definitions."> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/94/178194-118-7A636614.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">Vocabulary Quiz</span> </a> </li> <li class="font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//438" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/11000/true-or-false" alt="Take this quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your general knowledge."> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/95/178195-118-019518C4.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">True or False</span> </a> </li> <li class="last font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//438" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/13000/name-that-thing" alt="Take this quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge by matching names to images."> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/96/178196-118-49DC431A.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">Name That Thing</span> </a> </li> </ul> <a data-ytrk="/85" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse" data-title="FEATURED QUIZZES" class="md-sidebar-list-all">See More...</a> </div> </div> <div class="md-sidebar-box font-sans sidebar-quiz-box"> <div class="md-sidebar-box-title font-sans-ui"> <span>MORE QUIZZES</span> </div> <div class="md-sidebar-box-content md-sidebar-box-content-list"> <ul> <li class="font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//135" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/594/getting-into-fictional-character" alt="Take this Literature quiz at Encyclopedia Britannica to test your knowledge of characters Minotaur, Hercule Poirot, and other literary characters. "> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/70/140370-118-A86E3967.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">Getting Into (Fictional) Character</span> </a> </li> <li class="font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//135" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/230/presidents-of-the-united-states-quiz" alt="Take this Political History quiz at encyclopedia britannica to test your knowledge on American presidency and United States Presidents. "> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/62/116062-118-88038BAD.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">Presidents of the United States Quiz</span> </a> </li> <li class="last font-sans-ui"> <a data-ytrk="//135" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/252/exploring-russian-history" alt="Take this History quiz at encyclopedia britannica to test your knowledge of Russia."> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/21/171121-118-BD21664D.jpg"/> <span class="md-sidebar-list-item-title">Exploring Russian History</span> </a> </li> </ul> <a data-ytrk="/85" href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse" data-title="MORE QUIZZES" class="md-sidebar-list-all">See More...</a> </div> </div> <div id="div-gpt-ad-2eef0dae-5df5-403e-98a4-0908fe68df7a" data-slot="BOT2" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-2eef0dae-5df5-403e-98a4-0908fe68df7a'); });</script> </div> </div></aside> <div class="md-page-wrapper-bottom hide-on-edit"></div> </div> </div> <footer id="md-footer" class="footer-wrapper hide-on-edit"> <div class="footer-ad"> <div id="div-gpt-ad-2aba5893-bdac-476d-a7f9-7ff1af1ae044" data-slot="BOT" class="google-ad-iframe ui-hide-on-modal "> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="display gpt">googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-2aba5893-bdac-476d-a7f9-7ff1af1ae044'); });</script> </div> </div> <div class="footer-bck"> <ul class="md-footer-slim"> <li><a data-ytrk="59" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://corporate.britannica.com/" target="_blank">About Us</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="129" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://corporate.britannica.com/privacy.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">About Our Ads</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="37" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://corporate.britannica.com/contact/consumer/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://corporate.britannica.com/privacy.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li><a data-ytrk="61" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://corporate.britannica.com/termsofuse.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Terms of Use</a></li> </ul> ©2015 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. </div> </footer><form method="POST" action="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/print/article/507284" id="md-print-dialog" title="Create printer friendly version" target="_blank" class="ui-hidden"> <div class="md-print-desc font-sans">Please select the sections you want to print<div class="btn small" id="md-print-dialog-all">Select All</div></div> <div id="md-print-dialog-toc"> <input type="checkbox" id="md-toc-print-toc" name="section[]" value="toc"/><label for="md-toc-print-toc" class="ui-form-label-right">Table of contents</label> <input type="checkbox" id="md-toc-print-introduction" name="section[]" value="intro"><label for="md-toc-print-introduction" class="ui-form-label-right">Introduction</label> <input type="checkbox" id="pt-257667" name="section[]" value="257667"/><label for="pt-257667">History of Roman Catholicism</label> <input type="checkbox" id="pt-43743" name="section[]" value="43743"/><label for="pt-43743">The age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation</label> <input type="checkbox" id="pt-43647" name="section[]" value="43647"/><label for="pt-43647">Structure of the church</label> <input type="checkbox" id="pt-43671" name="section[]" value="43671"/><label for="pt-43671">Beliefs and practices</label> <input type="checkbox" id="pt-43709" name="section[]" value="43709"/><label for="pt-43709">The church since Vatican II</label> </div> <input type="submit" value="Print" id="md-print-dialog-submit" disabled="disabled"/><button>Cancel</button> </form> <div id="md-citations" class="md-overlay-citations ui-hidden" title="Citations"> <dl> <dt>MLA style:</dt> <dd>"Roman Catholicism". <em>Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</em><br/>Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 14 Jun. 2015<br/><<span class="citation-url">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism</span>>.</dd> <dt>APA style:</dt> <dd>Roman Catholicism. (2015). In <em>Encyclopædia Britannica</em>. Retrieved from <span class="citation-url">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism</span></dd> <dt>Harvard style:</dt> <dd>Roman Catholicism. 2015. <em>Encyclopædia Britannica Online</em>. Retrieved 14 June, 2015, from <span class="citation-url">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism</span></dd> <dt>Chicago Manual of Style:</dt> <dd><em>Encyclopædia Britannica Online</em>, s. v. "Roman Catholicism", accessed June 14, 2015, <span class="citation-url">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism</span>.</dd> </dl> <p class="md-citations-warning"> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.<br/> Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. </p> </div> <div id="md-edit-divs"> <div id="md-edit-toolbar" data-position-fixed="50" class="ui-hidden"> <ul id="md-edit-toolbar-tabs" class="ui-tabs"> <li id="md-edit-edit-tab"><a href="#md-edit-toolbar-edit" data-ytrk="282" class="font-serif-ui">Update</a><span class="md-edit-toolbar-tab-arrow"></span></li> <li id="md-edit-link-tab"><a href="#md-edit-toolbar-link" data-ytrk="283" class="font-serif-ui">Link</a><span class="md-edit-toolbar-tab-arrow"></span></li> </ul> <div class="ui-tabs-content"> <div id="md-edit-toolbar-edit"> Click anywhere inside the article to add text or insert superscripts, subscripts, and special characters.<br/> You can also highlight a section and use the tools in this bar to modify existing content: <div class="md-edit-toolbar-styles"> <ul> <li><button id="edit-bold" title="Bold" data-ui-editor-action="bold"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-italic" title="Italic" data-ui-editor-action="italic"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-sup" title="Superscript" data-ui-editor-action="superscript"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-sub" title="Subscript" data-ui-editor-action="subscript"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-ul" title="Bulleted List" data-ui-editor-action="insertunorderedlist"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-ol" title="Ordered List" data-ui-editor-action="insertorderedlist"></button></li> <li><button id="edit-special-char" title="Insert Special Character" data-ui-editor-action="special-characters"></button></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="md-edit-toolbar-link"> Add links to related Britannica articles!<br/> You can double-click any word or highlight a word or phrase in the text below and then select an article from the search box.<br/> Or, simply highlight a word or phrase in the article, then enter the article name or term you'd like to link to in the search box below, and select from the list of results. <div class="md-toolbar-link-form-container"> <form method="get" action="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/search" id="md-edit-toolbar-link-form" class=""> <div class="search-box"> <input name="query" type="text" id="md-edit-toolbar-link-query" placeholder="Search Britannica..." class="md-edit-toolbar-link-query" maxlength="200"/> <button data-ytrk="" type="submit" class="search-submit" value=""><i class="fa fa-search"></i></button> </div> </form> <div class="md-edit-toolbar-link-note"> <b>Note:</b> we do not allow links to external resources in editor.<br/> Please click the <a href="/web/20150615002703/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism/article-websites"><strong>Web sites</strong></a> link for this article to add citations for<br/> external Web sites. </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-edit-help"> <strong>Editing Tools:</strong> <ul> <li><a href="#" id="md-edit-help-toc" data-ytrk="281">Table of Contents</a></li><li><a href="#" id="md-edit-help-tips" data-ytrk="280">Tips for Editing</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="md-edit-submission-toolbar" class="ui-hidden"> <div class="md-edit-submission-toolbar-container"> <div class="md-edit-submission-toolbar-buttons"> <button class="btn font-serif-ui" id="md-edit-cancel" data-ytrk="284">Leave Edit Mode</button> <button class="btn btn-primary font-serif-ui" id="md-edit-submit" data-ytrk="285">Submit</button> </div> </div> </div> <div id="md-edit-editing-tips" title="Tips for Editing" class="md-edit-help-box ui-hidden"> We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.<br/> You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind:<br/> <ol> <li>Encyclopaedia Britannica articles are written in a neutral, objective tone for a general audience.</li> <li>You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.</li> <li>Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.</li> <li>At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are best.)</li> </ol> Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. </div> <div id="md-edit-toc-placeholder"></div> </div><div class="md-pinned-subscription minimized hide-on-edit"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://safe1.britannica.com/registrations/signup.do?partnerCode=EBOP_ANCHOR_A"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/https://safe.britannica.com/safeimages/Anchor_newsize.png"/> </a> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay" class="ui-hidden"> <a href="#" data-ytrk="607" class="md-media-overlay-close fa-stack" title="Close"> <i class="fa fa-stack-2x fa-circle-o"></i> <i class="fa fa-stack-1x fa-times"></i> </a> <div class="md-media-overlay-title"> <div class="subtitle">MEDIA FOR:</div> <div class="maintitle">Roman Catholicism</div> </div> <div class="md-media-overlay-content-container"> <div class="md-media-wrapper"> <a data-ytrk="94" href="#" class="md-media-overlay-arrow md-media-overlay-previous"><i class="fa fa-4x fa-angle-left"></i></a> <a data-ytrk="94" href="#" class="md-media-overlay-arrow md-media-overlay-next"><i class="fa fa-4x fa-angle-right"></i></a> <div id="md-media-container"> <span></span> <a rel="nofollow" title="See Full Size" id="md-media-overlay-zoom" target="_blank" href="#" data-ytrk="95" class="ui-hidden"><i class="fa fa-search-plus"></i></a> </div> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption" class="font-sans-ui"> <div id="md-media-overlay-count"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption-title"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-caption-text" class="fancy-scrollbar white"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-credit"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-license"></div> </div> <div class="md-media-overlay-toolbar"> <a id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-print" data-ytrk="96" href="#" target="_blank" title="Print" rel="nofollow"><i class="fa fa-fw fa-print"></i></a> <span id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-citations" data-ytrk="605" title="Citation"><i class="fa fa-fw fa-quote-right"></i></span> <span id="md-media-overlay-toolbar-email" data-ytrk="604" title="Email"><i class="fa fa-fw fa-envelope"></i></span> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden font-sans-ui"> <div class="md-media-overlay-citations-menu"> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations-close" class="md-media-overlay-box-close"><i class="fa fa-stack-1x fa-times"></i></div> <em>Citation</em> <ul class="md-media-overlay-citations-select"> <li data-value="mla">MLA</li> <li data-value="apa">APA</li> <li data-value="harvard">Harvard</li> <li data-value="chicago">Chicago</li> </ul> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-citations-text"></div> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-email" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden font-sans-ui"> <em>Email</em> <div id="md-media-overlay-email-close" class="md-media-overlay-box-close"><i class="fa fa-stack-1x fa-times"></i></div> <form id="md-media-overlay-email-form"> <input type="hidden" name="assembly_id"/> <input type="hidden" name="page_id"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-to">To:</label> <input type="text" id="md-media-overlay-email-to" name="to" placeholder="Enter an email address" required="true" data-validation="email"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-from">From:</label> <input type="text" id="md-media-overlay-email-from" name="from" placeholder="Enter an email address" required="true" data-validation="email"/> <label for="md-media-overlay-email-comment">Comment:</label> <textarea id="md-media-overlay-email-comment" name="comment" placeholder="Add a comment"></textarea> <input type="submit" value="SEND"/> </form> </div> <div id="md-media-overlay-submit-email" class="md-media-overlay-box ui-hidden font-sans-ui"> <div class="md-media-overlay-submit-email-ok ui-hidden">You have successfully emailed this.</div> <div class="md-media-overlay-submit-email-error">Error when sending the email. Try again later.</div> <input type="button" value="OK" class="btn btn-primary"/> </div> </div> <div class="md-vertical-media-strip ui-hidden"></div> <div id="md-media-overlay-ad"> <iframe id="media-overlay-ad-iframe" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" width="160" height="600"></iframe> </div> </div><div id="loginbox-dialog" class="ui-hidden"> <div id="loginbox-dialog-iframe-container"></div> <div class="loginbox-continue-container"> <p>Or click <strong>Continue</strong> to submit anonymously:</p> <div class="btn loginbox-btn" id="loginbox-continue">Continue</div> </div> </div>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.4/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">window.jQuery || document.write('<script src="/resources/js/libs/jquery-2.1.4.min.js"><\/script>');</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/http://cdn.gigya.com/js/socialize.js?apiKey=3_QkFp1fFi8gwTK97KWaFi_v2eOF3cwcvUA9vC26R9gFKQjRikRuijZ1eOnERznNEN"> { siteName: 'britannica.com (Production - Consumer)', enabledProviders: 'facebook,twitter,googleplus,linkedin,yahoo', connectWithoutLoginBehavior: "alwaysLogin" } </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/http://cdn.gigya.com/js/gigyaGAIntegration.js"></script> <script src="/web/20150615002703js_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/js/min-mendel.js?v=2.31.58"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20150615002703js_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/files/jwplayer6/jwplayer.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">jwplayer.key='OdjJyYN49OngMGhZzqouyjgt5MnrwNm7fDOTBVeyHVU=';</script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Taboola"> window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({flush: true}); </script><script type="text/javascript" data-type="init page"> $( function() { Mendel.Page.init(); if ($.isDefined(Mendel.TopicPage)) { Mendel.TopicPage.init(); } }); </script>  <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init Quantcast 2"> var _qevents = _qevents || []; _qevents.push( { qacct:"p-fePJXh17dNmkk"} ); </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/https://edge.quantserve.com/quant.js"></script> <noscript> <div style="display: none;"><img src="//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703im_/https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-fePJXh17dNmkk.gif" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/></div> </noscript><script type="text/javascript" data-type="load analytics"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://ssl' : 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init crazyeggs"> function CE_READY() { CE2.set( 1, 'ANONYMOUS' ); CE2.set( 2, 'A' ); CE2.set( 3, 'TOPIC PAGINATED LARGE' ); } </script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="load crazyeggs"> setTimeout(function(){ var a=document.createElement("script"); var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; a.src=document.location.protocol+"//web.archive.org/web/20150615002703/https://dnn506yrbagrg.cloudfront.net/pages/scripts/0011/3876.js?"+Math.floor(new Date().getTime()/3600000); a.async=true;a.type="text/javascript";b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b) }, 1); </script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150615002703js_/http://www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="eb stats"> var EBStat={accountId:-1,host:'www.britannica.com',domain:'www.britannica.com'}; try{writeStat(null,{accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'www.britannica.com',domain:'www.britannica.com',json:''});} catch(err){} </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/web/20150615002703js_/https://www.britannica.com/resources/js/libs/jquery.scrolldepth.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="init scrollDepth"> $( function() { jQuery.scrollDepth(); } ); </script> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

Roman Catholicism | Britannica.com