Roman Catholic Church Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint ). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. "Roman Catholic" is a 19th-century British coinage and merely serves to distinguish that church from other churches that are "Catholic" (see catholic church ). The term "Roman Church," when used officially, means only the archdiocese of Rome. Roman Catholics may be simply defined as Christians in communion with the pope.

Organization of the Church

There are within the church a number of rites, i.e., ancient, independent traditions of discipline and worship, differentiated through isolation (see also liturgy ). Besides the Roman rite, to which the vast majority belong, there are among Catholics five Eastern rites, used by a number of communities (Eastern Catholics or Uniates; see patriarch ). They are: the Byzantine (the rite also of the Orthodox Eastern Church , which is not in communion with Rome), to which belong many groups, including Melchites , Ruthenians, Romanians, and the Italo-Albanians of S Italy; the Antiochene (also the rite of the autonomous Jacobite Church ), to which belong the Maronites , the Syrian Catholics, and the Malankarese of Malabar; the Alexandrian, to which belong the Catholic Copts and Ethiopians (see Copts ); the Chaldaean (also the rite of the autonomous Nestorian Church ), to which belong Chaldaean Catholics and Syro-Malabarese; and the Armenian (also the rite of the autonomous Armenian Church ). These rites and communities have their own organizations under the pope and are protected from attempts to "Latinize" them. Best known, perhaps, of the non-Roman Western rites are the Ambrosian, the Dominican, and the Mozarabic.

Apart from the rites and foreign missions, the organization of the church is by diocese, the territory of a bishop. Important sees have archbishops, who often supervise neighboring, suffragan bishops. With certain restrictions, the pope names the bishops. Dioceses are made up of parishes, each of which has a church and a priest (the pastor). The pope controls bishops mainly by general legislation. His government, which is run by the cardinals living at Rome, is concerned with matters of wide significance, such as missions and relations with states (see also cardinal ; papal election ; Vatican City ).

Cutting across territorial lines are the religious orders of men and women; their field is monastic life, nonparish activities, and schools; they frequently run missions, hospitals, and colleges (see monasticism ). Their members generally receive subsistence only. The parish clergy support themselves, often with salaries fixed by the bishop. Most of the clergy are priests (see orders, holy ); they are trained (usually from four to six years) in seminaries maintained by the bishops, the orders, or the Vatican. Members of the clergy do not marry, unless they are parish priests of Eastern rites.

There is no churchwide census, and there are various criteria for determining membership. However, the Roman Catholics in the world are estimated to be about half the total number of Christians and make the church one of the largest religions in the world, with more than 1 billion adherents. Roughly half of all Catholics live in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2003, there were 63.4 million Roman Catholics in the United States.

Beliefs, Doctrines, and Practices

To belong to the church one must accept as factually true the gospel of Jesus as handed down in tradition and as interpreted by the bishops in union with the pope. Fundamental in this divine tradition is the Bible , its text determined and disseminated by the church. Adherents must also accept the church as possessing the fullness of revelation, and the church, according to the Roman Catholic catechism, is the only Christian body that is "one, holy, catholic [universal], and apostolic."

The doctrine of apostolic succession is one of the keystones of the Catholic faith; it holds that the pope (the vicar of Christ) and the bishops have in varying degrees the spiritual authority Jesus assigned to his apostles. The voice of the pope, either alone or in conjunction with his bishops in council, is regarded as infallible when speaking on matters of faith and morals taught in common with the bishops (see infallibility ). Many features of the traditional teaching (dogma) have been analyzed and restated, by the councils and by great theologians (see council, ecumenical ; creed ; Thomas Aquinas, Saint ; Trent, Council of ; Vatican Council, First ; Vatican Council, Second ).

The chief teachings of the Catholic church are: God's objective existence; God's interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity ; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the soul of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell ; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the Gospels; and the divine commission of the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other's merits, the Virgin Mary and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten (see church ; saint ).

The church is seen as having from God a system of conveying God's grace direct to humanity (see sacrament ). The ordinary Catholic frequents the sacraments of penance (required at least once a year) and the Eucharist (required once every Easter time; see also sin ). The Eucharist is the center of public worship, often embellished with solemn ceremony (see Mass ).

Private prayer is also regarded as essential; contemplation is the ideal (see mysticism ), and all believers are expected to devote some time to prayer that is more than requesting favors. Different methods of prayer are recommended (see rosary ; Saint Ignatius of Loyola ; Thomas à Kempis ). Self-renunciation is a necessary part of prayer (see fasting ; Lent ).

The church teaches that the main motive for ethical behavior is the love of God. Nothing that God has created is evil in itself, but evil use may be made of it. The doctrine concerning persons not Catholic is that since God affords each human being light sufficient to attain salvation, all will be saved who persevere in what they believe to be good, regardless of ignorance. Only those will be damned who persist in what they know to be wrong; among these are persons who resist the church when they know it to be the one, true church.

History

For the first centuries of the church's history, see Christianity .

The Church in the Middle Ages

From the 9th cent. to 1520 the church was simply Western Europe taken in its religious aspect, and no clear line divided spiritual from temporal life. In the West (unlike the East) the religious organization was free for centuries from grave interference from civil rulers. Charlemagne was an exception, but his influence was benign. In the chaotic 9th and 10th cent. every part of the church organization, including the papacy, became the prey of the powerful.

The restoration of order began in monasteries; from Cluny a movement spread to reform Christian life (see Cluniac order ). This pattern of decline of religion followed by reform is characteristic of the history of the Roman Catholic Church; the reform goals have varied, but they have included the revival of spiritual life in society and the monasteries, and the elimination of politics from the bishops' sphere and venality from the papal court. The next reform (11th cent.) was conducted by popes, notably St. Gregory VII and Urban II . Part of this movement was to exclude civil rulers from making church appointments—the first, bold chapter in a 900-year battle between the church and the "Catholic princes" (see church and state ; investiture ).

The 12th cent. was a time of great intellectual beginnings. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians revived practical mystical prayer. Gratian founded the systematic study of the canon law , and medieval civil law began its development. This double study was to provide weapons to both sides in the duel between the extreme papal claims of Innocent III and Innocent IV , and the antipapal theories of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II . Also in the 12th cent., Peter Abelard and other thinkers pioneered in rationalist theology.

From early rationalist theology and from the teachings of Aristotle developed the philosophies and theologies of St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas (see also scholasticism ). This was the work of the new 13th-century universities; to them, and to the friars—the Dominicans and Franciscans—who animated them, passed the intellectual leadership held by the monasteries. St. Dominic 's order was formed to preach against the Albigenses (a campaign that also produced the Inquisition ). The vast popular movement of St. Francis was a spontaneous reform contemporary with the papal reform of the Fourth Lateran Council . The 13th cent. saw also the flowering of Gothic architecture .

The contest between church and state continued, ruining the Hohenstaufen dynasty and, in the contest between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, bringing the papacy to near ruin. Then came the Avignon residence—the so-called Babylonian captivity of the papacy (1309–78), a time of good church administration, but of excessive French influence over papal policy. Except for isolated voices, such as that of St. Catherine of Siena , the church seemed to lose energy, and a long period devoid of reform began. A long-enduring schism and a series of ambitious councils (see Schism, Great ) involved most churchmen in a welter of politics and worldliness.

There were popular religious movements, characterized by revivalism and a tendency to minimize the sacraments (along with church authority); they encouraged private piety, and one group produced the inspirational Imitation ascribed to Thomas à Kempis . The popular tendencies were extreme in John Wyclif , who developed an antisacramental, predestinarian theology emphasizing Bible study—a "protestant" movement 150 years before Protestantism.

The Reformation and Counter Reformation

The 15th-century councils did little for reform, and the popes, shorn of power, were reduced to being Renaissance princes. Such men could not cope with the Protestant revolt of Martin Luther and John Calvin (see also Reformation ). The Protestants aimed to restore primitive Christianity (as described in the Bible), and they succeeded in weakening the hold of the church in all of N Europe, in Great Britain, and in parts of Central Europe and Switzerland. Politics and religion were completely intertwined (as in England, Scotland, and France); hence the admixture of religious issues in the Thirty Years War .

Within the church there triumphed the most extensive of all the church's reform movements (see Counter Reformation ; Jesus, Society of ). From it sprang a general revival of religion and much missionary activity in the new empires of Spain and Portugal and in East Asia. In France, Catholicism found new life, beginning with St. Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul . There, too, began the cult of the Sacred Heart (i.e., God's love for men), which would affect Catholic prayer everywhere. A contrary influence was Jansenism (see under Jansen, Cornelis ), an antisacramental middle-class movement.

The Seventeenth through Nineteenth Centuries

The 17th cent. saw an increase of state control over the church (see Gallicanism ) in all the Catholic countries, and in the 18th cent. the Bourbons began a course openly aimed at eliminating the papacy. The suppression of the Jesuits was part of the campaign, which reached a climax in the legislation of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II . The revolutionary movement eventually destroyed the Catholic princes, and the church had to live with secular states, some anti-Catholic, some tolerant. The facts of the change were not clear at once, and for much of the 19th cent. the popes (and other Catholics) would look back to an idealized 18th-century golden age before "liberalistic" atheism and materialism. The last of these popes was Pius IX , who was forced to give up the Papal States . In enouncing the dogma of papal infallibility Pius did much to cement church unity.

In Pius's successor, Leo XIII , the church found new leadership; he and his successors worked and preached to urge Catholics to take part in modern life as Catholics, abandoning reactionary dreams and seeking some social reform. In some countries Catholic political parties were formed. Meanwhile oppressive conditions and the development of a mass socialist movement combined to detach much of the working class from the church. Otto von Bismarck (in Germany; see Kulturkampf ) and "liberal" governments (in Italy, France, and Portugal) passed hostile measures, especially against religious orders.

The Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

In the 20th cent. the tensions between the church and national governments sometimes led to outright suppression of the church, as in the former Soviet Union and Communist Eastern Europe, Mexico, Spain, and China. Mussolini and Hitler also ruined as much of the church as they could. The century has been marked more noticeably, however, by new trends in the practice and outlook of the church. The encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (1891), was followed by the Quadrigesimo Anno (1931) of Pius XII , and the Mater et Magistra (1961) of John XXIII , the Progressio Populorum (1967) of Paul VI , and the Laborem Exercens (1981), Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987), and Centessimus Annus (1991) of John Paul II . The purpose of these was fundamental readjustment to the moral and social problems of modern life and a greater stress upon the role of the laity in the church. Linked with this was a movement for church "renewal" both by laity and the clergy. This was particularly strong in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States.

Some of the issues stressed were the need for liturgical reform, the recognition of the various regional contributions to the living existence of the church, and the recognition of the nonpolitical internationalism of the church (although declarations of implacable opposition to atheistic Communism persisted and were particularly strong under Pius XII, who urged the church to oppose all antireligious totalitarianism). Another growing revival involved the tightening of relations between the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and various Protestant churches.

All of these "progressive" currents came together at the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which, under John XXIII and Paul VI, initiated broad reforms in the areas of public worship, government, and ecumenism (see ecumenical movement ). The long-reigning John Paul II made the church more international and continued his predecessors ecumenical trends, but he affirmed (as the popes preceding him did) the church's traditional stands on marriage, abortion, homosexuality, and other doctrinal matters, opposed relaxing the rule of celibacy, and reemphasized the primacy of the Vatican in church government.

The church in the United States began the 21st cent. confronting a major crisis concerning sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests and how it is and was handled by the U.S. hierarchy. Multiple revelations in 2002 that some bishops had allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to remain in the priesthood and to continue to perform their duties in situations where abuse could and sometimes did recur sparked outrage in the United States; such cases were also not reported to civil authorities. Various dioceses faced civil lawsuits and criminal investigations, several bishops resigned after their involvement in sexual relationships was revealed, and Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston resigned because of criticism over his handling of sex abuse charges. The issue led to a meeting between American cardinals and the pope in Rome, and, after a meeting of American bishops and discussions with the Vatican, to the establishment of new policies that included barring a priest who has sexually abused a minor from any ministerial role and that committed the hierarchy to alert legal authorities to instances of abuse. Sexual and physical abuse scandals involving Roman Catholic priests and brothers have occurred in other countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Bibliography

See P. Hughes, A Popular History of the Catholic Church (1947, repr. 1961); L. Hertling, A History of the Catholic Church (tr. 1956); J. McSorley, Outline History of the Church by Centuries (11th ed. 1961); The New Catholic Encyclopedia (19 vol., 1967–95); M. A. Fitzsimons, The Catholic Church Today: Western Europe (1969); J. L. McKenzie, The Roman Catholic Church (1969); J. Seidler and K. Meyer, Conflict and Change in the Catholic Church (1989); C. R. Morris, American Catholic (1997); D. France, Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal (2004); J. Berry, Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church (2011).

Roman Catholic Church. Those churches in communion with the Church of Rome, recognizing the leadership of the pope. The word ‘Catholic’ means ‘universal’, and thus the addition of ‘Roman’ seems to some contradictory, since they regard the Church under the successor of Peter (see PETRINE TEXTS) as the one, universal Church; other Christians (i.e. those who are baptized and ‘honoured by the name of Christian’, Lumen Gentium, 15) are held to be ‘in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church’ (Unitatis redintegratio, 3). To be in complete communion with the Church of Rome is to belong to the Catholic Church. However, the addition of ‘Roman’ has become more common during the recent decades of ecumenicism, not least in recognition of the status of uniate Churches and of other uses of the world ‘Catholic’; ‘Roman Catholic’ is therefore used in this article and throughout the Dictionary.

Central government is exercised by the pope and curia (usually referred to as ‘the Vatican).

It is by far the largest of the Christian denominations, with approaching a billion members. Serving the Church's members are just over 400,000 priests, 68,000 male religious, and just short of one million female religious. There are rather more than 2,000 dioceses or equivalent administrative areas, but a quarter of these are in Europe.

The Roman Catholic Church insists on its continuity of belief, liturgy, and structure from the pre-Reformation church, and upon its right, as (in its own view) the one church founded by Christ, to hold councils of its own bishops which are regarded as ecumenical and, doctrinally, of the same standing as the councils of the early church. It has held three since the Reformation, those of Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II. At Vatican I the bishops asserted the primacy and infallibility of the pope, but at Vatican II the RC Church made an effort to come closer to other Christian churches, and formulated no firm doctrinal statements—setting, for example, Mariological (see MARY) devotion (so typical of Catholicism) firmly within its ecclesial framework. In the subsequent years, Paul VI did much to put into effect the programme of Vatican II, but began also to express a caution which became also a marked feature of the policy of John Paul II—culminating in Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993/4): in this, for example, the Bible is used as though a-historical, as though its embeddedness in history has no effect on the application of the text to current issues.

Throughout its history, the Roman Catholic Church has placed great emphasis on the offering of life, through the Church, to God in obedience and holiness. It has thus given special importance to the monastic life, which epitomizes the choice of God rather than the world. At the same time, the radical choice for God has led to a constant acceptance of martyrdom, which the outreach of evangelism (not least in the 20th cent.) has repeatedly brought about; the strong emphasis on being the only Church has equally led Roman Catholics to be zealous in their persecution of others, and evangelism often accompanied conquest, as in the policy of Spain (between the 16th and 18th cents.). In this context, the prayer of the faithful was, until the 15th cent., apt to be of a verbal and repetitive nature. The Latin liturgy and Bible (Vulgate) increased the problems for the laity in understanding the faith. Since Vatican II, the change to vernacular liturgies and Bibles, together with the transformation of the penitential rites (confession) and the move of the altar to the centre of the church, has increased the active participation of all in worship. It remains the case that strict rules govern membership of the Church, e.g. concerning who may communicate at Mass, or the status of divorced people; celibacy is a requirement for priests (even though in some parts of the world this means that the celebration of the Mass is infrequent); and the laity are under obligation not to use artificial contraception (see HUMANAE VITAE). The latter arises from definitions of the meaning of ‘the person’, and of when the life of any particular person begins. The same consideration underlies the absolute opposition to abortion. Control (through licensing) is also exercised over those teaching in Catholic schools and universities, and while many such institutions are now under the direction of lay professionals, publications and lectures may still occasion discipline, which many include the silencing of so-called progressive theologians. Conformity has not in the past meant a repetitive theology: theology and philosophy have had a high place in Roman Catholicism, by no means confined to scholasticism.

The central place, both of the Mass in worship, and of the Church in the community, has contributed to the inspiration of enduring art, architecture, and music, as well as many kinds of literature. The Church as patron has had immense consequences for civilization as a whole. So also has the absolute requirement to be generous to those in need (a requirement which goes back to Christ). As a result, schools, hospitals, places where the needy and dying can find refuge, and a wide range of aid programmes have multiplied. This tradition is also expressed in 100 years of teaching on social justice issues, from Rerum Novarum to the Constitution of the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) in 1965, and subsequent encyclicals. The financial cost of the Vatican is great and falls heavily on the Church in the USA, where the majority have a vision of the Church in the service of the world which has been increasingly at variance from the official Vatican line (though, they would say, in line with the vision of Vatican II). The resulting tension can be seen particularly in the radical divide over the opportunities open to women to have a voice comparable to that of men in the Church. Roman Catholicism is highly clericalized, and the refusal to allow the possibility that women can be ordained means that they can never be a serious part of the leadership or decision-making of the Church.

Roman Catholic Church

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Roman Catholic Church refers to the worldwide assembly of Christians who are in full communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome, who is regarded as the sign and instrument of Catholic unity among bishops and faithful alike. Statistically, Roman Catholics form the largest single Christian body, with close to 1.1 billion members worldwide. The rise of Christian culture in western Europe is virtually synonymous with the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Although other Christians sometimes refer to themselves as catholic (from the Greek word meaning universal or complete), Roman Catholics believe communion with the See of Rome is required for full membership in the Catholic Church. In addition to the Western or Latin Rite Catholics, there are some 20 million Eastern Christians in full communion with Rome (better identified as Eastern Catholics than Roman Catholics).

Roman Catholics believe the pope is the successor of Peter, appointed by Jesus Christ as the chief apostle and head of the Church. By the late second century, Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon (c.130–200), saw agreement with the Church of Rome as necessary for all Christian churches.

Following persecutions by various Roman emperors, the Church received legal recognition from Constantine in 313. The move of the imperial capital from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople) in 330 set the stage for the later split (schism) of the Byzantine Church from the Church of Rome in 1054.

The monasteries of the Church preserved learning after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The rise of Islam in the seventh century and the Muslim invasions of Spain and Gaul prompted the pope to form an alliance with Charlemagne and the Franks. The Crusades (1095–1291) failed to maintain Christian control over Jerusalem and stem the eventual spread of Muslim power into Asia Minor (Turkey).

During the Middle Ages (c. 800–1400), the Church inspired cultural achievements in art (e.g., Gothic architecture), poetry (e.g., Dante), philosophy (e.g., Thomas Aquinas), and learning (e.g., the universities of Oxford, Paris, Salamanca, and Bologna). During the Renaissance (c.1400–1550), the Church continued its patronage of the arts, but many areas of Europe (e.g., England, Holland, northern Germany, and Scandinavia) broke with papal authority in the sixteenth century following the Protestant Reformation. In the 1500s and 1600s, missionaries and colonial rulers spread Roman Catholicism into the Americas and Asia.

Although the Roman Catholic Church contributed much to the cultural achievements of the medieval and Renaissance eras, religious minorities, such as the Jews, often suffered persecutions in countries under Roman Catholic control. Theological ideas were enforced by various inquisitions (Church tribunals) that conducted trials for those accused of heresies (false teachings). Technically, the inquisition only had jurisdiction over the baptized, but after the Jews and Muslims were expelled from Iberia in 1492, the Spanish Inquisition would often target Los Conversos, the Jews and Muslims who had accepted baptism rather than leave the country of their birth.

In the 1700s and 1800s, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church over European culture began to fade. The French Revolution (1789–1799) placed the Church in France under virtual state control. In 1870, the Papal States of central Italy were seized from the Church, leaving control only over Vatican City State (according to the Lateran Agreement of 1929).

Deprived of secular power, the Roman Catholic Church in the twentieth century tried to exert moral authority. Pope Pius XI (1857–1939), who was pope from 1922 to his death, issued encyclical letters protesting Italian Fascism (1931), German Nazism (1937), and atheistic Communism (1937). His successor, Pius XII (pope from 1939–1958), led the Church through the difficult years of World War II (1939–1945). His policies during this time—especially with regard to helping the Jews— have been praised by some and criticized by others.

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) urged dialogue with other Christians and non-Christians (most notably Jews and Muslims). In his 1994 apostolic letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, John Paul II (pope from 1978–2005) called Catholics to a “spirit of repentance” for practices of past centuries that involved “intolerance and even the use of violence in the service of truth.” Pope Benedict XVI, who succeeded John Paul in 2005, has continued this spirit into the early-twenty-first century, while at the same time condemning secularization and moral relativism.

SEE ALSO Christianity; Church, The; Enlightenment; French Revolution; Greek Orthodox Church; Islam, Shia and Sunni; Jesus Christ; Missionaries; Protestantism; Religion; Rituals; Secular, Secularism, Secularization; Vatican, The

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bunson, Matthew, ed. 2006. Our Sunday Visitor’s 2007 Catholic Almanac. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.

O’Collins, Gerald, and Mario Farrugia. 2003. Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Woods, Thomas E., Jr. 2005. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Washington, D.C.: Regnery.

Robert Fastiggi

Catholic Church, Roman The largest Christian denomination, comprising around 800 million members, which looks to the infallible authority of the Pope in matters of doctrine, and his supreme guidance in all spiritual affairs. Its structure and teaching have been drawn from two sources, the Scriptures on the one hand and on the other the tradition of the Church Fathers, as it developed from the early Christian communities under the guidance of St Paul and St Peter (the first ‘Pope’), the latter being appointed by Christ as his representative on earth.

The history of modern Catholicism goes back to 1860/70, when it faced two major threats. The first was the challenge of industrialization and demographic change, which uprooted many communities and alienated many people from the Church. The second, more immediate, challenge was the loss of the Papal States to a unified Italy. The loss of the Pope's secular powers turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however. Following the First Vatican Council (1869–70), the Church emphasized papal spiritual authority throughout the worldwide Church (ultramontanism). In particular, the Pope's role was strengthened through the declaration of papal infallibility. This claim to worldwide authority, even if it was restricted to spiritual matters, brought about the hostility of liberalism, with its emphasis on the supremacy of state institutions, as well as socialism.

Ultimately, this new centralism strengthened the authority of the Church, while the revival of popular forms of religious practice (such as the veneration of saints) further increased its appeal. In contrast to other Christian Churches, Roman Catholics were also relatively quick to respond to the new problems caused by industrialization and urbanization through the establishment of new parishes in working-class areas, and the organization of workers in Catholic trade unions, clubs, and societies. At the same time, Roman Catholics were active in missionary work in Africa and Asia, so that during the first half of the twentieth century the Church did not experience the same decline as many Protestant Churches after World War I.

During World War II, under Pope Pius XII the Church was torn between its own mission to be a universal Church and the need to condemn the atrocities of Nazi Germany. In the end, it was heavily criticized for taking the former stance, so that it was left to individual priests and bishops in Germany and Austria and occupied countries to speak out against Hitler, at the risk of their own lives. After World War II, the Church was confronted with the Cold War, and took a confrontational stance with the newly established Communist regimes of Eastern Europe, which led to discrimination against Catholics in most Communist countries except in Poland, where religious observance was so strong as to force the Communist government there to come to an accommodation with the Church.

Perhaps the most important event for the Catholic Church in the postwar era was the election of Pope John XXIII, a compromise candidate elected only after twelve electoral rounds. Through his charity and humanity he infused the Catholic Church with a greater desire for unity and harmony, which was institutionalized in the Second Vatican Council (1962–5). Under his successor, Paul VI, the reforms to make the Church more up to date continued, while Pope John Paul II continued to emphasize the Church's progressive and radical positions on social issues and international relations (e.g. through condemning the Gulf War). This was accompanied by a decidedly conservative stance on issues of morality (e.g. on birth control) and theology (rejection of liberation theology). Finally, the Church took a more liberal stance on ecumenism, as it sought reconciliation with Judaism and the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe. Since the 1960s, religious observance in Europe, North America, and, more recently, Latin America has declined, while growing in Africa and, especially, Asia. The Church adjusted to its world role only slowly. Under John Paul II the most influential positions in the Vatican were held by cardinals from Europe and North America.

Table 3. Popes of the Roman Catholic Church in the twentieth century

Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales after the Reformation. Although there was strong Catholic sentiment in parts of the kingdom, and some notable figures were executed rather than accept the royal supremacy, the majority of the population acquiesced in the Reformation of the Church of England under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Catholicism began to be restored under Mary, but her persecution of the Reformers created a legacy of bitterness. Under Elizabeth I the distinction between RCs and Anglicans was made clear by the 1559 Act of Uniformity's imposition of fines on those who did not attend the services of the C of E. Many Catholics practised their faith in secret, and at first there was little persecution. Later, political events, and the excommunication of Elizabeth in 1570, hardened attitudes. The arrival in 1574 of the first missionary priests from the Continent, followed by Jesuits from 1580 onwards, strengthened the RC community, but was met by penal legislation and executions. In the later years of James I's reign the penal laws against RCs were often not enforced, and their suspension was one of the conditions of Charles I's marriage to Henrietta Maria. Charles II promised toleration and tried to secure it, but was forced to accept legislation which excluded RCs from Parliament and office. Although James II came to the throne in 1685 professing personal allegiance to the RC Church, his attempts to further the interest of his fellow-Catholics led to his replacement by William and Mary. The Bill of Rights 1688 and the Act of Settlement 1700 debarred from the throne any RC or anyone who should marry a RC, and other legislation excluded RCs from the professions.

In 1685 John Leyburn was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic. Three further Vicars were appointed in 1688 and England was divided into four districts. The need to recruit Irish and Scottish clansmen for the American War of Independence led to the first of the Catholic Relief Acts in 1778. By 1829 nearly all disabilities were removed. The sufferings of the RC Church on the Continent in the French Revolution (from 1789) created a degree of sympathy in England, and English religious communities returned from abroad. In the 19th cent. the RC population was also increased by Irish immigrants. In 1850 a hierarchy of 12 suffragan bishops under an archbishop was established; N. P. S. Wiseman became Abp. of Westminster and a cardinal. He introduced into England the Ultramontanism which was fostered by his successor, H. E. Manning. In 1908 England and Wales ceased to be missionary territory and in 1918 ‘missions’ became legally constituted parishes. Card. A. Hinsley became something of a national figure through his broadcasts in the early years of the Second World War. Nevertheless, in 1945, after a century of growth and consolidation, the RC Church was still regarded with hostility. The educational expansion following the 1944 Education Act resulted in an increase in the number of RCs in higher education and the professions. The Second Vatican Council (1961–5) drew the whole RC Church into a new relationship with other Churches and the introduction of the vernacular in the liturgy has made the RC Church seem less ‘foreign’. Membership has increased to c. 4 million and under Card. G. B. Hume the RC Church was drawn into the mainstream of national life.

Roman Catholic Church The Christian Church that acknowledges the pope as its head, especially that which has developed since the REFORMATION. It has an elaborately organized hierarchy of bishops and priests. Popes are traditionally regarded as successors to St Peter, to whom Christ entrusted his power. In doctrine the Roman Catholic Church is characterized by strict adherence to tradition combined with acceptance of the living voice of the Church and belief in its infallibility. The classic definition of its position was made in response to the Reformation at the Council of Trent (1545–63). During this period the Catholic Church responded to the challenge of Protestantism by the movement known as the COUNTER-REFORMATION, which brought about various reforms and a draconian tightening of Church discipline (see INQUISITION). During the Enlightenment the Church increasingly saw itself as an embattled defender of ancient truth, a belief that culminated in the proclamation of Papal Infallibility in matters of doctrine in 1870. The 20th century has seen a great change as the Church has become more open to the world, a change given effect in the decrees of the 2nd Vatican Council (1963–65). The papacy of JOHN PAUL II (1978– ), however, has been marked by his resistance to change in the teaching of the Church on the controversial issues of contraception, abortion, divorce, homosexuality, and the celibacy of the priesthood. In all these issues, especially the first, the Church has maintained a position seriously at odds with generally enlightened 20th-century views. For Christians of other denominations and for the members of other religions, the reluctance of the Vatican to accept change has marginalized its moral authority.

A historically significant Catholic order is that of the Jesuits or the Society of Jesus, an order of priests founded in 1534 in Paris by Ignatius LOYOLA, St Francis Xavier, and others. The Society became the spearhead of the Counter-Reformation, though originally intended as a missionary order. The success of Jesuits as missionaries, teachers, scholars, and spiritual directors — as well as the fear they have inspired — manifests how close they have been to their ideal of a disciplined force, effective in the cause of the Roman Church.

Another significant Catholic organization is Opus Dei (Latin, ‘work of God’), which was founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest Josemaria Escrivá de Balaguer (1902–75). Members, of whom there are 76,000 worldwide, may be either priests or lay people, in which case they are encouraged to retain their social position and pursue their profession. Particularly active in General Franco's Spain (1939–75), the organization has exercised considerable, but controversial, influence on public affairs. There is a separate branch for women, segregation of the sexes being an important principle. Opus Dei emphasizes the austere and conservative aspects of Catholicism; members follow a range of ascetic and spiritual practices, which include daily ‘mortification’ in the form of brief self-flagellation, and celibacy is encouraged. Its secrecy and authoritarianism has been criticized, but Pope John Paul II is a supporter — he beatified de Balaguer in 1992.

Roman Catholic Church in America had its beginnings in the legendary connection between the Norse discoveries of the New World and the medieval church in Greenland. Its modern history began with the colonization by Spain and France. Permanent dioceses were established in Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Puerto Rico (1511), and the see of Cuba ruled the mainland churches (1522–45). The first parish within the boundaries of the present U.S. was established at St. Augustine, Fla. (1565). During the ensuing centuries, much missionary work was done by the Capuchins, Jesuits, and Franciscans. In the American territories outside the present U.S., colonization and proselyting have resulted in the dominance of the Catholic faith. In the English colonies, Catholicism was generally attacked, except in Maryland, which was founded by the Catholic Calvert family, and in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, where there was religious toleration. John Carroll became the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789), when there were approximately 30,000 Catholics in the country. The increase to the millions in the 19th century, owing in large part to immigration from first Ireland and Germany and later from Italy and Eastern Europe, occasioned sharp antagonism in this Protestant‐founded country. Although localized, this feeling resulted in politico‐religious movements like the Know‐Nothings. The change from a priest‐centered to member‐centered service, in English, resulting from decisions of Vatican II in the 1960s, led to further growth, and by 1993 the number of American Roman Catholics was 59,220,723, or 23% of the population.

Roman Catholic Church Christian denomination that acknowledges the supremacy of the Pope (see papacy; Papal infallibility). An important aspect of doctrine is the primacy given to the Virgin Mary, whom Roman Catholics believe to be the only human being born without sin (Immaculate Conception). Before the Reformation in the 16th century, the ‘Catholic Church’ applied to the Western Church as a whole, as distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox Church based at Constantinople. The Reformation led to a tendency for the Roman Catholic Church to be characterized by rigid adherence to doctrinal tradition from the 16th to the early 20th century. The desire for a reunited Christendom led to a more liberal attitude in the mid-20th century. The government of the Church is episcopal, with archbishops and bishops responsible for provinces and dioceses. The priesthood is celibate. The centre of the Roman Catholic liturgical ritual is the Mass or Eucharist. Since the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the Roman Catholic Church underwent marked changes, notably the replacement of Latin by the vernacular as the language of the liturgy. Today, there are c.600 million Roman Catholics worldwide, with large numbers in s Europe, Latin America and the Philippines.

Ro·man Cath·o·lic • adj. of or relating to the Roman Catholic Church: a Roman Catholic bishop. • n. a member of this church. DERIVATIVES: Ro·man Ca·thol·i·cism n.