Catholicism

The term Catholic, which etymologically means universal, is used within Christianity to differentiate it from other Christian communions such as the Protestant or Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches. The Catholic Church maintains that it is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, as the Nicene Creed states, and that the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the head of Christianity, the Supreme Pontiff of the Church of Christ. Consequently, it is common, not only for Catholics but for others, to refer to the Catholic Church as "the Church." Besides the Latin rite which has several subdivisions such as the Ambrosian (Milan, Italy), the Mozarabic (Toledo, Spain), the Lyonnais, the Braga and the Monastic rite, the Catholic Church includes Eastern rites such as the Byzantine, Alexandrian, Armenian, Chaldeian, and Antiochene.

The term Catholic was first employed by Saint Ignatius Martyr (d. 107 ce) in an epistle to the Church of Smyrna, when he said: "Ubi Christus, ibi catholica Ecclesia"("There where Christ is, is the Catholic church"). Christianity began in Palestine, stemming from the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter, who was baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan around the year 28 ce (Matthew 3:1-17). This is the very Jesus who declared himself the Messiah, the Christ, at the beginning of his public life. In Nazareth, attending Sabbath service at the synagogue, he attributed to himself the words of the Scriptures: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me / because he has anointed me; / he has sent me to announce/good news to the poor…"(Luke 4:16-20). Jesus was crucified in April of the year 30 ce by command of the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate, and after his resurrection his disciples undertook the evangelization of the world, following their teacher's command as stated in the Gospel of Matthew: "Full authority in heaven and on earth has been committed to me. Go forth therefore and make all nations my disciple; baptize all in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time" (Matthew 28: 16-20).

The Apostle who did the most to spread the word of this new religion among the Gentiles was Paul of Tarsus, born Saul. A rabbinical student of the Jewish Diaspora and a Roman citizen, he died martyred with the Apostle Peter in Rome under the rule of the Emperor Nero, circa 67 ce. Paul had evangelized part of Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria, and his disciples brought the word to Greece, Macedonia, Egypt, and Northern Africa. Wherever there were Jews living in the Diaspora, there was a fertile ground for converts to Christianity. Slowly, evangelization reached very large numbers of people, including the Roman Imperial family. Since Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, it was chosen as the center of Christianity and this became a well entrenched ideology (Kantorowicz 1981).

Up to the fourth century, however, the Eastern Churches of Ephesus, Antioch, Alexandria Caesarea, and Carthage retained great importance. Early Church Fathers such as Iraeneus (b. c.190–195), Tertullian (b. c. 160 in Carthage), and Origen (185–254 ce) lent their prestige to Rome by asserting the supremacy of the Universal Church. At the time of Origen, the Roman Empire was in total political chaos and decadence; thus, one could conceive of Christianity as an alternative that could rescue the positive values of the Empire. The Emperor Constantine's 313 Edict of Milan ended the persecution of Christians, and the conversion of the Emperor himself completed the victorious journey of the new religion. Rome, now the center of Christianity and Catholicism, with the establishment of the papacy and the Holy See, saw its central role reaffirmed with the crowning of Charlemagne aHoly Roman Emperor in the year 800. The Bishop of Rome therefore claims his authority as conferred to Peter by Christ: "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church" (Matthew 15:18).

The Oriental Churches, such as the Greek and Russian Orthodox, had also been growing and had become centers of Christianity in their own right for political and religious reasons. Divisions within Christianity were further accentuated with the Protestant Reformation (1517) led by Martin Luther (1483–1586) who, in protest against the practice of indulgences, posted his 95 theses on the door of the Palast Church in Wittemberg, Germany, and later by John Calvin, who began the Reformation (1532) in France. The Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church under the reign of Henry VIII, after his divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn (1533), and his excommunication by Pope Clement VII, bringing about the final rift between Rome and England. Like Protestantism, the Anglican Communion has maintained the necessity for the faithful to pray in the vernacular; thus Thomas Cramer (1552) produced its Book of Common Prayer. The Church, in response to several heretical currents throughout its history—for example the Cathar heresy resulting in the Albigensian Crusade in Southern France (1209–1229)—also established the Inquisition in 1233 ce and the Pope entrusted its powers to the Dominican order. A conviction of heresy could result in capital punishment and burning at the stake.

These rifts between Christian denominations are reflected in major differences regarding issues of vital religious, theological and social importance. The rift with the Reformation centered on clerical celibacy, the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, the practice of simony, the abuse of indulgences and the seven sacraments themselves, as well as the Eucharist. It was followed by a Catholic Reformation with the Council of Trent (1545–1564) which provided a reform of the clergy (establishment of seminaries for the preparation and instruction of priests), of evangelization, missionary work, and Catholicism itself. Sacerdotal celibacy and the exclusion of women in the priesthood were reaffirmed. The Index of Prohibited Books (Index librorum prohibitorum) was issued with papal approval along with the Professio Fidei (Profession of Faith) for all Catholics to follow.

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) was convened by Pope John XXIII in order to prepare the Church for the modern world. It dealt with issues such as the mission of laity, the nature of religious freedom, ecumenism, and liturgical reform such as the usage of the vernacular in liturgy. While the First Vatican Council (1869–1870) reaffirmed the doctrine of Papal infallibility, based on the creed of the Pope as direct heir to St. Peter who received the office directly from Jesus, the Second Council was more inclusive, attempting to reach out ecumenically to all the Churches and even other religions. However, with the encyclical Lumen gentium (The Light of the Peoples) the Church claimed to be "the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed one, holy, catholic and apostolic … which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in community with him"(Pope Paul VI, November 1964). Regarding salvation, the Council held to the notion that Christians and non-Christians might be saved by accepting and responding to the grace of God and in its revelation through the mercy of Christ, the "baptism of desire," a tenet that many Christian theologians and intellectuals had advocated. For instance, in his Divine Comedy, Dante exposed his conception of Limbo, and allowed the salvation of Cato, Rhipheus the Trojan, and the Emperor Trajan.

THE VIRGIN MARY

The Church has maintained that the Virgin Mary, as the human mother of Jesus, is the mother of all humanity, and that Catholics and others may intercede with her and the other saints in heaven through prayer: "The Blessed Virgin Mary can best be set forth as a most exalted Co-operatrix with Christ. Such a chapter would greatly enhance the glory of the Mother of God" (The Sixteenth Documents, p. 666). In Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary became the figural fulfillment of Eve who has been blamed—by theologians from Saint Augustine to Jerome, to Aquinas and even Luther and up to the present—for the original sin, which has become primarily a sexual issue and foundational to misogyny in Christian cultures. Since the time of Augustine, the sexual urge has been proclaimed a sin and chastity is traditionally upheld. The Biblical Eve has become, in art and literature, the image of the femme fatale, while Mary has taken her place as mother of humanity and the symbol of life rather than death, as a means of salvation and the fruit of Redemption. In Catholic exegesis, Mary is a symbol and type of the Church (typus Ecclesiae) as are all the female figures of the Old Testament such as Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth, Judith, and others (Di Scipio 1983, Pelikan 1996).

DISSENT

The Church, born under persecution during the Roman Empire, has always maintained pacifism in social teaching. In the modern era, however, some Catholics maintain that there may be a "just war," such as World War II against the evil of Nazism, but even such wars are meant to prevent or limit wars, not justify them. Pope John XXIII pointed the way with his encyclical Pacem in Terris (1963). Pope John Paul II adamantly opposed the Iraq War (begun 2003) and made a cornerstone of his pontificate a reconciliation with Jews, Muslims, and non-Christians, even apologizing to some for past errors committed by the Church of Rome. At the same time John Paul reaffirmed Church teaching against capital punishment in all instances as immoral.

The Catholic Church thus has a lively tradition of dissent on social issues such as pacifism and sexuality, as demonstrated by figures such as the Jesuit priest Robert Drinan (d. 2007) who served as a Representative to the U.S. from Massachusetts for five terms and hotly opposed the Vietnam War in the 1960s, and ignored the Church doctrine by supporting federal financing of birth control and abortion. Similarly, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, who served as pastor in an inner city Detroit parish, co-founder of the peace ministry Pax Christi, broke ranks because of his teaching in favor of gay men and lesbians and the ordination of women, as well as his open lobbying in favor of victims of sexual abuses, and was forced to resign in an apparent act of retaliation by the Church (New York Times, January 26, 2007). Another controversial priest was the French-born Abbé Pierre (d. 2007), founder of the organization Emmaus International to help the homeless and the indigents. He served in World War II as a chaplain for the French Navy and also in the French Resistance, he helped Jews and others escape from the Nazis, was elected to the National Assembly, and received the French Legion of Honor which he gave back as a gesture to dramatize the issue of the homeless. The French President Chirac gave him another. He enraged the Catholic hierarchy by supporting gay marriage and revealing that as a young priest he had sex with a woman.

THE PRIESTHOOD, CELIBACY, AND WOMEN IN THE PRIESTHOOD

The Catholic Church follows the precept that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and restated this principle in Vatican Council II on the authority of Paul in Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11: "There is, therefore in Christ and in the Church no inequality on the basis of race or nationality, social condition or sex because, 'there is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male or female. For you are all "one" in Christ Jesus'" (The Sixteen Documents, p. 143). But on the question of ordination, the Catholic Church upholds the magisterium, the position that priestly ordination can be conferred only on men. This was reaffirmed in Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Sacerdotal Ordination, 1994) which states: "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and definitely held by all Church faithful." The Church saw it as necessary to restate this position in a subtle manner because of the challenge being posed in the late twentieth and early twentieth-first centuries by many women's groups who claim that Jesus had several women apostles, particularly Mary Magdalene, whom feminist scholars consider one of the first apostles as confirmed by the Gnostic Gospels, and of whom Augustine himself said that the Holy Spirit made the Apostle of the Apostles. The present Pope, Benedict XVI, as Cardinal Joseph Raztinger, head of the Office of Congregation of Faith, stated several times that the Church is God's Church, and that theologians cannot change this. Nevertheless, in the 1970s, Ludmila Javorova and other Czech women were ordained to serve the needs of women imprisoned by Communists.

Another important issue is priestly celibacy. Celibacy is a longstanding tradition in the Church from its origins with the example of Jesus himself and Paul. The Church has had to intervene repeatedly on this issue. Pope Leo the Great (440–461) decreed celibacy in the fifth century, as this rule was not being followed and many clergy kept concubines at home. It was reaffirmed in the eleventh century at the Synod of Poiters in 1074, when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated married priests. Celibacy was upheld again in the First Lateran Council (1124), and after the Protestant Reformation at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) which affirmed that celibacy and virginity are superior to marriage. It was restated at the Vatican Council II in 1965, and in the Encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus of 1967 issued by Paul Pope VI, who also issued celibacy dispensations (frozen by Pope John Paul II in 1978), and in the Code of Canon Law of 1983.

Since Vatican Council II, the Catholic Church admits to the deaconate married men of mature age, but it does not permit ordained priests to contract marriage. It does allow men who have been married to enter the priesthood, provided they refrain from sexual intercourse, but it excommunicates those priests who have contracted marriage. This is constantly being challenged, as in the case of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo from Zambia (b. Lusaka 1930) who married and, excommunicated, still ordained other married priests and founded an organization of former priests defrocked for having contracted marriage, such as Married Priests Now and the Association of Married Priests, founded by theologian Giuseppe Serrone. However, the Eastern Rites do ordain married men and the Vatican has admitted married clergy from the Anglican faith who have converted to Catholicism.

The Church faces great difficulties because of the decline in priestly ordination and the exclusion of women. Throughout the world, married priests are performing religious rites, such as the Easter service, as a response to this shortage and in rebellion against Rome. The Vatican has, through the eminent theologian Cardinal Martini, affirmed, on December 5, 2006, that nowhere in the New Testament is it stated that married men cannot be ordained, but the Church upholds the tradition that celibacy is the better choice, as stated by the Apostle Paul (I Corinthians: 7). Interestingly enough, during the period 2001 to 2006 many more young women have been entering convents, according to an article in Time Magazine (November 20, 2006, pp. 53-56), although since 1965, Catholics nuns have decreased in number from 179,954 to 67,773. The Church maintains, notwithstanding the sexual scandals that have affected it in the United States, that celibacy is not the cause for the decrease of priesthood. Yet sexual scandals have already caused entire dioceses to go bankrupt because of legal expenses for settlements of sexual abuses by clergy, one case being that of the Diocese of San Diego, which would be the fifth (New York Times, February 20, 2007, p. A14).

It must be noted that sexual abuse by the clergy is the domain of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith in Rome, not of local bishops. This is in accordance with the Apostolic Letter of John Paul II, Scramentum sanctitatis tutela, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law punishes sexual abuse of a minor with laicization and dismissal from the ministry. The Anglican communion (77 million members) faces similar debates regarding homosexuality, same-sex marriage and the ordination of women, as it discussed the actions of the Episcopal Church of the United States (its American branch is made up of 2.3 million members), which has ordained lesbian female bishops. Conservative bishops have refused to celebrate the Eucharist with Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, maintaining that this violates Scriptural teaching: "Facing a possible church-wide schism, the Anglican communion yesterday gave its Episcopal branch in the United States less than eight months to ban blessings of same sex unions or risk a reduced role in the world's largest Christian denomination" (New York Times, February 20, 2007, p. A1). The Catholic Church has vehemently opposed legislation favoring recognition of same-sex unions in the United States and other countries, and is in open conflict with the government, the Parliament and the Italian Constitution (La Repubblica, February 13, 2007, pp. 10-11). Pope Benedict XVI, in speaking to the faithful, has affirmed that "No human law can subvert the law of the Creator" (La Repubblica, February 12, 2007).

HUMAN LIFE, SEXUALITY, AND EUTHANASIA

The Church holds that human life is holy and that each individual, male and female, is equal and created in the image of God. It opposes abortion (Portugal is the latest Catholic country to allow abortion, beginning 2007), euthanasia, homosexuality, artificial birth control, artificial insemination, and same-sex marriage. The Church tells the faithful that sex is not sinful if contained within marriage and for reasons of procreation, but is a capital sin if practiced outside of marriage. Pope John Paul II, in his Theology of the Body (October 29, 1980), states that physical love allows one to understand "the meaning of the whole existence, the meaning of life." In essence this is a restatement of the Aristotelian and Thomistic principles of the perfection achieved in the unity of the body and soul, something that Dante Alighieri, for example, championed in his Divine Comedy. Since the Church considers Manicheism a heresy (the doctrine that the Spirit is good and the Flesh evil), the human body and sex are good within limitations. Yet it prohibits and considers sinful sexual relationship between men, between women, same-sex marriage, and the remarriage of divorced people.

Consequently the Church faces strong criticism and challenges on issues such as artificial contraception, artificial insemination, abortion (which may carry the penalty of excommunication), and sexuality in general, in particular for its ban on the use of condoms in the prevention of AIDS and teenage pregnancy. The Church maintains that abstinence is the only way to prevent unwanted pregnancies or the spread of AIDS. Studies indicate that most Catholics ignore the Church on these points, and that they generally make use of artificial contraception. Abortion is very high among Catholics in Latin American countries—with the highest number of Catholics in any continent—and condom distribution is widely practiced in Africa and other continents for AIDS prevention, even by Catholic missionaries. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, President for the Pontifical Council for the Family has restated that the Church has not changed its views on the use of condoms (Catholic News Agency, May 4, 2006). The Church is aware that most Catholics do not follow these precepts, but it remains consistent in its traditional teaching.

The Catholic Church also condemns euthanasia, which is allowed in the Netherlands and some other countries. In 2007, the Church was involved in a very serious controversy with the case of Welby, an Italian man suffering with Parkinson's Disease, who had requested to die, and was allowed to, when a Dr. Riccio from Cremona disconnected a respirator. Mr. Welby intentionally wanted to provoke a dialogue on this issue. The Church Vicariate in Rome then refused Mr. Welby a Christian burial (January 2007), and this caused a huge uproar; many Catholics were appalled and accused the Church of hypocrisy, for it permits religious services for notorious criminals and political figures, such as General Pinochet of Chile, while denying the same for a suffering person of the same faith. Cardinal Martini of Milan intervened and pointed out the difficulty of such a case and urged the government to pass a law similar to the one in France which prohibits, in such cases, the use of medical treatment with obdurate and unreasonable obstinacy (Sole 24 Ore, January 21, 2007). Yet statistics clearly indicate that most Catholics in Italy (68%) favor "a good death," that is, allowing one to die without prolonged suffering and unnecessary treatment.

In February 2007, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the traditional Church policy on same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion in his Sunday Sermon (Angelus) and to the Conference of Italian Bishops (CEI) on February 4, which was celebrating the Sacredness of Life Day. He also upheld the precept of the traditional family union through matrimony in response to an ongoing debate among the faithful on all these issues, claiming that his position is "based on the real needs of the couple"(La Repubblica, February 5, 2007, p. 13, U.S. edition). And he attacked once again all legislation favoring genetic manipulations, abortion, euthanasia, eugenics and selective diagnosis before birth (La Repubblica, February 24, 2005, p, 15). At the same time, in a Catholic country like Italy, the number of unmarried couples living together has risen from 192,00 in 1983 to 555,000 in 2005. Similar statistics hold for other countries, and the Church thus faces some very strong challenges—yet throughout the centuries, it has found ways to survive and adapt itself to its times.

see also Alan of Lille; Aquinas, Thomas; Christ; Damian, Peter; Marbod of Rennes; Marriage, Spiritual; Mary Magdalene; Monasticism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Allen, John. 2005. The Rise of Benedict XVI. New York, Doubleday.

Cross, F. L., and Livingston, E. A., eds. 1997. The Oxford History of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press.

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                                              Giuseppe Di Scipio