Католическая церковь , также известная как Римско-католическая церковь , является крупнейшей христианской церковью , с 1,28–1,39 миллиарда крещеных католиков по всему миру по состоянию на 2024 год. [4] [5] [9] Это один из старейших и крупнейших международных институтов в мире, сыгравший видную роль в истории и развитии западной цивилизации . [10] [11] [12] [13] Церковь состоит из 24 церквей sui iuris , включая Латинскую церковь и 23 Восточно-католические церкви , которые включают в себя почти 3500 епархий и епархий по всему миру . [14] Папа , который является епископом Рима, является главным пастором церкви. [15] Римская епархия , известная как Святой Престол , является центральным руководящим органом церкви. Административный орган Святого Престола, Римская курия , имеет свои главные офисы в Ватикане , небольшом независимом городе-государстве и анклаве в пределах итальянской столицы Рима , главой которого является Папа Римский .
Основные убеждения католицизма содержатся в Никейском символе веры . Католическая церковь учит, что она является единой, святой, кафолической и апостольской церковью, основанной Иисусом Христом в его Великом поручении , [16] [17] [примечание 1] , что ее епископы являются преемниками апостолов Христа , и что папа является преемником Святого Петра , которому Иисус Христос передал первенство . [20] Она утверждает, что практикует изначальную христианскую веру, которой учили апостолы, сохраняя веру непогрешимо через писание и священное предание , как аутентично интерпретируется через учительство церкви. [21] Римский обряд и другие обряды Латинской церкви, восточно-католические литургии и институты, такие как нищенствующие ордена , закрытые монашеские ордена и третьи ордена, отражают различные теологические и духовные акценты в церкви. [ 22] [23]
Из семи таинств Евхаристия является главным, совершаемым литургически во время мессы . [24] Церковь учит, что через освящение священником жертвенный хлеб и вино становятся телом и кровью Христа . Дева Мария почитается как Вечная Дева , Матерь Божия и Царица Небесная ; она почитается в догматах и молитвах . [25] Католическое социальное учение подчеркивает добровольную поддержку больных, бедных и страждущих посредством телесных и духовных дел милосердия . Католическая церковь управляет десятками тысяч католических школ, университетов и колледжей , больниц и детских домов по всему миру и является крупнейшим негосударственным поставщиком образования и здравоохранения в мире. [26] Среди ее других социальных услуг — многочисленные благотворительные и гуманитарные организации.
Католическая церковь оказала глубокое влияние на западную философию , культуру , искусство , литературу , музыку , право , [27] и науку . [13] Католики живут по всему миру через миссии , иммиграцию , диаспору и обращения . С 20-го века большинство из них проживает на Глобальном Юге , частично из-за секуляризации в Европе и Северной Америке. Католическая церковь разделяла общение с Восточной Православной Церковью до раскола Востока и Запада в 1054 году, оспаривая, в частности, авторитет папы . До Эфесского собора в 431 году нашей эры Церковь Востока также разделяла это общение, как и Восточные Православные Церкви до Халкидонского собора в 451 году нашей эры; все они были разделены в первую очередь из-за различий в христологии . Восточно-католические церкви, общее число членов которых составляет около 18 миллионов, представляют собой группу восточных христиан , которые вернулись или остались в общении с папой во время или после этих расколов по разным историческим обстоятельствам. В XVI веке Реформация привела к формированию отдельных протестантских групп. С конца XX века Католическая церковь подвергалась критике за свои учения о сексуальности , свою доктрину против рукоположения женщин и за ее рассмотрение случаев сексуального насилия с участием духовенства.
Католический (от греч . καθολικός , романизированного : katholikos , букв. «вселенский») впервые был использован для описания церкви в начале II века. [30] Первое известное использование фразы «католическая церковь» ( греч . καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία , романизированного : katholikḕ ekklēsía ) произошло в письме, написанном около 110 г. н. э. святым Игнатием Антиохийским к Смирнеянам , [примечание 2], в котором говорилось: «Где бы ни появился епископ, там должен быть и народ, как и где может быть Иисус, там должна быть вселенская [католическая] Церковь». [31] В «Катехизических поучениях » ( ок. 350 г. ) святого Кирилла Иерусалимского название «Католическая церковь» использовалось для того, чтобы отличить ее от других групп, которые также называли себя «церковью». [31] [32] Понятие «католическая» было еще больше подчеркнуто в указе De fide Catolica, изданном в 380 г. Феодосием I , последним императором, правившим как в восточной , так и в западной части Римской империи , при установлении государственной церкви Римской империи . [33]
После раскола Восток-Запад 1054 года Восточная Православная Церковь взяла прилагательное «православный» в качестве своего отличительного эпитета; ее официальное название по-прежнему остается Православной Католической Церковью. [34] Латинская Церковь описывалась как Католическая , причем это описание также обозначало тех, кто находился в общении со Святым Престолом после протестантской Реформации 16-го века, когда те, кто прекратил быть в общении, стали называться протестантами. [35] [36]
В то время как термин «Римская церковь» использовался для описания папской епархии Рима с момента падения Западной Римской империи и в раннем Средневековье (VI–X вв.), термин «Римско-католическая церковь» применялся ко всей церкви в английском языке с момента протестантской Реформации в конце XVI в. [37] Кроме того, некоторые будут называть Латинскую церковь римско-католической в отличие от восточно-католических церквей. [38] Термин «римско-католическая» иногда также появлялся в документах, подготовленных как Святейшим Престолом, [примечание 3] и, в частности, использовался некоторыми национальными епископскими конференциями и местными епархиями. [примечание 4]
Название Католическая Церковь для всей церкви используется в Катехизисе Католической Церкви (1990) и Кодексе канонического права (1983). «Католическая Церковь» также используется в документах Второго Ватиканского Собора (1962–1965), [39] Первого Ватиканского Собора (1869–1870), [40] Тридентского Собора ( 1545–1563), [41] и многочисленных других официальных документах. [42] [43]
Новый Завет , в частности Евангелия , описывает деятельность и учение Иисуса, его назначение Двенадцати Апостолов и его Великое Поручение апостолам, поручая им продолжить его работу. [44] [45] Книга Деяний Апостолов рассказывает об основании христианской церкви и распространении ее послания в Римской империи. [46] Католическая церковь учит, что ее общественное служение началось в Пятидесятницу , происходящую через пятьдесят дней после даты, как полагают, воскресения Христа . [ 47] Считается, что в Пятидесятницу апостолы получили Святого Духа, подготовившего их к их миссии по руководству церковью. [48] [49] Католическая церковь учит, что коллегия епископов , возглавляемая епископом Рима, является преемниками апостолов. [50]
В рассказе об Исповеди Петра, находящемся в Евангелии от Матфея , Христос называет Петра «камнем», на котором будет построена церковь Христа. [51] [52] Католическая церковь считает епископа Рима, папу, преемником Святого Петра . [53] Некоторые ученые утверждают, что Петр был первым епископом Рима. [54] Другие [ кто? ] говорят, что учреждение папства не зависит от идеи, что Петр был епископом Рима или даже от того, что он когда-либо был в Риме. [55] Многие ученые считают, что церковная структура множественных пресвитеров/епископов сохранялась в Риме до середины II века, когда была принята структура единого епископа и множественных пресвитеров, [56] и что более поздние авторы ретроспективно применяли термин «епископ Рима» к наиболее выдающимся членам духовенства в более ранний период, а также к самому Петру. [56] На этом основании протестантские ученые Оскар Кульманн , [57] Генри Чедвик , [58] и Барт Д. Эрман [59] задаются вопросом, была ли формальная связь между Петром и современным папством. Рэймонд Э. Браун также говорит, что анахронично говорить о Петре как о местном епископе Рима, но что христиане того периода считали бы Петра имеющим «роли, которые внесли бы существенный вклад в развитие роли папства в последующей церкви». Эти роли, говорит Браун, «внесли огромный вклад в то, чтобы увидеть епископа Рима, епископа города, где умер Петр и где Павел засвидетельствовал истину Христа, как преемника Петра в заботе о вселенской церкви». [56]
Условия в Римской империи способствовали распространению новых идей. Сеть дорог и водных путей империи облегчала путешествия, а Pax Romana делал путешествия безопасными. Империя поощряла распространение общей культуры с греческими корнями, что позволяло легче выражать и понимать идеи. [60]
Однако, в отличие от большинства религий Римской империи, христианство требовало от своих приверженцев отречься от всех других богов, практика, заимствованная из иудаизма (см. Идолопоклонство ). Отказ христиан присоединиться к языческим празднованиям означал, что они не могли участвовать в большей части общественной жизни, что заставляло нехристиан, включая правительственные власти, опасаться, что христиане гневят богов и тем самым угрожают миру и процветанию Империи. Последовавшие за этим преследования были определяющей чертой христианского самосознания, пока христианство не было легализовано в 4 веке. [61]
В 313 году Миланский эдикт императора Константина I легализовал христианство, а в 330 году Константин перенес столицу империи в Константинополь , современный Стамбул, Турция . В 380 году Фессалоникийский эдикт сделал никейское христианство государственной церковью Римской империи , положение, которое в пределах уменьшающейся территории Византийской империи сохранялось до самого конца империи с падением Константинополя в 1453 году, в то время как в других местах церковь была независима от империи, что стало особенно ясно с расколом Востока и Запада . В период Семи Вселенских соборов возникло пять основных престолов, соглашение было формализовано в середине VI века императором Юстинианом I как пентархия Рима, Константинополя , Антиохии , Иерусалима и Александрии . [62] [63] В 451 году Халкидонский собор в каноне, юридическая сила которого оспаривается, [64] возвысил Константинопольский престол до положения «второго по значимости и силе после епископа Рима». [65] С 350 по 500 годы епископы , или папы, Рима неуклонно росли в авторитете благодаря своему последовательному вмешательству в поддержку православных лидеров в богословских спорах, что поощряло апелляции к ним. [66] Император Юстиниан , который в областях, находящихся под его контролем, окончательно установил форму цезарепапизма , [67] в которой «он имел право и обязанность регулировать своими законами мельчайшие детали богослужения и дисциплины, а также диктовать теологические мнения, которых должна придерживаться Церковь», [68] восстановил императорскую власть над Римом и другими частями Запада, положив начало периоду, называемому византийским папством (537–752), в течение которого епископы Рима, или папы, требовали одобрения императора в Константинополе или его представителя в Равенне для посвящения, и большинство из них выбирались императором из его грекоязычных подданных, [69] что привело к «плавильному котлу» западных и восточных христианских традиций в искусстве, а также литургии. [70]
Большинство германских племен, которые в последующие столетия вторглись в Римскую империю, приняли христианство в его арианской форме, которую Никейский собор объявил еретической . [71] Возникшей в результате религиозной розни между германскими правителями и католическими подданными [72] удалось избежать, когда в 497 году Хлодвиг I , франкский правитель, обратился в ортодоксальный католицизм, заключив союз с папством и монастырями. [73] Вестготы в Испании последовали его примеру в 589 году, [74] а лангобарды в Италии в течение 7-го века. [75]
Западное христианство , особенно через свои монастыри , было основным фактором в сохранении классической цивилизации , с ее искусством (см. Иллюстрированная рукопись ) и грамотностью. [76] Благодаря своему правилу , Бенедикт Нурсийский ( ок. 480–543 ), один из основателей западного монашества , оказал огромное влияние на европейскую культуру посредством присвоения монашеского духовного наследия ранней католической церкви и, с распространением бенедиктинской традиции, посредством сохранения и передачи древней культуры. В этот период монашеская Ирландия стала центром обучения, а ранние ирландские миссионеры, такие как Колумбанус и Колумба, распространяли христианство и основывали монастыри по всей континентальной Европе. [76]
Католическая церковь оказывала доминирующее влияние на западную цивилизацию с поздней античности до рассвета современной эпохи. [13] Она была основным спонсором романского, готического, ренессансного, маньеристского и барочного стилей в искусстве, архитектуре и музыке. [77] Такие деятели эпохи Возрождения, как Рафаэль , Микеланджело , Леонардо да Винчи , Боттичелли , Фра Анджелико , Тинторетто , Тициан , Бернини и Караваджо, являются примерами многочисленных художников, спонсируемых церковью. [78] Историк Пол Легутко из Стэнфордского университета сказал, что католическая церковь находится «в центре развития ценностей, идей, науки, законов и институтов, которые составляют то, что мы называем западной цивилизацией ». [79]
В западном христианском мире первые университеты в Европе были основаны монахами. [80] [81] [82] Начиная с 11-го века, несколько старых кафедральных школ стали университетами, такими как Оксфордский университет , Парижский университет и Болонский университет . До этого высшее образование было прерогативой христианских кафедральных школ или монастырских школ, которыми руководили монахи и монахини . Свидетельства существования таких школ относятся к 6-му веку н. э. [83] Эти новые университеты расширили учебную программу, включив в нее академические программы для священнослужителей, юристов, государственных служащих и врачей. [84] Университет обычно рассматривается как учреждение, которое берет свое начало в средневековой христианской среде. [85] [86] [87]
Массовые исламские вторжения середины VII века положили начало длительной борьбе между христианством и исламом по всему Средиземноморскому бассейну. Византийская империя вскоре потеряла земли восточных патриархатов Иерусалима , Александрии и Антиохии и была сведена к Константинополю, столице империи. В результате исламского господства в Средиземноморье , франкское государство, расположенное вдали от этого моря, смогло развиться в доминирующую силу, которая сформировала Западную Европу Средних веков. [ 88] Битвы при Тулузе и Пуатье остановили исламское продвижение на Западе, а неудачная осада Константинополя остановила его на Востоке. Два или три десятилетия спустя, в 751 году, Византийская империя потеряла из-за лангобардов город Равенну, из которого она управляла небольшими фрагментами Италии, включая Рим, признававшими ее суверенитет. Падение Равенны означало, что подтверждение более не существующего экзарха не было запрошено во время выборов в 752 году папы Стефана II , и что папство было вынуждено искать в другом месте гражданскую власть для своей защиты. [89] В 754 году по настоятельной просьбе папы Стефана франкский король Пипин Короткий завоевал ломбардцев. Затем он подарил земли бывшего экзархата папе, тем самым положив начало Папскому государству . Рим и византийский Восток углубились в дальнейший конфликт во время Фотиева раскола 860-х годов, когда Фотий критиковал латинский запад за добавление пункта filioque после того, как был отлучен от церкви Николаем I. Хотя раскол был урегулирован, нерешенные вопросы привели к дальнейшему разделению. [90]
В XI веке усилия Хильдебранда Сованского привели к созданию Коллегии кардиналов для избрания новых пап, начиная с папы Александра II на папских выборах 1061 года . Когда Александр II умер, Хильдебранд был избран его преемником, как папа Григорий VII . Основная избирательная система Коллегии кардиналов, которую Григорий VII помог создать, продолжала функционировать и в XXI веке. Папа Григорий VII также инициировал Григорианские реформы относительно независимости духовенства от светской власти. Это привело к спору об инвеституре между церковью и императорами Священной Римской империи , которые имели полномочия назначать епископов и пап. [91] [92]
В 1095 году византийский император Алексий I обратился к папе Урбану II за помощью против возобновившихся мусульманских вторжений в Византийско-сельджукских войнах , [93] что заставило Урбана начать Первый крестовый поход , направленный на помощь Византийской империи и возвращение Святой Земли под контроль христиан. [94] В XI веке напряженные отношения между в первую очередь греческой церковью и Латинской церковью разделили их в восточно-западном расколе, частично из-за конфликтов из-за папской власти. Четвертый крестовый поход и разграбление Константинополя крестоносцами-ренегатами стали окончательным разрывом. [95] В эту эпоху великие готические соборы во Франции были выражением народной гордости за христианскую веру.
В начале XIII века нищенствующие ордена были основаны Франциском Ассизским и Домиником де Гусманом . Studia conventualia и Studia generalia нищенствующих орденов сыграли большую роль в преобразовании спонсируемых церковью кафедральных школ и дворцовых школ, таких как школа Карла Великого в Аахене , в выдающиеся университеты Европы. [96] Схоластические теологи и философы, такие как доминиканский священник Фома Аквинский, учились и преподавали в этих studia. « Summa Theologica » Аквинского стала интеллектуальной вехой в синтезе наследия древнегреческих философов, таких как Платон и Аристотель, с содержанием христианского откровения. [97]
Растущее чувство церковно-государственных конфликтов было отмечено в XIV веке. Чтобы избежать нестабильности в Риме, Климент V в 1309 году стал первым из семи пап, которые поселились в укрепленном городе Авиньон на юге Франции [98] в период, известный как Авиньонское папство . Авиньонское папство закончилось в 1376 году, когда папа вернулся в Рим, [99] но за ним в 1378 году последовал 38-летний Западный раскол , с претендентами на папство в Риме, Авиньоне и (после 1409 года) Пизе. [99] Вопрос был в значительной степени решен в 1415–17 годах на Констанцском соборе , когда претенденты в Риме и Пизе согласились уйти в отставку, а третий претендент был отлучен кардиналами, которые провели новые выборы, назначив папой Мартина V. [100]
В 1438 году был созван Флорентийский собор , на котором состоялся интенсивный диалог, сосредоточенный на понимании теологических различий между Востоком и Западом, с надеждой на воссоединение католической и православной церквей. [101] Несколько восточных церквей воссоединились, образовав большинство Восточно-католических церквей . [102]
Эпоха Великих географических открытий, начавшаяся в XV веке, ознаменовалась расширением политического и культурного влияния Западной Европы во всем мире. Из-за выдающейся роли, которую играли католицизм в западном колониализме, католицизм был распространен в Америке, Азии и Океании исследователями, конкистадорами и миссионерами, а также путем преобразования обществ посредством социально-политических механизмов колониального правления. Папа Александр VI предоставил колониальные права на большую часть недавно открытых земель Испании и Португалии [103] , и последовавшая за этим система патроната позволила государственным органам, а не Ватикану, контролировать все назначения на церковные должности в новых колониях. [104] В 1521 году португальский исследователь Фердинанд Магеллан обратил первых католиков на Филиппинах . [105] В других местах португальские миссионеры под руководством испанского иезуита Франциска Ксавье евангелизовали в Индии, Китае и Японии. [106] Французская колонизация Америки , начавшаяся в XVI веке, привела к появлению католического франкоязычного населения и запретила некатоликам селиться в Квебеке . [107]
В 1415 году Ян Гус был сожжён на костре за ересь, но его реформаторские усилия вдохновили Мартина Лютера , монаха -августинца в современной Германии, который в 1517 году отправил свои Девяносто пять тезисов нескольким епископам. [108] Его тезисы протестовали против ключевых пунктов католической доктрины , а также против продажи индульгенций , и вместе с Лейпцигскими дебатами это привело к его отлучению от церкви в 1521 году . [108] [109] В Швейцарии Хульдрих Цвингли , Жан Кальвин и другие протестантские реформаторы продолжили критиковать католические учения. Эти вызовы переросли в Реформацию, которая породила подавляющее большинство протестантских конфессий [110] , а также криптопротестантизм в Католической церкви. [111] Тем временем Генрих VIII подал прошение Папе Клименту VII о признании недействительным его брака с Екатериной Арагонской . Когда ему это было отказано, он принял Акты о супрематии , чтобы сделать себя Верховным главой Церкви Англии , что подстегнуло английскую Реформацию и в конечном итоге развитие англиканства . [112]
Реформация способствовала столкновениям между протестантской Шмалькальденской лигой и католическим императором Карлом V и его союзниками. Первая девятилетняя война закончилась в 1555 году Аугсбургским миром , но продолжающаяся напряженность привела к гораздо более серьезному конфликту — Тридцатилетней войне , которая разразилась в 1618 году. [113] Во Франции серия конфликтов, названных Французскими религиозными войнами, велась с 1562 по 1598 год между гугенотами (французскими кальвинистами ) и силами Французской католической лиги , которые поддерживались и финансировались рядом пап. [114] Это закончилось при папе Клименте VIII , который нерешительно принял Нантский эдикт короля Генриха IV 1598 года, предоставлявший гражданскую и религиозную терпимость французским протестантам. [113] [114]
Тридентский собор ( 1545–1563) стал движущей силой Контрреформации в ответ на протестантское движение. Доктринально он подтвердил центральные католические учения, такие как пресуществление и требование любви и надежды, а также веры для достижения спасения. [115] В последующие столетия католицизм широко распространился по всему миру, отчасти через миссионеров и империализм , хотя его влияние на европейское население ослабло из-за роста религиозного скептицизма во время и после Просвещения. [116]
Начиная с XVII века, Просвещение подвергало сомнению власть и влияние Католической церкви на западное общество. [117] В XVIII веке такие писатели, как Вольтер и Энциклопедисты, писали едкие критические статьи как о религии, так и о Католической церкви. Одной из целей их критики была отмена Нантского эдикта 1685 года королем Франции Людовиком XIV , которая положила конец вековой политике религиозной терпимости к протестантам-гугенотам. Поскольку папство сопротивлялось натиску галликанизма , Французская революция 1789 года переместила власть в руки государства, вызвала разрушение церквей, установление Культа Разума [ 118] и мученичество монахинь во время правления Террора . [119] В 1798 году генерал Наполеона Бонапарта Луи-Александр Бертье вторгся на Апеннинский полуостров , заключив в тюрьму Папу Пия VI , который умер в плену. Позднее Наполеон восстановил Католическую церковь во Франции посредством Конкордата 1801 года . [120] Окончание Наполеоновских войн принесло католическое возрождение и возвращение Папской области . [121]
В 1854 году Папа Пий IX , при поддержке подавляющего большинства католических епископов, с которыми он консультировался с 1851 по 1853 год, провозгласил Непорочное Зачатие догматом в Католической Церкви . [122] В 1870 году Первый Ватиканский Собор подтвердил доктрину папской непогрешимости , когда она осуществляется в специально определенных заявлениях, [123] [124] нанеся удар по конкурирующей позиции соборности . Споры по этому и другим вопросам привели к возникновению отколовшегося движения, названного Старой Католической Церковью , [125]
Объединение Италии в 1860-х годах включило Папскую область, включая сам Рим с 1870 года, в Королевство Италия , тем самым положив конец светской власти папства . В ответ Папа Пий IX отлучил короля Виктора Эммануила II , отказался платить за землю и отверг итальянский Закон о гарантиях , который предоставлял ему особые привилегии. Чтобы избежать видимого подчинения итальянским властям, он оставался « узником Ватикана ». [126] Это противостояние, которое называлось Римским вопросом , было разрешено Латеранскими договорами 1929 года , в соответствии с которыми Святой Престол признал итальянский суверенитет над бывшими Папскими областями в обмен на плату и признание Италией папского суверенитета над Ватиканом как новым суверенным и независимым государством. [127]
Католические миссионеры в целом поддерживали и стремились содействовать завоеванию Африки европейскими империалистическими державами в конце девятнадцатого века. По словам историка религии Адриана Гастингса , католические миссионеры в целом не желали защищать права африканцев или поощрять африканцев считать себя равными европейцам, в отличие от протестантских миссионеров, которые были более готовы противостоять колониальной несправедливости. [128]
В течение 20-го века глобальное влияние церкви продолжало расти, несмотря на рост антикатолических авторитарных режимов и крах европейских империй, сопровождавшийся общим упадком религиозных обрядов на Западе. При Папах Бенедикте XV и Пии XII Святой Престол стремился поддерживать общественный нейтралитет во время мировых войн, выступая в качестве посредника в установлении мира и оказывая помощь жертвам конфликтов. В 1960-х годах Папа Иоанн XXIII созвал Второй Ватиканский собор , который ознаменовал собой радикальные изменения в церковных ритуалах и практике, а в конце 20-го века долгое правление Папы Иоанна Павла II способствовало падению коммунизма в Европе и новой общественной и международной роли папства. [129] [130] С конца 20-го века Католическая церковь подвергалась критике за свои доктрины о сексуальности , неспособность рукополагать женщин и рассмотрение дел о сексуальном насилии .
Папа Пий X (1903–1914) возобновил независимость папской власти, отменив вето католических властей на папских выборах, а его преемники Бенедикт XV (1914–1922) и Пий XI (1922–1939) завершили современную независимость государства Ватикан в пределах Италии. [131] Бенедикт XV был избран в начале Первой мировой войны . Он попытался стать посредником между державами и основал Ватиканское бюро помощи, чтобы помогать жертвам войны и воссоединять семьи. [132] Межвоенный Папа Пий XI модернизировал папство, назначив 40 местных епископов и заключив пятнадцать конкордатов, включая Латеранский договор с Италией, который основал государство-город Ватикан . [133]
Его преемник Папа Пий XII руководил Католической церковью во время Второй мировой войны и в начале Холодной войны . Как и его предшественники, Пий XII стремился публично поддерживать нейтралитет Ватикана в войне и создал сети помощи для оказания помощи жертвам, но он тайно помогал антигитлеровскому сопротивлению и делился разведданными с союзниками. [132] Его первая энциклика Summi Pontificatus (1939) выразила тревогу по поводу вторжения в Польшу в 1939 году и повторила католическое учение против расизма. [134] Он выразил обеспокоенность по поводу расовых убийств на Радио Ватикана и вмешался дипломатическим путем, чтобы попытаться заблокировать нацистские депортации евреев в разных странах с 1942 по 1944 год. Но настойчивость Папы в отношении публичного нейтралитета и дипломатического языка стала источником большой критики и споров. [135] Тем не менее, в каждой стране, находящейся под немецкой оккупацией, священники играли важную роль в спасении евреев. [136] Израильский историк Пинхас Лапид подсчитал, что католическое спасение евреев составило где-то от 700 000 до 860 000 человек. [137]
Нацистские преследования католической церкви достигли своего пика в Польше , и католическое сопротивление нацизму принимало различные формы. Около 2579 католических священнослужителей были отправлены в казармы для священников концентрационного лагеря Дахау , в том числе 400 немцев. [138] [139] Тысячи священников, монахинь и братьев были заключены в тюрьму, доставлены в концентрационный лагерь, подвергнуты пыткам и убиты, включая святых Максимилиана Кольбе и Эдит Штайн . [140] [141] Католики сражались по обе стороны конфликта. Католическое духовенство играло ведущую роль в правительстве фашистского словацкого государства , которое сотрудничало с нацистами, копировало их антисемитскую политику и помогало им осуществлять Холокост в Словакии. Йозеф Тисо , президент словацкого государства и католический священник, поддерживал депортацию словацких евреев в лагеря смерти своим правительством. [142] Ватикан протестовал против этих еврейских депортаций в Словакии и других нацистских марионеточных режимах, включая вишистскую Францию , Хорватию, Болгарию , Италию и Венгрию. [143] [144]
Около 1943 года Адольф Гитлер планировал похищение Папы и его интернирование в Германии. Он отдал генералу СС Вольфу соответствующий приказ о подготовке к акции. [145] [146] Хотя Папе Пию XII приписывают помощь в спасении сотен тысяч евреев во время Холокоста , [147] [148] церковь также обвиняли в том, что она поощряла веками антисемитизм своими учениями [149] и не делала достаточно для того, чтобы остановить нацистские зверства. [150] Многие нацистские преступники бежали за границу после Второй мировой войны, также потому, что у них были могущественные сторонники из Ватикана. [151] [152] [153] Суд над Пием XII затрудняется источниками, поскольку церковные архивы за его пребывание в качестве нунция, кардинала-государственного секретаря и папы частично закрыты или еще не обработаны. [154]
Второй Ватиканский собор (1962–65) внес самые значительные изменения в католическую практику со времен Тридентского собора, состоявшегося четыре столетия назад. [155] Инициированный папой Иоанном XXIII, этот экуменический собор модернизировал практику Католической церкви, разрешив читать мессу на родном языке (местном языке) и поощряя «полностью осознанное и активное участие в литургических празднованиях». [156] Он намеревался более тесно вовлечь церковь в современный мир ( aggiornamento ), что его сторонники описывали как «открытие окон». [157] Помимо изменений в литургии, он привел к изменениям в подходе церкви к экуменизму , [158] и призыву к улучшению отношений с нехристианскими религиями, особенно иудаизмом, в своем документе Nostra aetate . [159]
Однако собор вызвал значительные разногласия при реализации своих реформ: сторонники «Духа II Ватикана », такие как швейцарский теолог Ганс Кюнг, заявили, что II Ватиканский собор «не зашел достаточно далеко», чтобы изменить политику церкви. [160] Традиционалисты-католики , такие как архиепископ Марсель Лефевр , однако, подвергли собор резкой критике, утверждая, что его литургические реформы привели «к разрушению Святого Жертвоприношения Мессы и таинств», среди прочего. [161] Учение о морали контрацепции также подверглось пристальному вниманию; после серии разногласий Humanae vitae поддержала запрет церкви на все формы контрацепции. [162] [163] [примечание 5] [164]
В 1978 году Папа Иоанн Павел II , бывший архиепископ Краковский в Польской Народной Республике , стал первым неитальянским Папой за 455 лет. Его 26,5-летний понтификат был одним из самых длительных в истории, и ему приписывают ускорение падения коммунизма в Европе. [165] [166] Иоанн Павел II стремился евангелизировать все более светский мир . Он путешествовал больше, чем любой другой Папа, посетив 129 стран, [167] и использовал телевидение и радио как средства распространения учений церкви. Он также подчеркивал достоинство труда и естественные права трудящихся на справедливую заработную плату и безопасные условия в Laborem exercens . [168] Он подчеркивал несколько церковных учений, включая моральные увещевания против абортов, эвтаназии и против широкого применения смертной казни в Evangelium Vitae . [169]
Папа Бенедикт XVI , избранный в 2005 году, был известен тем, что отстаивал традиционные христианские ценности против секуляризации , [170] и все чаще использовал Тридентскую мессу , изложенную в Римском Миссале 1962 года, которую он назвал «Экстраординарной формой». [171] Ссылаясь на немощи преклонного возраста, Бенедикт ушел в отставку в 2013 году, став первым папой, сделавшим это за почти 600 лет. [172]
Папа Франциск, нынешний Папа Католической Церкви, стал в 2013 году первым Папой из Америки, первым из Южного полушария и первым Папой из-за пределов Европы со времен Григория III , жившего в восьмом веке . [173] [174] Франциск приложил усилия для дальнейшего сокращения отчуждения католицизма от Восточных церквей. [175] На его интронизации присутствовал Патриарх Константинопольский Варфоломей I Восточной Православной Церкви, [176] впервые после Великого раскола 1054 года, когда Вселенский Патриарх Константинополя присутствовал на интронизации папы, [177] а также он встретился с Патриархом Московским Кириллом , главой крупнейшей Восточной Православной Церкви, в 2016 году; Сообщается, что это первая встреча на высоком уровне между двумя церквями со времен Великого раскола 1054 года. [178] В 2017 году во время визита в Египет Папа Франциск восстановил взаимное признание крещения с Коптской православной церковью . [179]
Католическая церковь следует епископальному устройству , во главе с епископами, получившими таинство Священного сана, которым даны формальные юрисдикции управления в церкви. [180] [181] Существует три уровня духовенства: епископат, состоящий из епископов, которые обладают юрисдикцией над географической областью, называемой епархией или епархией ; пресвитерат, состоящий из священников, рукоположенных епископами и работающих в местных епархиях или религиозных орденах; и диаконат, состоящий из диаконов, которые помогают епископам и священникам в различных министерских ролях. В конечном итоге руководителем всей Католической церкви является епископ Рима , известный как папа ( лат . papa , букв. «отец»), чья юрисдикция называется Святейший Престол ( лат. Sancta Sedes ). [182] Параллельно с епархиальной структурой существуют различные религиозные институты , которые функционируют автономно, часто подчиняясь только власти папы, хотя иногда подчиняясь местному епископу. В большинстве религиозных институтов есть только мужчины или женщины, но в некоторых есть и те, и другие. Кроме того, миряне помогают многим литургическим функциям во время богослужений. Католическая церковь была описана как старейшая многонациональная организация в мире. [183] [184] [185]
Иерархию католической церкви возглавляет [примечание 6] папа, в настоящее время папа Франциск , избранный 13 марта 2013 года папским конклавом . [191] Должность папы известна как папство . Католическая церковь считает, что Христос учредил папство, дав ключи от Небес святому Петру . Его церковная юрисдикция называется Святым Престолом или Апостольским Престолом (что означает престол апостола Петра). [192] [193] Непосредственно папе служит Римская курия, центральный руководящий орган, который управляет повседневными делами католической церкви.
The pope is also sovereign of Vatican City,[194] a small city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome, which is an entity distinct from the Holy See. It is as head of the Holy See, not as head of Vatican City State, that the pope receives ambassadors of states and sends them his own diplomatic representatives.[195] The Holy See also confers orders, decorations and medals, such as the orders of chivalry originating from the Middle Ages.
While the famous Saint Peter's Basilica is located in Vatican City, above the traditional site of Saint Peter's tomb, the papal cathedral for the Diocese of Rome is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, located within the city of Rome, though enjoying extraterritorial privileges accredited to the Holy See.
The position of cardinal is a rank of honour bestowed by popes on certain clerics, such as leaders within the Roman Curia, bishops serving in major cities and distinguished theologians. For advice and assistance in governing, the pope may turn to the College of Cardinals.[196]
Following the death or resignation of a pope,[note 7] members of the College of Cardinals who are under age 80 act as an electoral college, meeting in a papal conclave to elect a successor.[198] Although the conclave may elect any male Catholic as pope, since 1389 only cardinals have been elected.[199]
Catholic canon law (Latin: jus canonicum)[200] is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church.[201] The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Western legal system,[202] and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West,[203][204] while the distinctive traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris.
Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws from promulgation by the supreme legislator—the Supreme Pontiff—who possesses the totality of legislative, executive and judicial power in his person,[205] while particular laws derive formal authority from promulgation by a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator, whether an ordinary or a delegated legislator. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition. It has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system:[206] laws, courts, lawyers, judges,[206] a fully articulated legal code for the Latin Church[207] as well as a code for the Eastern Catholic Churches,[207] principles of legal interpretation,[208] and coercive penalties.[209][210]
Canon law concerns the Catholic Church's life and organization and is distinct from civil law. In its own field it gives force to civil law only by specific enactment in matters such as the guardianship of minors.[211] Similarly, civil law may give force in its field to canon law, but only by specific enactment, as with regard to canonical marriages.[212] Currently, the 1983 Code of Canon Law is in effect for the Latin Church.[213] The distinct 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO, after the Latin initials) applies to the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches.[214]
In the first thousand years of Catholic history, different varieties of Christianity developed in the Western and Eastern Christian areas of Europe, Asia and Africa. Though most Eastern-tradition churches are no longer in communion with the Catholic Church after the Great Schism of 1054 (as well as the earlier Nestorian Schism and Chalcedonian Schism), 23 autonomous particular churches of eastern traditions participate in the Catholic communion, also known as "churches sui iuris" (Latin: "of one's own right"). The largest and most well known is the Latin Church, the only Western-tradition church, with more than 1 billion members worldwide. Relatively small in terms of adherents compared to the Latin Church, are the 23 self-governing Eastern Catholic Churches with a combined membership of 17.3 million as of 2010[update].[215][216][217][218]
The Latin Church is governed by the pope and diocesan bishops directly appointed by him. The pope exercises a direct patriarchal role over the Latin Church, which is considered to form the original and still major part of Western Christianity, a heritage of certain beliefs and customs originating in Europe and northwestern Africa, some of which are inherited by many Christian denominations that trace their origins to the Protestant Reformation.[219]
The Eastern Catholic Churches follow the traditions and spirituality of Eastern Christianity and are churches that have always remained in full communion with the Catholic Church or who have chosen to re-enter full communion in the centuries following the East–West Schism or earlier divisions. These churches are communities of Catholic Christians whose forms of worship reflect distinct historical and cultural influences rather than differences in doctrine. The pope's recognition of Eastern Catholic Churches, though, has caused controversy in ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox and other eastern churches. Historically, pressure to conform to the norms of the Western Christianity practised by the majority Latin Church led to a degree of encroachment (Liturgical Latinisation) on some of the Eastern Catholic traditions. The Second Vatican Council document, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, built on previous reforms to reaffirm the right of Eastern Catholics to maintain their distinct liturgical practices.[220]
A church sui iuris is defined in the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches as a "group of Christian faithful united by a hierarchy" that is recognized by the pope in his capacity as the supreme authority on matters of doctrine within the church.[221] The Eastern Catholic Churches are in full communion with the pope, but have governance structures and liturgical traditions separate from that of the Latin Church.[216] While the Latin Church's canons do not explicitly use the term, it is tacitly recognized as equivalent.
Some Eastern Catholic churches are governed by a patriarch who is elected by the synod of the bishops of that church,[222] others are headed by a major archbishop,[223] others are under a metropolitan,[224] and others are organized as individual eparchies.[225] Each church has authority over the particulars of its internal organization, liturgical rites, liturgical calendar and other aspects of its spirituality, subject only to the authority of the pope.[226] The Roman Curia has a specific department, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to maintain relations with them.[227] The pope does not generally appoint bishops or clergy in the Eastern Catholic Churches, deferring to their internal governance structures, but may intervene if he feels it necessary.
Individual countries, regions, and major cities are served by particular churches known as dioceses in the Latin Church, or eparchies in the Eastern Catholic Churches, each of which are overseen by a bishop. As of 2021[update], the Catholic Church has 3,171 dioceses globally.[229] The bishops in a particular country are members of a national or regional episcopal conference.[230]
Dioceses are divided into parishes, each with one or more priests, deacons, or lay ecclesial ministers.[231] Parishes are responsible for the day to day celebration of the sacraments and pastoral care of the laity.[232] As of 2016[update], there are 221,700 parishes worldwide.[8]
In the Latin Church, Catholic men may serve as deacons or priests by receiving sacramental ordination. Men and women may serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, as readers (lectors), or as altar servers. Historically, boys and men have only been permitted to serve as altar servers; however, since the 1990s, girls and women have also been permitted.[233][note 8]
Ordained Catholics, as well as members of the laity, may enter into consecrated life either on an individual basis, as a hermit or consecrated virgin, or by joining an institute of consecrated life (a religious institute or a secular institute) in which to take vows confirming their desire to follow the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.[234] Examples of institutes of consecrated life are the Benedictines, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Missionaries of Charity, the Legionaries of Christ and the Sisters of Mercy.[234]
"Religious institutes" is a modern term encompassing both "religious orders" and "religious congregations", which were once distinguished in canon law.[235] The terms "religious order" and "religious institute" tend to be used as synonyms colloquially.[236]
By means of Catholic charities and beyond, the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.[26]
As of 2020, Catholicism is the second-largest religious body in the world after Sunni Islam.[237] Catholics represent about half of all Christians.[238] According to World Christian Database, there are 1.278 billion Catholics globally, as of 2024.[4] According to Annuario Pontificio, church membership, defined as baptized Catholics, was 1.378 billion at the end of 2021, which was 17.7% of the world population:[5]
Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world, followed by Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States.[239]
Geographic distribution of Catholics worldwide continues to shift, with 19.3% in Africa, 48.0% in the Americas, 11.0% in Asia, 20.9% in Europe, and 0.8% in Oceania.[5]
Catholic ministers include ordained clergy, lay ecclesial ministers, missionaries, and catechists. Also as of the end of 2021, there were 462,388 ordained clergy, including 5,353 bishops, 407,730 priests (diocesan and religious), and 50,150 deacons (permanent).[5] Non-ordained ministers included 3,157,568 catechists, 367,679 lay missionaries, and 39,951 lay ecclesial ministers.[240]
Catholics who have committed to religious or consecrated life instead of marriage or single celibacy, as a state of life or relational vocation, include 49,414 male religious and 599,228 women religious. These are not ordained, nor generally considered ministers unless also engaged in one of the lay minister categories above.[5]
Catholic doctrine has developed over the centuries, reflecting direct teachings of early Christians, formal definitions of heretical and orthodox beliefs by ecumenical councils and in papal bulls, and theological debate by scholars. The church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit as it discerns new theological issues and is protected infallibly from falling into doctrinal error when a firm decision on an issue is reached.[241][242]
It teaches that revelation has one common source, God, and two distinct modes of transmission: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition,[243][244] and that these are authentically interpreted by the Magisterium.[245][246] Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 books of the Catholic Bible, consisting of 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament writings. Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.[247] Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" (depositum fidei in Latin). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from magister, Latin for "teacher"), the church's teaching authority, which is exercised by the pope and the College of Bishops in union with the pope, the Bishop of Rome.[248] Catholic doctrine is authoritatively summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by the Holy See.[249][250]
The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a perichoresis ("mutual indwelling") of three hypostases, or "persons": God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit, which together are called the "Holy Trinity".[251]
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the "Second Person" of the Trinity, God the Son. In an event known as the Incarnation, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature through the conception of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christ, therefore, is understood as being both fully divine and fully human, including possessing a human soul. It is taught that Christ's mission on earth included giving people his teachings and providing his example for them to follow as recorded in the four Gospels.[252] Jesus is believed to have remained sinless while on earth, and to have allowed himself to be unjustly executed by crucifixion, as a sacrifice of himself to reconcile humanity to God; this reconciliation is known as the Paschal Mystery.[253] The Greek term "Christ" and the Hebrew "Messiah" both mean "anointed one", referring to the Christian belief that Jesus' death and resurrection are the fulfilment of the Old Testament's messianic prophecies.[254]
The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that "the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles but as from one single principle".[255] It holds that the Father, as the "principle without principle", is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that he, as Father of the only Son, is with the Son the single principle from which the Spirit proceeds.[256] This belief is expressed in the Filioque clause which was added to the Latin version of the Nicene Creed of 381 but not included in the Greek versions of the creed used in Eastern Christianity.[257]
The Catholic Church teaches that it is the "one true church",[16][258] "the universal sacrament of salvation for the human race",[259][260] and "the one true religion".[261] According to the Catechism, the Catholic Church is further described in the Nicene Creed as the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church".[262] These are collectively known as the Four Marks of the Church. The church teaches that its founder is Jesus Christ.[263][44] The New Testament records several events considered integral to the establishment of the Catholic Church, including Jesus' activities and teaching and his appointment of the apostles as witnesses to his ministry, suffering, and resurrection. The Great Commission, after his resurrection, instructed the apostles to continue his work. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as Pentecost, is seen as the beginning of the public ministry of the Catholic Church.[47] The church teaches that all duly consecrated bishops have a lineal succession from the apostles of Christ, known as apostolic succession.[264] In particular, the Bishop of Rome (the pope) is considered the successor to the apostle Simon Peter, a position from which he derives his supremacy over the church.[265]
Catholic belief holds that the church "is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth"[266] and that it alone possesses the full means of salvation.[267] Through the passion (suffering) of Christ leading to his crucifixion as described in the Gospels, it is said Christ made himself an oblation to God the Father to reconcile humanity to God;[268] the Resurrection of Jesus makes him the firstborn from the dead, the first among many brethren.[269] By reconciling with God and following Christ's words and deeds, an individual can enter the Kingdom of God.[270] The church sees its liturgy and sacraments as perpetuating the graces achieved through Christ's sacrifice to strengthen a person's relationship with Christ and aid in overcoming sin.[271]
The Catholic Church teaches that, immediately after death, the soul of each person will receive a particular judgement from God, based on their sins and their relationship to Christ.[272][273] This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in universal judgement of all mankind. This final judgement, according to the church's teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of both a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.[274]
Depending on the judgement rendered following death, it is believed that a soul may enter one of three states of the afterlife:
While the Catholic Church teaches that it alone possesses the full means of salvation,[267] it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of Christian communities separated from itself to "impel towards Catholic unity"[283] and "tend and lead toward the Catholic Church",[283] and thus bring people to salvation, because these separated communities contain some elements of proper doctrine, albeit admixed with errors. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved through the Catholic Church but that people can be saved outside of the ordinary means known as baptism of desire, and by pre-baptismal martyrdom, known as baptism of blood, as well as when conditions of invincible ignorance are present, although invincible ignorance in itself is not a means of salvation.[284]
A saint (also historically known as a hallow) is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God, while canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares that a person who has died was a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the "canon", or list, of recognized saints.[285][286] The first persons honoured as saints were the martyrs. Pious legends of their deaths were considered affirmations of the truth of their faith in Christ. By the fourth century, however, "confessors"—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by suffering—began to be venerated publicly.
In the Catholic Church, both in Latin and Eastern Catholic churches, the act of canonization is reserved to the Apostolic See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the candidate for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the person is now in Heaven and that he may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the church, including in the Litany of the Saints. Canonization allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite; for permission to venerate merely locally, only beatification is needed.[287]
Devotions are "external practices of piety" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics.[288] These include various practices regarding the veneration of the saints, especially veneration of the Virgin Mary. Other devotional practices include the Stations of the Cross, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Face of Jesus,[289] the various scapulars, novenas to various saints,[290] pilgrimages[291] and devotions to the Blessed Sacrament,[290] and the veneration of saintly images such as the santos.[292] The bishops at the Second Vatican Council reminded Catholics that "devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them."[293]
Catholic Mariology deals with the dogmas and teachings concerning the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, as well as the veneration of Mary by the faithful. Mary is held in special regard, declared the Mother of God (Greek: Θεοτόκος, romanized: Theotokos, lit. 'God-bearer'), and believed as dogma to have remained a virgin throughout her life.[294] Further teachings include the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception (her own conception without the stain of original sin) and the Assumption of Mary (that her body was assumed directly into heaven at the end of her life). Both of these doctrines were defined as infallible dogma, by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and Pope Pius XII in 1950 respectively,[295] but only after consulting with the Catholic bishops throughout the world to ascertain that this is a Catholic belief.[296] In the Eastern Catholic churches, however, they continue to celebrate the feast of the Assumption under the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God on the same date.[297] The teaching that Mary died before being assumed significantly precedes the idea that she did not. St John Damascene wrote that "St Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to Heaven."[298]
Devotions to Mary are part of Catholic piety but are distinct from the worship of God.[299] Practices include prayers and Marian art, music, and architecture. Several liturgical Marian feasts are celebrated throughout the Church Year and she is honoured with many titles such as Queen of Heaven. Pope Paul VI called her Mother of the Church because, by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the Body of Christ.[295] Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions such as the Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Salve Regina and the Memorare are common Catholic practices.[300] Pilgrimage to the sites of several Marian apparitions affirmed by the church, such as Lourdes, Fátima, and Guadalupe,[301] are also popular Catholic devotions.[302]
The Catholic Church teaches that it was entrusted with seven sacraments that were instituted by Christ. The number and nature of the sacraments were defined by several ecumenical councils, most recently the Council of Trent.[303][note 9] These are Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick (formerly called Extreme Unction, one of the "Last Rites"), Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony. Sacraments are visible rituals that Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God's grace to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (ex opere operato).[304] The Catechism of the Catholic Church categorizes the sacraments into three groups, the "sacraments of Christian initiation", "sacraments of healing" and "sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful". These groups broadly reflect the stages of people's natural and spiritual lives which each sacrament is intended to serve.[305]
The liturgies of the sacraments are central to the church's mission. According to the Catechism:
In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social—indeed, all human affinities.[306]
According to church doctrine, the sacraments of the church require the proper form, matter, and intent to be validly celebrated.[307] In addition, the Canon Laws for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches govern who may licitly celebrate certain sacraments, as well as strict rules about who may receive the sacraments.[308] Notably, because the church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,[309] those who are conscious of being in a state of mortal sin are forbidden to receive the sacrament until they have received absolution through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).[310] Catholics are normally obliged to abstain from eating for at least an hour before receiving the sacrament.[310] Non-Catholics are ordinarily prohibited from receiving the Eucharist as well.[308][311]
Catholics, even if they were in danger of death and unable to approach a Catholic minister, may not ask for the sacraments of the Eucharist, penance or anointing of the sick from someone, such as a Protestant minister, who is not known to be validly ordained in line with Catholic teaching on ordination.[312][313] Likewise, even in grave and pressing need, Catholic ministers may not administer these sacraments to those who do not manifest Catholic faith in the sacrament. In relation to the churches of Eastern Christianity not in communion with the Holy See, the Catholic Church is less restrictive, declaring that "a certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged."[314]
As viewed by the Catholic Church, Baptism is the first of three sacraments of initiation as a Christian.[315] It washes away all sins, both original sin and personal actual sins.[316] It makes a person a member of the church.[317] As a gratuitous gift of God that requires no merit on the part of the person who is baptized, it is conferred even on children,[318] who, though they have no personal sins, need it on account of original sin.[319] If a new-born child is in a danger of death, anyone—be it a doctor, a nurse, or a parent—may baptize the child.[320] Baptism marks a person permanently and cannot be repeated.[321] The Catholic Church recognizes as valid baptisms conferred even by people who are not Catholics or Christians, provided that they intend to baptize ("to do what the Church does when she baptizes") and that they use the Trinitarian baptismal formula.[322]
The Catholic Church sees the sacrament of confirmation as required to complete the grace given in baptism.[323] When adults are baptized, confirmation is normally given immediately afterwards,[324] a practice followed even with newly baptized infants in the Eastern Catholic Churches.[325] In the West confirmation of children is delayed until they are old enough to understand or at the bishop's discretion.[326] In Western Christianity, particularly Catholicism, the sacrament is called confirmation, because it confirms and strengthens the grace of baptism; in the Eastern Churches, it is called chrismation, because the essential rite is the anointing of the person with chrism,[327] a mixture of olive oil and some perfumed substance, usually balsam, blessed by a bishop.[327][328] Those who receive confirmation must be in a state of grace, which for those who have reached the age of reason means that they should first be cleansed spiritually by the sacrament of Penance; they should also have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to show in their lives that they are Christians.[329]
For Catholics, the Eucharist is the sacrament which completes Christian initiation. It is described as "the source and summit of the Christian life".[330] The ceremony in which a Catholic first receives the Eucharist is known as First Communion.[331]
The Eucharistic celebration, also called the Mass or Divine liturgy, includes prayers and scriptural readings, as well as an offering of bread and wine, which are brought to the altar and consecrated by the priest to become the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, a change called transubstantiation.[332][note 10] The words of consecration reflect the words spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper, where Christ offered his body and blood to his Apostles the night before his crucifixion. The sacrament re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross,[333] and perpetuates it. Christ's death and resurrection give grace through the sacrament that unites the faithful with Christ and one another, remits venial sin, and aids against committing moral sin (though mortal sin itself is forgiven through the sacrament of penance).[334]
The two sacraments of healing are the Sacrament of Penance and Anointing of the Sick.
The Sacrament of Penance (also called Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Confession, and Conversion[335]) exists for the conversion of those who, after baptism, separate themselves from Christ by sin.[336] Essential to this sacrament are acts both by the sinner (examination of conscience, contrition with a determination not to sin again, confession to a priest, and performance of some act to repair the damage caused by sin) and by the priest (determination of the act of reparation to be performed and absolution).[337] Serious sins (mortal sins) should be confessed at least once a year and always before receiving Holy Communion, while confession of venial sins also is recommended.[338] The priest is bound under the severest penalties to maintain the "seal of confession", absolute secrecy about any sins revealed to him in confession.[339]
While chrism is used only for the three sacraments that cannot be repeated, a different oil is used by a priest or bishop to bless a Catholic who, because of illness or old age, has begun to be in danger of death.[340] This sacrament, known as Anointing of the Sick, is believed to give comfort, peace, courage and, if the sick person is unable to make a confession, even forgiveness of sins.[341]
The sacrament is also referred to as Unction, and in the past as Extreme Unction, and it is one of the three sacraments that constitute the last rites, together with Penance and Viaticum (Eucharist).[342]
According to the Catechism, there are two sacraments of communion directed towards the salvation of others: priesthood and marriage.[343] Within the general vocation to be a Christian, these two sacraments "consecrate to specific mission or vocation among the people of God. Men receive the holy orders to feed the Church by the word and grace. Spouses marry so that their love may be fortified to fulfil duties of their state".[344]
The sacrament of Holy Orders consecrates and deputes some Christians to serve the whole body as members of three degrees or orders: episcopate (bishops), presbyterate (priests) and diaconate (deacons).[345][346] The church has defined rules on who may be ordained into the clergy. In the Latin Church, the priesthood is generally restricted to celibate men, and the episcopate is always restricted to celibate men.[347] Men who are already married may be ordained in certain Eastern Catholic churches in most countries,[348] and the personal ordinariates and may become deacons even in the Latin Church[349][350] (see Clerical marriage). But after becoming a Catholic priest, a man may not marry (see Clerical celibacy) unless he is formally laicized.
All clergy, whether deacons, priests or bishops, may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.[351] Only bishops and priests can administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation (Penance) and Anointing of the Sick.[352][353] Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders, which ordains someone into the clergy.[354]
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a social and spiritual bond between a man and a woman, ordered towards the good of the spouses and procreation of children; according to Catholic teachings on sexual morality, it is the only appropriate context for sexual activity. A Catholic marriage, or any marriage between baptized individuals of any Christian denomination, is viewed as a sacrament. A sacramental marriage, once consummated, cannot be dissolved except by death.[355][note 11] The church recognizes certain conditions, such as freedom of consent, as required for any marriage to be valid; In addition, the church sets specific rules and norms, known as canonical form, that Catholics must follow.[358]
The church does not recognize divorce as ending a valid marriage and allows state-recognized divorce only as a means of protecting the property and well-being of the spouses and any children. However, consideration of particular cases by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal can lead to declaration of the invalidity of a marriage, a declaration usually referred to as an annulment. Remarriage following a divorce is not permitted unless the prior marriage was declared invalid.[359]
Among the 24 autonomous (sui iuris) churches, numerous liturgical and other traditions exist, called rites, which reflect historical and cultural diversity rather than differences in belief.[360] In the definition of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, "a rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Church sui iuris".[361]
The liturgy of the sacrament of the Eucharist, called the Mass in the West and Divine Liturgy or other names in the East, is the principal liturgy of the Catholic Church.[362] This is because it is considered the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ himself.[363] Its most widely used form is that of the Roman Rite as promulgated by Paul VI in 1969 (see Missale Romanum) and revised by Pope John Paul II in 2002 (see Liturgiam Authenticam). In certain circumstances, the 1962 form of the Roman Rite remains authorized in the Latin Church. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own rites. The liturgies of the Eucharist and the other sacraments vary from rite to rite, reflecting different theological emphases.
The Roman Rite is the most common rite of worship used by the Catholic Church, with the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite form of the Mass. Its use is found worldwide, originating in Rome and spreading throughout Europe, influencing and eventually supplanting local rites.[364] The present ordinary form of Mass in the Roman Rite, found in the post-1969 editions of the Roman Missal, is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, using an officially approved translation from the original text in Latin. An outline of its major liturgical elements can be found in the sidebar.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the licitness of continued use of the 1962 Roman Missal as an "extraordinary form" (forma extraordinaria) of the Roman Rite, speaking of it also as an usus antiquior ("older use"), and issuing new more permissive norms for its employment.[365] An instruction issued four years later spoke of the two forms or usages of the Roman Rite approved by the pope as the ordinary form and the extraordinary form ("the forma ordinaria" and "the forma extraordinaria").[366]
The 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, published a few months before the Second Vatican Council opened, was the last that presented the Mass as standardized in 1570 by Pope Pius V at the request of the Council of Trent and that is therefore known as the Tridentine Mass.[309] Pope Pius V's Roman Missal was subjected to minor revisions by Pope Clement VIII in 1604, Pope Urban VIII in 1634, Pope Pius X in 1911, Pope Pius XII in 1955, and Pope John XXIII in 1962. Each successive edition was the ordinary form of the Roman Rite Mass until superseded by a later edition. When the 1962 edition was superseded by that of Paul VI, promulgated in 1969, its continued use at first required permission from bishops;[367] but Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum allowed free use of it for Mass celebrated without a congregation and authorized parish priests to permit, under certain conditions, its use even at public Masses. Except for the scriptural readings, which Pope Benedict allowed to be proclaimed in the vernacular language, it is celebrated exclusively in liturgical Latin.[368] These permissions were largely removed by Pope Francis in 2021, who issued the motu proprio Traditionis custodes to emphasize the Ordinary Form as promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II.[369]
Since 2014, clergy in the small personal ordinariates set up for groups of former Anglicans under the terms of the 2009 document Anglicanorum Coetibus[370] are permitted to use a variation of the Roman Rite called "Divine Worship" or, less formally, "Ordinariate Use",[371] which incorporates elements of the Anglican liturgy and traditions,[note 12] an accommodation protested by Anglican leaders.
In the Archdiocese of Milan, with around five million Catholics the largest in Europe,[372] Mass is celebrated according to the Ambrosian Rite. Other Latin Church rites include the Mozarabic[373] and those of some religious institutes.[374] These liturgical rites have an antiquity of at least 200 years before 1570, the date of Pope Pius V's Quo primum, and were thus allowed to continue.[375]
The Eastern Catholic Churches share common patrimony and liturgical rites as their counterparts, including Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Christian churches who are no longer in communion with the Holy See. These include churches that historically developed in Russia, Caucasus, the Balkans, North Eastern Africa, India and the Middle East. The Eastern Catholic Churches are groups of faithful who have either never been out of communion with the Holy See or who have restored communion with it at the cost of breaking communion with their associates of the same tradition.[376]
The liturgical rites of the Eastern Catholic Churches include the Byzantine Rite (in its Antiochian, Greek and Slavonic recensions), the Alexandrian Rite, the West Syrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, and the East Syriac Rite. Eastern Catholic Churches have the autonomy to set the particulars of their liturgical forms and worship, within certain limits to protect the "accurate observance" of their liturgical tradition.[377] In the past some of the rites used by the Eastern Catholic Churches were subject to a degree of liturgical Latinization. However, in recent years Eastern Catholic Churches have returned to traditional Eastern practices in accord with the Vatican II decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum.[378] Each church has its own liturgical calendar.[379]
Catholic social teaching, reflecting the concern Jesus showed for the impoverished, places a heavy emphasis on the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy, namely the support and concern for the sick, the poor and the afflicted.[380][381] Church teaching calls for a preferential option for the poor while canon law prescribes that "The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor."[382] Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum which upholds the rights and dignity of labour and the right of workers to form unions.
Catholic teaching regarding sexuality calls for a practice of chastity, with a focus on maintaining the spiritual and bodily integrity of the human person. Marriage is considered the only appropriate context for sexual activity.[383] Church teachings about sexuality have become an issue of increasing controversy, especially after the close of the Second Vatican Council, due to changing cultural attitudes in the Western world described as the sexual revolution.
The church has also addressed stewardship of the natural environment, and its relationship to other social and theological teachings. In the document Laudato si', dated 24 May 2015, Pope Francis critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, and laments environmental degradation and global warming.[384] The pope expressed concern that the warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet as humans pursue short-term economic gains.[385]
The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world.[26] In 2010, the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers said that the church manages 26% of health care facilities in the world, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, pharmacies and centres for those with leprosy.[386]
The church has always been involved in education, since the founding of the first universities of Europe.[83] It runs and sponsors thousands of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities throughout the world[387][8] and operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.[388]
Religious institutes for women have played a particularly prominent role in the provision of health and education services,[389] as with orders such as the Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor, the Missionaries of Charity, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.[390] The Catholic nun Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work among India's poor.[391] Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo won the same award in 1996 for "work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor".[392]
The church is also actively engaged in international aid and development through organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Internationalis, Aid to the Church in Need, refugee advocacy groups such as the Jesuit Refugee Service and community aid groups such as the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.[393]
The Catholic Church calls all members to practise chastity according to their state in life. Chastity includes temperance, self-mastery, personal and cultural growth, and divine grace. It requires refraining from lust, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution and rape. Chastity for those who are not married requires living in continence, abstaining from sexual activity; those who are married are called to conjugal chastity.[394]
In the church's teaching, sexual activity is reserved to married couples, whether in a sacramental marriage among Christians or in a natural marriage where one or both spouses are unbaptized. Even in romantic relationships, particularly engagement to marriage, partners are called to practise continence, in order to test mutual respect and fidelity.[395] Chastity in marriage requires in particular conjugal fidelity and protecting the fecundity of marriage. The couple must foster trust and honesty as well as spiritual and physical intimacy. Sexual activity must always be open to the possibility of life;[396] the church calls this the procreative significance. It must likewise always bring a couple together in love; the church calls this the unitive significance.[397]
Contraception and certain other sexual practices are not permitted, although natural family planning methods are permitted to provide healthy spacing between births, or to postpone children for a just reason.[398] Pope Francis said in 2015 that he is worried that the church has grown "obsessed" with issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over helping the poor and marginalized.[399][400]
The Catholic Church also teaches that "homosexual acts" are "contrary to the natural law", "acts of grave depravity" and "under no circumstances can they be approved", but that persons experiencing homosexual tendencies must be accorded respect and dignity.[401] According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided... Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.[401]
This part of the Catechism was quoted by Pope Francis in a 2013 press interview in which he remarked, when asked about an individual:
I think that when you encounter a person like this [the individual he was asked about], you must make a distinction between the fact of a person being gay from the fact of being a lobby, because lobbies, all are not good. That is bad. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I to judge them?[402]
This remark and others made in the same interview were seen as a change in the tone, but not in the substance of the teaching of the church,[403] which includes opposition to same-sex marriage.[404] Certain dissenting Catholic groups oppose the position of the Catholic Church and seek to change it.[405]
Canon law makes no provision for divorce between baptized individuals, as a valid, consummated sacramental marriage is considered to be a lifelong bond.[406] However, a declaration of nullity may be granted when the proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a valid marriage were absent from the beginning—in other words, that the marriage was not valid due to some impediment. A declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment, is a judgement on the part of an ecclesiastical tribunal determining that a marriage was invalidly attempted.[407] In addition, marriages among unbaptized individuals may be dissolved with papal permission under certain situations, such as a desire to marry a Catholic, under Pauline or Petrine privilege.[356][357] An attempt at remarriage following divorce without a declaration of nullity places "the remarried spouse ... in a situation of public and permanent adultery". An innocent spouse who lives in continence following divorce, or couples who live in continence following a civil divorce for a grave cause, do not sin.[408]
Worldwide, diocesan tribunals completed over 49000 cases for nullity of marriage in 2006. Over the past 30 years about 55 to 70% of annulments have occurred in the United States. The growth in annulments has been substantial; in the United States, 27,000 marriages were annulled in 2006, compared to 338 in 1968. However, approximately 200,000 married Catholics in the United States divorce each year; 10 million total as of 2006[update].[409][note 13] Divorce is increasing in some predominantly Catholic countries in Europe.[411] In some predominantly Catholic countries, it is only in recent years that divorce was introduced (Italy (1970), Portugal (1975), Brazil (1977), Spain (1981), Ireland (1996), Chile (2004) and Malta (2011)), while the Philippines and the Vatican City have no procedure for divorce (The Philippines does, however, allow divorce for Muslims.).
The church teaches that sexual intercourse should only take place between a man and woman who are married to each other, and should be without the use of birth control or contraception. In his encyclical Humanae vitae[412] (1968), Pope Paul VI firmly rejected all contraception, thus contradicting dissenters in the church that saw the birth control pill as an ethically justifiable method of contraception, though he permitted the regulation of births by means of natural family planning. This teaching was continued especially by John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, where he clarified the church's position on contraception, abortion and euthanasia by condemning them as part of a "culture of death" and calling instead for a "culture of life".[413]
Many Western Catholics have voiced significant disagreement with the church's teaching on contraception.[414] Overturning the church's teaching on this point features high on progressive agendas.[415] Catholics for Choice, a political lobbyist group that is not associated with the Catholic Church, stated in 1998 that 96% of U.S. Catholic women had used contraceptives at some point in their lives and that 72% of Catholics believed that one could be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching on birth control.[416] Use of natural family planning methods among United States Catholics purportedly is low, although the number cannot be known with certainty.[note 14] As Catholic health providers are among the largest providers of services to patients with HIV/AIDS worldwide, there is significant controversy within and outside the church regarding the use of condoms as a means of limiting new infections, as condom use ordinarily constitutes prohibited contraceptive use.[419]
Similarly, the Catholic Church opposes artificial insemination regardless of whether it is homologous (from the husband) or heterologous (from a donor) and in vitro fertilization (IVF), saying that the artificial process replaces the love and conjugal act between a husband and wife.[420] In addition, it opposes IVF because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with a soul who must be treated as such.[421] For this reason, the church also opposes abortion.[422]
Due to the anti-abortion stance, some Catholics oppose receiving vaccines derived from fetal cells obtained via abortion. On 21 December 2020, and regarding COVID-19 vaccination, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith emitted a document stating that "it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process" when no alternative vaccine is available, since "the moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent."[423][424] The document states that receiving the vaccine does not constitute endorsement of the practice of abortion, and that "the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good."[424] The document cautions further:
Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.[424]
The Catholic Church is committed to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in any circumstance.[425] The current Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "in the light of the Gospel" the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide."[426] In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti, Francis repeated that the death penalty is "inadmissible" and that "there can be no stepping back from this position".[427] On 9 January 2022, Pope Francis stated in his annual speech to Vatican ambassadors: "The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance".[428]
There is controversy about whether the Catholic Church considers the death penalty intrinsically evil.[429] American Archbishop José Horacio Gómez[429] and Catholic philosopher Edward Feser argue that this is a matter of prudential judgement and that the church does not teach this as a de fide statement;[430] others, such as Cardinals Charles Maung Bo and Rino Fisichella, state that it does.[429]
The Catholic Church opposes active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide on the grounds that life is a gift from God and should not be prematurely shortened. However, the church allows dying people to refuse extraordinary treatments that would minimally prolong life without hope of recovery.[431][432]
Women and men religious engage in a variety of occupations such as contemplative prayer, teaching, providing health care, and working as missionaries.[389][433] While Holy Orders are reserved for men, Catholic women have played diverse roles in the life of the church, with religious institutes providing a formal space for their participation and convents providing spaces for their self-government, prayer and influence through many centuries. Religious sisters and nuns have been extensively involved in developing and running the church's worldwide health and education service networks.[434]
Efforts in support of the ordination of women to the priesthood led to several rulings by the Roman Curia or popes against the proposal, as in Declaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (1976), Mulieris Dignitatem (1988) and Ordinatio sacerdotalis (1994). According to the latest ruling, found in Ordinatio sacerdotalis, Pope John Paul II affirmed that the Catholic Church "does not consider herself authorised to admit women to priestly ordination".[435] In defiance of these rulings, opposition groups such as Roman Catholic Womenpriests have performed ceremonies they affirm as sacramental ordinations (with, reputedly, an ordaining male Catholic bishop in the first few instances) which, according to canon law, are both illicit and invalid and considered mere simulations[436] of the sacrament of ordination.[437][note 15] The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded by issuing a statement clarifying that any Catholic bishops involved in ordination ceremonies for women, as well as the women themselves if they were Catholic, would automatically receive the penalty of excommunication (latae sententiae, literally "with the sentence already applied", i.e. automatically), citing canon 1378 of canon law and other church laws.[438]
From the 1990s, the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and other church members has become the subject of civil litigation, criminal prosecution, media coverage and public debate in countries around the world. The Catholic Church has been criticized for its handling of abuse complaints when it became known that some bishops had shielded accused priests, transferring them to other pastoral assignments where some continued to commit sexual offences.
In response to the scandal, formal procedures have been established to help prevent abuse, encourage the reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their effectiveness.[439] In 2014, Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for the safeguarding of minors.[440]
NOTE: CCC stands for Catechism of the Catholic Church. The number following CCC is the paragraph number, of which there are 2865. The numbers cited in the Compendium of the CCC are question numbers, of which there are 598. Canon law citations from the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches are labelled "CCEO, Canon xxx", to distinguish from canons of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which are labelled "Canon xxx".
Christian total 2,631,941,000, Catholic total 1,278,009,000 (48.6%)
It is possible, according to Catholic doctrine, to affirm correctly that the Church of Christ is present and operative in the churches and ecclesial communities not yet fully in communion with the Catholic Church, on account of the elements of sanctification and truth that are present in them.
Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The Churches which, while not existing in perfect Koinonia with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church. ... 'The Christian faithful are therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church of Christ is nothing more than a collection—divided, yet in some way one—of Churches and ecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists, and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches and ecclesial communities must strive to reach.'
The rich variety of ... theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches 'unified in a common effort shows all the more resplendently the catholicity of the undivided Church'.(cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 23)
[T]he Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith
Note: The pope's signature appears in the Latin version.
The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit...
if Peter never made it to the capital, he still could have been the first pope, since one of his successors could have been the first holder of that office to settle in Rome. After all, if the papacy exists, it was established by Christ during his lifetime, long before Peter is said to have reached Rome. There must have been a period of some years in which the papacy did not yet have its connection to Rome.
Peter, in short, could not have been the first bishop of Rome, because the Roman church did not have anyone as its bishop until about a hundred years after Peter's death.
Many of the medieval universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali.
All the great European universities—Oxford, to Paris, to Cologne, to Prague, to Bologna—were established with close ties to the Church.
Europe established schools in association with their cathedrals to educate priests, and from these emerged eventually the first universities of Europe, which began forming in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
According to Section 4: "True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures."
'[T]he Roman Pontiff [the pope], ... has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.' 'The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head.' As such, this college has 'supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff.'
The 1983 Code of Canon Law still teaches that the Church has a coercive authority over the baptized, with the authority to direct and to punish, by temporal as well as spiritual penalties, for culpable apostasy or heresy.
The parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling with the cooperation of other priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance with the law.
The Roman Catholic Church, which consists of 23 particular Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church is the world's second largest religious body after Sunni Islam.
Roughly half of all Christians worldwide are Roman Catholics
[I]n order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility.
by the light of the Holy Spirit ... vigilantly warding off any errors that threaten their flock.
The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: 'For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God.' [Unitatis redintegratio 3 § 5.]
The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life
The word 'hallow' means 'saint,' in that 'hallow' is just an alternative form of the word 'holy' ('hallowed be Thy name').
The word hallow was simply another word for saint.[permanent dead link]
To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in mortal sin. Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion. Also important for those receiving Holy Communion are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast prescribed by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gestures and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ.
Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice, thus, in the ritual text of the Mass, the priest asks of the congregation present, 'Pray, brothers and sisters, that this my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.' The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: 'This is my body which is given for you' and 'This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.' [Lk 22:19–20] In the Eucharist, Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he 'poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' [Mt 26:28]
The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
'People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.' (CDF, Persona humana 11.) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practise chastity in continence: 'There are three forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to the exclusion of the others. ... This is what makes for the richness of the discipline of the Church.' (St. Ambrose, De viduis 4,23:PL 16,255A.)
Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others.
Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that distribution of condoms only increases the problem of AIDS is the latest and one of the strongest statements in a simmering debate inside the church... he was asked whether the church's approach to AIDS prevention—which focuses primarily on sexual responsibility and rejects condom campaigns—was unrealistic and ineffective... The pope did not get into the specific question of whether in certain circumstances condom use was morally licit or illicit in AIDS prevention, an issue that is still under study by Vatican theologians.
The revision of no. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church recently authorized by Pope Francis to develop magisterial teaching on the death penalty has generated a variety of conflicting interpretations. These interpretations could be divided up in different ways. One division might note that some interpretations claim—or strongly imply—that the revision teaches that the death penalty is intrinsically evil, whereas others claim that it continues to teach, in line with past magisterial declarations, that the death penalty is morally permissible in certain circumstances.