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The '''history of the Catholic Church''' is the  formation, events, and historical development of the [[Catholic Church]] through time.

According to the [[Sacred tradition|tradition]] of the Catholic Church, it started from the day of Pentecost at the upper room of Jerusalem;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barry |first=Msgr. John F. |title=One Faith One Lord: A Study of Basic Catholic Belief |year=2001 |isbn=978-0821522073 |pages=46|publisher=William H. Sadlier Incorporated }}</ref> the Catholic tradition considers that the Church is a continuation of the [[Early Christian|early Christian community]] established by the [[Disciples of Jesus]]. The Church considers its [[Bishop in the Catholic Church|bishops]] to be the [[apostolic succession|successors]] to [[Twelve Apostles|Jesus's apostles]] and the Church's leader, the [[Bishop of Rome]] (also known as the Pope), to be the sole successor to [[St Peter]]<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|862}}</ref> who ministered in Rome in the first century AD after his appointment by Jesus as head of the Church.<ref name="NatGeographic281">Hitchcock, ''Geography of Religion'' (2004), p. 281, quote: "Some (Christian communities) had been evangelized by Peter, the disciple Jesus designated as the founder of His church. Once the position was institutionalized, historians looked back and recognized Peter as the first pope of the Christian church in Rome"</ref><ref name="Norman11">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), pp. 11, 14, quote: "The Church was founded by Jesus Himself in His earthly lifetime.", "The apostolate was established in Rome, the world's capital when the church was inaugurated; it was there that the universality of the Christian teaching most obviously took its central directive–it was the bishops of Rome who very early on began to receive requests for adjudication on disputed points from other bishops."</ref> By the end of the 2nd century, bishops began congregating in regional [[synod]]s to resolve doctrinal and administrative issues.<ref name="chadwick37B">Chadwick, Henry, p. 37.</ref> Historian [[Eamon Duffy]] claims that by the 3rd century, the church at Rome might even function as a court of appeal on doctrinal issues.<ref name="duffy18">Duffy, p. 18.; "By the beginning of the third century the church at Rome was an acknowledged point of reference for Christians throughout the Mediterranean world, and might even function as a court of appeal."</ref>

[[Christianization of the Roman Empire as diffusion of innovation|Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire]], with [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecutions]] due to conflicts with the [[polytheist]] [[State religion of Rome|state religion]]. In 313, the persecutions were lessened by the [[Edict of Milan]] with the legalization of Christianity by the [[Constantine I and Christianity|Emperor Constantine I]]. In 380, under [[Theodosius I|Emperor Theodosius]], [[State church of the Roman Empire|Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire]] by the [[Edict of Thessalonica]], a decree of the Emperor which would persist until the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], and later, with the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, until the [[Fall of Constantinople]]. During this time, the period of the [[Seven Ecumenical Councils]], there were considered five primary sees (jurisdictions within the Catholic Church) according to [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]]: [[Bishop of Rome|Rome]], [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Constantinople]], [[Patriarch of Antioch|Antioch]], [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]], and [[Patriarch of Alexandria|Alexandria]], known as the [[Pentarchy]].

The [[Battle of Toulouse (721)|battles of Toulouse]] preserved the Christian West against the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] of [[Sunni Islam]], even though Rome itself was ravaged in 850, and Constantinople besieged. In the [[Christianity in the 11th century|11th century]], already strained relations between the primarily [[Eastern Orthodox|Greek Church]] in the East, and the [[Latin Church]] in the West, developed into the [[East-West Schism]], partially due to conflicts over [[papal supremacy]]. The [[Fourth Crusade]], and the sacking of Constantinople by renegade crusaders proved the final breach. Prior to and during the 16th century, the Church engaged in a process of reform and renewal. Reform during the 16th century is known as the [[Counter-Reformation]].<ref name="Norman81" /> In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world despite experiencing a reduction in its hold on European populations due to the growth of [[Protestantism]] and also because of [[religious skepticism]] during and after the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. The [[Second Vatican Council]] in the 1960s introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the [[Council of Trent]] four centuries before.

==Church beginnings==
{{For timeline|Timeline of the Catholic Church}}
{{See also|Historiography of early Christianity}}

===Origins===

According to sacred tradition, the Catholic Church was founded by [[Jesus]] [[Christ (title)|Christ]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616055157/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism |archive-date=16 June 2018 |title=Roman Catholicism |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 October 2018}} "The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to Jesus Christ and the Apostles."</ref> The [[New Testament]] records Jesus' activities and teachings, His appointment of the [[twelve Apostles]], and [[Great Commission|His instructions to them to continue His work]].<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 980.</ref><ref name="bokenkotter30">Bokenkotter, p. 30.</ref> The Catholic Church teaches that the coming of the [[Holy Spirit]] upon the apostles, in an event known as [[Pentecost]], signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church.<ref name="OneFaith46">Barry, p. 46.</ref> Catholics hold that [[Saint Peter]] was Rome's first bishop and the consecrator of [[Pope Linus|Linus]] as its next bishop, thus starting the unbroken line which includes the most recent pontiff, [[Pope Leo XIV]]. That is, the Catholic Church maintains the [[apostolic succession]] of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope – the successor to Saint Peter.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880-881}}</ref>

<!--derived from [[Catholic Church]]-->In the account of the [[Confession of Peter]] found in the [[Gospel of Matthew]], it is believed that Christ designates Peter as the "rock" upon which Christ's church will be built.<ref>Christian Bible, {{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:13–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle/5630/Incidents-important-in-interpretations-of-Peter|title=Saint Peter the Apostle: Incidents important in interpretations of Peter|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=8 November 2014}}</ref> While some scholars do state Peter was the first Bishop of Rome,<ref name="JoyceCE1913">{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=The Pope|first=George|last=Joyce}}</ref>{{refn|group=lower-alpha|{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=The Pope|first=George|last=Joyce}}<br />''Regarding Peter as the first Bishop of Rome'', "It is not, however, difficult to show that the fact of his [Peter's] bishopric is so well attested as to be historically certain. In considering this point, it will be well to begin with the third century, when references to it become frequent, and work backwards from this point. In the middle of the third century St. Cyprian expressly terms the Roman See the Chair of St. Peter, saying that Cornelius has succeeded to "the place of Fabian which is the place of Peter" (Ep 55:8; cf. 59:14). Firmilian of Caesarea notices that Stephen claimed to decide the controversy regarding rebaptism on the ground that he held the succession from Peter (Cyprian, Ep. 75:17). He does not deny the claim: yet certainly, had he been able, he would have done so. Thus in 250 the Roman episcopate of Peter was admitted by those best able to know the truth, not merely at Rome but in the churches of Africa and of Asia Minor. In the first quarter of the century (about 220) Tertullian (De Pud. 21) mentions Callistus's claim that Peter's power to forgive sins had descended in a special manner to him. Had the Roman Church been merely founded by Peter and not reckoned him as its first bishop, there could have been no ground for such a contention. Tertullian, like Firmilian, had every motive to deny the claim. Moreover, he had himself resided at Rome, and would have been well aware if the idea of a Roman episcopate of Peter had been, as is contended by its opponents, a novelty dating from the first years of the third century, supplanting the older tradition according to which Peter and Paul were co-founders, and Linus first bishop. About the same period, Hippolytus (for Lightfoot is surely right in holding him to be the author of the first part of the "Liberian Catalogue" — "Clement of Rome", 1:259) reckons Peter in the list of Roman bishops...."<ref name=JoyceCE1913 />|}} others say that the institution of the papacy is not dependent on the idea that Peter was Bishop of Rome or even on his ever having been in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|title=Was Peter in Rome?|publisher=Catholic Answers|date=10 August 2004|quote=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.|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207211426/http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|archive-date=7 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many scholars hold that a church structure of plural presbyters/bishops persisted in Rome until the mid-2nd century, when the structure of a single bishop and plural [[presbyter]]s was adopted,<ref name=REB/>{{refn|group=lower-alpha|According to several historians, including [[Bart D. Ehrman]], "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."<ref name=ehrman>[[Bart D. Ehrman]]. "Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend." Oxford University Press, USA. 2006. {{ISBN|0-19-530013-0}}. p. 84</ref>|}} and that later writers retrospectively applied the term "bishop of Rome" to the most prominent members of the clergy in the earlier period and also to Peter himself.<ref name=REB/> On this basis, Protestant theologians [[Oscar Cullmann]]<ref>Oscar Cullmann (1962), Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr (2 ed.), Westminster Press p. 234</ref> and [[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]]<ref>Henry Chadwick (1993), The Early Church, Penguin Books p. 18</ref> question whether there was a formal link between Peter and the modern papacy; Catholic scholar [[Raymond E. Brown]] says that, while it is anachronistic to speak of Peter in terms of a local bishop of Rome, Christians of that period would have looked on Peter as having "roles that would contribute in an essential way to the development of the role of the papacy in the subsequent church". These roles, Brown says, "contributed enormously to seeing the bishop of Rome, the bishop of the city where Peter died, and where Paul witnessed to the truth of Christ, as the successor of Peter in care for the church universal".<ref name="REB">Raymond E. Brown, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=b8ubeFP6JUYC&dq=Peter+symbolisms+attached&pg=PA134 101 Questions and Answers on the Bible]'' (Paulist Press 2003 {{ISBN|978-0-80914251-4}}), pp. 132–134</ref>
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===Early organization===
{{Main|Early history of Christianity}}
[[File:Saint Irenaeus.jpg|thumb|An engraving of [[Irenaeus|St Irenaeus]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lyon#Prelates|Bishop of Lugdunum]] in [[Gaul]] (now [[Lyon]], [[France]])]]
Conditions in the Roman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas. The empire's well-defined network of roads and waterways allowed easier travel, while the [[Pax Romana]] made it safe to travel from one region to another. The government had encouraged inhabitants, especially those in urban areas, to learn Greek, and the common language allowed ideas to be more easily expressed and understood.<ref name="bokenkotter24">Bokenkotter, p. 24.</ref> Jesus's apostles gained converts in [[Jewish diaspora|Jewish communities]] around the Mediterranean Sea,<ref name=chadwickhenry23and24/> and over 40 Christian communities had been established by 100 AD.<ref name="Hitchcock 281">Hitchcock, ''Geography of Religion'' (2004), p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than 40&nbsp;Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy."</ref> Although most of these were in the Roman Empire, notable Christian communities were also established in [[Christianity in Armenia|Armenia]], [[Christianity in Iran|Iran]] and along the Indian [[Malabar Coast]].<ref name="AFM">A.E. Medlycott, ''India and The Apostle Thomas'', pp.1–71, 213–97; M.R. James, ''Apocryphal New Testament'', pp.364–436; Eusebius, ''History'', chapter 4:30; J.N. Farquhar, ''The Apostle Thomas in North India'', chapter 4:30; V.A. Smith, ''Early History of India'', p.235; L.W. Brown, ''The Indian Christians of St. Thomas'', pp.49–59</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.stthoma.com/ |title=stthoma.com |publisher=stthoma.com |access-date=8 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208073816/http://stthoma.com/ |archive-date=8 February 2011 }}</ref> The new religion was most successful in urban areas, spreading first among slaves and people of low social standing, and then among aristocratic women.<ref>McMullen, pp. 37, 83.</ref>

At first, Christians continued to worship alongside Jewish believers, which historians refer to as [[Jewish Christianity]], but within twenty years of Jesus's death, [[Sabbath in Christianity|Sunday]] was being regarded as the primary day of worship.<ref name="Davidson115">Davidson, ''The Birth of the Church'' (2005), p. 115</ref> As preachers such as [[Paul of Tarsus]] began converting [[Gentile]]s, [[Split of early Christianity and Judaism|Christianity began growing away from Jewish practices]]<ref name="chadwickhenry23and24">Chadwick, Henry, pp. 23–24.</ref> to establish itself as a separate religion,<ref name="macculloch109">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 109.</ref> though the issue of [[Paul of Tarsus and Judaism]] is still debated today. To resolve doctrinal differences among the competing factions, sometime around the year 50 the apostles convened the first Church council, the [[Council of Jerusalem]]. This council affirmed that Gentiles could become Christians without adopting all of the [[Mosaic Law]].<ref name="chadwick37B">Chadwick, Henry, p. 37.</ref> Growing tensions soon led to a starker separation that was virtually complete by the time Christians refused to join in the [[Bar Kokhba revolt|Bar Kokhba Jewish revolt]] of 132,<ref name="Davidson146">Davidson, ''The Birth of the Church'' (2005), p. 146</ref> though some groups of Christians retained elements of Jewish practice.<ref name="Davidson149">Davidson, ''The Birth of the Church'' (2005), p. 149</ref>

According to some historians and scholars, the early Christian Church was very loosely organized, resulting in diverse interpretations of Christian beliefs.<ref name="MacCulloch, pp.127">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp.127–131.</ref> In part to ensure a greater consistency in their teachings, by the end of the 2nd century Christian communities had evolved a more structured hierarchy, with a central bishop having authority over the clergy in his city,<ref name="duffy9and10">Duffy, pp. 9–10.</ref> leading to the development of the [[Metropolitan bishop]]. The organization of the Church began to mimic that of the Empire; bishops in politically important cities exerted greater authority over bishops in nearby cities.<ref name="markus75">Markus, p. 75.</ref> The churches in Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome held the highest positions.<ref name="macculloch134">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 134.</ref> Beginning in the 2nd century, bishops often congregated in regional [[synod]]s to resolve doctrinal and policy issues.<ref name="chadwick37B">Chadwick, Henry, p. 37.</ref> Catholic historian [[Eamon Duffy]] claims that by the 3rd century, the bishop of Rome began to act as a court of appeals for problems that other bishops could not resolve.<ref name=duffy18/>

Doctrine was further refined by a series of influential theologians and teachers, known collectively as the [[Church Fathers]].<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 141.</ref> From the year 100 onward, [[Proto-orthodox Christianity|proto-orthodox]] teachers like [[Ignatius of Antioch]] and [[Irenaeus]] defined Catholic teaching in stark opposition to other things, such as [[Gnosticism]].<ref name="Davidson169">Davidson, ''The Birth of the Church'' (2005), pp. 169, 181</ref> Teachings and traditions were consolidated under the influence of theological [[apologists]] such as [[Pope Clement I]], [[Justin Martyr]], and [[Augustine of Hippo]].<ref name="Norman27">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), pp. 27–8, quote: "A distinguished succession of theological apologists added intellectual authority to the resources at the disposal of the papacy, at just that point in its early development when the absence of a centralized teaching office could have fractured the universal witness to a single body of ideas. At the end of the first century there was St. Clement of Rome, third successor to St. To gain;to adhear Peter in the see; in the second century there was St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyons and St. Justin Martyr; in the fourth century St. Augustine of Hippo.</ref>

===Persecutions===
Unlike most [[Religion in ancient Rome|religions in the Roman Empire]], Christianity required its adherents to [[Monotheism|renounce all other gods]], a practice adopted from [[Judaism]]. Christians' refusal to join pagan celebrations meant they were unable to participate in much of public life, which caused non-Christians – including government authorities – to fear that the Christians were angering the gods and thereby threatening the peace and prosperity of the Empire. In addition, the peculiar intimacy of Christian society and its secrecy about its religious practices spawned rumors that Christians were guilty of [[incest]] and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]; the resulting persecutions, although usually local and sporadic, were a defining feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the 4th century.<ref name="macculloch155and164">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp. 155–159, 164.</ref><ref name="chadwick21">Chadwick, Henry, p. 41.</ref> A series of more centrally organized [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecutions of Christians]] emerged in the late 3rd century, when emperors decreed that the Empire's military, political, and economic crises were caused by angry gods. All residents were ordered to give sacrifices or be punished.<ref name="chadwick41and42">Chadwick, Henry, pp. 41–42, 55.</ref> Jews were exempted as long as they paid the [[Fiscus Judaicus|Jewish Tax]]. Estimates of the number of Christians who were executed ranges from a few hundred to 50,000.<ref>{{cite book |author=Heikki Räisänen|title=The Rise of Christian Beliefs: The Thought World of Early Christians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktyMXIjcGakC&pg=PA292|year=2010|publisher=Fortress Press|page=292|isbn=9781451409536}}</ref> Many fled<ref name="macculloch174">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 174.</ref> or renounced their beliefs. Disagreements over what role, if any, these [[apostate]]s should have in the Church led to the [[Donatist]] and [[Novatianist]] schisms.<ref name="duffy20">Duffy, p. 20.</ref>

In spite of these persecutions, [[evangelization]] efforts persisted, leading to the [[Edict of Milan]] which legalized Christianity in 313.<ref name="StoChris58">Collins, ''The Story of Christianity'' (1999), pp. 58–9</ref> By 380, Christianity had become the [[state religion]] of the Roman Empire.<ref name="StoChris59">Collins, ''The Story of Christianity'' (1999), p. 59</ref> Religious philosopher [[Simone Weil]] wrote: "By the time of Constantine, the state of apocalyptic expectation must have worn rather thin. [The imminent coming of Christ, expectation of the Last Day – constituted 'a very great social danger']. Besides, the spirit of the old law, so widely separated from all mysticism, was not so very different from the Roman spirit itself. Rome could come to terms with the [[Jehovah|God of Hosts]]."<ref>Weil, Letter to a Priest, excerpt 35</ref>

==Late antiquity==
{{Main|History of late ancient Christianity}}
{{See also|First seven Ecumenical Councils|Rise of Christianity during the Fall of Rome|Constantine I and Christianity|State church of the Roman Empire}}
[[File:Constantine Musei Capitolini.jpg|thumb|Emperor [[Constantine I]] established the rights of the Church in the year 315.]]
When [[Constantine I|Constantine]] became emperor of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in 312, he attributed his victory to the Christian God. Many soldiers in his army were Christians, and his army was his base of power. With [[Licinius]], ([[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Roman emperor]]), he issued the [[Edict of Milan]] which mandated toleration of all religions in the empire. The edict had little effect on the attitudes of the people.<ref>McMullen, p. 44.</ref> New laws were crafted to codify some Christian beliefs and practices.<ref group="lower-alpha">As examples, Bokenkotter cites that Sunday became a state day of rest, that harsher punishments were given for prostitution and adultery, and that some protections were given to slaves. (Bokenkotter, pp. 41–42.)</ref><ref>Bokenkotter, p. 41.</ref> Constantine's biggest effect on Christianity was his patronage. He gave large gifts of land and money to the Church and offered tax exemptions and other special legal status to [[Fabrica ecclesiae|ecclesiastical property]] and personnel.<ref name=mcmullen49and50 /> These gifts and later ones combined to make the Church the largest landowner in the West by the 6th century.<ref name="duffy64">Duffy, p. 64.</ref> Many of these gifts were funded through severe taxation of pagan cults.<ref name="mcmullen49and50">McMullen, pp. 49–50.</ref> Some pagan cults were forced to disband for lack of funds; when this happened the Church took over the cult's previous role of caring for the poor.<ref>McMullen, p. 54.</ref>
In a reflection of their increased standing in the Empire, clergy began to adopt the dress of the royal household, including the [[cope]].<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 199.</ref>

During Constantine's reign, approximately half of those who identified themselves as Christian did not subscribe to the mainstream version of the faith.<ref>McMullen, p. 93.</ref> Constantine feared that disunity would displease God and lead to trouble for the Empire, so he took military and judicial measures to eliminate some sects.<ref>Duffy, p. 27. Chadwick, Henry, p. 56.</ref> To resolve other disputes, Constantine began the practice of calling [[ecumenical council]]s to determine binding interpretations of Church doctrine.<ref name="duffy29">Duffy, p. 29. MacCulloch ''Christianity'', p. 212.</ref>

Decisions made at the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicea]] (325) about the divinity of Christ led to a schism; the new religion, [[Arianism]] flourished outside the Roman Empire.<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 221.</ref> Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholic [[Marian devotions|devotion to Mary]] became more prominent. This led to further schisms.<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 225.</ref><ref>Chadwick, Henry, pp. 56–57.</ref>

In 380, mainstream Christianity—as opposed to [[Arianism]]—became the official religion of the Roman Empire.<ref>Duffy, p. 34.</ref> Christianity became more associated with the Empire, resulting in persecution for Christians living outside of the empire, as their rulers feared Christians would revolt in favor of the Emperor.<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp. 185, 212.</ref> In 385, this new legal authority of the Church resulted in the first use of capital punishment being pronounced as a sentence upon a Christian 'heretic', namely [[Priscillian]].<ref name="HereticsExecuted">{{cite web |year=2009 |url=http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture27b.html |title=Lecture 27: Heretics, Heresies and the Church|access-date=24 April 2010}} Review of Church policies towards heresy, including capital punishment (see Synod at Saragossa).</ref>

During this period, the Bible as it has come down to the 21st century was first officially laid out in Church Councils or Synods [[Development of the Christian Biblical canon|through the process of official 'canonization']]. Prior to these Councils or Synods, the Bible had already reached a form that was nearly identical to the form in which it is now found. According to some accounts, in 382 the [[Council of Rome]] first officially recognized the [[Biblical canon]], listing the accepted books of the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]], and in 391 the [[Vulgate]] Latin translation of the Bible was made.<ref name="StoryChristianity">Collins, ''The Story of Christianity'' (1999), pp. 61–2</ref> Other accounts list the Council of Carthage of 397 as the Council that finalized the Biblical canon as it is known today.<ref name="CarthageCouncil">Denzinger [http://catho.org/9.php?d=bxk#a4r 186] in the new numbering, [http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma1.php 92] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418172015/http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma1.php |date=18 April 2010 }} in the old</ref> The [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] in 431 clarified the nature of Jesus' [[incarnation]], declaring that he was [[Hypostatic union|both fully man and fully God]].<ref name="SaintsSinners">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 35</ref> Two decades later, the [[Council of Chalcedon]] solidified Roman papal primacy which added to continuing breakdown in relations between Rome and Constantinople, the seat of the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Church]].<ref name="ConciseHistory">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 84–93</ref> Also sparked were the [[Monophysite]] disagreements over the precise nature of the incarnation of Jesus which led to the first of the various [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]] breaking away from the Catholic Church.<ref name="OxfordHistory">McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' (2002), p. 142, Chapter 4 Eastern Christendom by [[Timothy Ware|Kallistos Ware]]</ref>

==Middle Ages==
{{See also|Medieval history of Christianity|Byzantine Papacy|Christian monasticism}}

===Early Middle Ages===
After the [[Decline of the Roman Empire|fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in 476, trinitarian Christianity competed with [[Arianism|Arian Christianity]] for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.<ref name="LeGoff20">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), pp. 5–20</ref> The 496 conversion of [[Clovis I]], pagan king of the [[Franks]], saw the beginning of a steady rise of the faith in the West.<ref name="LeGoff21">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), p. 21</ref>

[[File:Fra Angelico 031.jpg|left|thumb|[[Benedict of Nursia|Saint Benedict]], father of Western monasticism and author of ''[[Rule of St Benedict]]''. Detail from fresco by [[Fra Angelico]], c.&nbsp;1437–46.]]

In 530, [[Benedict of Nursia|Saint Benedict]] wrote his ''[[Rule of St Benedict]]'' as a practical guide for [[Monastery|monastic]] community life. Its message spread to monasteries throughout Europe.<ref name="Woods27">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), p. 27</ref> Monasteries became major conduits of civilization, preserving craft and artistic skills while maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, [[Scriptorium|scriptoria]] and libraries. They functioned as agricultural, economic and production centers as well as a focus for spiritual life.<ref name="LeGoff120">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), p. 120</ref> During this period the Visigoths and Lombards moved away from Arianism for Catholicism.<ref name="LeGoff21"/> [[Pope Gregory the Great]] played a notable role in these conversions and dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structures and administration which then launched renewed missionary efforts.<ref name="Duffy52">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 50–2</ref> Missionaries such as [[Augustine of Canterbury]], who was sent from Rome to begin the conversion of the [[Anglo-Saxons]], and, coming the other way in the [[Hiberno-Scottish mission]], Saints [[Colombanus]], [[Boniface]], [[Willibrord]], [[Ansgar]] and many others took Christianity into northern Europe and spread Catholicism among the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]], and [[Slavic peoples]], and reached the [[Viking]]s and other Scandinavians in later centuries.<ref name="StoChris84">Collins, ''The Story of Christianity'' (1999), pp. 84–6</ref> The [[Synod of Whitby]] of 664, though not as decisive as sometimes claimed, was an important moment in the reintegration of the [[Celtic Church]] of the [[British Isles]] into the Roman hierarchy, after having been effectively cut off from contact with Rome by the pagan invaders. And in Italy, the 728 [[Donation of Sutri]] and the 756 [[Donation of Pepin]] left the papacy in charge of a sizable kingdom. Further consolidating the papal position over the western part of the former Roman Empire, the [[Donation of Constantine]] was probably forged during the 8th century.

In the early 8th century, [[Byzantine iconoclasm]] became a major source of conflict between the Eastern and Western parts of the Church. [[Byzantine]] emperors forbade the creation and veneration of religious images, as violations of [[Ten Commandments|the Ten Commandments]]. Other major religions in the East such as [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]] had similar prohibitions. [[Pope Gregory III]] vehemently disagreed.<ref name="Vidmar103">Vidmar, Jedin 34</ref> A new [[Empress Irene]] siding with the pope, called for an [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|Ecumenical Council]]. In 787, the fathers of the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] "warmly received the papal delegates and his message".<ref name="Duffy74">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 63, 74</ref> At the conclusion, 300 bishops, who were led by the representatives of [[Pope Hadrian I]]<ref>Franzen 35</ref> "adopted the Pope's teaching",<ref name="Duffy74"/> in favor of icons.

With the coronation of [[Charlemagne]] by [[Pope Leo III]] in 800, his new title as ''Patricius Romanorum,'' and the handing over of the keys to the [[Tomb of Saint Peter]], the papacy had acquired a new protector in the West. This freed the pontiffs to some degree from the power of the emperor in Constantinople but also led to a [[East-West Schism|schism]], because the emperors and [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarchs of Constantinople]] interpreted themselves as the true descendants of the Roman Empire dating back to the beginnings of the Church.<ref>Jedin 36</ref> [[Pope Nicholas I]] had refused to recognize [[Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople]], who in turn had attacked the pope as a heretic, because he kept the [[filioque]] in the creed, which referred to the [[Holy Spirit]] emanating from God the Father'' and'' the Son. The papacy was strengthened through this new alliance, which in the long term created a new problem for the Popes, when in the [[Investiture controversy]] succeeding emperors sought to appoint bishops and even future popes.<ref name="Vidmar107">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp. 107–11</ref><ref name="Duffy78">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 78, quote: "By contrast, Paschal's successor [[Pope Eugene II|Eugenius II]] (824–7), elected with imperial influence, gave away most of these papal gains. He acknowledged the Emperor's sovereignty in the papal state, and he accepted a constitution imposed by Lothair which established imperial supervision of the administration of Rome, imposed an oath to the Emperor on all citizens, and required the Pope–elect to swear fealty before he could be consecrated. Under [[Pope Sergius II|Sergius II]] (844–7) it was even agreed that the Pope could not be consecrated without an imperial mandate, and that the ceremony must be in the presence of his representative, a revival of some of the more galling restrictions of Byzantine rule."</ref> After the disintegration of the [[Carolingian Empire]] and repeated incursions of Islamic forces into Italy, the papacy, without any protection, entered a phase of major weakness.<ref>Franzen. 36–42</ref>

===High Middle Ages===
[[File:St-thomas-aquinas.jpg|thumb|Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]] carrying the whole Church with his theology]]
{{See also|Medieval history of Christianity#High Middle Ages (800–1499)}}

The [[Cluniac reforms|Cluniac reform]] of monasteries that began in 910 placed abbots under the direct control of the pope rather than the secular control of feudal lords, thus eliminating a major source of corruption. This sparked a great monastic renewal.<ref name="Duffy88">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp.&nbsp;88–9</ref> Monasteries, convents and cathedrals still operated virtually all schools and libraries, and often functioned as credit establishments promoting economic growth.<ref name="Woods40">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), p.&nbsp;40</ref><ref name="LeGoff80">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), pp. 80–2</ref> After 1100, some older [[cathedral school]]s split into lower [[grammar school]]s and higher schools for advanced learning. First in [[University of Bologna|Bologna]], then at [[University of Paris|Paris]] and [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], many of these higher schools developed into [[Medieval university|universities]] and became the direct ancestors of modern Western institutions of learning.<ref name="Woods44">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), pp.&nbsp;44–8</ref> It was here where notable theologians worked to explain the connection between human experience and faith.<ref name="Bokenkotter158"/> The most notable of these theologians, [[Thomas Aquinas]], produced ''[[Summa Theologica]]'', a key intellectual achievement in its synthesis of [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought and the Gospel.<ref name="Bokenkotter158">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 158–9</ref> Monastic contributions to [[Western world|western society]] included the teaching of metallurgy, the introduction of new crops, the invention of [[musical notation]] and the creation and preservation of literature.<ref name="Woods44"/>

During the 11th century, the [[East-West Schism|East–West schism]] permanently divided Christianity.<ref name="SandSp91">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 91</ref> It arose over a dispute on whether Constantinople or Rome held jurisdiction over the church in Sicily and led to mutual excommunications in 1054.<ref name="SandSp91"/> The Western (Latin) branch of Christianity has since become known as the Catholic Church, while the Eastern (Greek) branch became known as the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]].<ref name="StoChris44">Collins, ''The Story of Christianity'' (1999), p. 103</ref><ref name="Vidmar104">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p.&nbsp;104</ref> The [[Second Council of Lyon]] (1274) and the [[Council of Florence]] (1439) both failed to heal the schism.<ref name="Duffy119">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 119, 131</ref> Some [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern churches]] have since reunited with the Catholic Church, and others claim never to have been out of communion with the pope.<ref name="Vidmar104"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Eastern Catholic |work=Catholic World News |publisher=Trinity Communications |year=2008 |url=http://www.cwnews.com/news/biosgloss/definition.cfm?glossID=67 |access-date=30 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050409045926/http://www.cwnews.com/news/biosgloss/definition.cfm?glossID=67 |archive-date=9 April 2005 }}</ref> Officially, the two churches remain in schism, although [[Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965|excommunications were mutually lifted]] in 1965.<ref name="Duffy278">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p.&nbsp;278</ref>

The 11th century saw the [[Investiture controversy]] between Emperor and Pope over the right to make church appointments, the first major phase of the struggle between [[Church and state in medieval Europe]]. The Papacy were the initial victors, but as Italians divided between [[Guelphs and Ghibellines]] in factions that were often passed down through families or states until the end of [[Middle Ages|the Middle Ages]], the dispute gradually weakened the Papacy, not least by drawing it into politics. The Church also attempted to control, or exact a price for, most marriages among the great by prohibiting, in 1059, marriages involving [[consanguinity]] (blood kin) and [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)|affinity]] (kin by marriage) to the seventh degree of relationship. Under these rules, almost all great marriages required a dispensation. The rules were relaxed to the fourth degree in 1215 (now only the first degree is prohibited by the Church – a man cannot marry his stepdaughter, for example).

[[File:Passages d'outremer Fr5594, fol. 19r, Concile de Clermont.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Urban II]] at the [[Council of Clermont]] (1095), where he preached the [[First Crusade]]; later [[illuminated manuscript|manuscript illumination]] by [[Jean Colombe]] from a copy of the ''[[Passages d'outremer]]'' of c. 1490]]

[[Pope Urban II]] launched the [[First Crusade]] in 1095 when he received an appeal from [[List of Byzantine Emperors|Byzantine emperor]] [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexius I]] to help ward off a Turkish invasion.<ref name="rileysmith">Riley-Smith, ''The First Crusaders'' (1997), p.&nbsp;8</ref> Urban further believed that a Crusade might help bring about reconciliation with Eastern Christianity.<ref name="Vidmar130">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp.&nbsp;130–1</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter140">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 140 quote: "And so when Urban called for a crusade at Clermont in 1095, one of his motives was to bring help to the beleaguered Eastern Christians."</ref> Fueled by reports of Muslim atrocities against Christians,<ref name="Bokenkotter155">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 155 quote: "Stories were also circulating about the harsh treatment of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem at the hands of the infidel, inflaming Western opinion."</ref> the series of military campaigns known as the [[Crusades]] began in 1096. They were intended to return the [[Holy Land]] to Christian control. The goal was not permanently realized, and episodes of brutality committed by the armies of both sides left a legacy of mutual distrust between Muslims and Western and Eastern Christians.<ref name="LeGoff66">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), pp.&nbsp;65–7</ref> [[Fourth Crusade#Decision to go to Constantinople|The sack of Constantinople]] during the [[Fourth Crusade]] left Eastern Christians embittered, despite the fact that [[Pope Innocent III]] had expressly forbidden any such attack.<ref name="Tyerman">Tyerman, ''God's War: A New History of the Crusades'' (2006), pp.&nbsp;525–60</ref> In 2001, [[Pope John Paul II]] apologized to the Orthodox Christians for the sins of Catholics including the sacking of Constantinople in 1204.<ref>{{cite news | title =Pope sorrow over Constantinople
 |work=BBC News| date = 29 June 2004| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3850789.stm | access-date =6 April 2008 }}</ref>

Two new orders of architecture emerged from the Church of this era. The earlier [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] style combined massive walls, rounded arches and ceilings of masonry. To compensate for the absence of large windows, interiors were brightly painted with scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints. Later, the [[Basilique Saint-Denis]] marked a new trend in cathedral building when it utilized [[Gothic architecture]].<ref name="Woods122">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), pp.&nbsp;119–22</ref> This style, with its large windows and high, pointed arches, improved lighting and geometric harmony in a manner that was intended to direct the worshiper's mind to God who "orders all things".<ref name="Woods122"/> In other developments, the 12th century saw the founding of eight new [[Monasticism|monastic orders]], many of them functioning as [[Military order (society)|Military Knights]] of the Crusades.<ref name="Norman62">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church'' (2007), p.&nbsp;62</ref> [[Cistercian]] monk [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] exerted great influence over the new orders and produced reforms to ensure purity of purpose.<ref name="Norman62"/> His influence led [[Pope Alexander III]] to begin reforms that would lead to the establishment of [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]].<ref name="Duffy101">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p.&nbsp;101</ref> In the following century, new [[mendicant orders]] were founded by [[Francis of Assisi]] and [[Dominic de Guzmán]] which brought [[Consecrated life (Catholic Church)|consecrated religious life]] into urban settings.<ref name="LeGoff87">Le Goff, ''Medieval Civilization'' (1964), p. 87</ref>

12th-century France witnessed the growth of [[Catharism]] in Languedoc. It was in connection with the struggle against this heresy that the Inquisition originated. After the Cathars were accused of murdering a [[Pierre de Castelnau|papal legate]] in 1208, [[Pope Innocent III]] declared the [[Albigensian Crusade]].<ref name="Duffy112">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p.&nbsp;112</ref> Abuses committed during the crusade caused Innocent III to informally institute the first papal inquisition to prevent future massacres and root out the remaining Cathars.<ref name="Vidmar144">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp. 144–7, quote: "The Albigensian Crusade, as it became known, lasted until 1219. The pope, Innocent III, was a lawyer and saw both how easily the crusade had gotten out of hand and how it could be mitigated. He encouraged local rulers to adopt anti-heretic legislation and bring people to trial. By 1231 a papal inquisition began, and the friars were given charge of investigating tribunals."</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter132">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 132, quote: "A crusade was proclaimed against these Albigenses, as they were sometimes called&nbsp;...&nbsp;It was in connection with this crusade that the papal system of Inquisition originated-a special tribunal appointed by the Popes and charged with ferreting out heretics. Until then the responsibility devolved on the local bishops. However, Innocent found it necessary in coping with the Albigensian threat to send out delegates who were entrusted with special powers that made them independent of the episcopal authority. In 1233 Gregory IX organized this ''ad hoc'' body into a system of permanent inquisitors, who were usually chosen from among the mendicant friars, Dominicans and Franciscans, men who were often marked by a high degree of courage, integrity, prudence, and zeal."</ref> Formalized under [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]], this [[Medieval inquisition]] executed an average of three people per year for heresy at its height.<ref name="Bokenkotter132"/><ref name="Norman93">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), p.&nbsp;93</ref> Over time, other [[inquisitions]] were launched by the Church or secular rulers to prosecute heretics, to respond to the threat of [[Moors|Moorish]] invasion or for political purposes.<ref name=christopherblack/> The accused were encouraged to recant their heresy and those who did not could be punished by penance, fines, imprisonment or [[execution by burning]].<ref name="christopherblack">Black, ''Early Modern Italy'' (2001), pp.&nbsp;200–2</ref><ref name="Casey">Casey, ''Early Modern Spain: A Social History'' (2002), pp.&nbsp;229–30</ref>

{{Ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church}}
A growing sense of church-state conflicts marked the 14th century. To escape instability in Rome, [[Pope Clement V|Clement V]] in 1309 became the first of seven popes to reside in the fortified city of [[Avignon]] in southern France<ref name="Duffy122">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p.&nbsp;122</ref> during a period known as the [[Avignon Papacy]]. The papacy returned to Rome in 1378 at the urging of [[Catherine of Siena]] and others who felt the [[Holy See|See of Peter]] should be in the Roman church.<ref name="McManners232">McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' (1990), p.&nbsp;232, Chapter 6 Christian Civilization by Colin Morris (University of Southampton)</ref><ref name="Vidmar155">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p.&nbsp;155</ref> With the death of [[Pope Gregory XI]] later that year, the [[Papal conclave|papal election]] was disputed between supporters of Italian and French-backed candidates leading to the [[Western Schism]]. For 38&nbsp;years, separate claimants to the papal throne sat in Rome and Avignon. Efforts at resolution further complicated the issue when a third compromise pope was elected in 1409.<ref name="McManners240">McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' (1990), p.&nbsp;240, Chapter 7 The [[Late Middle Ages|Late Medieval]] Church and its Reformation by [[Patrick Collinson]] (University of Cambridge)</ref> The matter was finally resolved in 1417 at the [[Council of Constance]] where the cardinals called upon all three claimants to the papal throne to resign, and held a new election naming [[Pope Martin V|Martin V]] pope.<ref name="McManners240"/>

==Renaissance and reforms==
===Discoveries and missionaries===
{{Main article|Counter-Reformation|Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery}}
{{See also|Protestant Reformation|Christianity in the 16th century|Catholicism and the wars of religion}}
Through the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European missionaries and explorers spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. [[Pope Alexander VI]], in the [[papal bull]] [[Inter caetera]], awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and [[Portugal]].<ref name="Koschorke13">[[Klaus Koschorke|Koschorke, K.]] ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), pp. 13, 283</ref> Under the ''patronato'' system, state authorities controlled clerical appointments and no direct contact was allowed with the Vatican.<ref name="Dussel39">Dussel, Enrique, ''A History of the Church in Latin America'', Wm B Eerdmans Publishing, 1981, pp. 39, 59</ref> In December 1511, the Dominican friar [[Antonio de Montesinos (Dominican friar)|Antonio de Montesinos]] openly rebuked the Spanish authorities governing [[Hispaniola]] for their mistreatment of the American natives, telling them "...&nbsp;you are in mortal sin&nbsp;...&nbsp;for the cruelty and tyranny you use in dealing with these innocent people".<ref name="Woods135">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), p. 135</ref><ref name="Johansen109a">[[Bruce E. Johansen]], ''The Native Peoples of North America,'' Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2006, pp. 109, 110, quote: "In the Americas, the Catholic priest [[Bartolomé de Las Casas|Bartolome de las Casas]] avidly encouraged enquiries into the Spanish conquest's many cruelties. Las Casas chronicled Spanish brutality against the Native peoples in excruciating detail."</ref><ref name="Koschorke287">Koschorke, ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), p. 287</ref> [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand]] enacted the ''[[Laws of Burgos]]'' and ''Valladolid'' in response. Enforcement was lax, and while some blame the Church for not doing enough to liberate the Indians, others point to the Church as the only voice raised on behalf of indigenous peoples.<ref name="Dussel45">Dussel, Enrique, ''A History of the Church in Latin America'', Wm B Eerdmans Publishing, 1981, pp. 45, 52, 53 quote: "The missionary Church opposed this state of affairs from the beginning, and nearly everything positive that was done for the benefit of the indigenous peoples resulted from the call and clamor of the missionaries. The fact remained, however, that widespread injustice was extremely difficult to uproot&nbsp;...&nbsp;Even more important than Bartolome de Las Casas was the Bishop of Nicaragua, Antonio de Valdeviso, who ultimately suffered martyrdom for his defense of the Indian."</ref> The issue resulted in a crisis of conscience in 16th-century Spain.<ref name="Johansen109">[[Bruce E. Johansen]], ''The Native Peoples of North America,'' Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2006, pp. 109, 110, quote: In large part because of Las Casas's work, a movement arose in Spain for more humane treatment of indigenous peoples.</ref><ref name="Koschorke287"/> An outpouring of self-criticism and philosophical reflection among Catholic theologians, most notably [[Francisco de Vitoria]], led to debate on the nature of human rights<ref name="Koschorke287"/> and the birth of modern international law.<ref name="Woods137">Woods, ''How the Church Built Western Civilization'' (2005), p. 137</ref><ref name="Chadwick327">Chadwick, Owen, ''The Reformation'', Penguin, 1990, p. 327</ref>

In 1521, through the leadership and preaching of the Portuguese explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]], the first Catholics were baptized in what became the first Christian nation in Southeast Asia, the [[Philippines]].<ref name="Koschorke21">Koschorke, ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), p. 21</ref> The following year, [[Franciscan]] missionaries arrived in what is now [[Mexico]], and sought to convert the Indians and to provide for their well-being by establishing schools and hospitals. They taught the Indians better farming methods, and easier ways of weaving and making pottery. Because some people questioned whether the Indians were truly human and deserved [[baptism]], [[Pope Paul III]] in the papal bull Veritas Ipsa or [[Sublimis Deus]] (1537) confirmed that the Indians were deserving people.<ref name="Johansen110">[[Bruce E. Johansen]], ''The Native Peoples of North America,'' Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 2006, p. 110, quote: "In the Papal bull ''Sublimis deus'' (1537), Pope Paul III declared that Indians were to be regarded as fully human, and that their souls were as immortal as those of Europeans. This edict also outlawed slavery of Indians in any form&nbsp;..."</ref><ref name="Koschorke290">Koschorke, ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), p. 290</ref> Afterward, the conversion effort gained momentum.<ref name="samora20">Samora ''et al.'', ''A History of the Mexican-American People'' (1993), p. 20</ref> Over the next 150&nbsp;years, the missions expanded into [[Southwestern United States|southwestern North America]].<ref name="jacksonxiv">Jackson, ''From Savages to Subjects: Missions in the History of the American Southwest'' (2000), p. 14</ref> The native people were legally defined as children, and priests took on a paternalistic role, often enforced with corporal punishment.<ref name="jacksonxiii">Jackson, ''From Savages to Subjects: Missions in the History of the American Southwest'' (2000), p. 13</ref> Elsewhere, in India, Portuguese missionaries and the Spanish Jesuit [[Francis Xavier]] evangelized among non-Christians and a Christian community which claimed to have been established by [[Thomas the Apostle]].<ref name="Koschorke3">Koschorke, ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), pp. 3, 17</ref>

[[File:Whitby abbey photography.jpg|left|thumb|[[Whitby Abbey]], England, one of hundreds of European monasteries destroyed during the Reformation in Anglican, French, and Reformed areas. While some Lutheran monasteries voluntarily dissolved, others [[Template:Lutheran orders|continue to the present day]].]]

===European Renaissance===
In Europe, the [[Renaissance]] marked a period of renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. It also brought a re-examination of accepted beliefs. Cathedrals and churches had long served as picture books and art galleries for millions of the uneducated. The stained glass windows, [[fresco]]es, statues, paintings and panels retold the stories of the saints and of biblical characters. The Church sponsored great Renaissance artists like [[Michelangelo]] and [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who created some of the world's most famous artworks.<ref name="Duffy133">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 133</ref> Although Church leaders were able to harness [[Renaissance humanism]] inspired arts into their overall effort, there were also conflicts between clerics and humanists, such as during the heresy trials of [[Johann Reuchlin]]. In 1509, a well known scholar of the age, [[Erasmus]], wrote ''[[The Praise of Folly]],'' a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the Church.<ref name="Norman86">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), p. 86</ref> The [[Papacy]] itself was questioned by [[conciliarism]] expressed in the councils of [[Council of Constance|Constance]] and the [[Council of Basel|Basel]]. Real reforms during these [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical councils]] and the [[Fifth Lateran Council]] were attempted several times but thwarted. They were seen as necessary but did not succeed in large measure because of internal feuds,<ref name="Franzen 65-78">Franzen 65–78</ref> ongoing conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and [[Saracen]]es<ref name="Franzen 65-78"/> and the [[simony]] and [[Cardinal-nephew|nepotism]] practiced in the Renaissance Church of the 15th and early 16th centuries.<ref name="Bokenkotter202"/> As a result, rich, powerful and worldly men like Roderigo [[House of Borgia|Borgia]] ([[Pope Alexander VI]]) were able to win election to the papacy.<ref name="Bokenkotter202">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 201–5</ref><ref name="Duffy149">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 149</ref>

===Reformation era wars===
The [[Fifth Lateran Council]] issued some but only minor reforms in March 1517. A few months later, on 31 October 1517, [[Martin Luther]] posted his ''[[The Ninety-Five Theses|Ninety-Five Theses]]'' in public, hoping to spark debate.<ref name="Vidmar184">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 184</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter215">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 215</ref> His theses protested key points of Catholic [[doctrine]] as well as the sale of [[indulgence]]s.<ref name="Vidmar184"/><ref name="Bokenkotter215"/> [[Huldrych Zwingli]], [[John Calvin]], and others also criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges, supported by powerful political forces in the region, developed into the [[Protestant Reformation]].<ref name="ConciseHistory2">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 223–4</ref><ref name="Vidmar196">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp. 196–200</ref> During this era, many people emigrated from their homes to areas which tolerated or practiced their faith, although some lived as [[crypto-protestantism|crypto-Protestants]] or [[Nicodemite]]s.

In Germany, the Reformation led to war between the Protestant [[Schmalkaldic League]] and the Catholic Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]. The first nine-year war ended in 1555 but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict, the [[Thirty Years' War]], which broke out in 1618.<ref name="Vidmar233"/> 
In the Netherlands, the wars of the Counter-Reformation were the [[Dutch Revolt]] and the [[Eighty Years' War]], part of which was the [[War of the Jülich Succession]] also including northwestern Germany. The [[Cologne War]] (1583–89) was a conflict between [[Protestant]] and [[Catholic]] factions which devastated the [[Electorate of Cologne]]. After the archbishop ruling the area converted to Protestantism, Catholics elected another archbishop, [[Ernest of Bavaria|Ernst of Bavaria]], and successfully defeated him and his allies.

In France, a series of conflicts termed the [[French Wars of Religion]] was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the [[Huguenot]]s and the forces of the [[Catholic League (French)|French Catholic League]]. A series of popes sided with and became financial supporters of the Catholic League.<ref name="Duffy177">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 177–8</ref> This ended under [[Pope Clement VIII]], who hesitantly accepted King [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV's]] 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]], which granted civil and [[religious toleration]] to Protestants.<ref name="Vidmar233">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 233</ref><ref name="Duffy177"/> In 1565, several hundred [[Fort Caroline#Fort Caroline (1564–1565)|Huguenot shipwreck survivors]] surrendered to the Spanish in Florida, believing they would be treated well. Although a Catholic minority in their party was spared, all of the rest were executed for heresy, with active clerical participation.<ref name="HendersonCommittee198987">{{cite book|author1=Richard R. Henderson|author2=International Council on Monuments and Sites. U.S. Committee|author3=United States. National Park Service|title=A Preliminary inventory of Spanish colonial resources associated with National Park Service units and national historic landmarks, 1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIkIAQAAMAAJ&q=slaughters|date=March 1989|publisher=United States Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites, for the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service|page=87|isbn=9780911697032}}</ref>

===England===
[[File:Martyrs of Guernsey (cropped).jpg|thumb|When the Calvinist [[Guernsey Martyrs]] were executed for heresy during the Marian persecutions, one of the women gave birth. Although the baby was rescued, priests nearby said the boy should burn due to having inherited moral stain from his mother.<ref>[https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004364950/B9789004364950_009.xml Pleading the Belly: A Sparing Plea? Pregnant Convicts and the Courts in Medieval England] by Sara M. Butler in ''Crossing Borders: Boundaries and Margins in Medieval and Early Modern Britain'' DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004364950_009</ref>]]

The [[English Reformation]] was ostensibly based on [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s desire for annulment of his marriage with [[Catherine of Aragon]], and was initially more of a political, and later a theological dispute.<ref name="scruton1996p470">{{cite book |author=Roger Scruton|author-link=Roger Scruton|title=A Dictionary of Political Thought|year=1996|page=470|quote="The (English) Reformation must not be confused with the changes introduced into the Church of England during the 'Reformation Parliament' of 1529–36, which were of a political rather than a religious nature, designed to unite the secular and religious sources of authority within a single sovereign power: the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican Church]] did not until later make any substantial change in doctrine."}}</ref> The [[Acts of Supremacy]] made the English monarch head of the English church thereby establishing the [[Church of England]]. Then, beginning in 1536, some 825&nbsp;monasteries throughout England, [[Wales]] and Ireland were [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] and Catholic churches were confiscated.<ref name="Schama">Schama, ''A History of Britain 1: At the Edge of the World?'' (2003), pp. 309–11</ref><ref name="Vidmar220"/> When he died in 1547 all monasteries, friaries, convents of nuns and shrines were destroyed or dissolved.<ref name="Vidmar220">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 220, quote: "Henry, seeing how far Cranmer had tried to take him in making the land Lutheran or Calvinist, pulled the plug in September 1538 and passed the Six Articles, which tried to restore the ancient faith, including the practice of celibacy for the clergy. By 1543 most of the Reformation legislation was reversed. One man, John Lambert, was made an example in November 1538. He was burned by being dragged in and out of the fire for holding the very same beliefs about the Eucharist that Cranmer held. Cranmer was made to watch the whole brutal event. He also had to send his wife back to Germany."</ref><ref name="Gonzalez75">Gonzalez, ''The Story of Christianity, Volume 2'' (1985), p. 75, quote: "In England, he took steps to make the church conform as much as possible to Roman Catholicism, except in the matter of obedience to the pope. He also refused to restore monasteries, which he had suppressed and confiscated under the pretense of reformation, and whose properties he had no intention of returning."</ref> [[Mary I of England]] reunited the Church of England with Rome and, against the advice of the Spanish ambassador, persecuted Protestants during the [[Marian Persecutions]].<ref name="Vidmar225">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp. 225–6</ref><ref name="Haigh159">Haigh, ''The English Reformation Revised'' (1987), p. 159, quote: "Mary wanted to make England a Catholic country as quickly as possible: to reintroduce the pope's authority, to repeal those parliamentary statutes which had so radically altered the relationship of Church and State and to restore to the Church its Catholic doctrine and services. Nothing was to be allowed to stand in her way. No murmurings among the people, no riots or rebellions or intrigues, not even the advice of the Spanish ambassador to make haste slowly could deflect the Queen from her purpose.&nbsp;...&nbsp;Death by burning at the hands of the sheriffs became the penalty for those who, convicted of heresy in the church courts, refused to recant."</ref>

After some provocation, the following monarch, [[Elizabeth I]] enforced the Act of Supremacy. This prevented Catholics from becoming members of professions, holding public office, voting or educating their children.<ref name="Vidmar225"/><ref name="Solt149">Solt, ''Church and State in Early Modern England, 1509–1640'', (1990), p. 149</ref> [[List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation|Executions of Catholics]] and [[List of Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation|dissenting Protestants]] under Elizabeth I, who reigned much longer, then surpassed the Marian persecutions<ref name="Vidmar225"/> and persisted under subsequent English monarchs.<ref name="SchamaII">Schama, ''A History of Britain 1: At the Edge of the World?'' (2003), pp. 272–3.</ref> Elizabeth I also executed other [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|Penal laws]] were also enacted in Ireland<ref name="jackson">Jackson, ''Ireland Her Own'' (1991), p. 514</ref> but were less effective than in England.<ref name="Vidmar225"/><ref name="Norman132">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), pp. 131–2</ref> In part because the Irish people associated Catholicism with nationhood and national identity, they resisted persistent English efforts to eliminate the Catholic Church.<ref name="Vidmar225"/><ref name="Norman132"/>

===Council of Trent (1545–1563)===
Historian [[Diarmaid MacCulloch]], in his book ''The Reformation, A History'' noted that through all the slaughter of the Reformation era emerged the valuable concept of religious toleration and an improved Catholic Church<ref>{{cite web | last =Potemra | first =Michael | title =Crucible of Freedom | work =National Review | date =13 July 2004 | url = http://nationalreview.com/books/potemra200407131542.asp| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070426172353/http://nationalreview.com/books/potemra200407131542.asp| archive-date = 26 April 2007| access-date =21 June 2008 }}</ref> which responded to doctrinal challenges and abuses highlighted by the Reformation at the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563). The council became the driving-force of the [[Counter-Reformation]], and reaffirmed central Catholic doctrines such as [[transubstantiation]], and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation.<ref name="Bokenkotter242">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 242–4</ref> It also reformed many other areas of importance to the Church, most importantly by improving the education of the clergy and consolidating the central jurisdiction of the [[Roman Curia]].<ref name="Norman81">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), p. 81</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter242"/><ref name="Vidmar237">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 237</ref>

[[File:Stift melk 001 2004.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Melk Abbey]]—adjoining [[Wachau Valley]], [[Lower Austria]]—exemplifies the [[Baroque]] style.]]

The decades after the council saw an [[Council of Trent#Protestant response|intellectual dispute]] between the Lutheran [[Martin Chemnitz]] and the Catholic [[Diogo de Payva de Andrada]] over whether certain statements matched the teachings of the Church Fathers and Scripture or not. The criticisms of the Reformation were among factors that sparked new [[religious order]]s including the [[Theatines]], [[Barnabites]] and [[Jesuits]], some of which became the great missionary orders of later years.<ref name="Norman91">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), pp. 91–2</ref> Spiritual renewal and reform were inspired by many new saints like [[Teresa of Avila]], [[Francis de Sales]] and [[Philip Neri]] whose writings spawned distinct schools of spirituality within the Church ([[Oratory of Saint Philip Neri|Oratorians]], [[Carmelites]], [[Salesian]]), etc.<ref name="Bokenkotter251">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 251</ref> Improvement to the education of the laity was another positive effect of the era, with a proliferation of secondary schools reinvigorating higher studies such as history, philosophy and theology.<ref name="Vidmar241">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 241</ref> To popularize Counter-Reformation teachings, the Church encouraged the [[Baroque]] style in art, music and architecture. Baroque religious expression was stirring and emotional, created to stimulate religious fervor.<ref name="Murray45">Murray, ''Dictionary of the Arts'' (1994), p. 45</ref>

Elsewhere, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier introduced the [[Catholic Church in Japan]], and by the end of the 16th century tens of thousands of Japanese adhered. Church growth came to a halt in 1597 under the Shogun [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a [[Kirishitan#Early Persecution|severe persecution of Christians]].<ref name="Koschorke31">Koschorke, ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America'' (2007), pp. 31–2</ref> Japanese were forbidden to leave the country and Europeans were forbidden to enter. Despite this, a [[Kakure Kirishitan|minority Christian population]] survived into the 19th century when Japan opened more to outside influence, and they continue to the present day.<ref name="Koschorke31"/><ref name="McManners318">McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' (1990), p. 318, Chapter 9 The Expansion of Christianity by [[John McManners]]</ref>

==Baroque, Enlightenment and revolutions==
{{See also|Christianity in the 17th century|Modern history of Christianity#Age of Enlightenment (1640–1740)}}

===Marian devotions===
The [[Council of Trent]] generated a revival of religious life and [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Marian devotions]] in the Catholic Church. During the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], the Church had defended its [[Roman Catholic Mariology|Marian beliefs]] against Protestant views. At the same time, the Catholic world was engaged in ongoing [[Ottoman Wars in Europe]] against Turkey which were fought and won under the auspices of the [[Virgin Mary]]. The victory at the [[Battle of Lepanto]] (1571) was accredited to her "and signified the beginning of a strong resurgence of Marian devotions, focusing especially on Mary, the [[Queen of Heaven]] and Earth and her powerful role as [[mediatrix]] of many graces".<ref>Otto Stegmüller, Barock, in Marienkunde, 1967 566</ref> The [[Colloquium Marianum]], an elite group, and the [[Sodality of Our Lady]] based their activities on a virtuous life, free of [[Seven deadly sins|cardinal sin]]s.

[[Pope Paul V]] and [[Gregory XV]] ruled in 1617 and 1622 to be inadmissible to state, that the virgin was conceived non-immaculate. Supporting the belief that the virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception was preserved free from all stain of original sin (aka Immaculate Conception) [[Alexander VII]] declared in 1661, that the soul of Mary was free from [[original sin]]. [[Pope Clement XI]] ordered the feast of the [[Immaculata]] for the whole Church in 1708. The feast of the [[Rosary]] was introduced in 1716, the feast of the Seven Sorrows in 1727. The [[Angelus]] prayer was strongly supported by [[Pope Benedict XIII]] in 1724 and by [[Pope Benedict XIV]] in 1742.<ref>F Zöpfl, Barocke Frömmigkeit, in Marienkunde, 577</ref> Popular Marian piety was even more colourful and varied than ever before: Numerous Marian [[pilgrimage]]s, ''Marian Salve'' [[Catholic devotions|devotion]]s, new Marian [[Litany|litanies]], Marian theatre plays, Marian [[hymn]]s, Marian [[procession]]s. Marian [[Fraternal and service organizations|fraternities]], today mostly defunct, had millions of members.<ref>Zöpfl 579</ref>

[[File:Jacob Ferdinand Voet - Portrait of Innocenzo XI Odescalchi (cropped).jpeg|thumb|left| After centuries of French opposition, [[Pope Innocent XI]] was beatified by [[Pius XII]] in 1956]]

===Enlightenment secularism===
The [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] constituted a new challenge of the Church. Unlike the [[Protestant Reformation]], which questioned certain Christian doctrines, the enlightenment questioned Christianity as a whole. Generally, it elevated human [[reason]] above divine [[revelation]] and down-graded religious authorities such as the [[papacy]] based on it.<ref>Lortz, IV, 7–11</ref> Parallel the Church attempted to fend off [[Gallicanism]] and [[Councilarism]], ideologies which threatened the papacy and structure of the Church.<ref>Duffy 188–189</ref>

Toward the latter part of the 17th century, [[Pope Innocent XI]] viewed the increasing Turkish attacks against Europe, which were supported by France, as the major threat for the Church. He built a Polish-Austrian coalition for the Turkish defeat at Vienna in 1683. Scholars have called him a saintly pope because he reformed abuses by the Church, including [[simony]], [[nepotism]] and the lavish papal expenditures that had caused him to inherit a papal debt of 50,000,000&nbsp;[[Italian scudo|scudi]]. By eliminating certain honorary posts and introducing new fiscal policies, Innocent XI was able to regain control of the church's finances.<ref name="Duffy188"/> [[Pope Innocent X|Innocent X]] and [[Pope Clement XI|Clement XI]] battled [[Jansenism]] and [[Gallicanism]], which supported [[Conciliarism]], and rejected papal primacy, demanding special concessions for the Church in France. This weakened the Church's ability to respond to [[Gallicanism|gallicanist]] thinkers such as [[Denis Diderot]], who challenged fundamental doctrines of the Church.<ref name="Bokenkotter267">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 267–9</ref>

In 1685 gallicanist King [[Louis XIV]] of France issued the [[Revocation of the Edict of Nantes]], ending a century of religious toleration. France forced Catholic theologians to support [[conciliarism]] and deny [[Papal infallibility]]. The king threatened [[Pope Innocent XI]] with a [[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|general council]] and a military take-over of the Papal state.<ref>Franzen 326</ref> The [[absolute monarchy|absolute]] French State used Gallicanism to gain control of virtually all major Church appointments as well as many of the Church's properties.<ref name="Duffy188">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 188–91</ref><ref name="Norman137">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), p. 137</ref> State authority over the Church became popular in other countries as well. In Belgium and Germany, Gallicanism appeared in the form of [[Febronianism]], which rejected papal prerogatives in an equal fashion.<ref name="Franzen 328">Franzen 328</ref> Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] of Austria (1780–1790) practiced [[Josephinism]] by regulating Church life, appointments, and massive confiscation of Church properties.<ref name="Franzen 328"/> The 18th century is also the time of the Catholic Enlightenment, a multi-faceted reform movement.<ref>[[Ulrich L. Lehner]], The Catholic Enlightenment. The Forgotten History of a Global Movement (Oxford University Press, 2016).</ref>

===Church in North America===
In what is now the Western United States, the Catholic Church expanded its missionary activity but, until the 19th century, had to work in conjunction with the Spanish crown and military.<ref>Franzen, 362</ref> [[Junípero Serra]], the Franciscan priest in charge of this effort, founded a series of missions and presidios in California which became important economic, political, and religious institutions.<ref name="Norman111">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), pp. 111–2</ref> These missions brought grain, cattle and a new political and religious order to the Indian tribes of California. Coastal and overland routes were established from Mexico City and mission outposts in Texas and New Mexico that resulted 13 major California missions by 1781. European visitors brought new diseases that killed off a third of the native population.<ref name="King">King, ''Mission to Paradise''(1975), p. 169</ref> Mexico shut down the missions in the 1820s and sold off the lands. Only in the 19th century, after the breakdown of most Spanish and Portuguese colonies, was the Vatican able to take charge of Catholic missionary activities through its [[Propaganda Fide]] organization.<ref>Franzen 362</ref>

===Church in South America===
During this period the Church faced colonial abuses from the Portuguese and Spanish governments. In South America, the Jesuits protected native peoples from enslavement by establishing semi-independent settlements called [[Jesuit Reductions|reductions]]. [[Pope Gregory XVI]], challenging Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty, appointed his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the [[History of slavery|slave trade]] in 1839 (papal bull ''[[In supremo apostolatus]]''), and approved the ordination of native clergy in spite of government racism.<ref name="Duffy221">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 221</ref>

===Jesuits===
====Jesuits in India====
[[Christianity in India]] has a tradition of [[Saint Thomas Christians|St. Thomas]] establishing the faith in Kerala. They are called St. Thomas Christians. The community was very small until the Jesuit [[Francis Xavier]] (1502–1552) began missionary work. [[Roberto de Nobili]] (1577–1656), a [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary to Southern India followed in his path. He pioneered [[inculturation]], adopting many [[Brahmin]] customs which were not, in his opinion, contrary to Christianity. He lived like a Brahmin, learned [[Sanskrit]], and presented Christianity as a part of Indian beliefs, not identical with the Portuguese culture of the colonialists. He permitted the use of all customs, which in his view did not directly contradict Christian teachings. By 1640 there were 40,000 Christians in [[Madurai]] alone. In 1632, Pope [[Gregory XV]] gave permission for this approach. But strong anti-Jesuit sentiments in Portugal, France, and even in Rome, resulted in a reversal. This ended the successful Catholic missions in India.<ref>Franzen, 323</ref> On 12 September 1744, [[Benedict XIV]] forbade the so-called [[Malabar rites]] in India, with the result that leading Indian castes, who wanted to adhere to their traditional cultures, turned away from the Catholic Church.<ref>Robert Eric Frykenberg, ''Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present'' (Oxford University Press, 2008)</ref><ref>Stephen Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India'' (Cambridge University Press, 1984)</ref>

===French Revolution===
{{See also|Christianity in the 18th century|Modern history of Christianity#Revivalism (1720–1906)}}
The anti-clericalism of the [[French Revolution]] saw the wholesale nationalisation of church property and attempts to establish a state-run church. Large numbers of priests refused to take an oath of compliance to the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]], leading to the Church being outlawed and replaced by a new religion of the worship of "Reason" but it never gained popularity. In this period, all monasteries were destroyed, 30,000&nbsp;priests were exiled and hundreds more were killed.<ref>Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), pp. 283–5</ref><ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. I: The 19th Century in Europe; Background and the Roman Catholic Phase'' (1958) pp 120–27</ref>
When [[Pope Pius VI]] sided against the revolution in the [[First Coalition]], [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Italy. The 82-year-old pope was taken as a prisoner to France in February 1798 and soon died. To win popular support for his rule, Napoleon re-established the Catholic Church in France through the [[Concordat of 1801]]. The church lands were never returned, however the priests and other religious were given salaries by the government, which maintained church properties through tax revenues. Catholics were allowed to continue some of their schools. The end of the Napoleonic wars, signaled by the [[Congress of Vienna]], brought Catholic revival and the return of the Papal States to the pope; the Jesuits were restored.<ref name="Duffy216">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 214–6</ref><ref>Latourette, ''Vol. I: The 19th Century in Europe; Background and the Roman Catholic Phase'' (1958) pp 127–29, 399–462</ref>

====19th-century France====
France remained basically Catholic. The census of 1872 counted 36 million people, of whom 35.4&nbsp;million were listed as Catholics, 600,000 as Protestants, 50,000 as Jews and 80,000 as freethinkers. The Revolution failed to destroy the Catholic Church, and Napoleon's concordat of 1801 restored its status. The return of the Bourbons in 1814 brought back many rich nobles and landowners who supported the Church, seeing it as a bastion of conservatism and monarchism. However the monasteries with their vast land holdings and political power were gone; much of the land had been sold to urban entrepreneurs who lacked historic connections to the land and the peasants. Few new priests were trained in the 1790–1814 period, and many left the church. The result was that the number of parish clergy plunged from 60,000 in 1790 to 25,000 in 1815, many of them elderly. Entire regions, especially around Paris, were left with few priests. On the other hand, some traditional regions held fast to the faith, led by local nobles and historic families.<ref>Robert Gildea, ''Children of the Revolution: The French, 1799–1914''(2008) p 120</ref> The comeback was slow—very slow in the larger cities and industrial areas. With systematic missionary work and a new emphasis on liturgy and devotions to the Virgin Mary, plus support from Napoleon III, there was a comeback. In 1870 there were 56,500 priests, representing a much younger and more dynamic force in the villages and towns, with a thick network of schools, charities and lay organizations.<ref>Roger Price, ''A Social History of Nineteenth-Century France'' (1987) ch 7</ref> Conservative Catholics held control of the national government, 1820–1830, but most often played secondary political roles or had to fight the assault from republicans, liberals, socialists and seculars.<ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age. Vol. I: The 19th Century in Europe; Background and the Roman Catholic Phase'' (1958) pp 400–412</ref><ref>Theodore Zeldin, ''France, 1848–1945'' (1977) vol 2 pp 983–1040</ref>

====Third Republic 1870–1940====
Throughout the lifetime of the Third Republic there were battles over the status of the Catholic Church. The French clergy and bishops were closely associated with the Monarchists and many of its hierarchy were from noble families. Republicans were based in the anticlerical middle class who saw the Church's alliance with the monarchists as a political threat to republicanism, and a threat to the modern spirit of progress. The Republicans detested the church for its political and class affiliations; for them, the church represented outmoded traditions, superstition and monarchism. The Republicans were strengthened by Protestant and Jewish support. Numerous laws were passed to weaken the Catholic Church. In 1879, priests were excluded from the administrative committees of hospitals and of boards of charity; in 1880, new measures were directed against the religious congregations; from 1880 to 1890 came the substitution of lay women for nuns in many hospitals. Napoleon's 1801 Concordat continued in operation but in 1881, the government cut off salaries to priests it disliked.<ref>Philippe Rigoulot, "Protestants and the French nation under the Third Republic: Between recognition and assimilation," ''National Identities,'' March 2009, Vol. 11 Issue 1, pp 45–57</ref>

The 1882 school laws of Republican [[Jules Ferry]] set up a national system of public schools that taught strict puritanical morality but no religion.<ref>Barnett B. Singer, "Minoritarian Religion and the Creation of a Secular School System in France," ''Third Republic'' (1976) No. 2 pp 228–259</ref> For a while privately funded Catholic schools were tolerated. Civil marriage became compulsory, divorce was introduced and chaplains were removed from the army.<ref>Patrick J. Harrigan, "Church, State, and Education in France From the Falloux to the Ferry Laws: A Reassessment," ''Canadian Journal of History,'' April 2001, 36#1 pp 51–83</ref>

When [[Leo XIII]] became pope in 1878 he tried to calm Church-State relations. In 1884 he told French bishops not to act in a hostile manner to the State. In 1892 he issued an encyclical advising French Catholics to rally to the Republic and defend the Church by participating in Republican politics. This attempt at improving the relationship failed. Deep-rooted suspicions remained on both sides and were inflamed by the [[Dreyfus Affair]]. Catholics were for the most part anti-dreyfusard. The Assumptionists published anti-Semitic and anti-republican articles in their journal ''La Croix''. This infuriated Republican politicians, who were eager to take revenge. Often they worked in alliance with Masonic lodges. The [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau|Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry]] (1899–1902) and the [[Émile Combes|Combes Ministry (1902–05)]] fought with the Vatican over the appointment of bishops. Chaplains were removed from naval and military hospitals (1903–04), and soldiers were ordered not to frequent Catholic clubs (1904). Combes as Prime Minister in 1902, was determined to thoroughly defeat Catholicism. He closed down all parochial schools in France. Then he had parliament reject authorisation of all religious orders. This meant that all fifty four orders were dissolved and about 20,000 members immediately left France, many for Spain.<ref>Frank Tallett and Nicholas Atkin, ''Religion, society, and politics in France since 1789'' (1991) p. 152</ref> In [[1905 French law on the separation of Church and State|1905 the 1801 Concordat was abrogated; Church and State were finally separated.]] All Church property was confiscated. Public worship was given over to associations of Catholic laymen who controlled access to churches. In practise, Masses and rituals continued. The Church was badly hurt and lost half its priests. In the long run, however, it gained autonomy—for the State no longer had a voice in choosing bishops and Gallicanism was dead.<ref>Robert Gildea, ''Children of the Revolution: The French, 1799–1914'' (2010) ch 12</ref>

[[File:Ruinas 030.jpg|thumb|300px|Church from the [[Jesuit Reductions|Indian settlement]] of [[San Ignacio Miní]]]]

===Africa===
At the end of the 19th century, Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa and built schools, hospitals, monasteries and churches.<ref name="Has398">Hastings, pp. 397–410</ref> They enthusiastically supported the colonial administration of the [[French Congo]], which forced the native populations of both territories to engage in large-scale forced labour, enforced through summary execution and mutilation. Catholic missionaries in the French Congo tried to prevent the French central government from stopping these atrocities <ref>Thomas Pakenham, ''The Scramble for Africa'', New York: Random House, 1991, p. 631-3</ref>

==Industrial age==
{{See also|Modern history of Christianity#Late modern history (1848–present)|Christianity in the 19th century}}

===First Vatican Council===
Before the council, in 1854 [[Pope Pius IX]] with the support of the overwhelming majority of Catholic Bishops, whom he had consulted between 1851 and 1853, proclaimed the [[Dogma (Roman Catholic)|dogma]] of the [[Immaculate Conception]].<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19930324en.html |title=John Paul II, General Audience |publisher=Vatican.va |date=24 March 1993 |access-date=8 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810175256/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19930324en.html |archive-date=10 August 2011 }}</ref> In 1846, the Pope had granted the unanimous wish of the bishops from the United States, and declared the Immaculata the patron of the US.<ref>Pius IX in Bäumer, 245</ref>

The  [[First Vatican Council]] (1869–1870) is now also called "Vatican One." Some 108 council delegates  requested to add the words "Immaculate Virgin" to the [[Hail Mary]].<ref>and to add the Immaculata to the [[Litany of Loreto]].</ref> Some also  requested the dogma of the Immaculate Conception be included in the [[Creed]] of the Church, which was opposed by Pius IX<ref>Bauer 566</ref> Many French Catholics wished the dogmatization of Papal [[infallibility]] and the [[assumption of Mary]] by the ecumenical council.<ref>Civilta Catolica 6 February 1869.</ref> During [[First Vatican Council|Vatican One]], nine mariological petitions favoured a possible assumption dogma, which however was strongly opposed by some council fathers, especially from Germany. In 1870, the [[First Vatican Council]] affirmed the doctrine of [[papal infallibility]] when exercised in specifically defined pronouncements.<ref name="Duffy232">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 232</ref> Controversy over this and other issues resulted in a very small breakaway movement called the [[Old Catholic Church]].<ref name="Fahlbusch">Fahlbusch, ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'' (2001), p. 729</ref>

===Social teachings===
{{Main article|Catholic social teaching}}

[[File:LeoXIII1900.jpg|thumb|left|The Church was slow to react to the growing industrialization and impoverishment of workers, trying first to remediate the situation with increased charity. In 1891 [[Pope Leo XIII]] issued ''[[Rerum novarum]]'' in which the Church defined the dignity and rights of industrial workers.]]
The [[Industrial Revolution]] brought many concerns about the deteriorating working and living conditions of urban workers. Influenced by the German Bishop [[Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler]], in 1891 [[Pope Leo XIII]] published the encyclical ''[[Rerum novarum]]'', which set in context [[Catholic social teaching]] in terms that rejected socialism but advocated the regulation of working conditions. ''Rerum novarum'' argued for the establishment of a living wage and the right of workers to form trade unions.<ref name="Duffy240">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 240</ref>

''[[Quadragesimo anno]]'' was issued by [[Pope Pius XI]], on 15 May 1931, 40 years after ''Rerum novarum''. Unlike Leo, who addressed mainly the condition of workers, Pius XI concentrated on the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He called for the reconstruction of the social order based on the principle of [[wikt:solidarity|solidarity]] and [[subsidiarity (Catholicism)|subsidiarity]].<ref>Duffy 260</ref> He noted major dangers for human freedom and dignity, arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism.

The social teachings of [[Pope Pius XII]] repeat these teachings, and apply them in greater detail not only to workers and owners of capital, but also to other professions such as politicians, educators, house-wives, farmers, [[bookkeeper]]s, [[international organization]]s, and all aspects of life including the military. Going beyond Pius XI, he also defined social teachings in the areas of medicine, [[psychology]], [[sport]], television, science, law and education. ''There is virtually no social issue, which Pius XII did not address and relate to the Christian faith.''<ref>Franzen, 368</ref> He was called ''"the Pope of Technology,'' for his willingness and ability to examine the social implications of technological advances. The dominant concern was the continued rights and dignity of the individual. With the beginning of the [[space age]] at the end of his pontificate, Pius XII explored the social implications of space exploration and satellites on the social fabric of humanity asking for a new sense of community and solidarity in light of existing [[Social teachings of the papacy|papal teachings]] on subsidiarity.<ref>Felicity O'Brien, Pius XII, London 2000, p.13</ref>

====Role of women's institutes====
[[File:Gibson and Mother Marianne Cope.jpg|thumb|Catholic Sisters and the leper children of Hawaii in 1886. Catholic women like St [[Marianne Cope]] played a central role in developing and running of many the modern world's education and health care systems.]]

Catholic women have played a prominent role in providing education and health services in keeping with Catholic social teaching. Ancient orders like the [[Carmelites]] had engaged in social work for centuries.<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; A Short History of Christianity; Penguin Viking; 2011</ref> The 19th century saw a new flowering of institutes for women, dedicated to the provision of health and education services – of these the [[Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco]], [[Claretian Sisters]] and [[Franciscan Missionaries of Mary]] became among the largest Catholic women's religious institutes of all.<ref name="catholicculture.org">{{citation |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=14192 |title=140th anniversary of largest women's religious institute : News Headlines |publisher=Catholic Culture |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=8 August 2013}}</ref>

The [[Sisters of Mercy]] was founded by [[Catherine McAuley]] in Ireland in 1831, and her nuns went on to establish hospitals and schools across the world.<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle=Sisters of Mercy}}</ref> The [[Little Sisters of the Poor]] was founded in the mid-19th century by Saint [[Jeanne Jugan]] near Rennes, France, to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns and cities.<ref>{{cite CE1913 |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12248a.htm |title=Little Sisters of the Poor |access-date=8 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=Actualités |url=http://news.fr.msn.com/m6-actualite/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150143558 |title=Vatican: cinq bienheureux, dont une Française et un Belge, canonisés ce dimanche – Actualités : Toute l'actualité et l'info en France et dans le Monde-MSN&M6 |publisher=MSN |access-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203052008/http://news.fr.msn.com/m6-actualite/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150143558 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In Britain's Australian colonies, Australia's first canonized Saint, [[Mary MacKillop]], co-founded the [[Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart]] as an educative religious institute for the poor in 1866, going on to establish schools, orphanages and refuges for the needy.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.news.com.au/national/mary-mackillop-to-become-australias-first-saint-on-october-17/story-e6frfkvr-1225832369178 | work=news.com.au | title=Mary MacKillop to become Australia's first saint on October 17 | date=19 February 2010}}</ref> In 1872, the [[Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco]] (also called Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) was founded by [[Maria Domenica Mazzarello]]. The teaching order was to become the modern world's largest institute for women, with around 14,000 members in 2012.<ref name="catholicculture.org"/> Saint [[Marianne Cope]] opened and operated some of the first general hospitals in the United States, instituting cleanliness standards which influenced the development of America's modern hospital system.<ref>{{citation |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/20/health/saint-marianne-cope/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 |title=Mother Marianne becomes an American saint |date=20 October 2012 |publisher=CNN |access-date=8 August 2013}}</ref> Also in the United States, Saint [[Katharine Drexel]] founded [[Xavier University of Louisiana]] to assist African and Native Americans.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.xula.edu/president/index.php |title=Xavier University of Louisiana |publisher=Xula.edu |access-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413051024/http://www.xula.edu/president/index.php |archive-date=13 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Mariology===
[[File:Madonna and Child (Filippo Lippi).jpg|thumb|''Madonna and Child'', by [[Filippo Lippi]]]]
Popes have always highlighted the inner link between the [[Virgin Mary]] as [[Mother of God]] and the full acceptance of Jesus Christ as [[Son of God]].<ref>''Mystici corporis'', ''Lumen gentium'' and ''[[Redemptoris Mater]]'' provide a modern Catholic understanding of this link.</ref><ref>see Pius XII, ''Mystici corporis'', also John Paul II in ''Redemptoris Mater'': The Second Vatican Council, by presenting Mary in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Church. Mary, as the Mother of Christ, is in a particular way united with the Church, "which the Lord established as his own body."</ref>
Since the 19th century, they were highly important for the development of [[Roman Catholic Mariology|mariology]] to explain the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|veneration of Mary]] through their decisions not only in the area of Marian beliefs ([[Mariology(RC)|Mariology]]) but also Marian practices and [[Catholic devotions|devotions]]. Before the 19th century, Popes promulgated Marian veneration by authorizing new Marian [[feast days]], prayers, initiatives, the acceptance and support of Marian congregations.<ref>Baumann in Marienkunde 1163</ref><ref>^ Baumann in Marienkunde, 672</ref> Since the 19th century, Popes begin to use encyclicals more frequently. Thus [[Leo XIII]], the [[Rosary Pope]] issued eleven Marian encyclicals. Recent Popes promulgated the veneration of the Blessed Virgin with two [[dogma]]s, [[Pius IX]] the [[Immaculate Conception]] in 1854 and the [[Assumption of Mary]] in 1950 by [[Pope Pius XII]]. Pius XII also promulgated the new feast [[Queenship of Mary]] celebrating Mary as [[Queen of Heaven]] and he introduced the first ever [[Marian year]] in 1954, a second one was proclaimed by [[John Paul II]]. [[Pius IX]], [[Pius XI]] and [[Pius XII]] facilitated the veneration of [[Marian apparition]]s such as in [[Lourdes]] and [[Fátima, Portugal|Fátima]]. Later Popes such from [[John XXIII]] to [[Benedict XVI]] promoted the visit to [[Marian shrine]]s ([[Benedict XVI]] in 2007 and 2008). The [[Second Vatican Council]] highlighted the importance of Marian veneration in ''[[Lumen gentium]]''. During the council, [[Paul VI]] proclaimed Mary to be the [[Mother of the Church]].

===Anti-clericalism===
{{See also|Christianity in the 20th century}}
The 20th century saw the rise of various politically [[Political radicalism|radical]] and [[anti-clerical]] governments. The 1926 [[Calles Law]] separating church and state in Mexico led to the [[Cristero War]]<ref name="Chadwick264">Chadwick, Owen, pp. 264–265.</ref> in which over 3,000&nbsp;priests were exiled or assassinated,<ref name="Scheina">Scheina, p. 33.</ref> churches desecrated, services mocked, nuns raped and captured priests shot.<ref name="Chadwick264"/> In the Soviet Union following the 1917 [[Bolshevik Revolution]], persecution of the Church and Catholics continued well into the 1930s.<ref>Riasanovsky 617</ref> In addition to the execution and exiling of clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of religious implements and closure of churches was common.<ref name="Riasanovsky 634">Riasanovsky 634</ref> During the 1936–39 [[Spanish Civil War]], the Catholic hierarchy supported [[Francisco Franco]]'s rebel [[Spanish State|Nationalist]] forces against the [[Popular Front (Spain)|Popular Front]] government,<ref name="payne">{{cite book |title= Franco and Hitler: Spain, Germany and World War II. |last=Payne |first=Stanley G |year=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press| isbn=978-0-300-12282-4|page=13}}</ref> citing [[Red Terror (Spain)|Republican violence]] directed against the Church.<ref name="Alonso">{{cite book |title= The New Catholic Encyclopedia |last=Fernandez-Alonso |first=J |year=2002 |publisher=Catholic University Press/Thomas Gale|isbn=0-7876-4017-4|pages=395–396 |volume= 13}}</ref> The Church had been an active element in the polarising politics of the years preceding the Civil War.<ref>Mary Vincent, Catholicism in the Second Spanish Republic {{ISBN|0-19-820613-5}} p.218</ref> [[Pope Pius XI]] referred to these three countries as a "terrible triangle"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fontenelle |first=René |title=Seine Heiligkeit Pius XI |publisher=Alsactia |year=1939 |location=France |pages=164 |language=FR}}</ref> and the failure to protest in Europe and the United States as a "conspiracy of silence".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Divini Redemptoris (March 19, 1937) {{!}} PIUS XI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19370319_divini-redemptoris.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

===Dictatorships===
====Italy====
Pope [[Pius XI]] aimed to end the long breach between the papacy and the Italian government and to gain recognition once more of the sovereign independence of the Holy See. Most of the Papal States had been seized by the armies of King [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]] (1861–1878) in 1860 seeking [[Italian unification]]. Rome itself was seized by force in 1870 and the pope became the "[[prisoner in the Vatican]]." The Italian government's policies had always been anti-clerical until the First World War, when some compromises were reached.<ref>Emma Fattorini, ''Hitler, Mussolini and the Vatican: Pope Pius XI and the Speech That was Never Made '' (2011) ch 1</ref>
[[File:Vatican City annex.jpg|thumb|left |Boundary map of [[Vatican City]]]]

<section begin=Criticism of the historical Catholic Church transclusion/>To bolster his own dictatorial Fascist regime, [[Benito Mussolini]] was also eager for an agreement. Agreement was reached in 1929 with the [[Lateran Treaties]], which helped both sides.<ref>Frank J. Coppa, ''Controversial concordats: the Vatican's relations with Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler'' (1999)</ref> According to the terms of the first treaty, [[Vatican City]] was given sovereignty as an independent nation in return for the Vatican relinquishing its claim to the former territories of the Papal States. Pius XI thus became a head of a tiny state with its own territory, army, radio station, and diplomatic representation. The Concordat of 1929 made Catholicism the sole religion of Italy (although other religions were tolerated), paid salaries to priests and bishops, recognized church marriages (previously couples had to have a civil ceremony), and brought religious instruction into the public schools. In turn the bishops swore allegiance to the Italian state, which had a veto power over their selection.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cyprian Blamires|title=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvD2rZSVau4C&pg=PA120|year=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=120|isbn=9781576079409}}</ref> The Church was not officially obligated to support the Fascist regime; the strong differences remained but the seething hostility ended. The Church especially endorsed foreign policies such as support for the anti-Communist side in the Spanish Civil War, and support for the conquest of Ethiopia. Friction continued over the Catholic Action youth network, which Mussolini wanted to merge into his Fascist youth group. A compromise was reached with only the Fascists allowed to sponsor sports teams.<ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century: Vol 4 The 20th Century In Europe'' (1961) pp 32–35, 153, 156, 371</ref>

Italy paid the Vatican 1750 million lira (about $100 million) for the seizures of church property since 1860. Pius XI invested the money in the stock markets and real estate. To manage these investments, the Pope appointed the lay-person [[Bernardino Nogara]], who through shrewd investing in stocks, gold, and futures markets, significantly increased the Catholic Church's financial holdings. The income largely paid for the upkeep of the expensive-to-maintain stock of historic buildings in the Vatican which previously had been maintained through funds raised from the [[Papal States]] up until 1870.<section end=Criticism of the historical Catholic Church transclusion/>

The Vatican's relationship with Mussolini's government deteriorated drastically after 1930 as Mussolini's totalitarian ambitions began to impinge more and more on the autonomy of the Church. For example, the Fascists tried to absorb the Church's youth groups. In response Pius XI issued the encyclical ''[[Non abbiamo bisogno]]'' ("We Have No Need)") in 1931. It denounced the regime's persecution of the church in Italy and condemned "pagan worship of the State."<ref>{{cite book|author=Eamon Duffy|title=Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes; Second Edition|url=https://archive.org/details/saintssinnershis00duff_0/page/340|year=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/saintssinnershis00duff_0/page/340 340]|isbn=0300091656}}</ref>

====Austria and Nazi Germany====
{{Main article|Pope Pius XI and Germany}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R24391, Konkordatsunterzeichnung in Rom.jpg|thumb|Signing of the ''[[Reichskonkordat]]'' on 20 July 1933. From left to right: German prelate [[Ludwig Kaas]], German Vice-Chancellor [[Franz von Papen]], representing Germany, Monsignor [[Giuseppe Pizzardo]], [[Pope Pius XII|Cardinal Pacelli]], Monsignor [[Alfredo Ottaviani]], German ambassador [[Rudolf Buttmann]].]]
The Vatican supported the right-wing [[Christian Socialist Party (Austria)|Christian Socialists]] in Austria, a country with a majority Catholic population but a powerful secular element. Pope Pius XI favored the regime of [[Engelbert Dollfuss]] (1932–34), who wanted to remold society based on papal encyclicals. Dollfuss suppressed the anti-clerical elements and the socialists, but was assassinated by the Austrian Nazis in 1934. His successor [[Kurt von Schuschnigg]] (1934–38) was also pro-Catholic and received Vatican support. Germany annexed Austria in 1938 and imposed its own policies.<ref>Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century: Vol 4 The 20th Century in Europe'' (1961) pp 188–91</ref>

Pius XI was prepared to negotiate concordats with any country that was willing to do so, thinking that written treaties were the best way to protect the Church's rights against governments increasingly inclined to interfere in such matters. Twelve concordats were signed during his reign with various types of governments, including some German state governments. When [[Adolf Hitler]] became Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 and asked for a concordat, Pius XI accepted. The [[Reichskonkordat|Concordat]] of 1933 included guarantees of liberty for the [[Catholic Church and Nazi Germany|Church in Nazi Germany]], independence for Catholic organisations and youth groups, and religious teaching in schools.<ref>Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century: Vol 4 The 20th Century in Europe'' (1961) pp 176–88</ref>

Nazi ideology was spearheaded by [[Heinrich Himmler]] and the [[Ideology of the SS|SS]]. In the struggle for total control over German minds and bodies, the SS developed an anti-religious agenda.<ref>Mark Edward Russ, "The Nazis' Religionspolitik: An Assessment of Recent Literature," ''Catholic Historical Review'' (2006) 92#3 pp 252–267</ref> No Catholic or Protestant chaplains were allowed in its units (although they were allowed in the regular army). Himmler established a special unit to identify and eliminate Catholic influences. The SS decided the German Catholic Church was a serious threat to its hegemony and while it was too strong to be abolished it was partly stripped of its influence, for example by closing its youth clubs and publications.<ref>Wolfgang Dierker, "Himmlers Glaubenskrieger. Der Sicherheitsdienst der SS, Seine Religionspolitik und die 'Politische Religion' des Nationalsozialismus," ''Historisches Jahrbuch'' (2002), Vol. 122, pp 321–344.</ref>

After repeated violations of the Concordat, Pope Pius XI issued the 1937 encyclical ''[[Mit brennender Sorge]]'' which publicly condemned the Nazis' persecution of the Church and their ideology of neopaganism and racial superiority.<ref>{{cite book |author=Martyn Housden|title=Resistance and Conformity in the Third Reich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rp6Qfc69FjsC&pg=PA52|year=1997|publisher=Psychology Press|page=52|isbn=9780415121347}}</ref>

===World War II===
After the Second World War began in September 1939, the Church condemned the invasion of Poland and subsequent 1940 Nazi invasions.<ref name="Cook983">Cook, p. 983</ref> In the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], [[Pope Pius XII]] directed the Church hierarchy to help [[Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust|protect Jews and Gypsies from the Nazis]].<ref>Bokenkotter p. 192</ref> While Pius XII has been credited with helping to save hundreds of thousands of Jews,<ref name="Deák">Deák, p. 182.</ref> the Church has also been accused of [[Christianity and antisemitism|antisemitism]].<ref>{{cite news | last =Eakin| first =Emily| title =New Accusations of a Vatican Role in Anti-Semitism; Battle Lines Were Drawn After Beatification of Pope Pius IX| work =[[The New York Times]] | date=1 September 2001| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E3DF1130F932A3575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|access-date=9 March 2008}}</ref> Albert Einstein, addressing the Catholic Church's role during the Holocaust, said the following: "Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks... Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1940-12-23/page/44/ |title=German Martyrs |magazine =[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=December 23, 1940|page=38}}</ref> Other commentators have accused Pius of not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities.<ref name="Phayer">Phayer, pp. 50–57</ref> Debate over the validity of these criticisms continues to this day.<ref name="Deák"/> In [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|dismembered Yugoslavia]], the church favoured the Nazi-installed Croatian Catholic fascist [[Ustaše]] regime due to its anti-communist ideology and for the potential to reinstate Catholic influence in the region following the dissolution of [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref name=Phayer2000p32>Phayer (2000), p. 32</ref> Despite being informed of the regime's [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|genocide against Orthodox Serbs]], [[The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia|Jews]] and other non-Croats, the church did not publicly speak out against it, preferring to exert pressure through diplomacy.<ref>Phayer (2000), p. 39</ref> In assessing the Vatican's position, historian [[Jozo Tomasevich]] writes that "it seems the Catholic Church fully supported the [Ustaše] regime and its policies."<ref>{{cite book|last=Tomasevich|first=Jozo|year=2001|title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration|publisher=Stanford University Press|url={{googlebooks|fqUSGevFe5MC|page=555|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-8047-7924-1|page=555}}</ref>

==Post-Industrial age==
===Second Vatican Council===
{{Main article|History of the Catholic Church since 1962}}
The Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process of reform following the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–65).<ref name="Duffy272">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 270–6</ref> Intended as a continuation of Vatican I, under [[Pope John XXIII]] the council developed into an engine of modernisation.<ref name="Duffy272"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Derek Holmes|author2=Bernard Bickers|title=Short History of the Catholic Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0l2tAwAAQBAJ|date=5 August 2002|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-86012-308-8}}</ref> It was tasked with making the historical teachings of the Church clear to a modern world, and made pronouncements on topics including the nature of the church, the mission of the laity and religious freedom.<ref name="Duffy272"/> The council approved a revision of the liturgy and permitted the [[Latin liturgical rites]] to use vernacular languages as well as [[Latin]] during mass and other sacraments.<ref name="Paulvi">{{cite web|last=Paul VI |first=Pope |title=Sacrosanctum Concilium |publisher=Vatican |date=4 December 1963 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |access-date=9 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221180735/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |archive-date=21 February 2008 }}</ref> Efforts by the Church to improve [[Ecumenism|Christian unity]] became a priority.<ref name="Duffy274">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 274</ref> In addition to finding common ground on certain issues with Protestant churches, the Catholic Church has discussed the possibility of unity with the Eastern Orthodox Church.<ref>{{cite web | title =Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Dialogue | publisher =Public Broadcasting Service | date =14 July 2000 | url =https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week346/feature.html | access-date =16 February 2008 | archive-date =10 March 2013 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130310120644/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week346/feature.html | url-status =dead }}</ref>

====Reforms====
Changes to old rites and ceremonies following Vatican II produced a variety of responses. Some stopped going to church, while others tried to preserve the old liturgy with the help of sympathetic priests.<ref name="Bokenkotter410">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 410</ref> These formed the basis of today's [[Traditionalist Catholic]] groups, which believe that the reforms of Vatican II have gone too far. [[Liberal Christianity|Liberal]] Catholics form another dissenting group who feel that the Vatican II reforms did not go far enough. The liberal views of theologians such as [[Hans Küng]] and [[Charles Curran (theologian)|Charles Curran]], led to Church withdrawal of their authorization to teach as Catholics.<ref>Bauckham, Richard, in ''New Dictionary of Theology'', Ed. Ferguson, (1988), p. 373</ref> According to Catholic historian Thomas Bokenkotter, most Catholics "accepted the changes more or less gracefully."<ref name="Bokenkotter410"/> In 2007, [[Benedict XVI]] eased permission for the optional old Mass to be celebrated upon request by the faithful.<ref>Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" Summorum Pontificum on the use of the [[Roman Rite|Roman Liturgy]] prior to the reform of 1970 (7 July 2007)</ref>

A [[1983 Code of Canon Law|new ''Codex Iuris Canonici'']], called for by [[John XXIII]], was promulgated by [[Pope John Paul II]] on 25 January 1983. This new Code of Canon Law includes numerous reforms and alterations in Church law and Church discipline for the Latin Church. It replaced the [[1917 Code of Canon Law]] issued by [[Benedict XV]].

===Theology===
====Modernism====
{{Main article|Modernism in the Catholic Church}}

====Liberation theology====
In the 1960s, growing social awareness and politicization in the Latin American Church gave birth to [[liberation theology]]. The Peruvian priest, [[Gustavo Gutiérrez]], became its primary proponent<ref name="LTBBC">{{cite web | title = Liberation Theology| publisher =BBC | year =2005 | url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/liberationtheology.shtml | access-date =2 June 2008 }}</ref> and, in 1979, the bishops' conference in Mexico officially declared the Latin American Church's "preferential option for the poor".<ref>{{cite book |author= Aguilar, Mario |title=The History and Politics of Latin American Theology, Volume 1 |location=London |publisher=SCM Press |year= 2007 |page= 31|isbn= 978-0-334-04023-1}}</ref> Archbishop [[Óscar Romero]], a supporter of aspects of the movement, became the region's most famous contemporary martyr in 1980, when he was murdered while celebrating Mass by forces allied with the government.<ref>For more on Romero, by a former colleague, see {{cite book |author= Sobrino, Jon |author-link= Jon Sobrino |title= Archbishop Romero: Memories and Reflections |location= Maryknoll, NY |publisher= Orbis |year= 1990 |isbn= 978-0-88344-667-6 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/archbishopromero0000sobr }}</ref> Both [[Pope John Paul II]] and [[Pope Benedict XVI]] (as Cardinal Ratzinger) denounced the movement.<ref>{{cite news | last = Rohter| first =Larry | title =As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists | work =The New York Times | date =7 May 2007 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/americas/07theology.html | access-date =21 February 2008 }} Benedict's main involvement in dealing with liberation theology was while he was still Cardinal Ratzinger.</ref> The Brazilian theologian [[Leonardo Boff]] was twice ordered to cease publishing and teaching.<ref>{{cite book |author= Aguilar, Mario |title=The History and Politics of Latin American Theology, Volume 1 |location=London |publisher=SCM Press |year= 2007 |page= 121|isbn= 978-0-334-04023-1}}</ref> While Pope John Paul II was criticized for his severity in dealing with proponents of the movement, he maintained that the Church, in its efforts to champion the poor, should not do so by resorting to violence or partisan politics.<ref name="LTBBC"/> The movement is still alive in Latin America today, though the Church now faces the challenge of Pentecostal [[Christian revival|revival]] in much of the region.<ref>For liberation theology's persistence, see {{cite news | last = Rohter| first =Larry | title =As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists | work=The New York Times | date =7 May 2007 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/americas/07theology.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1| access-date =2 June 2008 }} For the threat from Pentecostalism, see {{cite book|last= Stoll |first= David |title= Is Latin America turning Protestant?: The Politics of Evangelical Growth |location= Berkeley |publisher= [[University of California Press]] |year= 1990 |isbn= 978-0-520-06499-7 |url= https://archive.org/details/islatinamericatu00davi }}</ref>

===Sexuality and gender issues===
The [[sexual revolution]] of the 1960s brought challenging issues for the Church. [[Pope Paul VI]]'s 1968 encyclical ''[[Humanae Vitae]]'' reaffirmed the Catholic Church's traditional view of marriage and marital relations and asserted a continued proscription of [[contraception|artificial birth control]]. In addition, the encyclical reaffirmed the sanctity of life from conception to [[Death by natural causes|natural death]] and asserted a continued condemnation of both abortion and [[euthanasia]] as grave sins which were equivalent to murder.<ref>{{cite web |last=Paul VI |first=Pope |title=Humanae Vitae |publisher=Vatican |year=1968 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |access-date=2 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303114045/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |archive-date=3 March 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Norman184">Norman, ''The Roman Catholic Church an Illustrated History'' (2007), p. 184</ref>

The efforts to lead the Church to consider the [[ordination of women]] led Pope John Paul II to issue two documents to explain Church teaching. ''[[Mulieris Dignitatem]]'' was issued in 1988 to clarify women's [[Complementarianism|equally important and complementary]] role in the work of the Church.<ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II |first=Pope |title=Mulieris Dignitatem |publisher=Vatican |year=1988 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html |access-date=21 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107000833/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html |archive-date=7 January 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Bokenkotter467">Bokenkotter, ''A Concise History of the Catholic Church'' (2004), p. 467</ref> Then in 1994, ''[[Ordinatio sacerdotalis]]'' explained that the Church extends ordination only to men in order to follow the example of Jesus, who chose only men for this specific duty.<ref name="Benedict180">Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth (2008), pp. 180–1, quote: "The difference between the discipleship of the Twelve and the discipleship of the women is obvious; the tasks assigned to each group are quite different. Yet Luke makes clear—and the other Gospels also show this in all sorts of ways—that 'many' women belonged to the more intimate community of believers and that their faith—filled following of Jesus was an essential element of that community, as would be vividly illustrated at the foot of the Cross and the Resurrection."</ref><ref>{{cite web | last =John Paul II | first =Pope | title =Apostolic Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone| publisher = Vatican| date =22 May 1994 | url = http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000309192257/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 9 March 2000| access-date =2 February 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last =Cowell | first =Alan | title =Pope Rules Out Debate on Making Women Priests | work = The New York Times | date =31 May 1994 | url =https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E7DE133BF932A05756C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | access-date =12 February 2008 }}</ref>

==Catholicism today==
{{See also|Christianity in the 21st century}}

===Catholic-Eastern Orthodox dialogue===
In June 2004, the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] Bartholomew I's visited Rome on the [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul]] (29 June) for another personal meeting with Pope John Paul II, for conversations with the [[Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity]] and for taking part in the celebration for the feast day in [[St. Peter's Basilica]].

The Patriarch's partial participation in the Eucharistic liturgy at which the Pope presided followed the program of the past visits of Patriarch Dimitrios (1987) and [[Patriarch Bartholomew I]] himself: full participation in the [[Liturgy of the Word]], joint proclamation by the Pope and by the Patriarch of the profession of faith according to the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]] in Greek and as the conclusion, the final Blessing imparted by both the Pope and the Patriarch at the Altar of the Confessio.<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology/CATORT04.HTM Report on Catholic-Orthodox Relations]</ref> The Patriarch did not fully participate in the Liturgy of the Eucharist involving the consecration and distribution of the [[Eucharist]] itself.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2004/documents/ns_lit_doc_20040629_rite_en.html Presentation of the Celebration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040806145711/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2004/documents/ns_lit_doc_20040629_rite_en.html |date=6 August 2004 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2004/july/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20040701_jp-ii-bartholomew-i_en.html Common Declaration]</ref>

In accordance with the Catholic Church's practice of including the [[Filioque clause]] when reciting the Creed in Latin,<ref>Missale Romanum 2002 (Roman Missal in Latin), p. 513</ref> but not when reciting the Creed in Greek,<ref>Ρωμαϊκό Λειτουργικό 2006 (Roman Missal in Greek), vol. 1, p. 347</ref> Popes [[John Paul II]] and [[Benedict XVI]] have recited the Nicene Creed jointly with Patriarchs [[Patriarch Demetrius I of Constantinople|Demetrius I]] and [[Bartholomew I]] in Greek without the ''Filioque'' clause.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2004/documents/ns_lit_doc_20040629_rite_en.html programme of the celebration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040806145711/https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2004/documents/ns_lit_doc_20040629_rite_en.html |date=6 August 2004 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MFg8FBOHDg Video recording of joint recitation]</ref> The action of these Patriarchs in reciting the Creed together with the Popes has been strongly criticized by some elements of Eastern Orthodoxy, such as the Metropolitan of Kalavryta, Greece, in November 2008<ref>[http://www.mkka.blogspot.com/ The Metropolitan's own blog], reported also by [http://www.romfea.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1932 this Religious News Agency] and the [http://www.roacamerica.org/art-kiss-demetrios-latest.shtml Russian Orthodox] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921003654/http://www.roacamerica.org/art-kiss-demetrios-latest.shtml |date=21 September 2009 }}</ref>

The [[declaration of Ravenna]] in 2007 re-asserted these beliefs, and re-stated the notion that the bishop of Rome is indeed the ''protos'', although future discussions are to be held on the concrete ecclesiological exercise of papal primacy.

===Sex abuse cases===
{{Further|Catholic sex abuse cases}}

Major lawsuits emerged in numerous countries in recent decades claiming that [[Catholic sex abuse cases|priests had sexually abused minors]].<ref name="Bruni336">Bruni, ''A Gospel of Shame'' (2002), p. 336</ref> In response to the ensuing scandals, the Church has established formal procedures to prevent abuse, encourage reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their effectiveness.<ref>{{cite news|author=David Willey |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10645748 |title=Vatican 'speeds up' abuse cases |work=BBC News|date=15 July 2010 |access-date=11 August 2013}}</ref>

Some priests resigned, others were defrocked and jailed,<ref>{{cite news | last =Newman | first =Andy | title =A Choice for New York Priests in Abuse Cases | work =The New York Times | date =31 August 2006 | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/nyregion/31priest.html | access-date =13 March 2008 }}</ref> and there were financial settlements with many victims.<ref name="Bruni336"/> The [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]] commissioned a comprehensive study that found that four percent of all priests who served in the US from 1950 to 2002 had faced some sort of accusation of [[sexual misconduct]].

===Benedict XVI===
With the election of [[Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2005, the Church moved to the right.  Benedict decentralized beatifications and reverted the decision of his predecessor regarding papal elections.<ref>Moto Proprio, De Aliquibus Mutationibus, 11 June 2007</ref> In 2007, he set a Church record by approving the beatification of [[498 Spanish Martyrs]]. His first encyclical ''[[Deus caritas est]]'' discussed love and sex in continued opposition to more liberal views on sexuality.<ref>John L. Allen ''Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger'' (2005).</ref><ref>Peter Seewald, ''Benedict XVI: A Life Volume Two: Professor and Prefect to Pope and Pope Emeritus 1966–The Present'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021)</ref>

===Francis===
With the election of [[Pope Francis]] in 2013, following the [[Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI|resignation]] of Benedict XVI, Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first from the [[Southern Hemisphere]].<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/13/cardinal-walter-kasper-says-pope-francis-will-bring-new-life-to-vatican-ii_n_3076386.html Cardinal Walter Kasper Says Pope Francis Will Bring New Life To Vatican II]</ref> Since his election to the papacy, he displayed a simpler and less formal approach to the office, choosing to reside in the [[Domus Sanctae Marthae|Vatican guesthouse]] rather than the [[Apostolic Palace|papal residence]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Vallely|first=Paul|title=Pope Francis profile: Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a humble man who moved out of a palace into an apartment, cooks his own meals and travels by bus|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/pope-francis-profile-jorge-mario-bergoglio-a-humble-man-who-moved-out-of-a-palace-into-an-apartment-cooks-his-own-meals-and-travels-by-bus-8533450.html|access-date=4 June 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 March 2013}}</ref> He signalled numerous dramatic changes in policy as well—for example removing conservatives from high Vatican positions, calling on bishops to lead a simpler life, and taking a more pastoral attitude towards homosexuality.<ref>Austen Ivereigh, '' Wounded shepherd: Pope Francis and his struggle to convert the Catholic Church'' ( Henry Holt, 2019).</ref><ref>Christopher Lamb, ''The Outsider: Pope Francis and His Battle to Reform the Catholic Church'' (Orbis Books, 2020) ch. 5 [https://books.google.com/books?id=YVnMDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Pope+Francis%22+church&pg=PT8 online]</ref>

===Leo XIV===
[[Pope Leo XIV]] was elected in 2025, following the [[Death and funeral of Pope Francis|death]] of Francis. He is the first [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] pope, the first North American pope (born in [[Chicago]] in the [[United States]]), and the first pope of [[Peruvian|Peru]] citizenship.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Catholicism|Judaism|Christianity|Religion}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Anti-Catholicism]]
* [[Catholic-Protestant relations]]
* [[Criticism of the historical Catholic Church]]
* [[Great Church]], years 180 to 313
* [[History of Christianity]]
* [[History of the Papacy]]
* [[Political Catholicism]]
* [[Role of the Catholic Church in civilization]]
* [[Timeline of the Catholic Church]]
* [[Legal history of the Catholic Church]]
{{div col end}}
<!-- please keep entries in alphabetical order -->

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

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