THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DURING THE MIDDLE AGES

A.EARLY MIDDLE AGES1. THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (SEPT 4, 476)

WHEN ROMULUS AUGUSTUS, EMPEROR OF ROME WAS DEPOSED BY THE BARBARIAN KING OF ITALY

ODOACER

FACTORS THAT LED TO THE DECLINE AND FALL

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE:

A. THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY OF ROME

FADED

Powerful Roman Families who can exert local power

Strong German Chieftains on Border

Regions

Christian Church

BARBARIAN MIGRATION OR INVASION TOOK PLACE OVER MANY DECADES: SEEKING ECONOMIC

OPPORTUNITIES, GROUPS CROSSED INTO ROMAN TERRITORIES

B. IMPERIAL TERRITORIES WERE INFILTRATED BY WAVES OF BARBARIAN TRIBAL CONFEDERATION

BARBARIAN TRIBAL CONFEDERATES IN ROME BY 5TH AND 8TH CENTURY:

OSTROGOTHS IN ITALY

VISIGOTHS IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

FRANKS AND BURGUNDIANS IN GAUL AND WEST

GERMANY

SAXONS IN ENGLAND

2. BARBARIAN INVASION

THE LANDS REMAINED CHRISTIANS AND THEIR

CONQUERORS WERE SOON CONVERTED

INTERACTION BETWEEN CULTURE OF THE

NEWCOMERS, REMNANTS OF

CLASSICAL CULTURE AND CHRISTIAN

INFLUENCE PRODUCED NEW MODEL FOR SOCIETY

3. GREGORY THE GREAT (590-604)

AT A TIME WHEN THE CITY OF ROME

WAS IN NEAR COLLAPSE, HE

TOOK CHARGE OF THE CIVIL AND

MILITARY ADMINISTRATION AND SAVED THE CITY OF ROME FROM GOING

UNDER

AMONG THE FIRST TO ASSERT THE PRIMACY

OF THE PAPAL OFFICE

SUMMED UP THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BISHOP OF ROME IN HIS OFFICIAL TITLE

AS SERVUS SERVORUM DEI, THE SERVANT OF

THE SERVANTS OF GOD

4. THE RISE OF THE FRANKISH KINGDOM

THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE IN 800

SYMBOLIZED THE UNION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL

POWERSFORMATION OF WESTERN

CHRISTENDOM

HIS REIGN AND ERA KNOWN AS THE

CAROLINGIAN ERA

RENEWED PLEDGE TO THE POPE AND BROUGHT MUCH

OF THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN EUROPE TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH BY FORCE

INITIATED A REFORM THAT SERVED AS A POWERFUL MEANS FOR UNIFICATION BUT BLURRED THE LINE BETWEEN CHURCH AND

STATE

5. ISLAMIC INVASIONS (ca 8th Century)

ISLAMIC FORCES HAD CONQUERED NORTH AFRICA, EASTERN SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AND MOST

OF SPAIN

ISLAMIC ARMIES ESTABLISHED GREATLY REDUCED THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE (EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE) AND BESEIGED ITS

CAPITAL.

ISLAM POSED THE THREAT OF A RIVAL CULTURE AND RELIGION

6. CRUSADES

SERIES OF WARS BY WESTERN EUROPEAN

CHRISTIANS TO RECAPTURE THE HOLY

LAND FROM THE MUSLIMS.

FIRST UNDERTAKEN IN 1096 AND ENDED IN THE

LATE 13TH CENTURY

THE TERM CRUSADE WAS ORIGINALLY

APPLIED SOLELY TO EUROPEAN CHRISTIAN EFFORTS TO RETAKE FROM THE MUSLIMS

THE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

IT WAS LATER USED TO DESIGNATE ANY

MILITARY EFFORT BY EUROPEAN

CHRISTIANS AGAINST NON-CHRISTIANS.

7. THE GREGORIAN REFORM (ca1050-

108O)

UNDER GREGORY VII, THE CHURCH

SOUGHT INDEPENDENCE FROM THE STATE

THE PAPACY IS REGARDED AS

HAVING MONARCHIAL POWER OF ITS OWN.

INTERNALLY, THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH

BECAME INCRESINGLY CENTRALIZED AND

BUREAUCRATIC

8. THE GREAT SCHISM (1054)

THE EAST-WEST SCHISM A RESULT OF AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF

ESTRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO CHURCHES.

INFLUENCED BY A HOST OF CULTURAL, LINGUISIC, GEOGRAPHIC, POLITICAL, THEOLOGICAL, FACTORS

PRIMARY CAUSES :

A. DISPUTES OVER PAPAL AUTHORITY OR THE DENIAL OF PAPAL SUPREMACY BY THE EASTERN CHURCH

IN 440 AD, POPE LEO THE GREAT, THE PATRIARCH OF ROME, CLAIMED JURISDICTION OVER ALL

CHRISTENDOM, NOT JUST THE WESTERN CHURCH.

B. THE INSERTION OF THE FILIOQUE CLAUSE INTO THE NICENE CREED

First Council of Nicea (325) First Council of Constantinople (381)

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];

by whom all things were made;

who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;

who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;

he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;

whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Ghost. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' — they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

[

First Council of Nicea (325) First Council of Constantinople (381)

And in the Holy Ghost. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, not from the Son.

The dogma of the double Procession of the Holy Ghost from Father and Son as one Principle

DOCTRINAL POINT OF VIEW:

BOTTOMLINE OF THE FILIOQUE CONTROVERSY

THE WESTERN ALTERATION OF THE NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED OF 381.

RAISED THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY:THE EAST INSISTED THAT THE WEST HAD NO

AUTHORITY TO CHANGE THE CREED RATIFIED BY AN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL.

DATE CONTROVERSY451 POPE LEO I REFUSED TO ENDORSE

CANON 28 OF THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON DECREEING CONSTANTINOPLE AS THE NEW ROME.

9TH CENTURY PHOTIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, CAME INTO CONFLICT WITH NICHOLAS I BY DENYING PAPAL SUPREMACY

1054 CONFLICT BROKE OUT BETWEEN PAPAL LEGATES IN CONSTANTINOPLE AND PATRIARCH MICHAEL CERULARIUS, RESULTING IN MUTUAL EXCOMMUNICATIONS

1204 THE ARMIES OF THE 4TH CRUSADE SACKED CONSTANTINOPLE – INCLUDING ITS CHURCHES.

CONFLICTS BETWEEN WEST AND EAST CHURCHES

9. THE GREAT SCHISM OF WESTERN CHRISTIANITY

ON THE DEATH OF POPE GREGORY XI (1370-1378), THE ROMAN POPULACE DEMANDED AN ITALIAN POPE.

BARTOLOME PRIGNANO WAS UNANIMOUSLY CHOSEN BY THE FRENCH CARDINALS (APRIL 8, 1378), TAKING

THE NAME URBAN VI.

CAUSE OF THE SCHISM:

FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE ELECTION OF URBAN VI, THE FRENCH CARDINALS MET AT FONDI,

CLAIMING THAT THEY HAD BEEN COWED BY THE MOB INTO ELECTING A FRENCH CARDINAL, THEY PROCEEDED TO ELECT ROBERT GENEVA (SEPTEMBER 20, 1378), TAKING THE NAME CLEMENT VII (ANTI-POPE), ESTABLISHED PAPAL COURT IN AVIGNON

THUS BEGAN THE WESTERN SCHISM (1378-1417), WHICH DIVIDED CHRISTENDOM FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS.

WORSENING CRISIS:

THE CONFLICT LED TO A CRISIS THAT DIVIDED EUROPE:

SECULAR LEADERS HAD TO CHOOSE WHICH POPE THEY WOULD RECOGNIZE.

THE SCHISM CONTINUED AFTER THE DEATH OF BOTH INITIAL CLAIMANTS:

BONIFACE IX SUCCEEDED URBAN VI AT ROME IN 1389

BENEDICT XIII, SUCCEEDED CLEMENT VII AT AVIGNON FROM 1394

THE EIGHT CARDINALS OF THE ROMAN CONCLAVE OFFERED TO REFRAIN FROM ELECTING A NEW POPE IF BENEDICT WOULD RESIGN

THE LEGATES OF BENEDICT REFUSED

CONSEQUENTLY, THE ROMAN PARTY PROCEEDED TO ELECT INNOCENT VII.

A CHURCH COUNCIL WAS HELD IN PISA IN 1408 TO TRY TO SOLVE THE DISPUTE, BUT ADDED TO THE PROBLEM BY ELECTING A THIRD POPE, ALEXANDER V (1409-1410). WHO WAS SUCCEEDED BY JOHN XXIII.

END OF THE SCHISM:

THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE IN 1417:

DEPOSED JOHN XXIII AND THE AVIGNON POPE BENEDICT XIII, SECURED FORMAL RESIGNATION OF THE ROMAN POPE GREGORY XII

ELECTED POPE MARTIN V, THEREBY PERMANENTLY ENDING THE SCHISM

THE LINE OF ROMAN POPES WAS NOW

RECOGNIZED AS THE LEGITIMATE LINE.

FROM THIS TIME FORWARD THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH DECREED EXPLICITLY

THAT NO COUNCIL HAD POWER OVER

THE POPES; AND SO THERE IS NO WAY TO

UNDO A PAPAL ELECTION BY

ANYONE BUT THE POPE.

10. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION: MOVEMENT IN 16TH CENTURY TO REFORM THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN WESTERN EUROPE.

THE START OF THE REFORMATION IS POPULARLY DATED AT

OCTOBER 31, 1517 WHEN MARTIN LUTHER PUBLISHED HIS 95 THESES.

CHURCH BELIEFS UNDER ATTACK BY PROTESTANT REFORMERS:

PURGATORY DEVOTION TO MARY SAINTS

MOST OF THE SACRAMENTS AUTHORITY OF THE POPE

11. THE COUNTER REFORMATION OR CATHOLIC REFORMATION

A MOVEMENT WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE 16TH CENTURY

IN THE WAKE OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION WAS COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPRISED FIVE MAJOR ELEMENTS:

DOCTRINE

STRUCTURAL RECONFIGURATION

RELIGIOUS ORDERS

SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS

POLITICAL DIMENSIONS

RESULT OF THE REFORMS:

1. FOUNDATION OF SEMINARIES FOR THE PROPER TRAINING OF PRIESTS IN THE SPIRITUAL

LIFE AND THEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH

2.REFORM OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE:

RETURING ORDERS TO THEIR SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS

3. NEW SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS FOCUS ON THE DEVOTIONAL LIFE AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545-1563)

POPE PAUL III (1534-1549) INITIATED THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.

A COMMISSION OF CARDINALS TASKED WITH INSTITUTIONAL REFORM TO ADDRESS CONTENTIOUS

ISSUES SUCH AS CORRUPT BISHOPS ANS PRIEST, INDULGENCES AND OTHER FINANCIAL ABUSES.

THE COUNCIL CLEARLY UPHELD THE DOGMA OF SALVATION APPROPRIATED BY FAITH AND WORKS.

THE DOGMA OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION WAS UPHELD ALONG WITH THE 7 SACRAMENTS

THE CHURCH STRONGLY AFFIRMED PRACTICES SUCH AS INDULGENCES, VENERATION OF SAINTS AND RELICS AND

THE VENERATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.