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117-787: The Carmarthen Deanery is a Roman Catholic deanery in the Diocese of Menevia that covers several churches in Carmarthenshire and the surrounding area. In the early 2010s, the Aberystwyth Deanery was dissolved and the church in Lampeter became part of the Carmarthen Deanery. The deanery is centred at Blessed Sacrament Church in Gorseinon . Roman Catholic God Schools Relations with: The Catholic Church , also known as

234-577: A " prisoner in the Vatican ". This stand-off, which was spoken of as the Roman Question , was resolved by the 1929 Lateran Treaties , whereby the Holy See acknowledged Italian sovereignty over the former Papal States in return for payment and Italy's recognition of papal sovereignty over Vatican City as a new sovereign and independent state. Catholic missionaries generally supported, and sought to facilitate,

351-558: A fact. The 3rd century scholar Origen used the Protoevangelium's explanation of the brothers to uphold the perpetual virginity of Mary ("There is no child of Mary except Jesus, according to those who think correctly about her"). Origen also mentioned that the gospel of Peter affirmed the perpetual virginity of Mary, saying that the "brothers" of Jesus were from a previous marriage of Joseph. Tertullian , who came between Clement and Origen, denied Mary's virginity in partu to refute

468-550: A first-born and that "until" did not have the meaning Helvidius construed for it, painted a repulsive word-portrait of Joseph having intercourse with a blood-stained and exhausted Mary immediately after she has given birth—the implication, in his view, of Helvidius's arguments. Opinions on the quality of Jerome's rebuttal range from the view that it was masterful and well-argued to thin, rhetorical and sometimes tasteless. Two other 4th century Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa , following "a certain apocryphal account", and Augustine , advanced

585-588: A further argument by reading Luke 1:34 as a vow of perpetual virginity on Mary's part; this idea, first introduced in the Protoevangelium of James, has little scholarly support today, but it and the arguments advanced by Jerome and Ambrose were put forward by Pope John Paul II in his catechesis of August 28, 1996, as the four facts supporting the Catholic Church's ongoing faith in Mary's perpetual virginity. It has been argued from John 19 , where Jesus entrusts Mary to

702-540: A life-long virgin, argued that these adelphoi were the sons of "Mary, the mother of James and Joses" ( Mark 15:40 ), who he identified with the wife of Clopas and sister of the virgin Mary (John 19:25), which remains popular in the Western church. A modern proposal considers these adelphoi sons of "Mary, the mother of James and Joses" (not here identified with the Virgin Mary's sister), and Clopas, who according to Hegesippus

819-507: A variety of historical circumstances. In the 16th century, the Reformation led to the formation of separate, Protestant groups. From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticized for its teachings on sexuality , its doctrine against ordaining women , and its handling of sexual abuse cases involving clergy. Catholic (from Greek : καθολικός , romanized :  katholikos , lit.   'universal')

936-427: A well-established tradition in (probably early) second-century Syrian Christianity that Jesus' brothers and sisters were children of Joseph by a previous marriage". According to Richard Bauckham , Ignatius of Antioch also believed in the doctrine of Mary's virginity in partu . The Gospel of James states that Mary remained a life-long virgin, because Joseph was an old man who married her without physical desire, and

1053-523: Is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. The massive Islamic invasions of the mid-7th century began a long struggle between Christianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The Byzantine Empire soon lost the lands of the eastern patriarchates of Jerusalem , Alexandria and Antioch and was reduced to that of Constantinople,

1170-687: Is that the Pauline epistles , the four gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles , all mention the brothers ( adelphoi ) of Jesus, with Mark and Matthew recording their names and Mark adding unnamed sisters. The Gospel of James , followed a century later by Epiphanius , explained the adelphoi as Joseph's children by an earlier marriage, which is still the view of the Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. Jerome, believing that Joseph, like Mary, must be

1287-676: Is the bishop of Rome , known as the pope ( Latin : papa , lit.   'father'), whose jurisdiction is called the Holy See ( Sancta Sedes in Latin). In parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both. Additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services. The Catholic Church has been described as

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1404-482: Is the universal [katholike] Church." In the Catechetical Lectures ( c.  350 ) of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem , the name "Catholic Church" was used to distinguish it from other groups that also called themselves "the church". The "Catholic" notion was further stressed in the edict De fide Catolica issued 380 by Theodosius I , the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of

1521-639: The Pax Romana made travelling safe. The empire encouraged the spread of a common culture with Greek roots, which allowed ideas to be more easily expressed and understood. Unlike most religions in the Roman Empire, however, Christianity required its adherents to renounce all other gods, a practice adopted from Judaism (see Idolatry ). The 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

1638-783: The Byzantine–Seljuk Wars , which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control. In the 11th century , strained relations between the primarily Greek church and the Latin Church separated them in the East–West Schism, partially due to conflicts over papal authority. The Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople by renegade crusaders proved

1755-734: The Church of the East also shared in this communion, as did the Oriental Orthodox Churches before the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451; all separated primarily over differences in Christology . The Eastern Catholic Churches, who have a combined membership of approximately 18 million, represent a body of Eastern Christians who returned or remained in communion with the pope during or following these schisms for

1872-686: The Code of Canon Law (1983). "Catholic Church" is also used in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), the Council of Trent (1545–1563), and numerous other official documents. The New Testament , in particular the Gospels , records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the Twelve Apostles and his Great Commission of

1989-648: The Council of Nicaea declared heretical . The resulting religious discord between Germanic rulers and Catholic subjects was avoided when, in 497, Clovis I , the Frankish ruler, converted to orthodox Catholicism, allying himself with the papacy and the monasteries. The Visigoths in Spain followed his lead in 589, and the Lombards in Italy in the course of the 7th century. Western Christianity , particularly through its monasteries ,

2106-710: The Edict of Thessalonica made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire , a position that within the diminishing territory of the Byzantine Empire would persist until the empire itself ended in the fall of Constantinople in 1453, while elsewhere the church was independent of the empire, as became particularly clear with the East–West Schism . During the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils , five primary sees emerged, an arrangement formalized in

2223-725: The English Reformation and the eventual development of Anglicanism . The Reformation contributed to clashes between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V and his allies. The first nine-year war ended in 1555 with the Peace of Augsburg but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict—the Thirty Years' War —which broke out in 1618. In France, a series of conflicts termed

2340-586: The French Wars of Religion was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots (French Calvinists ) and the forces of the French Catholic League , which were backed and funded by a series of popes. This ended under Pope Clement VIII , who hesitantly accepted King Henry IV's 1598 Edict of Nantes granting civil and religious toleration to French Protestants. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) became

2457-525: The Immaculate Conception as a dogma in the Catholic Church . In 1870, the First Vatican Council affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility when exercised in specifically defined pronouncements, striking a blow to the rival position of conciliarism . Controversy over this and other issues resulted in a breakaway movement called the Old Catholic Church , The Italian unification of

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2574-596: The Incarnation of Christ despite the challenges to its scriptural foundations. Modern Protestants have largely rejected the perpetual virginity of Mary on the basis of sola scriptura, and it has rarely appeared explicitly in confessions or doctrinal statements, though the perpetual virginity of Mary is still a common belief in Anglicanism and Lutheranism . Among the Anabaptists , Hubmaier never abandoned his belief in

2691-682: The Italian Peninsula , imprisoning Pope Pius VI , who died in captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of 1801 . The end of the Napoleonic Wars brought Catholic revival and the return of the Papal States . In 1854, Pope Pius IX , with the support of the overwhelming majority of Catholic bishops, whom he had consulted from 1851 to 1853, proclaimed

2808-456: The Nicene Creed . The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission , that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles , and that the pope is the successor to Saint Peter , upon whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ. It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith taught by

2925-541: The Polish People's Republic , became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. His 26 1/2-year pontificate was one of the longest in history, and was credited with hastening the fall of communism in Europe. John Paul II sought to evangelize an increasingly secular world . He travelled more than any other pope, visiting 129 countries, and used television and radio as means of spreading the church's teachings. He also emphasized

3042-823: The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, when those who ceased to be in communion became known as Protestants. While the Roman Church has been used to describe the pope's Diocese of Rome since the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages (6th–10th century), Roman Catholic Church has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in

3159-601: The Roman Catholic Church , is the largest Christian church , with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization . The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches , including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches , which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around

3276-644: The Roman Empire , when establishing the state church of the Roman Empire . Since the East–West Schism of 1054, the Eastern Orthodox Church has taken the adjective Orthodox as its distinctive epithet; its official name continues to be the Orthodox Catholic Church. The Latin Church was described as Catholic , with that description also denominating those in communion with the Holy See after

3393-542: The Second Helvetic Confession —stating that Mary was the "ever virgin Mary"—and in the notes of the Geneva Bible . Theodore Beza , a prominent early Calvinist, included the perpetual virginity of Mary in a list of agreements between Calvinism and the Catholic Church. Some reformers upheld the doctrine to counter more radical reformers who questioned the divinity of Christ; Mary's perpetual virginity guaranteed

3510-642: The Tridentine Mass as found in the Roman Missal of 1962, which he titled the "Extraordinary Form". Citing the frailties of advanced age, Benedict resigned in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years. Pope Francis, the current pope of the Catholic Church, became in 2013 the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere , and the first Pope from outside Europe since

3627-470: The University of Oxford , University of Paris , and University of Bologna . Higher education before then had been the domain of Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools, led by monks and nuns . Evidence of such schools dates back to the 6th century CE. These new universities expanded the curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians. The university

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3744-549: The dignity of work and natural rights of labourers to have fair wages and safe conditions in Laborem exercens . He emphasized several church teachings, including moral exhortations against abortion, euthanasia , and against widespread use of the death penalty, in Evangelium Vitae . Pope Benedict XVI , elected in 2005, was known for upholding traditional Christian values against secularization , and for increasing use of

3861-567: The docetist idea that the Son of God could not have assumed a human body ("although she was a virgin when she conceived, she was a wife when she brought forth her son"). Tertullian, however, is not entirely clear on the issue of Mary's virginity post partum , with some scholars denying his traditional association with the Helvidian position. Helvidius also argued that Victorinus believed that Mary had other children; Jerome later claimed that Helvidius

3978-525: The 14th century. To escape instability in Rome, Clement V in 1309 became the first of seven popes to reside in the fortified city of Avignon in southern France during a period known as the Avignon Papacy . The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the pope returned to Rome, but was followed in 1378 by the 38-year-long Western schism , with claimants to the papacy in Rome, Avignon and (after 1409) Pisa. The matter

4095-622: The 1860s incorporated the Papal States, including Rome itself from 1870, into the Kingdom of Italy , thus ending the papacy's temporal power . In response, Pope Pius IX excommunicated King Victor Emmanuel II , refused payment for the land, and rejected the Italian Law of Guarantees , which granted him special privileges. To avoid placing himself in visible subjection to the Italian authorities, he remained

4212-522: The 1960s, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council , which ushered in radical change to church ritual and practice, and in the later 20th century, the long reign of Pope John Paul II contributed to the fall of communism in Europe, and a new public and international role for the papacy. From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticized for its doctrines on sexuality , its inability to ordain women , and its handling of sexual abuse cases . Pope Pius X (1903–1914) renewed

4329-408: The 21st century. Pope Gregory VII further initiated the Gregorian Reforms regarding the independence of the clergy from secular authority. This led to the Investiture Controversy between the church and the Holy Roman Emperors , over which had the authority to appoint bishops and popes. In 1095, Byzantine emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions in

4446-451: The 380s and 390s the monk Jovinian denied Mary's virginity in partu (virgin during childbirth), writing that if Jesus did not undergo a normal human birth, then his body was something other than a truly human one. As reported by Augustine , Jovinian "denied that the virginity of Mary, which existed when she conceived, remained while she gave birth." Augustine goes on to say that the reason for Jovinian's denial of Mary's virginity in partu

4563-416: The Americas, Asia and Oceania by explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries, as well as by the transformation of societies through the socio-political mechanisms of colonial rule. Pope Alexander VI had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal and the ensuing patronato system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in

4680-549: The Bible alone as the fundamental source of authority regarding God's word ( sola scriptura ). The reformers noted that while scripture records the virgin birth , it makes no mention of Mary's perpetual virginity following the birth of Christ . Mary's perpetual virginity was upheld by Martin Luther (who names her ever-virgin in the Smalcald Articles , a Lutheran confession of faith written in 1537), Huldrych Zwingli , Thomas Cranmer , Wollebius , Bullinger , John Wycliffe and later Protestant leaders including John Wesley ,

4797-421: The Brother of the Lord , not as a child of Joseph but of a certain "Theudas", a relative of Jesus. Hegesippus 's writings are not clear on this subject, with some authors arguing that he defended the doctrine, while others arguing that he disputed the perpetual virginity of Mary. The Ebionites denied the virgin birth and Mary's perpetual virginity. In the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome held that Mary

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4914-402: The Byzantine Empire lost to the Lombards the city of Ravenna from which it governed the small fragments of Italy, including Rome, that acknowledged its sovereignty. The fall of Ravenna meant that confirmation by a no longer existent exarch was not asked for during the election in 752 of Pope Stephen II and that the papacy was forced to look elsewhere for a civil power to protect it. In 754, at

5031-405: The Catholic and Orthodox churches. Several eastern churches reunited, forming the majority of the Eastern Catholic Churches . The Age of Discovery beginning in the 15th century saw the expansion of Western Europe's political and cultural influence worldwide. Because of the prominent role the strongly Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal played in Western colonialism, Catholicism was spread to

5148-422: The Christians were angering the gods and thereby threatening the peace and prosperity of the Empire. The resulting persecutions were a defining feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the 4th century. In 313, Emperor Constantine I 's Edict of Milan legalized Christianity, and in 330 Constantine moved the imperial capital to Constantinople , modern Istanbul, Turkey . In 380

5265-457: The Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV of France , which ended a century-long policy of religious toleration of Protestant Huguenots. As the papacy resisted pushes for Gallicanism , the French Revolution of 1789 shifted power to the state, caused the destruction of churches, the establishment of a Cult of Reason , and the martyrdom of nuns during the Reign of Terror . In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte 's General Louis-Alexandre Berthier invaded

5382-401: The European imperial powers' conquest of Africa during the late nineteenth century. According to the historian of religion Adrian Hastings , Catholic missionaries were generally unwilling to defend African rights or encourage Africans to see themselves as equals to Europeans, in contrast to Protestant missionaries, who were more willing to oppose colonial injustices. During the 20th century,

5499-447: The Holy See, or the Apostolic See (meaning the see of the apostle Peter). Directly serving the pope is the Roman Curia, the central governing body that administers the day-to-day business of the Catholic Church. The pope is also sovereign of Vatican City, a small city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome, which is an entity distinct from the Holy See. It is as head of the Holy See, not as head of Vatican City State, that

5616-400: The Holy Spirit, and without loss of integrity brought him forth, and after his birth preserved her virginity inviolate. Thomas Aquinas admitted that reason could not prove this, but argued that it must be accepted because it was "fitting", for as Jesus was the only-begotten son of God, so he should also be the only-begotten son of Mary, as a second and purely human conception would disrespect

5733-405: The Middle Ages the perpetual virginity of Mary was commonly accepted, however the Paulicians denied her perpetual virginity, even saying that Christ denied her to be blessed. The Protestant Reformation saw a rejection of the special moral status of lifelong celibacy. As a result, marriage and parenthood were extolled, and Mary and Joseph were seen as a normal married couple. It also affirmed

5850-420: The New Testament references to the brothers and sisters of Jesus as signifying his kin, but not the biological children of his mother. The Latin Church, known more commonly today as the Catholic Church, shared the Council of Constantinople with the theologians of the Greek or Orthodox communion, and therefore shares with them the title Aeiparthenos as accorded to Mary. The Catholic Church has gone further than

5967-408: The Orthodox in making the Perpetual Virginity one of the four Marian dogmas, meaning that it is held to be a truth divinely revealed , the denial of which is heresy . It declares her virginity before, during and after the birth of Jesus , or in the definition formulated by Pope Martin I at the Lateran Council of 649 : The blessed ever-virginal and immaculate Mary conceived, without seed, by

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6084-402: The Pope's insistence on public neutrality and diplomatic language has become a source of much criticism and debate. Nevertheless, in every country under German occupation, priests played a major part in rescuing Jews. Israeli historian Pinchas Lapide estimated that Catholic rescue of Jews amounted to somewhere between 700,000 and 860,000 people. The Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church

6201-410: The Reformation, which gave birth to the great majority of Protestant denominations and also crypto-Protestantism within the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Henry VIII petitioned Pope Clement VII for a declaration of nullity concerning his marriage to Catherine of Aragon . When this was denied, he had the Acts of Supremacy passed to make himself Supreme Head of the Church of England , spurring

6318-499: The Second World War, also because they had powerful supporters from the Vatican. The judgment of Pius XII is made more difficult by the sources, because the church archives for his tenure as nuncio, cardinal secretary of state and pope are in part closed or not yet processed. The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council of Trent, four centuries before. Initiated by Pope John XXIII, this ecumenical council modernized

6435-484: The War, and established aid networks to help victims, but he secretly assisted the anti-Hitler resistance and shared intelligence with the Allies. His first encyclical Summi Pontificatus (1939) expressed dismay at the 1939 Invasion of Poland and reiterated Catholic teaching against racism. He expressed concern against race killings on Vatican Radio , and intervened diplomatically to attempt to block Nazi deportations of Jews in various countries from 1942 to 1944. But

6552-444: The Western church were less convinced. The theologian Helvidius objected to the devaluation of marriage inherent in this view and argued that the two states, of virginity and marriage, were equal. His contemporary Jerome , realising that this would lead to the Mother of God occupying a lower place in heaven than virgins and widows, defended her perpetual virginity in his immensely influential Against Helvidius , issued c.383. In

6669-458: The apostles, instructing them to continue his work. The book Acts of Apostles , tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. The Catholic Church teaches that its public ministry began on Pentecost , occurring fifty days following the date Christ is believed to have resurrected . At Pentecost, the apostles are believed to have received the Holy Spirit, preparing them for their mission in leading

6786-400: The apostles, preserving the faith infallibly through scripture and sacred tradition as authentically interpreted through the magisterium of the church. The Roman Rite and others of the Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic liturgies , and institutes such as mendicant orders , enclosed monastic orders and third orders reflect a variety of theological and spiritual emphases in

6903-410: The areas under his control definitively established a form of caesaropapism , in which "he had the right and duty of regulating by his laws the minutest details of worship and discipline, and also of dictating the theological opinions to be held in the Church", re-established imperial power over Rome and other parts of the West, initiating the period termed the Byzantine Papacy (537–752), during which

7020-403: The birth of Christ. Athanasius of Alexandria (d.393) declared Mary Aeiparthenos , "ever-virgin", and the liturgy of James the brother of Jesus likewise required a declaration of Mary as ever-virgin. This view was defended by Augustine , Hilary of Poitiers , Didymus the Blind , Cyril of Alexandria among others. The Apostles' Creed taught the doctrine of virginitas in partu . In

7137-460: The birth of Jesus and mentions the brothers ( adelphoi ) of Jesus , who may have been: (1) sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus , and Joseph ; (2) sons of Joseph by a former marriage; or (3) sons of the Mary named in Mark 15:40 as "mother of James and Joses", who has been identified as either the wife of Clopas and sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a sister-in-law to Joseph. The Odes of Solomon have been interpreted as implying that Mary

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7254-451: The bishops of Rome, or popes, required approval from the emperor in Constantinople or from his representative in Ravenna for consecration, and most were selected by the emperor from his Greek-speaking subjects, resulting in a "melting pot" of Western and Eastern Christian traditions in art as well as liturgy. Most of the Germanic tribes who in the following centuries invaded the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity in its Arian form, which

7371-486: The brothers of Jesus mentioned in the canonical gospels are explained as Joseph's sons by an earlier marriage. The Protoevangelium seems to have been used to create the stories of Mary which are found in the Quran , but while Muslims agree with Christians that Mary was a virgin at the moment of the conception of Jesus, the idea of her perpetual virginity thereafter is contrary to the Islamic ideal of women as wives and mothers. The Second Apocalypse of James portrays James,

7488-496: The church's approach to ecumenism , and a call to improved relations with non-Christian religions, especially Judaism, in its document Nostra aetate . The council, however, generated significant controversy in implementing its reforms: proponents of the " Spirit of Vatican II " such as Swiss theologian Hans Küng said that Vatican II had "not gone far enough" to change church policies. Traditionalist Catholics , such as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre , however, strongly criticized

7605-407: The church's global reach continued to grow, despite the rise of anti-Catholic authoritarian regimes and the collapse of European Empires, accompanied by a general decline in religious observance in the West. Under Popes Benedict XV , and Pius XII , the Holy See sought to maintain public neutrality through the World Wars, acting as peace broker and delivering aid to the victims of the conflicts. In

7722-464: The church. Of its seven sacraments , the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass . The church teaches that through consecration by a priest , the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ . The Virgin Mary is venerated as the Perpetual Virgin , Mother of God , and Queen of Heaven ; she is honoured in dogmas and devotions . Catholic social teaching emphasizes voluntary support for

7839-426: The church. The Catholic Church teaches that the college of bishops , led by the bishop of Rome are the successors to the Apostles. In the account of the Confession of Peter found in the Gospel of Matthew , Christ designates Peter as the "rock" upon which Christ's church will be built. The Catholic Church considers the bishop of Rome, the pope, to be the successor to Saint Peter . Some scholars state Peter

7956-422: The church. There are three levels of clergy: the episcopate, composed of bishops who hold jurisdiction over a geographic area called a diocese or eparchy ; the presbyterate, composed of priests ordained by bishops and who work in local dioceses or religious orders; and the diaconate, composed of deacons who assist bishops and priests in a variety of ministerial roles. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church

8073-430: The city of Rome, though enjoying extraterritorial privileges accredited to the Holy See. Perpetual Virgin The extant written tradition of the perpetual virginity of Mary first appears in a late 2nd-century text called the Protoevangelium of James . The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 gave her the title "Aeiparthenos", meaning Perpetual Virgin, and at the Lateran Synod of 649 Pope Martin I emphasized

8190-480: The co-founder of Methodism . Osiander denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, for which Melanchthon was scornful. John Calvin 's view was more ambiguous, believing that knowing what happened to Mary after the birth of Jesus is impossible. However John Calvin argued that Matthew 1:25 , used by Helvidius to attack the perpetual virginity of Mary does not teach that Mary had other children. Other Calvinists affirmed Mary's perpetual virginity, including within

8307-584: The conflict. Catholic clergy played a leading role in the government of the fascist Slovak State , which collaborated with the Nazis, copied their anti-Semitic policies, and helped them carry out the Holocaust in Slovakia. Jozef Tiso , the President of the Slovak State and a Catholic priest, supported his government's deportation of Slovakian Jews to extermination camps. The Vatican protested against these Jewish deportations in Slovakia and in other Nazi puppet regimes including Vichy France , Croatia, Bulgaria , Italy and Hungary. Around 1943, Adolf Hitler planned

8424-511: The council, arguing that its liturgical reforms led "to the destruction of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments", among other issues. The teaching on the morality of contraception also came under scrutiny; after a series of disagreements, Humanae vitae upheld the church's prohibition of all forms of contraception. In 1978, Pope John Paul II , formerly Archbishop of Kraków in

8541-435: 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 the truth of Christ, as the successor of Peter in care for the church universal". Conditions in the Roman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas. The empire's network of roads and waterways facilitated travel, and

8658-452: The disciple John instead of his brothers, to support the view that Jesus had no brothers, however Protestants have generally argued in two ways against this passage, one by claiming that the brothers of Jesus were unbelievers or that they were not present during the crucifixion. Some have argued that Mary and Joseph could not have had a normal marriage if Mary remained a perpetual virgin; however, it has been argued by some Catholics that there

8775-539: The driving force behind the Counter-Reformation in response to the Protestant movement. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed central Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation and the requirement for love and hope as well as faith to attain salvation. In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world, in part through missionaries and imperialism , although its hold on European populations declined due to

8892-699: The eighth-century Gregory III . Francis has made efforts to further close Catholicism's estrangement with the Eastern churches. His installation was attended by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 that the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has attended a papal installation, while he also met Patriarch Kirill of Moscow , head of

9009-715: The empire's capital. As a result of Islamic domination of the Mediterranean , the Frankish state, centred away from that sea, was able to evolve as the dominant power that shaped the Western Europe of the Middle Ages. The battles of Toulouse and Poitiers halted the Islamic advance in the West and the failed siege of Constantinople halted it in the East. Two or three decades later, in 751,

9126-507: The final breach. In this age great gothic cathedrals in France were an expression of popular pride in the Christian faith. In the early 13th century mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán . The studia conventualia and studia generalia of the mendicant orders played a large role in the transformation of church-sponsored cathedral schools and palace schools, such as that of Charlemagne at Aachen , into

9243-515: The growth of religious scepticism during and after the Enlightenment. From the 17th century onward, the Enlightenment questioned the power and influence of the Catholic Church over Western society. In the 18th century, writers such as Voltaire and the Encyclopédistes wrote biting critiques of both religion and the Catholic Church. One target of their criticism was the 1685 revocation of

9360-517: The independence of papal office by abolishing the veto of Catholic powers in papal elections, and his successors Benedict XV (1914–1922) and Pius XI (1922–1939) concluded the modern independence of the Vatican State within Italy. Benedict XV was elected at the outbreak of the First World War . He attempted to mediate between the powers and established a Vatican relief office, to assist victims of

9477-588: The kidnapping of the Pope and his internment in Germany. He gave SS General Wolff a corresponding order to prepare for the action. While Pope Pius XII has been credited with helping to save hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust , the church has also been accused of having encouraged centuries of antisemitism by its teachings and not doing enough to stop Nazi atrocities. Many Nazi criminals escaped overseas after

9594-577: The largest Eastern Orthodox church, in 2016; this was reported as the first such high-level meeting between the two churches since the Great Schism of 1054. In 2017 during a visit in Egypt , Pope Francis reestablished mutual recognition of baptism with the Coptic Orthodox Church . The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity , led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within

9711-537: The late 16th century. Further, some will refer to the Latin Church as Roman Catholic in distinction from the Eastern Catholic churches. "Roman Catholic" has occasionally appeared also in documents produced both by the Holy See, and notably used by certain national episcopal conferences and local dioceses. The name Catholic Church for the whole church is used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1990) and

9828-577: The mid-6th century by Emperor Justinian I as the pentarchy of Rome, Constantinople , Antioch , Jerusalem and Alexandria . In 451 the Council of Chalcedon , in a canon of disputed validity, elevated the see of Constantinople to a position "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome". From c.  350  – c.  500 , the bishops, or popes, of Rome, steadily increased in authority through their consistent intervening in support of orthodox leaders in theological disputes, which encouraged appeals to them. Emperor Justinian , who in

9945-709: The new colonies. In 1521 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines . Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelized in India, China, and Japan. The French colonization of the Americas beginning in the 16th century established a Catholic francophone population and forbade non-Catholics to settle in Quebec . In 1415, Jan Hus

10062-458: The numerous visual artists sponsored by the church. Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization ". In Western Christendom , the first universities in Europe were established by monks. Beginning in the 11th century, several older cathedral schools became universities, such as

10179-406: The oldest multinational organization in the world. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is headed by the pope, currently Pope Francis , who was elected on 13 March 2013 by a papal conclave . The office of the pope is known as the papacy . The Catholic Church holds that Christ instituted the papacy upon giving the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter . His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called

10296-486: The pains of labor are the physical sign. It was due to Ambrose that virginitas in partu came to be included consistently in the thinking of subsequent theologians. Bonosus of Sardica also denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, for which he was declared a heretic. His followers would survive for many centuries, especially among the Goths . Additionally, the perpetual virginity of Mary was denied by some Arians . Jovinian

10413-523: The perpetual virginity of Mary and continued to esteem Mary as theotokos ("mother of God"). These two doctrinal stances are addressed individually in Articles Nine and Ten, respectively, of Hubmaier's work, Apologia . The Second Council of Constantinople recognized Mary as Aeiparthenos , meaning "ever-virgin". It remains axiomatic for the Eastern Orthodox Church that she remained virginal throughout her Earthly life, and Orthodoxy therefore understands

10530-530: The perpetual virginity of Mary, though Epiphanius doubted the claim. Early Christian theologians such as Hippolytus (170–235), Eusebius (260/265–339/340) and Epiphanius (c. 310/320–403) defended the perpetual virginity of Mary. By the early 4th century the spread of monasticism had promoted celibacy as the ideal state, and a moral hierarchy was established with marriage occupying the third rank below life-long virginity and widowhood. Eastern theologians generally accepted Mary as Aeiparthenos , but many in

10647-660: The pope receives ambassadors of states and sends them his own diplomatic representatives. The Holy See also confers orders, decorations and medals , such as the orders of chivalry originating from the Middle Ages . While the famous Saint Peter's Basilica is located in Vatican City, above the traditional site of Saint Peter's tomb , the papal cathedral for the Diocese of Rome is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran , located within

10764-412: The practices of the Catholic Church, allowing the Mass to be said in the vernacular (local language) and encouraging "fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations". It intended to engage the church more closely with the present world ( aggiornamento ), which was described by its advocates as an "opening of the windows". In addition to changes in the liturgy, it led to changes to

10881-683: The preservation and transmission of ancient culture. During this period, monastic Ireland became a centre of learning and early Irish missionaries such as Columbanus and Columba spread Christianity and established monasteries across continental Europe. The Catholic Church was the dominant influence on Western civilization from Late Antiquity to the dawn of the modern age. It was the primary sponsor of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque styles in art, architecture and music. Renaissance figures such as Raphael , Michelangelo , Leonardo da Vinci , Botticelli , Fra Angelico , Tintoretto , Titian , Bernini and Caravaggio are examples of

10998-457: The prominent universities of Europe. Scholastic theologians and philosophers such as the Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas studied and taught at these studia. Aquinas' Summa Theologica was an intellectual milestone in its synthesis of the legacy of ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle with the content of Christian revelation. A growing sense of church-state conflicts marked

11115-567: The sacred state of her holy womb. Symbolically, the perpetual virginity of Mary signifies a new creation and a fresh start in salvation history . It has been stated and argued repeatedly, most recently by the Second Vatican Council : This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception   [...] then also at the birth of Our Lord, who did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it... A problem facing theologians wishing to maintain Mary's life-long virginity

11232-580: The schism was reconciled, unresolved issues would lead to further division. In the 11th century, the efforts of Hildebrand of Sovana led to the creation of the College of Cardinals to elect new popes, starting with Pope Alexander II in the papal election of 1061 . When Alexander II died, Hildebrand was elected to succeed him, as Pope Gregory VII . The basic election system of the College of Cardinals which Gregory VII helped establish has continued to function into

11349-569: The sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy . The Catholic Church operates tens of thousands of Catholic schools, universities and colleges , hospitals , and orphanages around the world, and is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world. Among its other social services are numerous charitable and humanitarian organizations. The Catholic Church has profoundly influenced Western philosophy , culture , art , literature , music , law , and science . Catholics live all over

11466-521: The term "bishop of Rome" to the most prominent members of the clergy in the earlier period and also to Peter himself. On this basis protestant scholars Oscar Cullmann , Henry Chadwick , and Bart D. Ehrman question whether there was a formal link between Peter and the modern papacy. Raymond E. Brown also says that it is anachronistic to speak of Peter in terms of local bishop of Rome, but that Christians of that period would have looked on Peter as having "roles that would contribute in an essential way to

11583-535: The threefold character of the perpetual virginity, before, during, and after the birth of Christ. The Lutheran Smalcald Articles (1537) and the Reformed Second Helvetic Confession (1562) codified the doctrine of perpetual virginity of Mary as well. The doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity has been challenged on the basis that the New Testament explicitly affirms her virginity only until

11700-629: The urgent request of Pope Stephen, the Frankish king Pepin the Short conquered the Lombards. He then gifted the lands of the former exarchate to the pope, thus initiating the Papal States . Rome and the Byzantine East would delve into further conflict during the Photian schism of the 860s, when Photius criticized the Latin west of adding of the filioque clause after being excommunicated by Nicholas I . Though

11817-728: The virgin birth, nowhere affirmed explicitly the view that Mary was a perpetual virgin. This idea, however, appears in at least three second-century works: the Protoevangelium of James , the Gospel of Peter and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas . All of these early sources independently assert that the so-called "brothers of the Lord" were children of Joseph's first marriage. According to Protestant scholar Richard Bauckham , these works "show no signs of literary relationship" and probably "evidence of

11934-597: The war and reunite families. The interwar Pope Pius XI modernized the papacy, appointing 40 indigenous bishops and concluding fifteen concordats, including the Lateran Treaty with Italy which founded the Vatican City State . His successor Pope Pius XII led the Catholic Church through the Second World War and early Cold War . Like his predecessors, Pius XII sought to publicly maintain Vatican neutrality in

12051-570: The world . The pope , who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The Diocese of Rome , known as the Holy See , is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia , has its principal offices in Vatican City , which is a small, independent city-state and enclave within the city of Rome , of which the pope is head of state . The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in

12168-472: The world through missions , immigration , diaspora , and conversions . Since the 20th century, the majority have resided in the Global South , partially due to secularization in Europe and North America. The Catholic Church shared communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly the authority of the pope . Before the Council of Ephesus in AD 431,

12285-595: Was Ambrose , Archbishop of Milan, who was the chief target of the charge of Manicheism. In 391, he wrote Concerning Virginity whose full title was On the Education of the Virgin and the Perpetual Virginity of Mary . For Ambrose, both the physical birth of Jesus by Mary and the baptismal birthing of Christians by the church had to be totally virginal, even in partu , in order to cancel the stain of original sin, of which

12402-539: Was "ever-virgin", while Clement of Alexandria , writing soon after the Protoevangelium appeared, appealed to its incident of a midwife who examined Mary immediately after the birth ("after giving birth, she was examined by a midwife, who found her to be a virgin") and asserted that this was to be found in the Gospels ("These things are attested to by the Scriptures of the Lord"), though he was referring to an apocryphal Gospel as

12519-427: Was Joseph's brother. Further scriptural difficulties were added by Luke 2:7 , which calls Jesus the "first-born" son of Mary, and Matthew 1:25 , which adds that Joseph "did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son." Helvidius argued that first-born implies later births, and that the word "until" left open the way to sexual relations after the birth; Jerome, replying that even an only son will be

12636-481: Was a major factor in preserving classical civilization , with its art (see Illuminated manuscript ) and literacy. Through his Rule , Benedict of Nursia ( c.  480 –543), one of the founders of Western monasticism , exerted an enormous influence on European culture through the appropriation of the monastic spiritual heritage of the early Catholic Church and, with the spread of the Benedictine tradition, through

12753-565: Was a virgin even during childbirth as well as stating that Mary did not have pain during childbirth. Similar statements exist in the Ascension of Isaiah . The virgin birth of Jesus is found in the Gospel of Matthew and possibly in Luke , but it seems to have little theological importance before the middle of the 2nd century. The 2nd century Church fathers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr , though mentioning

12870-519: Was at its most intense in Poland , and Catholic resistance to Nazism took various forms. Some 2,579 Catholic clergy were sent to the Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp , including 400 Germans. Thousands of priests, nuns and brothers were imprisoned, taken to a concentration camp, tortured and murdered, including Saints Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein . Catholics fought on both sides in

12987-634: Was burned at the stake for heresy, but his reform efforts encouraged Martin Luther , an Augustinian friar in modern-day Germany, who sent his Ninety-five Theses to several bishops in 1517. His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences , and along with the Leipzig Debate this led to his excommunication in 1521. In Switzerland , Huldrych Zwingli , John Calvin and other Protestant Reformers further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into

13104-534: Was condemned as a heretic at a Synod of Milan under Ambrose's presidency in 390 and Mary's perpetual virginity was established as the only orthodox view. Further developments were to follow when the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 formally gave her the title "Aeiparthenos", and at the Lateran Synod of 649 Pope Martin I emphasised the threefold character of the perpetual virginity, before, during, and after

13221-458: Was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century. The first known use of the phrase "the catholic church" ( Greek : καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία , romanized :  katholikḕ ekklēsía ) occurred in the letter written about 110 AD from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans , which read: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there

13338-410: Was largely resolved in 1415–17 at the Council of Constance , with the claimants in Rome and Pisa agreeing to resign and the third claimant excommunicated by the cardinals, who held a new election naming Martin V pope. In 1438, the Council of Florence convened, which featured a strong dialogue focussed on understanding the theological differences between the East and West, with the hope of reuniting

13455-498: Was misinterpreting Victorinus. Epiphanius invented a name " Antidicomarians " for a group of people who denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, which Epiphanius attacked. Their same views were also mentioned earlier by Origen , although he too rejected them as heretical. They were active from the 3rd to the 5th century. According to Epiphanius the Antidicomarians claimed that Apollinaris of Laodicea or his disciples denied

13572-646: Was that the doctrine was too close to the Manichean view that Christ was simply a phantom. According to Ambrose, Jovinian maintained that Mary had conceived as a virgin, but she had not given birth as a virgin. Jerome wrote against Jovinian but failed to mention this aspect of his teaching, and most commentators believe that he did not find it offensive. Jovinian also found two monks in Milan, Sarmatio and Barbatian , who held similar views as Jovinian. The only important Christian intellectual to defend Mary's virginity in partu

13689-416: Was the first bishop of Rome. 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. 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 presbyters was adopted, and that later writers retrospectively applied

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