167-711: Daniele Comboni , MCCJ (15 March 1831 – 10 October 1881) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa from 1877 until his death in 1881. He worked in the missions in Africa and was the founder of both the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and the Comboni Missionary Sisters . Comboni studied under Nicola Mazza in Verona where he became a multi-linguist and in 1849 vowed to join
334-509: A Positio dossier and sent it to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1982 while theologians approved his writings as being in line with the magisterium on 3 May 1982; historians also approved the cause later on 21 February 1989 after having deemed that no historical obstacles existed in relation to the cause. Six theologians approved the dossier on 12 October 1993 while the C.C.S. validated
501-468: A caesarean section ; the hospital was one that the Comboni Missionary Sisters managed. The infant was born but the mother suffered from repeated bleeding and other serious problems and was at the point of death on 13 November despite a blood transfusion . The doctors were pessimistic about her chances but the nuns prayed a novena to Comboni. The woman did not die, defying expectations, and
668-619: 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 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
835-577: 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,
1002-520: A "friend of light" and a reformer of Europe towards freedom and progress. He was elected without secular political influences and in the full vigor of life. He was pious, progressive, intellectual, decent, friendly, and open to all. While his political views and policies were hotly debated in the coming years, his personal lifestyle was above reproach, a model of simplicity and poverty in everyday affairs. The most notable event in Pius IX's long pontificate
1169-565: A Dinka who would go on to serve as a missionary in Khartoum later in her life. On 9 March 1870 he left Cairo for Rome and arrived there on 15 March where he took part in the First Vatican Council as the theologian of the Bishop of Verona Luigi di Canossa ; he formulated the "Postulatum pro Nigris Africæ Centralis" on 24 June which was a petition for the evangelization of Africa; this received
1336-554: A calculated, well-prepared move, Prime Minister Rossi was assassinated on 15 November 1848, and in the days following, the Swiss Guards were disarmed, making the Pope a prisoner in his palace. However, he succeeded in escaping Rome several days later. A Roman Republic was declared in February 1849. Pius responded from his exile by excommunicating all participants. After the suppression of
1503-671: A cardinal instead. On 22 August 1861, the pope informed the Patriarch of Venice Angelo Ramazzotti that he would name him a cardinal, however, Ramazzoti died three days before the consistory. Also in 1861, the dean of the Sacred Rota Ignazio Alberghini declined the pope's offer of nomination into the Sacred College. In December 1863, Pius IX intended to elevate the Archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań Leon Michał Przyłuski to
1670-462: A character evaluation from his parish priest to be considered. Financial administration in the Papal States under Pius IX was increasingly put in the hands of laymen. The budget and financial administration in the Papal States had long been subject to criticism even before Pius IX. In 1850, he created a government finance body ("congregation") consisting of four laymen with finance backgrounds for
1837-469: A confirmation that his ideas and his activities – which some deemed to be foolish – were recognised as an effective means for the proclamation of the Gospel . In 1877 and again in 1878 there was a drought in the region of the mission while mass starvation ensued soon after. The local population was halved and the religious personnel and their activities reduced almost to nothing. On 27 November 1880 he traveled to
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#17330856007152004-458: A constitutional government – to which he was sympathetic – but also the unification of Italy under his leadership and a war of liberation to free the northern Italian provinces from the rule of Catholic Austria. By early 1848, all of Western Europe began to be convulsed in various revolutionary movements . The Pope, claiming to be above national interests, refused to go to war with Austria, which reversed Pius' popularity in his native Italy. In
2171-663: A desire he had held since 1846 after reading about the Japanese martyrs . On 31 December 1854 in Trento he received his ordination to the priesthood from the Bishop of Trent , Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer zu Gleifheim . Comboni made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 29 September to 14 October 1855. In 1857 – with the blessing of his mother – he left for Africa along with five other missionaries, also former students of Mazza. His mother gave him her blessing and said to him: "Go, Daniele, and may
2338-462: A majority of the votes in the early ballots but failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. Gizzi was favoured by the French government but failed to get further support from the cardinals, and the conclave ended up ultimately as a contest between Lambruschini and Mastai Ferretti. In the meantime, Cardinal Tommaso Bernetti reportedly received information that Cardinal Karl Kajetan von Gaisruck ,
2505-414: A move that contradicted the general mood throughout Europe. On the evening of the second day of the conclave, 16 June 1846, Mastai Ferretti was elected pope. "He was a glamorous candidate, ardent, emotional with a gift for friendship and a track-record of generosity even towards anti-Clericals and Carbonari . He was a patriot, known to be critical of Gregory XVI." Because it was night, no formal announcement
2672-581: A new archaeological commission in 1853. The Papal States were a theocracy in which the Catholic Church and its members had far more rights than other religions. Pius IX's religious policies became increasingly reactionary over time. At the beginning of his pontificate, together with other liberal measures, Pius opened up the Jewish ghetto in Rome , freeing Jews to reside elsewhere. In 1850, after French troops defeated
2839-569: A new constitution titled the " Fundamental Statute for the Secular Government of the States of the Church ". The governmental structure of the Papal States reflected the dual spiritual-secular character of the papacy. The secular or laypersons were strongly in the majority with 6,850 persons versus 300 members of the clergy. Nevertheless, the clergy made key decisions and every job applicant had to present
3006-554: A secular ruler and the monarch of the Papal States , ruling over some 3 million subjects from 1846 to 1870, when the newly founded Kingdom of Italy seized the remaining areas of the Papal States by force of arms. Contention between Italy and the Papacy was only resolved legally by the 1929 Lateran Treaty ( Lateran Pacts or Lateran Accords ) between the Kingdom of Italy under Mussolini and
3173-469: 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 the world . The pope , who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of
3340-523: 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,
3507-676: 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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#17330856007153674-474: 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 the apostles, preserving the faith infallibly through scripture and sacred tradition as authentically interpreted through
3841-482: 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
4008-639: 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
4175-732: 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
4342-672: 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
4509-648: 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 ,
4676-710: 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
4843-725: 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
5010-586: 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
5177-437: The Holy See ever accepted this title. Ignaz von Döllinger , a fervent critic of Pius' infallibility dogma, considered the political regime of the pope in the Papal States "wise, well-intentioned, mild-natured, frugal and open for innovations". Yet there was controversy. In the period before the 1848 revolutions , Pius was a most ardent reformer advised by such innovative thinkers as Antonio Rosmini (1797–1855), who reconciled
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5344-623: The Holy See , the latter receiving financial compensation for the loss of the Papal States and recognition of the Vatican City State as the sovereign independent territory of the Holy See. Though he was well aware upon his accession of the political pressures within the Papal States , Pius IX's first act was a general amnesty for political prisoners , despite the potential consequences. The freed revolutionaries resumed their previous political activities, and his concessions only provoked greater demands as patriotic Italian groups sought not only
5511-525: 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
5678-628: 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
5845-496: The Law of Guarantees (13 May 1871) which gave the Pope the use of the Vatican but denied him sovereignty over this territory, nevertheless granting him the right to send and receive ambassadors and a budget of 3.25 million lira annually. Pius IX officially rejected this offer (encyclical Ubi nos , 15 May 1871), since it was a unilateral decision which did not grant the papacy international recognition and could be changed at any time by
6012-500: The Martyrs of Japan (8 June 1862), Josaphat Kuntsevych (29 June 1867), and Nicholas Pieck (29 June 1867). Pius IX further beatified 222 individuals throughout his papacy, including the likes of Benedict Joseph Labre , Peter Claver , and his two predecessors Pope Eugene III and Pope Urban V . Pius IX named three new Doctors of the Church : Hilary of Poitiers (13 May 1851, naming him " Doctor divinitatem Christi " or "Doctor of
6179-569: 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 a variety of historical circumstances. In
6346-544: The Papal States in 1870 to the Kingdom of Italy . Thereafter, he refused to leave Vatican City , declaring himself a " prisoner in the Vatican ". At the time of his election, some considered him liberal, but no longer after the Revolutions of 1848 . Upon the assassination of his prime minister , Pellegrino Rossi , Pius fled Rome and excommunicated all participants in the short-lived Roman Republic . After its suppression by
6513-541: 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
6680-823: 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
6847-576: The Quirinal Palace inside Rome to the Vatican, where popes have lived ever since. After defeating the Papal army on 18 September 1860 at the Battle of Castelfidardo , and on 30 September at Ancona , Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia took all the Papal territories except Latium with Rome and took the title King of Italy . Rome itself was invaded on 20 September 1870 after a few-hours siege. Italy instituted
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7014-595: 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
7181-419: 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
7348-418: 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
7515-444: 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
7682-445: 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 the church. Of its seven sacraments , the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass . The church teaches that through consecration by
7849-422: 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
8016-412: 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')
8183-414: 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
8350-522: 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
8517-456: The 20 provinces. After joining the Latin Monetary Union in 1866, the old Roman scudo was replaced by the new Papal lira . Pius IX is credited with systematic efforts to improve manufacturing and trade by giving advantages and papal prizes to domestic producers of wool , silk and other materials destined for export. He improved the transportation system by building roads, viaducts, bridges and seaports . A series of new railway links connected
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#17330856007158684-399: 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, the Church of the East also shared in this communion, as did
8851-408: 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
9018-404: The 35-year-old Mastai Ferretti Archbishop of Spoleto in 1827. In 1831, the abortive revolution that had begun in Parma and Modena spread to Spoleto ; the Archbishop obtained a general pardon after it was suppressed, gaining him a reputation for being liberal. During an earthquake, he made a reputation as an efficient organizer of relief and great charity. The following year he was moved to
9185-412: The African missions from people including monarchical families as well as bishops and nobles. Travelling under an Austrian consular visa, he went to France and Spain before heading north to England and then setting off to Germany and Austria. The humanitarian "Society of Cologne" became a main supporter of his work. It was around this time that he launched a magazine – the first in his homeland to delve into
9352-416: 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
9519-452: The Austrian Archbishop of Milan, was on his way to the conclave to veto the election of Mastai Ferretti on behalf of the Austrian Empire and Prince Metternich . According to historian Valérie Pirie, Bernetti realized that he had only a few hours in which to stop Lambruschini's election. Faced with a deadlock and urgently persuaded by Bernetti to reject Lambruschini, liberals and moderates decided to cast their votes for Mastai Ferretti, in
9686-402: 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
9853-441: The C.C.S. members on 24 January 1995. John Paul II confirmed on 6 April 1995 that this healing was indeed a miracle and beatified Comboni in Saint Peter's Basilica on 17 March 1996. The miracle required for him to be sainted was investigated in Khartoum from 9 to 28 May 2001 and received C.C.S. validation on 3 September 2001 before a medical panel approved it on 11 April 2002; the theologians followed suit on 6 September 2002 as did
10020-419: The C.C.S. on 15 October 2002. John Paul II confirmed this miracle on 20 December 2002 and scheduled the date for Comboni's canonization in a papal consistory held on 20 February 2003; the pope canonized Comboni in Saint Peter's Square on 5 October 2003. The miracle in question was the healing of the Muslim mother Lubana Abdel Aziz (b. 1965) who – on 11 November 1997 – was admitted into a Khartoum hospital for
10187-405: 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
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#173308560071510354-422: 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
10521-435: The Church for a decade after the Franco-Prussian War . Pius IX celebrated several jubilees including the 300th anniversary of the Council of Trent . Pius celebrated the 1,800th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul on 29 June 1867 with 512 bishops, 20,000 priests and 140,000 lay persons in Rome. A large gathering was organized in 1871 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his papacy. Though
10688-417: The Divinity of Christ"), Alphonsus Liguori (23 March 1871, naming him " Doctor zelantissimus " or "Most Zealous Doctor"), and Francis de Sales (19 July 1877, naming him " Doctor caritatis " or "Doctor of Charity"). Pius IX was not only pope but, until 1870, also the last sovereign ruler of the Papal States . As a secular ruler he was occasionally referred to as "king", though it is unclear whether
10855-457: 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
11022-401: 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,
11189-458: The French army and his return in 1850, his policies and doctrinal pronouncements became increasingly conservative. He was responsible for the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara , a six-year-old taken by force from his Jewish family who went on to become a Catholic priest in his own right and unsuccessfully attempted to convert his Jewish parents. In his 1849 encyclical Ubi primum , he emphasized Mary's role in salvation. In 1854, he promulgated
11356-447: 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
11523-434: The Italian government in 1870 outlawed many popular pilgrimages, the faithful of Bologna organized a nationwide "spiritual pilgrimage" to the pope and the tombs of the apostles in 1873. In 1875, Pius declared a Holy Year that was celebrated throughout the Catholic world. On the 50th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, people from all parts of the world came to see the old pontiff from 30 April 1877 to 15 June 1877. He
11690-458: The Lord bless you" . He departed on 8 September 1857 with Giovanni Beltrame, Alessandro dal Bosco, Francesco Oliboni, Angelo Melotto and Isidoro Zilli who hailed from Udine . Four months later, on 8 January 1858 he reached Khartoum in Sudan . His assignment was the liberation of enslaved boys and girls. There were difficulties including an unbearable climate and sickness as well as the deaths of several of his fellow missionaries; this, added with
11857-406: The Papal States and throughout Italy, organized criminal gangs threatened commerce and travelers, engaging in robbery and murder at will. The Papal army in 1859 had 15,000 soldiers. A separate military body, the elite Swiss Guard , served as the Pope's personal bodyguard. The two papal universities in Rome and Bologna suffered much from revolutionary activities in 1848 but their standards in
12024-498: The Papal States to northern Italy. It soon became apparent that the Northern Italians were more adept at economically exploiting the modern means of communication than the inhabitants in central and Southern Italy. The justice system of the Papal States was subject to much criticism, not unlike the justice systems in the rest of Italy. Legal books were scarce, standards inconsistent, and judges were often accused of favoritism. In
12191-446: The Papal States. He also showed himself hostile to Austrian influences, delighting Italian patriots, who hailed him as the coming redeemer of Italy. "They want to make a Napoleon of me who am only a poor country parson", he once declared. In Pius' early years as pope, the government of the Papal States improved agricultural technology and productivity via farmer education in newly created scientific agricultural institutes. It abolished
12358-949: The Philippines. The female order received the decree of praise on 22 February 1897 and papal approval on 10 June 1912 while in 2008 there were 1529 religious in 192 houses. That order operates in Europe in countries such as the United Kingdom, in Africa in nations such as Cameroon and Mozambique , in the Americas in countries such as Costa Rica and Ecuador and in Asia in countries such as Israel and Jordan . The canonization cause started with an informative process in Verona that Bishop Girolamo Cardinale oversaw from 14 February 1928 until 21 November 1929 while Bishop Paolo Tranquillo Silvestri oversaw another informative process in Khartoum from 6 February 1929 until 7 June 1929. The postulation later compiled
12525-655: The Pope reorganize the Catholic Church of the new republic – named him auditor to assist the apostolic nuncio , Monsignore Giovanni Muzi, in the first mission to post-revolutionary South America. The mission had the objective to map out the role of the Catholic Church in Chile and its relationship with the state, but when it finally arrived in Santiago in March 1824, O'Higgins had been overthrown and replaced by General Ramón Freire , who
12692-402: 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
12859-510: 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
13026-608: 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
13193-579: 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
13360-479: The adoption of the dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus on papal infallibility . Gregory and the Melkite bishops ultimately subscribed to it, but added the qualifying clause used at the Council of Florence : "except the rights and privileges of Eastern patriarchs." This earned Gregory the enmity of Pius IX; during his next visit to the pontiff , before leaving Rome, when Gregory was kneeling, Pius placed his knee on
13527-564: 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
13694-509: The areas of science, mathematics, philosophy and theology were considered adequate. Pius recognized that much had to be done and instituted a reform commission in 1851. During his tenure, Catholics and Protestants collaborated to found a school in Rome to study international law and train international mediators committed to conflict resolution. There was one newspaper, Giornale di Roma , and one periodical, La Civiltà Cattolica , run by Jesuits . Like most of his predecessors, Pius IX
13861-515: 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
14028-422: The battle for Italian independence. His later turn toward profound conservatism shocked and dismayed his original supporters, while surprising and delighting the conservative old guard. The conclave of 1846, following the death of Pope Gregory XVI (1831–1846), took place in an unsettled political climate within Italy. The conclave was steeped in a factional division between right and left. The conservatives on
14195-609: 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
14362-545: The cardinalate, but he died before the consistory took place. In 1866, Pius IX wanted to nominate a Barnabite to the College of Cardinals before he opened the First Vatican Council. While the pope originally decided on appointing Carlo Vercellone , a noted biblical scholar, Vercellone refused due to his precarious health, instead proposing that Pius IX instead nominate Luigi Bilio . In 1868, Pius IX nominated Andre Pila to
14529-533: The cardinalate, however, he died the day before he would have been elevated as the only person for elevation in that April consistory. Also in 1868, Pius IX offered the cardinalate to the Bishop of Concepción José Hipólito Salas whom he had met during the First Vatican Council, inviting him to join the Roman Curia. However, the bishop preferred to live in Chile and declined the offer, while Pius IX did not offer it again in
14696-421: The child legally a Christian convert, and Papal law forbade Christians from being raised by Jews, even their own parents. The incident provoked widespread outrage amongst liberals, both Catholic and non-Catholic, and contributed to the growing anti-papal sentiment in Europe. The boy was raised in the papal household , and was eventually ordained a priest at age 21. Pius IX was the last pope who also functioned as
14863-463: The church sought relief from a friendly government after the anti-clerical actions of Benito Juárez , who had suspended payment on foreign debt and seized ecclesial property. Pius blessed Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium before they set off for Mexico to begin their reign. But the friction between the Vatican and Mexico would continue with the new emperor when Maximilian insisted on freedom of religion, which Pius opposed. Relations with
15030-496: 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
15197-460: 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
15364-529: 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
15531-422: 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
15698-603: 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 the Nicene Creed . The Catholic Church teaches that it
15865-463: The city of Rome, though enjoying extraterritorial privileges accredited to the Holy See. Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( Italian : Pio IX , Pio Nono ; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti ; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest of any pope in history. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican Council in 1868 and for permanently losing control of
16032-842: 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
16199-460: The convert Henry Edward Manning ; and John McCloskey , the first American cardinal. According to Bishop Cipriano Calderón, the pope intended to make the Bishop of Michoacán , Juan Cayetano Gómez de Portugal y Solís , a cardinal in 1850 and even had Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli send a letter to him to express his intentions. He would have been the first Latin American cardinal had he not died before
16366-511: 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
16533-435: 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
16700-513: The dogma of the Immaculate Conception , articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin . His 1864 Syllabus of Errors was a strong condemnation of liberalism, modernism , moral relativism , secularization , separation of church and state , and other Enlightenment ideas. Pius reaffirmed Catholic teaching in favor of making the Catholic faith
16867-539: 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
17034-699: 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
17201-715: 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,
17368-535: The end of 1859 three of the five had died and two were in Cairo as Comboni himself grew ill. Comboni was in his new surroundings from 1858 until 15 January 1859 when he was forced to return to Verona due a bout of malaria . He taught at Mazza's institute from 1861 until 1864. He soon worked out fresh strategies for the missions while back in his native land in 1864. He visited Saint Peter's tomb in Rome on 15 September 1864 and it
17535-455: 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
17702-507: The future. In 1875, Pius IX intended to nominate the papal almoner Xavier de Mérode to the Sacred College, however, he died just eight months before the consistory was to be held. Pius IX also decided to nominate Augusto Negroni [ pl ] , a longtime Curial official, but he declined and instead joined the Society of Jesus in mid-1874. Pope Pius IX canonized 52 saints during his pontificate. He canonized notable saints such as
17869-515: 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
18036-517: 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
18203-583: The jurisdiction of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire . At the age of twelve, he was sent to school in Verona on 20 February 1843 at the Religious Institute of Verona, founded by Nicola Mazza. It was there that he completed his studies in medicine and languages (he learnt French, English and Arabic) and prepared to become a priest . On 6 January 1849 he vowed that he would join the African missions,
18370-541: 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
18537-577: 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
18704-537: 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
18871-400: The loss of the bishop as a "great loss". Bishop Antonio Maria Roveggio (1850–1902) served as the order's superior sometime after Comboni died. The male order received the papal decree of praise on 7 June 1895 and full papal approval from Pope Pius X on 19 February 1910. As of 2018, the men's order operates in about twenty-eight countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Brazil, Colombia, and
19038-541: The mercy of Pius VII, who elevated him and supported his continued theological studies. Mastai was ordained a priest on 10 April 1819. The Pope had originally insisted that another priest should assist Mastai during Holy Mass, but rescinded the stipulation after the seizures became less frequent. He initially worked as the rector of the Tata Giovanni Institute in Rome. Shortly before his death, Pius VII – following Chilean leader Bernardo O'Higgins ' wish to have
19205-577: 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
19372-706: The missions for it was designed to be an exclusive magazine for those in the missions. He established a male institute on 1 June 1867 and one for women in 1872 both in Verona: the Istituto delle Missioni per la Nigrizia (since 1894 the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus) and the Istituto delle Pie Madri (later the Comboni Missionary Sisters) on 1 January 1872. On 7 May 1867 he had an audience with Pope Pius IX and brought with him twelve African girls to meet
19539-531: The missions in Sudan from Naples for the eighth and final time to act against the slave trade and though ill, managed to arrive in Khartoum on 9 August in summer and made a trip to the Nubia mountains . On 10 October 1881 he died in Khartoum during the cholera epidemic at 10:00pm; he had suffered a high fever since 5 October. His final words were reported to be: "I am dying, but my work will not die". Pope Leo XIII mourned
19706-409: The missions in the African continent although this did not occur until 1857 when he travelled to Sudan . He continued to travel back and forth from his assignment to his native land in order to found his congregations and attend to other matters, and returned in 1870 for the First Vatican Council in Rome until its premature closing due to conflict. Comboni attempted to draw attention across Europe to
19873-462: The more prestigious Diocese of Imola , was made a cardinal in pectore in 1839, and in 1840 was publicly announced as cardinal-priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano . As in Spoleto, his episcopal priorities were the formation of priests through improved education and charities. He became known for visiting prisoners in jail and for programs for street children. Cardinal Mastai Ferretti
20040-709: 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
20207-491: The new free-thinking concerning human rights with the classical natural law tradition of the church's political and economic teaching on social justice . After the revolution, however, his political reforms and constitutional improvements were minimal, remaining largely within the framework of the 1850 laws mentioned above. Pius IX's liberal policies initially made him very popular throughout Italy. He appointed an able and enlightened minister, Pellegrino Rossi , to administer
20374-463: The new pope had little diplomatic experience and no curial experience at all. Pius IX was crowned on 21 June 1846. The election of the liberal Pius IX created much enthusiasm in Europe and elsewhere. "For the next twenty months after the election, Pius IX was the most popular man on the Italian peninsula, where the exclamation "Long life to Pius IX!" was often heard. English Protestants celebrated him as
20541-518: The next consistory. According to the Benedictine monk Guy-Marie Oury, a letter addressed by Prosper Guéranger to his Benedictine colleague Léandre Fonteinne on 6 March 1856 indicated that Guéranger had learned that Pius IX wanted to name him a cardinal in November 1855, but he refused the honor because he did not want to live in Rome. As a result, Pius IX made the Bishop of La Rochelle Clément Villecourt
20708-458: 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
20875-406: 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
21042-711: The patriarch's shoulder, just saying to him: Testa dura! ( You headstrong! ). In spite of this event, Gregory and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church remained committed to their union with the Holy See. The ecclesiastical policies of Pius IX were dominated by defence of the rights of the church and the free exercise of religion for Catholics in countries such as Russia and the Ottoman Empire . He also fought against what he perceived to be anti-Catholic philosophies in countries such as Italy , Germany , and France . The German Empire sought to restrict and weaken
21209-502: The plight of the people living in poverty-stricken areas in the African continent and from 1865 until mid-1865 travelled across Europe to places such as London and Paris to collect funds for a project he started to tend to the poor and ill. His mission to Africa was strengthened with his appointment as a bishop in 1877 for it allowed him greater freedom to establish branches of his order in Khartoum and Cairo amongst other locations. Comboni
21376-407: The poor and derelict conditions that the population faced made the situation all the more difficult. He had written to his parents of the conditions and the difficulties that the group faced but remained resolved. He witnessed the death of one of his companions and instead of deterring him he remained determined to continue and wrote: "O Nigrizia o morte!" (translation: "Either Africa or death" ). By
21543-660: 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
21710-546: The pope while in late 1867 opened two branches of the order in Cairo. Comboni was the first to bring women into this form of work in Africa and he founded new missions in El Obeid and Delen amongst other Sudanese cities. Comboni was well-versed in the Arabic language and also spoke in several African dialects ( Dinka , Bari and Nubia ) as well as six European languages. On 2 April 1868 he
21877-412: 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
22044-683: 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
22211-457: 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
22378-568: The republic later that year, Pius appointed a conservative government of three cardinals known as the Red Triumvirate to administer the Papal States until his return to Rome in April 1850. He visited the hospitals to comfort the wounded and sick, but he seemed to have lost both his liberal tastes and his confidence in the Romans, who had turned against him in 1848. Pius decided to move his residence from
22545-399: The requirements for Jews to attend Christian services and sermons and opened the papal charities to the needy amongst them. The new pope freed all political prisoners by giving amnesty to revolutionaries, which horrified the conservative monarchies in the Austrian Empire and elsewhere. "He was celebrated in New York City , London and Berlin as a model ruler." In 1848, Pius IX released
22712-515: The revolutionary Roman Republic and returned him from exile, the Pope reversed the Republic's religious freedom laws and issued a series of anti-liberal measures, including re-instituting the Jewish ghetto. In a highly publicized case from 1858, the police of the Papal States seized a 6-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortara , from his parents. A Christian servant girl unrelated to the family claimed she had informally baptized him during an illness six years prior, fearing he would die. This had made
22879-461: The right favoured the hardline stances and papal absolutism of the previous pontificate, while liberals supported moderate reforms. The conservatives supported Luigi Lambruschini , the late pope's Cardinal Secretary of State . Liberals supported two candidates: Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi and the then 54-year-old Mastai Ferretti. During the first ballot, Mastai Ferretti received 15 votes, the rest going to Lambruschini and Gizzi. Lambruschini received
23046-481: 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
23213-412: The secular parliament. Pius IX refused to recognize the new Italian kingdom, which he denounced as an illegitimate creation of revolution. He excommunicated the nation's leaders, including King Victor Emmanuel II, whom he denounced as "forgetful of every religious principle, despising every right, trampling upon every law," whose reign over Italy was therefore "a sacrilegious usurpation." In response to
23380-400: The signature of 70 bishops. The First Vatican Council was terminated due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War and the dissolution of the Papal States before the document could be discussed. In mid-1877 he was named as the Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa and received his episcopal consecration on 12 August 1877 from Cardinal Alessandro Franchi . His episcopal appointment was seen as
23547-421: The state religion where possible. His appeal for financial support revived global donations known as Peter's Pence . He strengthened the central power of the Holy See and Roman Curia over the worldwide Catholic Church, while also formalizing the pope's ultimate doctrinal authority (the dogma of papal infallibility defined in 1870). Pope John Paul II beatified him in 2000. Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti
23714-521: 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
23881-471: The two informative processes on 5 November 1993 prior to the C.C.S. cardinal and bishop members approving the cause on 14 December 1993. On 26 March 1994 the confirmation of his life of heroic virtue enabled Pope John Paul II to title him as Venerable . The miracle required for Comboni to be beatified was investigated on a diocesan level in São Mateus from 10 December 1990 until 29 June 1992 before it received C.C.S. validation on 30 April 1993. The miracle
24048-415: The upheavals faced by the Papal States during the 1848 revolutions, the Mexican government offered Pope Pius IX asylum, which the pope responded to by considering the creation of a Mexican cardinal and granting an award to President José Joaquín de Herrera . With French Emperor Napoleon III 's military intervention in Mexico and establishment of the Second Mexican Empire under Maximilian I in 1864,
24215-427: 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
24382-423: 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
24549-428: 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 the world through missions , immigration , diaspora , and conversions . Since
24716-443: The young Count Mastai was engaged to the daughter of the (Protestant) Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore , William Foster . Certainly, if there was ever any such engagement, it did not proceed. In 1814, as a theology student in his hometown of Sinigaglia, he met Pope Pius VII , who had returned from French captivity. In 1815, he entered the Papal Noble Guard but was soon dismissed after an epileptic seizure. He threw himself on
24883-456: Was 25 December 1970 healing of the Afro-Brazilian child Maria Giuseppa Oliveira Paixão who underwent a stomach surgical procedure for an infection that grew worse over time. But their attention turned to Comboni's intercession and she was healed the next morning in a case that surprised the doctor. The seven medical experts approved that science could not explain this cure on 9 June 1994 while six theologians agreed likewise on 22 November 1994 as did
25050-422: Was a bit shy, but he valued initiative within the church and created several new titles, rewards, and orders to elevate those who in his view deserved merit. Pius IX created 122 new cardinals, of whom 64 were alive at his death; at the time membership in the College of Cardinals was limited to 70. Noteworthy elevations included Vincenzo Pecci (his eventual successor Leo XIII ); Nicholas Wiseman of Westminster;
25217-427: 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
25384-455: Was a patron of the arts. He supported architecture, painting, sculpture, music, goldsmiths , coppersmiths , and more, and handed out numerous rewards to artists. Much of his efforts went to renovate and improve churches in Rome and the Papal States. He ordered the strengthening of the Colosseum , which was feared to be on the verge of collapse. Huge sums were spent in the excavation of the Christian Catacombs of Rome , for which Pius created
25551-413: 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
25718-402: Was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica on 17 March 1996 and his canonization came on 5 October 2003. Daniele Comboni was born on 15 March 1831 at Limone sul Garda in Brescia to the poor gardeners (working for a local proprietor) Luigi Comboni and Domenica Pace as the fourth of eight children; he was the sole child to survive into adulthood. At that time Limone was under
25885-433: Was born on 13 May 1792 in Senigallia . He was the ninth child born into the noble family of Girolamo dei Conti Ferretti (1750–1833) and Caterina Antonia Maddalena Solazzei di Fano (1764–1842). He was baptized on the day of his birth with the names Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro. He was educated at the Piarist College in Volterra and in Rome. An unreliable account published many years later suggests that
26052-529: 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
26219-440: Was considered a liberal during his episcopate in Spoleto and Imola because he supported administrative changes in the Papal States and sympathized with the nationalist movement in Italy. Cardinal Mastai Ferretti entered the papacy in 1846, amidst widespread expectations that he would be a champion of reform and modernization in the Papal States, which he ruled directly, and in the entire Catholic Church. Admirers wanted him to lead
26386-421: Was considered a milestone not only in his pontificate but also in ecclesiastical history through its defining of the dogma of papal infallibility . After the First Vatican Council concluded, an emissary of the Roman Curia was dispatched to secure the signatures of Patriarch Gregory II Youssef and the rest of the Melkite delegation who had voted non placet at the general congregation and left Rome prior to
26553-409: Was decorated with the Order of the Knight of Italy but he refused this in fidelity to Pius IX . On 7 July 1868 he left for France where he visited the shrine of La Salette on 26 July before heading to Germany and Austria. On 20 February 1869 he left Marseilles for Cairo where he opened a third house on 15 March. Among Comboni's early companions during his early years in Africa was Catarina Zenab ,
26720-433: Was discharged from the hospital, completely recovered, on 18 November. 45°26′46″N 11°0′21″E / 45.44611°N 11.00583°E / 45.44611; 11.00583 Catholic Church God Schools Relations with: The Catholic Church , also known as the Roman Catholic Church , is the largest Christian church , with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It
26887-406: 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
27054-446: Was given, just the signal of white smoke. On the following morning, the Cardinal protodeacon , Tommaso Riario Sforza , announced the election of Mastai Ferretti before a crowd of faithful Catholics. When Mastai Ferretti appeared on the balcony, the mood became joyous. Mastai Ferretti chose the name of Pius IX in honour of Pope Pius VII (1800–1823), who had encouraged his vocation to the priesthood despite his childhood epilepsy. However,
27221-410: 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
27388-478: Was less well-disposed toward the Church and had already taken hostile measures such as the seizure of Church property. Having ended in failure, the mission returned to Europe. Nevertheless, Mastai had been the first future pope ever to have been in the Americas. Upon his return to Rome, the successor of Pius VII, Pope Leo XII , appointed him head of the hospital of San Michele a Ripa in Rome (1825–1827) and canon of Santa Maria in Via Lata . Pope Leo XII appointed
27555-439: Was the end of the Papal States , which lay in the middle of the "Italian boot" around the central area of Rome . In contrast, he led the worldwide Church toward an ever-increasing centralization and consolidation of power in Rome and the papacy. More than his predecessors, Pius used the papal pulpit to address the bishops of the world. The First Vatican Council (1869–1870), which he convened to consolidate papal authority further,
27722-416: 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
27889-476: Was while reflecting before the tomb that he came upon the idea of a "Plan for the Rebirth of Africa" which was a project with the slogan "Save Africa through Africa" . Four days later, on 19 September, he met with Pope Pius IX to discuss his project. Comboni wanted the European continent and the Universal Church to be more concerned with the African continent. He carried out appeals throughout Europe from December 1864 to June 1865 for spiritual and material aid for
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