Roman Catholicism - Reformation, Beliefs, Practices

Roman Catholicism

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
History of Roman Catholicism
- The emergence of Catholic Christianity
- The emergence of Roman Catholicism
  - Internal factors
  - External factors
  - The early medieval papacy
- The church of the early Middle Ages
  - The concept of Christendom
  - A period of decadence
  - Popular Christianity c. 1000
- The church of the High Middle Ages
  - Gregorian Reform
  - The reign of Gregory VII
  - The Investiture Controversy: Gregory VII to Calixtus II
  - The Crusades
  - The papacy at its height: the 12th and 13th centuries
  - The renaissance of the 12th century
  - The apostolic life
  - Religious orders: canons and monks
  - The mendicant orders
  - The rise of heresy
  - Religious life in the 13th century
  - The golden age of Scholasticism
  - The persecuting society
- From the late Middle Ages to the Reformation
  - The “Babylonian Captivity”
  - Late medieval reform: the Great Schism and conciliarism
  - Jan Hus
  - Efforts to heal the East-West Schism
  - Roman Catholicism on the eve of the Reformation
    - The decline of Scholastic theology
    - Expressions of spirituality and folk piety
    - Roman Catholicism and Renaissance humanism
    - Roman Catholicism and the emergence of national consciousness
The age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation
- Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation
- The Roman Catholic Reformation
  - The Council of Trent
  - New religious orders
- The Counter-Reformation
- Post-Reformation conditions
- Developments in France
  - The Gallican problem
  - Jansenism
  - Quietism
- Controversies involving the Jesuits
  - The Chinese rites controversy
  - Suppression of the Jesuits
- Religious life in the 17th and 18th centuries
- The church in the modern period
  - Catholicism in Revolutionary France
  - Napoleon I and the restoration
  - Pius IX
  - Leo XIII
  - The period of the World Wars
  - The Second Vatican Council
  - Aftermath of the council
- Roman Catholicism outside Europe
  - The New World: Spanish and Portuguese empires
    - Colonial period
    - After independence
    - Spanish and French missions in North America
  - Roman Catholicism in the United States and Canada
    - United States
    - Canada
  - Roman Catholicism in Africa and Asia
    - Missions in Africa
    - Missions in Asia
Structure of the church
- Doctrinal basis
  - The nature of the church
  - Apostolic succession
- The papacy
  - The papal office
  - Ancient and medieval views of papal authority
  - Early-modern and modern views of papal authority
  - Historical conceptions of the relationship of the papacy to the world
  - Contemporary teaching on papal authority
- The offices of the clergy
  - The Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals
  - The college of bishops
  - Ecumenical councils
  - The priesthood
- Religious communities
  - Hermits and monks
  - Mendicant friars and clerks regular
  - Nuns and brothers
- The laity
- Canon law
Beliefs and practices
- Faith
  - Concepts of faith
  - Preambles and motivation of faith
  - Heresy
- Revelation
  - The concept of revelation
  - The content of revelation
- Tradition and Scripture
- The magisterium
  - The concept of teaching authority
  - Organs of teaching authority
  - Object and response
- Major dogmas and doctrines
- Sacraments
  - General characteristics
  - Baptism
  - Confirmation
  - The Eucharist
  - Reconciliation
  - Anointing of the sick
  - Marriage
  - Holy orders
- Liturgy
  - The mass
  - The divine office
  - The liturgical year
- Paraliturgical devotions
  - Eucharistic devotions
  - Cult of the saints
  - Mysticism
- The order of the mass
  - The introductory rites
  - The liturgy of the Word
  - The liturgy of the Eucharist
  - The communion rite
  - The concluding rite
- The role of the church in society
  - Missions
  - Education
  - Charitable activities
  - Church and state relations
  - Economic views and practice
  - The family
The church since Vatican II

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Andrea da Firenze: The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas

For Students

Roman Catholicism summary

Read Next

The three children, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia, who saw the vision of Fatima in Portugal. Our lady of Fatima, saint, Christianity.

Our Lady of Fátima

Agnes with a lamb near her feet. St. Agnes (Saint Agnes) design drawing for stained glass window by J&R Lamb Studios, ink, mount size 10.5 x 14.5 in.

Roman Catholic Saints

Stained glass window showing ten Christian saints. St Peters Church, Cound, Shropshire, England.

Too Good to Rot? Saints with Incorrupt Bodies

The Cathedral of Saint Paul in Minnesota. The Italian Renaissance church, built in 1915, is styled after St. Peter's in Rome.

To All Nations: 8 Fascinating Jesuit Missionaries

Marriage. A couple getting married during a church wedding ceremony. (religion, ceremony, bride, groom)

The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church

Discover

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

After a perfect launch, spectators try to catch a last glimpse of Space Shuttle Columbia, barely visible at the top end of the twisted column of smoke.

7 Accidents and Disasters in Spaceflight History

Person paying with a credit card using a credit card terminal. Cashless payment, credit card reader

What Is a Cashless Society and How Does It Work?

VAN, TURKEY - OCTOBER 25: A building and car ruined during the earthquake of Van-Ercis on October 25, 2011 in Van, Turkey. It is 604 killed and 4152 injured in Van-Ercis Earthquake.

What Is an Aftershock?

The transition from the Middle Ages to the Reformation was gradual. One development that was both a cause and an effect of that transition was the decline of Scholastic theology. As practiced by its leading expositors, Aquinas and Bonaventure (who differed greatly on many issues), Scholasticism was the systematization of the Roman Catholic understanding of the relation between the claims of human reason and the authority of divine revelation. To that end it had made use of philosophy, and particularly the newly available works of Aristotle, to describe the powers and limits of human ways to truth in order to ...(100 of 56687 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.