Evolution of The Catholic Church
Over the last thirty years, the Roman Catholic Church has undergone changes. These changes range from the position of the Alter to the language of the Mass. This paper will illustrate a broad overview of changes in the Catholic Church after the 1960s
Before the 1960s, Mass was said in Latin. The priests and the parish both knew the prayers, songs, and Scriptures in Latin. Around 1965, the Catholic Church realized that the people did not understand all of what they were saying. They began to do the Mass in English. This increased active participation. Today, if a person would want hear a Mass in Latin, they would have to do some traveling. For instance, Our Lady of Mount Carmel offers Latin Masses. A parishioner may go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:15P.M. or on Thursdays at 10:10 A.M. There is also a Saturday Mass at eight O’clock A.M. The Sunday schedule is thus, eight o’clock and 10:30 A.M. For more information, check out their web site. Http://www.archden.org/archden/parishes/pp150.htm
Catholic schools have undergone significant changes also. It use to be that it cost nothing to go to Catholic schools. Now there is a splendid idea of tuition. Tuition makes it difficult for some families who would want to send their children to Catholic schools. Many kids end up in public facilities, for that very reason. Another difference is that the schools use to be run almost completely by nun, brothers, and priests. The institutions enforced a very strict dress code. Students were to wear their uniform to class. There is still a dress code, some schools offer a dress-down Friday. On this day, the kids may wear whatever they would like, within reason. Kindergarten is a new luxury. Many older people never went to Kindergarten, it was not offered. Years later, you could send your children to a public school for it. Now it is part of the curriculum. It is a very exciting attribute. Catholic schools have also experienced a significant increase if enrollment. Sister Catherine T. McNamee states that "this years total Catholic School enrollment of 2.
Elected in 1958 as a ‘caretaker Pope’, Pope John XXIII implemented the greatest reforms in the Church’s history. His involvement within the Church had played a significant contribution to the reforming of social, political and liturgical Christian traditions. During the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church still held the century old conservative beliefs and traditions as they continued to separate the Church from the secular world, therefore, disadvantaging the Church to a world that was modernising. In addition to this, the Church restricted modernist thoughts due to the belief that new theologies would threaten the power and authority of the Church, but ...
Also, pre-1962, a Catholic Mass was very different. In a catholic mass prior to 1962, a priest would speak to the congregation in Ecclesiastical Latin and it was not practiced in the local languages. The people were not encouraged to participate. Practices such as Benediction, Novenas, and Rosary were practiced by the family as a whole. Benediction was on Friday nights where the whole family would attend. The novenas would be attended by children prior to important schooling events (held by the school itself) and the rosary was a family ac...
US Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Complete Edition ed. N.p.: US. Catholic Church, n.d. Print.
It is acknowledged that at this time the Church community has not yet reached its highest potential and is faced with the limitations of human shortcomings and temporal constrictions. With an understanding of its abilities and its boundaries, the Church seeks to work with the world community to come closer to the life to which God calls the world." As this quote from one of the Documents in Vatican II states, the Church needs to have a relationship with the "outside world" as the Church itself is comprised of humans. And that the Church has a good relationship with the outside world is necessary for the Church to reach its highest potential. These are some of the changes that took place in Vatican II and naming all of them would not be necessary. The modern Church is the way it is because of most of what happened in Vatican II.
The practices of the church or the practice of “doing” church have changed many times over the two-thousand years of the history of the Christian Church. It is well known that the first century Christian church met in homes and worshiped together as small family centric groups with several families participating. This model of church held true with some added administrative structures for over three hundred years. This model of Christian practices saw ...
New York, NY: Pantheon Books Zimmerman, B. (1912) The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. St. Teresa of Avila. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company.
Roles of the Catholic Church in Western civilization has been scrambled with the times past and development of Western society. Regardless of the fact that the West is no longer entirely Catholic, the Catholic tradition is still strong in Western countries. The church has been a very important foundation of public facilities like schooling, Western art, culture and philosophy; and influential player in religion. In many ways it has wanted to have an impact on Western approaches to pros and cons in numerous areas. It has over many periods of time, spread the teachings of Jesus within the Western World and remains a foundation of continuousness connecting recent Western culture to old Western culture.-
Proving to be the paramount of the conflict between faith and reason, the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century challenged each of the traditional values of that age. Europeans were changing, but Europe’s institutions were not keeping pace with that change.1 Throughout that time period, the most influential and conservative institution of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church, was forced into direct confrontation with these changing ideals. The Church continued to insist that it was the only source of truth and that all who lived beyond its bounds were damned; it was painfully apparent to any reasonably educated person, however, that the majority of the world’s population were not Christians.2 In the wake of witch hunts, imperial conquest, and an intellectual revolution, the Roman Catholic Church found itself threatened by change on all fronts.3 The significant role that the Church played during the Enlightenment was ultimately challenged by the populace’s refusal to abide by religious intolerance, the power of the aristocracy and Absolutism, and the rising popularity of champions of reform and print culture, the philosophes, who shared a general opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century church theologian, Martin Luther, wrote the 95 Theses questioning the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. In this essay I will discuss: the practices of the Roman Catholic Church Martin Luther wanted to reform, what Martin’s specific criticism of the pope was, and the current practices Pope Francis I is interested in refining in the Roman Catholic Church today.
Similarly, in the 16thcentury the ‘Reformation in Europe’ led to more divisions. Hence, today there are five main Christian Variants, which include Anglican, closely linked to the Church of England, emphasises on scripture, reason and tradition in relation to beliefs and practices. The Catholic Church which follows several important Doctrines, including the Doctrine of Apostolic Succession, Doctrine of Immaculate Conception, and t...
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XI Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company by K. Knight Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Why is the Catholic Church so corrupt in its teaching? They have found ways to control the knowledge that their followers contemplate on. The control of knowledge and power is the foundation for every successful religious organization. The Catholic Church have acquired this power through strategic control on the mind of its follower. The Catholic Church propagate their ideals as righteous in order to be accepted; for without this acceptance, they are faced with the task of initiating this power through force. So to beguile their followers, they present themselves in “sheep clothing” (KJV, Matt 7:15). They are accepted as blameless, peaceful, loving and harmless but in actuality, “they are ravening wolves” (KJV, Matt. 7:15).
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power.
Many of the Catholic Churches Popes have had very different views of how evolution should be treated. Some such as Pope Pius XII believes that , in the eyes of the church, evolution should be disregarded and the creation story in the Bible is the truth. Other Popes such as Pope John Paul II believe that ideas of evolution should be accepted into maybe even changing some of the churches teachings. He believes that evolution is a real thing and cannot be denied. Personally, I believe in evolution. In my opinion, if Catholics believe in evolution, they are not committing a sin against God. I fully believe that God does exist, but I know that humans didn't just appear out of nowhere and were not made in a day. Humans came to exist by things such as natural selection and
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).