The Power Of The Roman Catholic Church

1291 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of papacy

The Roman Catholic Church claims that it was founded by Christ and is endowed with authority which is not less than divine. Unlike the church in the New Testament which is conceived primarily as the people of God, this authoritarian church has an ecclesiastical government run by the clerical hierarchy. The pope who is at the top of this hierarchy is held to have been divinely appointed, and he delegates authority to lower ranks of the clergy. So every parish priest shares in the authority of the Church, limited in its exercise by higher ranks of the hierarchy. It is claimed that “the Roman Pontiff has full and supreme jurisdiction over the universal Church,” and submission to the Church headed by the pope is demanded of every Catholic. Catholics …show more content…

It is further claimed that the bishop of Rome, namely the pope, is the successor of Peter; therefore whatever powers were given to Peter have been passed on to the pope. The pope is in principle able to choose his successor if he wills, but under the current system, a new pope is elected by the College of Cardinals. The dogma of papal infallibility is also based on inference from the same words of Jesus in Matthew 16:18-19. This text has been invoked to claim the supremacy of the bishop of Rome (the pope) over all other bishops and over the Christian churches throughout the …show more content…

They hold that the Roman interpretation is unjustified and the papal claim is unfounded. They also point out that the papal claim to primacy is the major reason that the Church of Jesus Christ remains divided despite the earnest plea of the Lord Jesus for unity (John 17:11, 21-22; 10:16). To this, Catholic theologians loyal to the pope invoke another dogma of the Roman Church, namely, the dogma of the Church’s teaching authority (the so-called magisterium), and argue roughly as follows: The Catholic Church is the depository of the supernatural salvific truth of God. The Catholic Church alone, specifically the pope alone, has received the authority of infallibly interpreting and teaching the Bible. Therefore the non-Catholic Churches have no right to put forward an interpretation of the Bible which differs from what the Roman Church proclaims to be the true

Show More
Related

  • Impact Of Pope John Xxiii On Christianity

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Christianity As A Living Religious Tradition

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

    Read More

  • Cathlocism Versus Protestanism

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    One difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is the question of adequacy and authorization of the Scripture. Protestants, being more traditional, focus on the Bible. They believe that it is the source of God’s revelation to man (“What”), and that “the whole of Christian truth is found within the Bible’s pages” (“Tracts”). Bible teaches one about their wrongs, and what actions they need to undertake in order to be saved from their sins. They see it as guidelines for Christian behavior. These guidelines are otherwise known as “sola scriptura” (“What”). Sola scriptura derives from “sola” meaning “alone” and “scriptura” meaning “writings.” “Sola scriptura” says that only the Scripture is responsible for the faith of Christians and their practices. The Scripture is the foundation of their religion. It tells one that their salvation is not obtained from random readings, but from the document itself. However, the Catholics rebuff the teachings of the Scripture. Many of their documents such as praying to saints, worship of Mary, etc. are focused only on the Roman Catholic traditions. They do not believe that the Bible alone will satisfy them. Instead, they believe that the Roman Catholic tradition alongside with the Bible are both mandatory for oneself. Both determine the sufficiency of the Bible as well as its authority and completeness (“What”).

    Read More

  • Geocentricism In The Catholic Church

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the years from the medieval ages up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has always had a major influential presence in all walks of life for European people, whether it was for taxation, the establishing of laws, the rise and fall of monarchs, and even daily social life. Furthermore, the Catholic Church held such power that they could even appoint and dispose of great kings with just the writing of the pen. However, their power started to wane once human curiosity overcome ignorance and blind obedience. For example, the Enlightenment Age brought a series of shocking blows to the Church’s power such as disproving the Church’s theory of geocentricism and presented an age of questioning and secularism. In essence, by looking at the Church’s

    Read More

  • How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

    1811 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.-

    Read More

  • Concerns in the Catholic Church

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    When a person or a family chooses to participate in a religion, it is usually a big decision which entails much thought and consideration. Catholics believe that Jesus died for their sins, so that they could live. Practicing Catholics, one must follow the ways of the 10 commandments described in the bible. They attend mass and hear the readings from the priests, by which they have much respect for. Priests or Deacons are supposedly the messengers of God, and in turn they instruct their people how to act through the words of Jesus. How do you think a person would react when they hear the news that one of their priests did sexual acts to little boys? The allegations of priests molesting little boys has been rampant for many years, but nothing could hit harder when the priest actually came from their own church, especially if a family had young children who participated in the masses. The urgency to leave the parish might arise, just as Suzanne Keen did with her parish, especially having children who she wanted to protect. When the escalation of the rumors surfaced, she first ignored it as many people did. How could be chu...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Martin Luther's 95 Theses

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Influence of the Pope

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante lived in a time of intense political strife and competition over land, resources, and people. Many factions competed for power in the region, including the Holy Roman Emperors, an organization of “german aristocrats who claimed an ancient right to rule Christendom” (Moss, Wilson p. 174), the Papal authorities in Rome, lead by the controversial and power hungry Pope Boniface VIII, and smaller groups in city-states such as Florence, Tuscany and Rome. These groups were often made up of noblemen and other aristocracy in the cities that desired to consolidate local power under a “small, select group” (Moss, Wilson p. 174) that would allow them to exercise their will on the cities’ populace. Another class that emerged in the period was the merchant class, impelled by the increasing move towards urban centers and the lessening control of local feudal lords and vassals, in favor of more overarching rule by kings over a wider area. This rise in consumerism and capitalism lead to a desire for power by the merchant class to “establish a system of rule that would protect their newly acquired wealth.” (Moss, Wilson p. 174)

    Read More

  • Corruption of the Catholic Church

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Influence of the Roman Catholic Church

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups. First there were the ordinary believers, the citizens of the kingdom who followed the Christian faith. Then there was the clergy, the members who devoted their lives to the church. Each group of the clergy was assigned specific functions by the clergy nobles to help run the Church competently. Amongst all the clergy associates, the Pope was at the top, he had the equivalent if not more power than the ruling monarch and was in charge of all political affairs and administered the clergy. He was able to dictate political laws and even comment on the Monarch’s decisions. Under the Pope, there were the bishops. The bishops directed church courts and managed cases correlated to the public such as marriage, wills and other public predicaments. Priests held religious services that consisted of sacraments, baptisms and the usual Sabbath services. The monks and nuns received manual labour that required helping clean the monasteries and assist the needy. Educated monks copied manuscripts of medieval and ancient knowledge in the Scriptorium. Finally...

    Read More

  • History and the Roman Catholic Church

    2797 Words  | 6 Pages

    Christianity most specifically, the Holy Roman Catholic Church has been involved in the world throughout time. Since Christianity, when if first became a major religion in society the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church has affected many areas of history. The Roman Catholic Church has affected the world historically, as demonstrated by it's impact upon the historical figures like Hypatia, Joan of Arc, and Jan Hus, historical events such as the Salem Witch Trials, and many other eras and events. The Roman Catholic Church slowed down scientific advancement during the Middle Ages when they had the greatest control over society, due to their personal beliefs. Finally, the Roman Catholic Church for a time changed the world ethically for women and homosexuals, although this is not inclusive. Without the extreme control the Roman Catholic Church had, the world would be a completely different place to live in. To prove this, topics such as the effect the Roman Catholic Church has had throughout history, how science has been affected by the Roman Catholic Church, and how the Roman Catholic Church has affected society ethically to a small and temporary degree.

    Read More

  • The role of the Catholic Church in Latin America

    428 Words  | 1 Pages

    The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)

    Read More

  • Catholic Culture Essay

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, Catholics believe in “The Holy Trinity”. The Holy Trinity is a combination of three things. First there is God, the father then Jesus, the son and lastly the Holy Spirit. To the Catholics, God is the being that made us. Jesus is God’s son, who suffered and was buried for the fulfillment of the scriptures. Lastly, The Holy Spirit is the spirit sent down by God to live inside of us. Any one of Catholic faith also goes to a church or a parish. Any follower who goes to a parish or church is called a parishioner. There are many rules to follow when it comes to being Roman Catholic as well. Anyone who is Roman Catholic must abide by the Ten Commandments, which is a list sent down by God for his followers. The list contains commandments that state how wrong things like stealing, gluttony and many more dishonest acts are. There are many other instructions

    Read More

  • conscience

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Magisterium. The Catholic faith tells one that if one follows the Church’s teachings on moral issues, one will become a more loving and Christ- like person. A Catholic has a responsibility to pay attention to what the church teaches and take into consideration how this will affect our relationships with God. When one solves a problem through magisterium, one must solve this problem with humility. This means that one can admit that they need help, and turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to help solve the problem. When one does this, it is difficult to admit to God and the Church that one needs help.

    Read More

  • THE RISE OF THE PAPACY

    1635 Words  | 4 Pages

    Perhaps no other event was as influential to the rise of papacy in Rome as the decline of the Roman empire. With the decline of the empire, the church became the last refuge of stability. Without the protection of the empire, Rome was subject to poverty, disrepair, and attack from enemies.1 The rise of the papacy was a response to this situation. It was further cemented by the leadership of such men as Leo I and Gregory I, the latter sometimes referred to as the father of the medieval papacy.2 Finally, the granting of lands and authority to the bishop of Rome greatly increased the power of the Roman church.3

    Read More

More about The Power Of The Roman Catholic Church

Open Document