The rise of the Catholic Church in Middle Ages and what is it in present day.
The Catholic Church’s rise started in the first century in
the course of Roman Empire, by Jesus Christ’s teaching, who was living in the
region of Judea. According to Boundless World History (n. d.) said, “The
Catholic Church is a continuation of the early Christianity community founded
by Jesus” (para. 2). The Church has the power to impose taxes, and its laws
must be obeyed. Folks who have contradictory thoughts were given different
implementations of punishment and considered as heretics. The Church was
feared, obeyed, and the Church was spreading into every region of the society
in the Middle Ages. Under severe pursuit of the Roman Empire, the early
Christian Church developed rapidly in the first century after Christ. However,
in 300 AD Roman Empire was falling into decline. After the decline of the Roman
Empire, the Catholic Church became powerful, even though there were other
religions also like Islamic and Judaism. Thus the Catholic Church held
political power and economic power during the Middle Ages, and still a powerful
institution in modern day.
Afterward the decline of the Roman Empire, the Catholic
Church came to power throughout the Middle Ages, as the only institution that
remained. Minton (n. d.) found that, “during the Middle Ages, the Catholic
Church had ruled as one of the most powerful institutions and constant force in
the lives of Europeans in the Middle Ages and they shared beliefs that united
people with divisive feudalism” (para. 3). In addition, Newman (2012) said, all
aspects of societal life were absorbed by the Church, as the church was a
universal and comprehensive institution. The Church influence that made most
people dedicate their lives and served the Church was the Bible, which came to
be known as the major cause of educational activity. Mass, sacraments, and holy
fellowship were used as propagated and most usually terms by the Church. And
those common terms are still related in the modern day as well.
Instead of dominating society life, the Church also held
political power throughout the medieval period. Alongside with the guidance of
the spiritual, it has proved a strong judicial system as well, which came to be
known as “Canon Law”. This law particularly deals with the marriage and
religious practices issue, which was established by the formal courts to
acquiesce with those who infringed the law, but excommunication and prohibition
were the harshest punishment. In order to maintain political control against
European political leaders, the Pope generally used the menace of
excommunication. The kings were the political leader in that moment, and they
believed that their authority was commanded by God. Consequently, the menace of
excommunication by the pope implied that their power could be cancelled. The
menace of prohibition was stronger too, because there was no performance of
sacrament or religious services below the prohibition. Therefore, the king’s
people could be suffered as the king believed that no sacrament sans salvation,
if the king has excommunicated but did not obey the pope. Due to this,
the administration of the Catholic Church is much stronger and farther than the
government of many kings.
In the course of Middle Ages the Catholic Church also
required an economic power, as the Church paid no taxes, accumulated all the
riches, and also exceeded several king’s riches, which gave them economic power
(Hit, 2018). The Church had a huge budget and had its own set of rules as well,
and the leader of the Church came from noble, wealthy and preferential
families. The Church largely as an economic and political company that
took decisions for the product and established an organizational structure in
order to provide the product with the various quality guarantees to the
customers. In the medieval era the Church came to be an economic and political
key.
To spread the Catholic teaching all over the world, lots of
Catholics decided to dedicate their lives as a missionary in order to help it
grow. The Catholic Church still has power and its influence can be found in all
continents. For instance, since the independence of Democratic Republic of
Congo has been filled with much civil unrest, Catholic Church through
missionaries has played a vital role in the country’s politics and social
structure, and has established many schools and hospitals. Sometimes people
turn to missionaries when they feel they can no longer trust the government.
Missionaries often become an important mediator between the government and
opposition parties because it is the folks that the locals believe are fighting
for them. Due to the missionary’s presence in Democratic Republic of Congo,
more than 28 million people are Catholics (Anonymous, 2020). It seems that the
missionary activities give the Church a huge influence on the population,
through social actions that they did such as opened schools, clinics and
hospitals, which greatly helped the community, and help with other things that
needed by the community.
The Church exercises its authority by the magisterial like
the ordinary magisterial which deals with the more usual exercises of the
teaching of pope and bishops among groups or individuals. The extraordinary
magisterial differs to the Church’s teaching that often exercises by the Solemn
definition form through an ecumenical council or pope. And the ordinary
universal magisterial, differs to the common consideration of all the bishop’s
colleges that are held as definitive teaching (Gaillardetz, 2017). Through its
exercising of the authority, the Church preserves its teaching by the
chasteness and it’s enlarged throughout the world.
The rise of the Catholic Church started with the teaching
of Jesus Christ, who was living in the region of Judea in the first century
during the Roman Empire and it’s still going on until today. The Catholic
Church came to power, held the political and economic power throughout the
collapse of the Roman Empire, as the Church was the sole institution that
dominated society's life in the medieval era. The Church still power in
modern day even the power is not exactly the power that the Church held during
the Middle Ages, but still power to influence the society in order to
spread the Church’s teaching. The Catholic Church can be found in all
continents by the presence of the missionaries activities. And by the ordinary
magisterial, extraordinary magisterial, and the ordinary universal magisterial,
the Church is exercising its authority.
References
Anonymous
(2020, February 2). Negara-Negara dengan poppulasi katolik Roma terbesar.
Kepo
Kape. Retrieved from https://www.kafekepo.com/negara-negara-dengan-populasi-katolik-roma-terbesar/
Boundless
World History (n. d.). The Catholic Church. Lumen. Retrieved from
Gaillardetz,
R. R. (2018). By what authority? Google Book. Retrieved from
History
Hit (2018, November 11). How the Church Dominated Life in the Middle Ages. History
Minton,
A. (n. d.). The Medieval Church. Open curriculum. Retrieved from
Newman,
S. (2012, May 29). Major events in the Middle Ages. The Finer Times. Retrieved
from
Done by: Eurosia Guterres Pereira
Level : Access Academic
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