Who are Catholics? How do Catholics get baptized?

№ newspapers	Educational material
17	Lecture 1. Cultural and religious foundation as the most important feature of an ethnic group
18	Lecture 2. Catholicism is a cultural bridge between Europe and Latin America
19	Lecture 3. Protestantism is the core of Western civilization Test No. 1
20	Lecture 4. Orthodoxy is the unifying principle of the Eurasian world
21	Lecture 5. Arab-Muslim civilization
22	Lecture 6. The bizarre multicultural landscape of the South, East and South-East Asia Test No. 2
23	Lecture 7. Interethnic conflicts are a global problem of our time
24	Lecture 8. The role of religion in the formation of the cultural treasury of world civilization Final work

Lecture 2

Catholicism - a cultural bridge
between Europe and Latin America

The term "Catholicism" comes from the Greek word Catholicos, which means “universal, worldwide.” This implies the worldwide, international status of the Roman Catholic Church. But she is not alone in these claims. The Orthodox Church also calls itself “catholic,” that is, “ecumenical,” “conciliar.” The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (we will get to know this ancient Christian church later) is the Catholicos of all Armenians. However, the term “Catholic” was firmly assigned to the followers of the Roman Church. Why? Largely because this is the largest branch of Christianity, whose followers live on all continents of the world.

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As Table 1 shows, there are more than 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. The main center of Catholicism in the modern world is Latin America (about 500 million believers, a high proportion of the denominational composition of the population). How could this happen? After all, Rome, Italy, and Southern Europe have always been considered the core of the Catholic ethnocultural region.

The Roman Catholic Church considers itself the successor to the oldest christian church. Catholics believe that only they have preserved unchanged the spirit of Christianity inherent in the first centuries of its existence. According to legend, the first Christian Roman bishop (that is, the Pope) was the Apostle Peter - the beloved disciple of Christ and his most faithful follower, as the fathers of the Catholic Church characterize the apostle. Therefore, the main temple of all Catholics is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Criticized by other Christian denominations for excessively exalting Peter, singling him out from the other apostles, Catholics appeal to the Gospel, where Peter is called “the rock on which Christ founded his church.” In favor of his exclusivity, they believe, is also evidenced by the fact that Peter, the only one of all the apostles, is repeatedly called by name in the Holy Scriptures, while the rest of the apostles are mentioned as a single group, and the frequent designation of Peter as the first of the apostles is also indicated.

The appearance of the Christian church in Rome dates back to 50 AD, but then Christianity in the world was united, and the emergence of Catholicism cannot be associated with this date. At the beginning of the 4th century, after a long struggle and many sacrifices, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, but already in 395 the empire was divided into Western and Eastern. A schism, albeit not immediately, befell the Christian Church. In 1054, the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople subjected each other to an anathema (removed only in 1965), from that moment on, the Western and Eastern Christian churches are considered officially separated, Catholicism was finally separated from Orthodoxy, although in fact this happened centuries earlier. All saints canonized before the mid-11th century are recognized equally by both Catholics and Orthodox. For example, in Russia you can find churches consecrated in memory of Pope Clement I (lived at the end of the 1st century AD, known as the author of theological works). And, it would seem, the exclusively Orthodox Saints Cyril and Methodius, who preached the faith of Christ in the eastern lands, are equally revered by Catholics, because they lived in the 9th century.

In the 16th century The Roman Catholic Church suffered another split: as a result of the Reformation, Protestant churches emerged from it, which we will talk about in the next lecture. Since then, neither the teachings of the church nor its geography have changed significantly.

Table 1

Distribution of Catholics* by region of the world, 2005

	Population size, million people	Number of Catholics million people	Proportion of Catholics in the population %
Europe and CIS	800	292	36,5
Asia	3850	114	3,0
Africa	906	138	15,2
North America	329	90	27,4
Latin America	559	480	85,9
Australia and Oceania	32	8	25,0
The world at large	6476	1122	17,3

*Including followers of Uniate churches.

How and when did Catholicism begin?

Catholicism is one of the branches of Christianity, therefore the basis of the teaching is faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who came into the world to atone for the sins of man, crucified on the cross, ascended to heaven and is expected in the second coming. Catholics, like Orthodox Christians, recognize all seven Christian sacraments, but with some differences. Catholics recognize the books of the Old and New Testaments as sacred. However, they accept the Old Testament in a slightly different form than the Orthodox. The Roman Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Church, believes that the salvation of people can only be achieved through the mediation of the clergy, which is very clearly separated from the laity. Catholics, just like Orthodox Christians, venerate the Mother of God, angels, and saints. Just like the Orthodox, the cult of relics and sacred relics became widespread among them.

There are certainly fewer dogmatic differences between Catholics and Orthodox Christians than between Catholics and Protestants. However, these dogmas have existed for centuries and are an insurmountable obstacle to restoring the unity of the Christian Church (Table 2).

table 2

Main dogmatic differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism

Catholicism	Orthodoxy
Recognition of Supremacy Popes and his infallibility in matters of faith	The primates of 15 Orthodox churches are independent of each other
The Holy Spirit comes not only from God the Father, but also from God the Son (Filioque)	The Holy Spirit comes only from God the Father
In views on the afterlife, along with heaven and hell, there is purgatory	There are only heaven and hell
Dogma of the supererogatory merits of Christ, the Mother of God and the saints	-
Recognition of more books of the Old Testament	A “small circle” of books of the Old Testament is recognized
The priesthood is required to observe a vow of celibacy	Celibacy is obligatory only for monks, and for priests who are not monks, on the contrary, marriage is obligatory
An important role is played by spiritual orders: Benedictines, Franciscans, Johannites, Templars, Dominicans, Jesuits, etc. (about 140 in total)	No orders
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception and Ascension to Heaven of the Virgin Mary (adopted in 1864)	The Mother of God has human nature and not freed from original sin. This does not prevent the emergence of a developed cult of the Mother of God in Orthodoxy
Baptism by pouring water	Baptism by immersion
During the service, believers sit, only occasionally kneeling	During the service, believers only stand
Communion of ordinary believers with unleavened bread (only priests receive communion with wine and bread)	Communion of the faithful with sour bread and wine
Confirmation of children some time after baptism (aged 7-12 years)	Confirmation of infants immediately after baptism
Crossing with five fingers	They are baptized with three fingers
Organ music is used in worship	The use of music is prohibited, only chants
The main language of worship is Latin	The service is held in the national or Church Slavonic language, the church language is based on Greek terms

The most important heresies of Catholics, from the point of view of the Orthodox, are the recognition of the supremacy and infallibility of the Pope, the procession of the Holy Spirit not only from God the Father, but also from God the Son (the Latin “filioque” - “and son”) was added to the Catholic holy books. , the dogma of the supererogatory merits of Christ, the Mother of God and the saints. I would like to dwell on the latter in more detail, since the Orthodox regard this norm as the height of hypocrisy and immorality. Catholics believe that Christ, the Mother of God and the saints in their earthly lives atoned for much more sins than humanity had accumulated by that time. The Catholic Church has the right to dispose of the resulting treasury of good deeds at its own discretion. It is this dogma that explains the practice of issuing indulgences - papers confirming the atonement of sins and given to believers in exchange for certain gifts or funds given to the church.

The passion for “commerce” can also be seen in another Catholic dogma - the doctrine of purgatory, adopted at the Council of Florence in 1439. The Catholic Church is of the opinion that not every human soul can immediately go to heaven or hell according to its merits. Usually souls go through purgatory, where through severe trials they are freed from minor sins, in order to then go to heaven. The length of stay in purgatory depends on prayers and can be shortened if relatives of the deceased make offerings to the church.

Monasticism has received great development in Catholicism. Monks form communities - orders, of which more than a hundred are known throughout the history of the church. The most common orders have a specific specialization. For example, the Order of the Dominicans (according to the consonance of domini cani - “dogs of the Lord”), which received its name from St. Dominic, is the intellectual flower of the Catholic Church, the focus of book wisdom, it is he who is entrusted with polemics with other directions of Christianity on issues of theology and philosophy. The Franciscan Order (on behalf of St. Francis of Assisi) is called upon to provide assistance to the poor and disadvantaged. The Benedictine Order (the oldest of the Catholic orders, founded in the 4th century) “oversees” cultural issues. The widely known Jesuit order was founded in the 16th century. specifically to combat heresy and the Reformation by force.

The Catholic service is Mass. As a rule, it is held very magnificently, organ music is used. Catholic churches do not have an iconostasis separating the altar from the rest of the church; all sacraments of worship are performed in front of the believers, who during the service can sit on special benches (very often they have a special shelf for kneeling). Catholic churches are not decorated with frescoes, but sculpture is widely used, windows are painted with colored stained glass, and compositions of dolls are often made, telling about one or another Christian holiday (Christmas, baptism, etc.).

Representatives of a number of churches that have entered into unions with the Roman Catholic Church are also considered Catholics in the broad sense. Uniates recognize the primacy of the Pope, purgatory, the procession of the Holy Spirit and from God the Son, but at the same time they enjoy some canonical liberties - the marriage of priests, worship in their native language, and the preservation of the rites of the eastern branches of Christianity are allowed. The most numerous Uniate Church is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic, created as a result of the Union of Brest-Litovsk in 1596. It has about 7 million believers living mainly in the west of Ukraine (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions). There are relatively small groups of believers who have entered into a union with the Roman Catholic Church and continue to perform the rites of the Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian, Georgian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and other Eastern churches. All of them are most often counted among Catholics.

Geography of the Roman Catholic Church

Catholics mainly live in two regions: Europe and Latin America. Border Catholic Europe largely coincides with the northern limit of the Roman Empire in the era of its greatest territorial expansion. This is probably due to the greater rooting of Latin, Romance, and therefore Catholic culture in the south of Europe in the historical periods of the Middle Ages and Modern times. And even today, Catholic countries are perceived by many as the most faithful to traditions, the most patriarchal in Europe. This conservatism played a cruel joke on the southern Europeans: they failed to adapt to the new trade relations that had developed in the world in modern times, and lost the initiative to the Protestant countries of northern Europe - the Netherlands, Great Britain, and then the United States.

By that time, the Roman Catholic ethnocultural region had already acquired its modern shape. Along with the metropolis - Southern Europe - it included the entire continent of South America, colonized by the countries of the Iberian Peninsula - Spain and Portugal. The periphery of this world became Central America with Mexico and the largest islands of the West Indies (Cuba and Haiti), the main population of which also professes Catholicism. The Roman Catholic Church encourages fertility. This is due to both the ban on abortion, the recognition of the inadmissibility of same-sex marriage, a negative attitude towards divorce, and the promotion of large families. The age-sex pyramids of Catholic countries are often easily recognized by their pointed outlines and wide bases. Latin American countries that have relatively recently entered the demographic transition, in the second half of the twentieth century. dramatically increased their population. Now almost 250 million Catholics live in just two countries of the New World - Brazil and Mexico (Table 3). This is only slightly less than the number of all European Catholics. The demographic center of gravity of the Roman Catholic world is rapidly shifting across the ocean to Latin America. It is obvious that in the very near future more and more political weight will gradually move there. So far, Latinos have little influence in the affairs of their church. But the interests of millions of believers cannot be ignored for long. It is no coincidence that when Benedict XVI was elected to the pontificate, a Latin American candidacy for the position of Pope was also seriously considered for the first time.

Table 3

The largest Catholic communities in the world

	Number of Catholics thousand people	Proportion of Catholics in the country's population, %
Brazil	145 446	79
Mexico	94 243	87
Philippines	69 630	81
USA	64 621	23
Italy	57 665	97
France	44 499	76
Colombia	38 406	86
Spain	37 165	88
Poland	35 010	94
Argentina	34 480	89
Congo (Kinshasa)	29 500	50
Peru	28 160	88
Germany	26 297	32
Venezuela	24 815	88
Nigeria	17 906	14
India	17 005	2
Canada	13 070	44
Ecuador	11 749	90
Uganda	11 219	42
Chile	11 021	72
Tanzania	10 465	27
Guatemala	10 304	77
Angola	10 302	50
Portugal	9 457	90

The modern power of the Catholic world is manifested not only in the demographic aspect, but also in the economic aspect, as evidenced by Table 4.

Table 4

Economic power of the Catholic world

A country	GDP at purchasing power parity, billion dollars, 2006
USA	13 130
China	10 170
Japan	4 218
India	4 156
Germany	2 630
Great Britain	1 930
France	1 891
Italy	1 756
Russia	1 746
Brazil	1 655
South Korea	1 196
Canada	1 178
Mexico	1 149
Spain	1 109
Indonesia	948

Predominantly Catholic countries in terms of confessional composition are highlighted bold type, countries with a significant proportion of Catholics are marked italics.

According to the US CIA

The Philippines is undoubtedly part of the Catholic world. Centuries of Spanish colonization, and then half a century of US domination, have made this country the equivalent of a Latin American republic - populous, but relatively poor, politically unstable, with great military influence, dependent on Washington. Filipinos, like Latin Americans, migrate to the United States when possible, where they find their social niche relatively easily. The Philippines is the third most Catholic country in the world, and this cannot be ignored.

There is Catholicism in Russia too. The majority of Poles and Lithuanians living in Russia, some Germans, some Latvians, and a small part of Belarusians are Catholics. There are about 300 thousand followers of the Roman Catholic Church in the country, the largest communities are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Irkutsk, Orenburg, and Kaliningrad.

Culture of the Catholic World

The most established and visible symbols of Catholic culture are, first of all, temple buildings. The Roman Catholic Church tried to assert its power, in particular, by means of visual propaganda - the creation of immortal works of architects. The power and influence of Rome is evident in both St. Peter's and the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris, and in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and in numerous churches of Spain, exceptional in their splendor, the most grandiose of which is the Sagrada Familia of the genius Gaudi in Barcelona, and in the cathedrals of Latin American countries - silent witnesses, and sometimes active participants in the entire history of their states , and in Polish and Lithuanian churches, through which Rus' became acquainted with Western European architecture.

A Catholic church, as a rule, is magnificent in form, decor and interior. The general traditional scheme of its structure has not changed for centuries. Only in recent decades has postmodernism penetrated into this previously closed sphere. Now we can marvel at the cathedral of the Brazilian capital Brasilia (architect Oscar Niemeyer), reminiscent of an Indian hut made of glass and concrete. Many shocking projects of Catholic churches have been implemented in Poland. A modernist-looking Catholic church was also built in Russia, in the Irkutsk district of Studgorodok.

In the cities of the Catholic ethnocultural region, the cathedral occupies a central place; in the rectangular grids of Latin American capitals planned from scratch, it has a position on the main square of the country. The most important Catholic church, the heart of the Church, is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In ancient times, on the site of St. Peter's Cathedral there was a circus, in the arena of which, during the time of Nero, Christians were martyred. In 326, Emperor Constantine built St. Peter's Basilica on this site. When it fell into disrepair, Pope Nicholas V began construction of the cathedral in 1452. The “construction of centuries” was completed only on November 18, 1626, on the 1300th anniversary of the first basilica. Construction required colossal funds, which were found by increasing church taxes from parishioners and increasing the sale of indulgences. Both the first and second circumstances contributed to the decline of the authority of the Roman Church and the development of the Reformation in northern Europe. Thus, St. Peter's Council simultaneously became both a triumph and a defeat for the ecclesiastical authority of Rome.

St. Peter's Cathedral was the largest Catholic cathedral (and indeed Christian church) in the world until 1990, when Yamoussoukro, the capital of the African state of Cote d'Ivoire, built its own cathedral - an enlarged copy of the Roman one. Yamoussoukre Cathedral of Notre-Dame de la Paix (Our Lady of Peace) is part of an ambitious project to move the capital to the ancestral territory of Ivorian President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled the country for decades. The vain Africans still surpassed the Europeans: the height of Our Lady of Peace is 158 m, St. Peter's Cathedral rises “only” 132 m. The Roman temple seats 70 thousand people; It is not yet clear how much its African clone can accommodate, because never since its creation has it been possible to gather so many worshipers there at the same time.

European painting, both the Romanesque period and the Renaissance, is inseparable from Catholicism. Michelangelo Buonarotti, Raphael Santi, Giotto, Donatello and many other famous masters worked on the decoration of Catholic churches. In line with Catholic culture, arose classical music, especially Italian, French and Austrian. The organ is the only one allowed in a Catholic church musical instrument- entered the world musical culture along with the names of Bach and Handel. Using Catholic culture as a breeding ground, Latin was able to spread throughout the scientific community of the modern world.

Southern nature - hot sun, warm sea, bright vegetation - have formed the special qualities of representatives of Catholic peoples: expansiveness, sociability, pride, self-confidence, the desire to live widely. Not only the Catholic peoples of southern Europe, but also the Catholic “northerners” have an ardent character. The tenacity and rebellious spirit of the Irish, unbroken by centuries of oppression by the British, are well known. Compared to their surroundings, the Lithuanians and Poles are quite expansive, rightfully proud of the fact that they shared one of the largest European states of all time - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Where is the boundary of Catholic culture? Now this is difficult to determine unambiguously. Churches and castles in England and Scandinavia were built back in the days when these territories recognized the supremacy of the Roman Church. The eastern border of the spread of Catholicism is marked by cathedrals. Western Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. These marks also exist on Russian territory - in the Smolensk and Pskov regions. In the small town of Sebezh, located within the latter, the church, preserved from the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was recently reconsecrated into Orthodox church, but at the same time completely retained its Catholic architectural form.

Religious pilgrimage

The main center of pilgrimage in the Catholic world is the Vatican. This is the smallest state in the world (with an area of only 0.44 km 2 with a length of the external border of 2.6 km), located inside Rome, and has an influence on world politics that is incomparable with its size. Nominally, the Vatican has a population of less than 800 people, but in fact the authorities of this country can speak on behalf of more than a billion Catholics. The diplomatic influence of the Vatican is very great; the papal envoy, the nuncio, formally heads the embassy corps in Catholic countries.

According to the form of government, the Vatican is an absolute theocratic monarchy. The head of state - the Pope - is elected for life by secret ballot by a majority vote (two-thirds) of a conclave of cardinals (no more than 120 people, no one should be over 80 years old). The Pope has supreme legislative, executive and judicial power. The central governing body of the Vatican is the Roman Curia, headed by the Pope. In April 2005, German Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger became Pope, the 265th in a row, under the name of Benedict XVI. The election of a German to the Holy See occurred for the first time in history. Before him, for 27 years, the Pope was the Pole Karol Wojtyla, who led the church under the name of John Paul II. Previously, only Italians became popes.

The predecessor of the Vatican was the Papal States, ruled by the popes, which lost its independence as a result of the unification of Italy at the end of the 19th century. The Vatican was created according to the Lateran Agreement between the Holy See and the Government of Italy, concluded in 1929.

Outside its state borders, the Vatican, using its rights of extraterritoriality, owns early Christian basilicas of the 4th century, the Lateran Palace of the 16th century, the summer residence of the Pope in Castel Gandolfo (17th century) and some other buildings granted to the Vatican in Rome and its environs.

Sources of income for the Vatican: voluntary donations from believers and various church institutions, collections from taxes on the church, income from investments in various investment projects, foreign tourism, issue of postage signs, production and sale of souvenirs (coins, photographs of shrines, church utensils, etc.).

The official symbols of the Vatican are associated with Catholicism. The state flag is a square panel consisting of two equal vertical stripes - yellow and white. In the center of the white stripe are crossed gold and silver keys under the papal tiara. The keys symbolize the right of the first bishop of Rome, the Apostle Peter, to decide the fate of believers. The golden key is “permissive”, the silver one is “prohibiting”. Tiara is the headdress of the Pope, a symbol of his power.

Vatican shrines, including St. Peter's Basilica, are visited by 8 million pilgrims annually. The peak of pilgrimage arrivals occurs in Catholic Easter. In addition to Roman shrines, the most important centers of pilgrimage for Catholics are Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Czestochowa in Poland, Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal.

The Galician city of Santiago de Compostela is named after Saint James (Jacob, in Spanish Iago), and his remains are buried here in the cathedral. In 1478, the pilgrimage to Santiago by the Pope was equated in a spiritual sense with the pilgrimage to Rome. Upon arrival in the city, pilgrims present a special document at the cathedral - a “pilgrim’s passport”, introduced during the Middle Ages, with marks made at obligatory church points along the way. Only after this can they receive a “Compostela certificate” written in Latin. The pilgrim needs to give a sincere answer to the question of the church authorities about what intentions he set out on the journey, and if his thoughts do not correspond to piety, then he is given a different type of document.

Czestochowa is the main center of religious pilgrimage in Poland. Believers come to miraculous icon Our Lady of Czestochowa, also called the Black Madonna. Every year, about 4 million people go to venerate the holy image, mostly Poles and residents of Eastern Europe.

The city of Lourdes in southwestern France annually receives 5-6 million pilgrims who want to touch the miracle. Among them are 70–100 thousand sick people hoping for healing. In 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to the residents of Lourdes 18 times. She pointed out a place in the grotto where it was necessary to dig up the ground, and from there a spring with healing water flowed. The Grotto of Massabielle became a center of worship, the Catholic Church recognized Lourdes as a holy place and created a system for recording and verifying miracles that had happened. The second largest underground church in the world with a capacity of 30 thousand worshipers was built in Lourdes.

Portuguese Fatima is a relatively young place of pilgrimage. This village became known to the entire Catholic world in 1917, when the Mother of God appeared to three children tending sheep and told them revelations about the future. The Roman Catholic Church has not yet disclosed the details of these revelations. A large temple was built in Fatima, elevated to the rank of a cathedral by the Vatican. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Fatima every year.

Like all Christians, Catholics attach great spiritual importance to pilgrimages to the Holy Land and visiting places associated with earthly life Jesus Christ (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Lake Tiberias).

Questions and tasks

1. Why is the Roman Catholic Church considered universal?

2. How did the natural environment influence the culture of the Roman Catholic ethnocultural region?

3. On the map diagram “The number of Catholics by country of the world,” draw the border of the Roman Catholic ethnocultural region. Which countries with significant Catholic communities (more than 1 million people) are outside its borders? What is this connected with?

4. Why do you think Catholic countries missed out on world leadership by handing it over to Protestant countries?

5. What is the role of Catholic countries in the global division of labor? In the production of what types of products do they take leading positions?

Internet links

www.vatican.va - the official website of the Vatican;

www.catholic-hierarchy.org - current information about the structure of the Catholic Church (cathedras, priests, history of the church, number of believers by country and dioceses);

www.religio.ru - news of the world of religions;

http://ruscatholic.ru - Catholic Church in Russia.

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This article will focus on what Catholicism is and who Catholics are. This direction is considered one of the branches of Christianity, formed due to a large schism in this religion, which occurred in 1054.

Who they are is in many ways similar to Orthodoxy, but there are also differences. The Catholic religion differs from other movements in Christianity in the peculiarities of its doctrine and religious rituals. Catholicism added new dogmas to the Creed.

Spreading

Catholicism is widespread in Western European (France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy) and Eastern European (Poland, Hungary, partly Latvia and Lithuania) countries, as well as in the countries of South America, where the overwhelming majority of the population professes it. There are also Catholics in Asia and Africa, but the influence of the Catholic religion is insignificant here. compared to the Orthodox Christians are a minority. There are about 700 thousand of them. Catholics in Ukraine are more numerous. There are about 5 million people.

Name

The word "Catholicism" is of Greek origin and translated means universality or universality. In the modern understanding, this term refers to the Western branch of Christianity, which adheres to the apostolic traditions. Apparently, the church was understood as something universal and universal. Ignatius of Antioch spoke about this in 115. The term "Catholicism" was officially introduced at the first Council of Constantinople (381). The Christian Church was recognized as one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Origin of Catholicism

The term “church” began to appear in written sources (letters of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna) from the second century. This word was synonymous with municipality. At the turn of the second and third centuries, Irenaeus of Lyons applied the word "church" to Christianity in general. For individual (regional, local) Christian communities it was used with the corresponding adjective (for example, the Church of Alexandria).

In the second century, Christian society was divided into laity and clergy. In turn, the latter were divided into bishops, priests and deacons. It remains unclear how governance was carried out in the communities - collegially or individually. Some experts believe that the government was initially democratic, but over time it became monarchical. The clergy was governed by a Spiritual Council headed by a bishop. This theory is supported by the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, in which he mentions bishops as leaders of Christian municipalities in Syria and Asia Minor. Over time, the Spiritual Council became merely an advisory body. But only the bishop had real power in a particular province.

In the second century, the desire to preserve apostolic traditions contributed to the emergence of a structure. The Church had to protect the faith, dogmas and canons of the Holy Scriptures. All this, as well as the influence of the syncretism of the Hellenistic religion, led to the formation of Catholicism in its ancient form.

The final formation of Catholicism

After the division of Christianity in 1054 into western and eastern branches, they began to be called Catholic and Orthodox. After the Reformation of the sixteenth century, the word “Roman” began to be added more and more often to the term “Catholic” in everyday use. From the point of view of religious studies, the concept of "Catholicism" covers many Christian communities that adhere to the same doctrine as the Catholic Church and are subject to the authority of the Pope. There are also Uniate and Eastern Catholic churches. As a rule, they left the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople and became subordinate to the Pope, but retained their dogmas and rituals. Examples are the Greek Catholics, the Byzantine Catholic Church and others.

Basic tenets and postulates

To understand who Catholics are, you need to pay attention to the basic tenets of their faith. The main dogma of Catholicism, which distinguishes it from other areas of Christianity, is the thesis that the Pope is infallible. However, there are many known cases when Popes, in the struggle for power and influence, entered into dishonest alliances with large feudal lords and kings, were obsessed with the thirst for profit and constantly increased their wealth, and also interfered in politics.

The next postulate of Catholicism is the dogma of purgatory, approved in 1439 at the Council of Florence. This teaching is based on the fact that the human soul after death goes to purgatory, which is an intermediate level between hell and heaven. There she can be cleansed of her sins through various tests. Relatives and friends of the deceased can help his soul cope with trials through prayers and donations. It follows from this that a person’s fate in the afterlife depends not only on the righteousness of his life, but also on the financial well-being of his loved ones.

An important postulate of Catholicism is the thesis about the exclusive status of the clergy. According to him, without resorting to the services of the clergy, a person cannot independently earn God's mercy. A Catholic priest has serious advantages and privileges compared to the ordinary flock. According to the Catholic religion, only the clergy has the right to read the Bible - this is their exclusive right. This is prohibited for other believers. Only publications written in Latin are considered canonical.

Catholic dogmatics determines the need for systematic confession of believers before the clergy. Everyone is obliged to have his own confessor and constantly report to him about his own thoughts and actions. Without systematic confession, the salvation of the soul is impossible. This condition allows the Catholic clergy to penetrate deeply into the personal lives of their flock and control a person's every move. Constant confession allows the church to have a serious influence on society, and especially on women.

Catholic sacraments

The main task of the Catholic Church (the community of believers as a whole) is to preach Christ to the world. Sacraments are considered visible signs invisible grace of God. Essentially, these are actions established by Jesus Christ that must be performed for the good and salvation of the soul. There are seven sacraments in Catholicism:

baptism;
anointing (confirmation);
Eucharist, or communion (Catholics take their first communion at the age of 7-10 years);
sacrament of repentance and reconciliation (confession);
anointing;
sacrament of the priesthood (ordination);
sacrament of marriage.

According to some experts and researchers, the roots of the sacraments of Christianity go back to the pagan mysteries. However, this point of view is actively criticized by theologians. According to the latter, in the first centuries A.D. e. The pagans borrowed some rituals from Christianity.

What is the difference between Catholics and Orthodox Christians?

What Catholicism and Orthodoxy have in common is that in both of these branches of Christianity, the church is a mediator between man and God. Both churches agree that the Bible is the fundamental document and doctrine of Christianity. However, there are many differences and disagreements between Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

Both directions agree that there is one God in three incarnations: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (trinity). But the origin of the latter is interpreted differently (the Filioque problem). The Orthodox profess the “Creed,” which proclaims the procession of the Holy Spirit only “from the Father.” Catholics add “and the Son” to the text, which changes the dogmatic meaning. Greek Catholics and other Eastern Catholic denominations have retained the Orthodox version of the Creed.

Both Catholics and Orthodox understand that there is a difference between the Creator and the creation. However, according to Catholic canons, the world has a material nature. He was created by God out of nothing. There is nothing divine in the material world. While Orthodoxy assumes that the divine creation is the embodiment of God himself, it comes from God, and therefore he is invisibly present in his creations. Orthodoxy believes that you can touch God through contemplation, that is, approach the divine through consciousness. Catholicism does not accept this.

Another difference between Catholics and Orthodox Christians is that the former consider it possible to introduce new dogmas. There is also a teaching about the “good deeds and merits” of Catholic saints and the Church. On its basis, the Pope can forgive the sins of his flock and is the vicar of God on Earth. In matters of religion he is considered infallible. This dogma was adopted in 1870.

Differences in rituals. How do Catholics get baptized?

There are also differences in rituals, the design of churches, etc. Orthodox Christians even perform the prayer procedure not exactly the same way as Catholics pray. Although at first glance it seems that the difference is in some small details. To feel the spiritual difference, it is enough to compare two icons, Catholic and Orthodox. The first one looks more like a beautiful painting. In Orthodoxy, icons are more sacred. Many people are wondering, Catholics and Orthodox? In the first case, they are baptized with two fingers, and in Orthodoxy - with three. In many Eastern Catholic rites, the thumb, index finger and middle fingers. How else are Catholics baptized? A less common method is to use an open palm, with the fingers pressed tightly together and the thumb slightly tucked inward. This symbolizes the openness of the soul to the Lord.

Man's destiny

The Catholic Church teaches that people are burdened by original sin (with the exception of the Virgin Mary), that is, every person from birth has a grain of Satan. Therefore, people need the grace of salvation, which can be obtained by living by faith and doing good works. The knowledge of the existence of God is, despite human sinfulness, accessible to the human mind. This means that people are responsible for their actions. Every person is loved by God, but at the end the Last Judgment awaits him. Particularly righteous and godly people are ranked among the Saints (canonized). The church keeps a list of them. The process of canonization is preceded by beatification (beatification). Orthodoxy also has a cult of Saints, but most Protestant movements reject it.

Indulgences

In Catholicism, an indulgence is the complete or partial release of a person from punishment for his sins, as well as from the corresponding expiatory action imposed on him by the priest. Initially, the basis for receiving an indulgence was the performance of some good deed (for example, a pilgrimage to holy places). Then they became a donation of a certain amount to the church. During the Renaissance, serious and widespread abuses were observed, which consisted of the distribution of indulgences for money. As a result, this sparked the start of protests and a reform movement. In 1567, Pope Pius V banned the issuance of indulgences for money and material resources at all.

Celibacy in Catholicism

Another serious difference between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church is that all the clergy of the latter give Catholic clergy do not have the right to marry or even have sexual intercourse. All attempts to marry after receiving the diaconate are considered invalid. This rule was announced during the time of Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), and was finally approved only in the 11th century.

The Eastern churches rejected the Catholic version of celibacy at the Council of Trullo. In Catholicism, the vow of celibacy applies to all clergy. Initially, minor church ranks had the right to marry. Married men could be initiated into them. However, Pope Paul VI abolished them, replacing them with the positions of reader and acolyte, which were no longer associated with the status of cleric. He also introduced the institution of deacons for life (those who do not intend to advance further in their church career and become priests). These may include married men.

As an exception, married men who converted to Catholicism from various branches of Protestantism, where they held the ranks of pastors, clergy, etc., can be ordained to the priesthood. However, the Catholic Church does not recognize their priesthood.

Now the obligatory celibacy for all Catholic clergy is the subject of heated debate. In many European countries and the United States, some Catholics believe that mandatory celibacy should be abolished for non-monastic clergy. However, the Pope did not support such a reform.

Celibacy in Orthodoxy

In Orthodoxy, clergy can be married if the marriage took place before ordination to the priesthood or deaconship. However, only monks of the minor schema, widowed or celibate priests can become bishops. In the Orthodox Church, a bishop must be a monk. Only archimandrites can be ordained to this rank. Simply celibates and representatives of married white clergy (non-monastics) cannot become bishops. Sometimes, as an exception, episcopal ordination is possible for representatives of these categories. However, before this they must accept the minor monastic schema and receive the rank of archimandrite.

Inquisition

To the question of who the Catholics of the medieval period were, you can get an idea by familiarizing yourself with the activities of such a church body as the Inquisition. It was a judicial institution of the Catholic Church, which was intended to combat heresy and heretics. In the 12th century, Catholicism faced the growth of various opposition movements in Europe. One of the main ones was Albigensianism (Cathars). The popes assigned the responsibility of fighting them to the bishops. They were supposed to identify heretics, judge them, and hand them over to secular authorities for execution. The ultimate punishment was burning at the stake. But the episcopal activity was not very effective. Therefore, Pope Gregory IX created a special church body to investigate the crimes of heretics - the Inquisition. Initially directed against the Cathars, it soon turned against all heretical movements, as well as witches, sorcerers, blasphemers, infidels, etc.

Inquisitorial Tribunal

The inquisitors were recruited from various members, primarily from the Dominicans. The Inquisition reported directly to the Pope. Initially, the tribunal was headed by two judges, and from the 14th century - by one, but it consisted of legal consultants who determined the degree of “hereticism”. In addition, the number of court employees included a notary (certified testimony), witnesses, a doctor (monitored the condition of the defendant during executions), a prosecutor and an executioner. The inquisitors were given part of the confiscated property of heretics, so there is no need to talk about the honesty and fairness of their trial, since it was beneficial for them to find a person guilty of heresy.

Inquisitorial procedure

There were two types of inquisitorial investigation: general and individual. In the first, a large part of the population of a particular area was surveyed. At the second to a certain person made a call through the priest. In cases where the summoned person did not appear, he was excommunicated from the church. The man swore an oath to sincerely tell everything he knew about heretics and heresy. The progress of the investigation and proceedings were kept in the deepest secrecy. It is known that the inquisitors widely used torture, which was authorized by Pope Innocent IV. At times their cruelty was condemned even by secular authorities.

The accused were never given the names of the witnesses. Often they were excommunicated from the church, murderers, thieves, oathbreakers - people whose testimony was not taken into account even by the secular courts of that time. The defendant was deprived of the right to have a lawyer. The only possible form of defense was an appeal to the Holy See, although it was formally prohibited by Bull 1231. People once condemned by the Inquisition could be brought to justice again at any time. Even death did not save him from the investigation. If a person who had already died was found guilty, then his ashes were taken from the grave and burned.

Punishment system

The list of punishments for heretics was established by bulls 1213, 1231, as well as by the decrees of the Third Lateran Council. If a person confessed to heresy and repented during the trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Tribunal had the right to reduce the term. However, such sentences were rare. The prisoners were kept in extremely cramped cells, often shackled, and fed with water and bread. During the late Middle Ages, this sentence was replaced by hard labor in galleys. Obstinate heretics were sentenced to be burned at the stake. If a person confessed before the start of his trial, then various church punishments were imposed on him: excommunication, pilgrimage to holy places, donations to the church, interdict, various types of penances.

Fasting in Catholicism

Fasting for Catholics consists of abstaining from excesses, both physical and spiritual. In Catholicism, there are the following fasting periods and days:

Lent for Catholics. It lasts 40 days before Easter.
Advent For four Sundays before Christmas, believers should reflect on his upcoming coming and be spiritually focused.
All Fridays.
Dates of some major Christian holidays.
Quatuor anni tempora. Translated as “four seasons.” These are special days of repentance and fasting. A believer must fast once every season on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Fasting before communion. The believer must abstain from food an hour before communion.

The requirements for fasting in Catholicism and Orthodoxy are mostly similar.