One calls Catholicism the whole of the Dogme S, the Institution S and the Précepte S of the Roman Catholic church, i.e. such as it is included/understood since the “establishment” of the Simon-Pierre apostle by Jesus-Christ: “You are stone and on this stone, I will build my Church”, the various ecumenical councils, in particular the Concile of Thirty (1545-1563) and the councils the Vatican I and II which form the “Tradition”.

The Catholic church is characterized by the recognition of the Autorité of the Pape, bishop of Rome and successor of holy Pierre, and by the Communion between the faithful ones. It is a Church Eucharistique, because its communion rests on the presence of the Christ in the Holy Communion.

The word “Catholicism” is drawn from the Greek adjective καθολικός / katholikós meaning “general”, “universal”. The word tardily appeared in the French language (1598) and only starting from 1794 became current (one preferred “Christianisme before to him”).

According to the figures communicated by Rome and published each year in the Britannica Book off the Year , the number of catholics in the world increases in the same proportions as the World population, with approximately 1 billion Baptisé S, including more than 600 million for the only American continent and 250 million in Europe (these data include the 10 to 12 Eastern catholic million known as “uniates”).

Denominations

The Christian Église S of the first millenium were affirmed at the same time orthodoxe, since in conformity according to them with the “right doctrines” (the doxa ortho ), and “catholics”, recognizing the universality of single Église of Jesus-Christ. Within the framework religious Christian, the catholic word means “according to the whole”, “universal”. It indicates at the same time the will to confess the whole of the Foi (formulated synthetically in the creed or Symbole of the apostles), the opening to the totality of the faith, without refusing any article.

It seems that the first use of the term in Christianity goes back to Ignace d' Antioche in his Lettre in Smyrniotes (towards 112): “Where is Jesus Christ, there is the Universal Church”. The Ier council of Nicée, in 325 establishes its symbol, ancestor of the current creed, which ends in: “For those which say: " It was a time when it was not pas" and " Before being born, it was not pas" and " It was created néant" , or which declares that the Son of God is of another substance (hypostasis) or of another gasoline (ousia) , or that it is subjected to the change or deterioration, the Catholic church and apostolic declares them Anathème S”.

In this direction, the catholic word is opposed to the word heresy: the heresy makes a choice, a sorting, and does not preserve the organic unit of the Christian faith and its universality. The history shows that the divisions appeared within the Christianisme express the dissensions in the plan of the Foi. The interpretation of the primacy of Pierre, the Statute of the Writing, the Sacrament S, the Anthropology, the Ecclesiology, spiritualities and the Rite S are deeply affected by divergent visions.

The Ier council of Constantinople (381) takes again this expression in “We believe in only one holy, catholic and apostolic Church”.

However, in 1054, a division appeared within the Christianisme, either in the field of the Foi like the preceding heresies, but caused by political interferences: it was the Great schism of the East which marks the separation of the Church of Rome (makes the Church of Occident of it) and other Churches, known as Églises of the seven councils (Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioche). Since this schism, the word orthodoxe indicates the orthodoxe Christianities (today especially Greek, Russian, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Caucasian or close relation-Eastern) while the words catholic and Catholicism will become in the use, prerogative of only the Roman Catholic church. Later on with the schism, of the divergences also appeared in the field of the Foi or the canon law, the two churches evolving/moving separately at the time of their councils (the most known divergences are those of the Filioque, the purgatory and the celibacy of the priests, that the Eastern Churches did not adopt).

Certain Eastern Churches (Maronite, copte, chaldéenne, Greek, etc), often called Églises uniates were linked in Rome after the schism of 1054 and recognize the authority and the primacy of the Pape. Their canonical organization (including, for example, sacerdotal ordination married men) and especially their liturgy however preserved characters orthodoxe S: the Catholic church is thus not reduced to the Church known as “Latin” of rite ambrosien.

Certain Churches and posterior Christian communities with the great schism of 1054 preserve the “catholic” word in their denomination, without to recognize, in practice if not in theory, the primacy with the pope of Rome:

Another schism due to political reasons and follow-up later on of doctrinal divergences: appearance of the Church Anglican in 1534.

But the most important schism in Western and central Europe, at the same time doctrinal and political separation, was starting from 1517 the Réforme represented in particular by Saxon the Martin Luther, the French Jean Calvin or Switzerland Ulrich Zwingli: since then, the catholic word is systematically opposed, in Europe and North America, with Protestant. Protestantism is at the time called by the French Catholic church RPR (“reformed alleged religion”).

Since, in Europe, one commonly calls “catholic” the Churches having remained faithful to the authority of the pope. For the anecdote, they relate to in majority the populations having been conquered in Antiquity with the Roman troops and whose governments fought the reform in XVIe politically and XVIIIe centuries (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc)

Confessions of faith of the Universal Church (before the schism of 1054)

The symbol of Nicée-Constantinople is resulting from work of a succession of ecumenical councils (assembled of the whole of the bishops) whose last, in Constantinople in 325, contains an article which says “I believe in the Church one, holy, catholic (catholic meaning here simply universal) and apostolic”. The three other ecumenical councils, joined together in the East with the participation of the important Eastern patriarch and papal legates such as Athanase and Cyrille of Alexandria, are intended to define the faith that then divide the large majority of the Christians, from where will result later the Churches known as catholic and Orthodoxe S. These terms are used, by simplification, to distinguish on the one hand the Roman Church and on the other hand Churches from the concerning East patriarchates from Constantinople, Antioche, Jerusalem and Alexandria. The Roman Church on a side, the Churches of the East of another, very regard as legitimate heiresses of “the Church one, holy, catholic (catholic meaning here simply universal) and apostolic”: Rome does not recognize that its faith would not be orthodoxe any more; Constantinople, Antioche, Jerusalem and Alexandria do not admit having lost catholicity (universality). In the spirits, the catholic/orthodoxe distinction will only come much later and all the delegates with the first four ecumenical councils are generally of agreement between them, that it is in a spontaneous way or under the pressure of the imperial capacity. Some which do not follow the majority line will be at the origin of the Churches known as pre-chalcédoniennes, of which most notable are the Churches nestoriennes and monophysites.

In the beginning, the divergences are not doctrinal but rather the effect of political factors translated in the life connected with the church by questions of precedence between the whole of the patriarchs métropolites of the East and that of Occident. Indeed, a gun of the first council of Nicée provides that popes are named the métropolites (metropolitan bishops) of Alexandria, of Jerusalem, of Antioche and Rome: the seat of Papacy was thus “revolving” between these four cities. This title is attested the first time for the métropolite of Alexandria, of living even of the apostle Pierre martyrized under the reign of the emperor Galba. However, the métropolite of Constantinople takes importance as the Roman imperial capacity settles there, while Rome declines. Constantinople is then added on the list, but consequently, the bishop of Rome is prevailed, as a successor of Pierre, of the first place among the apostles, that Jesus had assigned in Pierre according to the Gospels: he claims primacy and authority on his colleagues starting from the any end of IVe century.

A large majority of the Christians of Occident recognize the authority of the pope of Rome and the apostolic and Roman Catholic church, to which Catholicism is often identified. There exist however some branches of Catholicism which do not recognize any more this authority after being distant about it for various causes (church Anglican, reformed churches).

In addition, the question of the “Filioque” (an addition officialized at the time of Charlemagne to the symbol of Nicée-Constantinople) materializes a series of resentments between Eastern Christianities and Westerners separated since 1054. For the Eastern ones, an not rising Holy Spirit that of God allows This one to save any heart, even not-Christian woman, without the Christians having to act differently than by the prayer. For the Westerners on the other hand, the Holy Spirit also rising from Christ, it is an imperative duty to convert the not-catholics actively. This is why, since the schism, the “orthodoxe” church does not send any more missionaries and forever have Inquisition, whereas the “catholic” church was ingéniée to bring the possible maximum of hearts to its creed.

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