Roman Catholicism

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
Early history of Roman Catholicism
- The emergence of Catholic Christianity
- The emergence of Roman Catholicism
  - Internal factors
  - External factors
  - The early medieval papacy
- The church of the early Middle Ages
  - The concept of Christendom
  - A period of decadence
  - Popular Christianity c. 1000
- The church of the High Middle Ages
  - Gregorian Reform
  - The reign of Gregory VII
  - The Investiture Controversy: Gregory VII to Calixtus II
  - The Crusades
  - The papacy at its height: the 12th and 13th centuries
  - The renaissance of the 12th century
  - The apostolic life
  - Religious orders: canons and monks
  - The mendicant orders
  - The rise of heresy
  - Religious life in the 13th century
  - The golden age of Scholasticism
  - The persecuting society
- From the late Middle Ages to the Reformation
  - The “Babylonian Captivity”
  - Late medieval reform: the Great Schism and conciliarism
  - Jan Hus
  - Efforts to heal the East-West Schism
  - Roman Catholicism on the eve of the Reformation
    - The decline of Scholastic theology
    - Expressions of spirituality and folk piety
    - Roman Catholicism and Renaissance humanism
    - Roman Catholicism and the emergence of national consciousness
The age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation
- Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation
- The Roman Catholic Reformation
  - The Council of Trent
  - New religious orders
- The Counter-Reformation
- Post-Reformation conditions
- Developments in France
  - The Gallican problem
  - Jansenism
  - Quietism
- Controversies involving the Jesuits
  - The Chinese rites controversy
  - Suppression of the Jesuits
- Religious life in the 17th and 18th centuries
The church in the modern period
- Catholicism in Revolutionary France
- Napoleon I and the restoration
- Pius IX
- Leo XIII
- The period of the World Wars
- The Second Vatican Council
- Aftermath of the council
- The church in the 21st century
Roman Catholicism outside Europe
- The New World: Spanish and Portuguese empires
  - Colonial period
  - After independence
  - Spanish and French missions in North America
- Roman Catholicism in the United States and Canada
  - United States
  - Canada
- Roman Catholicism in Africa and Asia
  - Missions in Africa
  - Missions in Asia
Structure of the church
- Doctrinal basis
  - The nature of the church
  - Apostolic succession
- The papacy
  - The papal office
  - Ancient and medieval views of papal authority
  - Early-modern and modern views of papal authority
  - Historical conceptions of the relationship of the papacy to the world
  - Contemporary teaching on papal authority
- The offices of the clergy
  - The Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals
  - The college of bishops
  - Ecumenical councils
  - The priesthood and the diaconate
- Religious communities
  - Hermits and monks
  - Mendicant friars and clerks regular
  - Nuns and brothers
- The laity
- Canon law
Beliefs and practices
- Faith
  - Concepts of faith
  - Preambles and motivation of faith
  - Heresy
- Revelation
  - The concept of revelation
  - The content of revelation
- Tradition and Scripture
- The magisterium
  - The concept of teaching authority
  - Organs of teaching authority
  - Object and response
- Major dogmas and doctrines
- Sacraments
  - General characteristics
  - Baptism
  - Confirmation
  - The Eucharist
  - Reconciliation
  - Anointing of the sick
  - Marriage
  - Holy orders
- Liturgy
  - The mass
  - The divine office
  - The liturgical year
- Paraliturgical devotions
  - Eucharistic devotions
  - Cult of the saints
  - Mysticism
- The order of the mass
  - The introductory rites
  - The liturgy of the Word
  - The liturgy of the Eucharist
  - The communion rite
  - The concluding rite
- The role of the church in society
  - Missions
  - Education
  - Charitable activities
  - Church and state relations
  - Economic views and practice
  - The family

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

St. Peter's Basilica

Where do the cardinal electors come from?

Gathering of cardinals

Pope Francis: A Life in Pictures

Who was St. Peter the Apostle?

Skellig Michael

Cluny: belfry tower

How to become a saint: Canonization explained

Main routes of the Camino de Santiago

Pope Gregory VII

Giotto: St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata

Andrea da Firenze: The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas

Papal Palace in Avignon

The Western Schism and the Roman Catholic Church

Sir Thomas More

Council of Trent

Cornelius Jansen

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Longest-reigning pontiff

Father of the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

John Paul II, 1979

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Óscar Romero, c. late 1970s

Catholic procession

Anti-Catholic riot

Archbishop José H. Gomez

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Pope Francis and Canadian residential school survivors

House of Giorgis

Rubaga Cathedral

Devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho

Roman Catholic church

The pope as the supreme authority in Roman Catholic societal hierarchy

Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church

How is a pope elected?

St. Peter the Apostle

Creating a new cardinal

Franciscan friars

Sister Helen Prejean

St. Augustine of Hippo

The Last Judgment

Baptism of Christ

Traditional Latin mass

Divine office at a Benedictine abbey

Pentecost celebration

Liturgical colors

Saints in stained glass

Virgin of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego

St. Christoper and St. James the Greater

St. Brigid of Ireland

St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Francis of Assisi

St. Martín de Porres and Mother Cabrini

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Gertrude of Nivelles

Madonna and Child

Spread of Roman Catholicism

Antiabortion protesters

Skulls depicting and explaining the seven deadly sins.

Geographical distribution of the religions of the world in the early 1980s.

The history of land ownership in post-Reformation Ireland

The architecture of St. Peter's Basilica

Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church

For Students

Roman Catholicism summary

Roman Catholicism: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jun 21, 2025

News •

Pope Leo XIV says there should be no tolerance for abuse of any kind in Catholic Church • June 21, 2025, 11:43 AM ET (AP)

New Jersey can have a grand jury investigate clergy sex abuse allegations, state high court rules • June 16, 2025, 2:32 PM ET (AP)

Works begin in Ireland to exhume remains of hundreds of babies found at unwed mothers' home • June 16, 2025, 2:08 PM ET (AP)

Supreme Court order gives religious organizations new chance to challenge New York abortion rule • June 16, 2025, 10:07 AM ET (AP)

In White Sox stadium broadcast, Pope Leo XIV sends message of hope to Chicago and the US • June 15, 2025, 11:26 AM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As	Roman Catholic Church

Did You Know?

The Advocatus Diaboli ("Devil's Advocate") was an official who would critically examine a canonization candidate's life.
John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic to be president of the United States.
In 2014, Porsche rented out the Sistine Chapel for a charity event.
The big bang theory was proposed by a monsignor of the Catholic Church, Georges LeMaitre.
William Tyndale was deemed a heretic for translating the New Testament into modern English.

Photos and Videos

St. Peter's Basilica

Gathering of cardinals

Skellig Michael

Cluny: belfry tower

Main routes of the Camino de Santiago

Pope Gregory VII

Who was St. Peter the Apostle?

How to become a saint: Canonization explained

The Western Schism and the Roman Catholic Church

How is a pope elected?

The history of land ownership in post-Reformation Ireland

See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Topics

history of Roman Catholicism Catholic imagination Eastern rite church The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church Murder Most Horrid: The Grisliest Deaths of Roman Catholic Saints religious order Old Catholic church Peace of God Roman Catholic Saints Immaculate Conception Protestantism Apostolic stylite Celtic Church biblical literature Jesus Baptist Passion of Jesus patristic literature Christology

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Key People

portrait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer

Charlemagne

Holy Roman emperor [747?–814]

St. Gregory the Great

pope

John XXIII

St. John XXIII

pope

Henry IV, undated copperplate engraving.

Henry IV

king of France

Bonaventura Berlinghieri: St. Francis and Scenes from His Life

St. Francis of Assisi

Italian saint

Fra Bartolomeo: portrait of Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola

Italian preacher

Jan Hus

Jan Hus

Bohemian religious leader

Newman, John Henry

St. John Henry Newman

British theologian

Godfrey Kneller: painting of James II

James II

king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary

queen of Scotland

John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe

English theologian

Clovis I

Merovingian king

Alessandro Farnese, duke of Parma and Piacenza

Alessandro Farnese

regent of The Netherlands

Pope Innocent IV

Innocent IV

pope

Jansen, engraving by Jean Morin

Cornelius Otto Jansen

Flemish theologian

Pope Leo IX

St. Leo IX

pope

Pope Leo XIV

Leo XIV

pope

Michael VIII Palaeologus

Byzantine emperor

St. Peter Damian

Italian cardinal

Pius V

Saint Pius V

pope

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata), India. Roman Catholic nun, at the World Conference of the International Women's Year in Mexico City in 1975

History of Roman Catholicism Quiz

Holy week. Easter. Valladolid. Procession of Nazarenos carry a cross during the Semana Santa (Holy week before Easter) in Valladolid, Spain. Good Friday

Christianity Quiz

Anastasius II (died 498) pope from 496 after a 16th century illustration

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