Corruption In The Roman Catholic Church

1003 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Catholic church corruption

The Roman Catholic Church is known as the pinnacle of the unified Christendom throughout the 5th to the 15th century. However, during the 16th century, the unified Christendom came apart which caused the Reformation movement. The essential cause of the Reformation movement, the confessional conflicts, and dismantling of the unified Christendom is clerical corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. The priests claim to power and governmental support is the reason clerical corruption came about. Reformers such as Martin Luther and Henrich von Kettenbach, and many others did not like the clerical rule. The Reformers speak against indulgences, simony, and their control of the word. All these factors are responsible for the Reformation movement.
Consequently, Roman Catholic priests overwhelming authority over the church and state caused clerical corruption. For example, various popes would argue that God gave them rule over men and state. To understand the claims popes made, it is necessary for the reader to see their power in action. Pope Gelasius writes to Emperor Augustus, "Besides, most gracious son, you are aware that, although you in your office are the ruler of the human race, nevertheless you devoutly bow your head before those who are leaders in things divine and look to them for the means of your salvation" (Placher, 123). Gelasius emphasizes his power over the Roman Emperor because he oversees souls ( the rulers and the people) and everyone should fall in line with what he states. After all, he is a man of God and he is never wrong. The Roman Catholic papacy's power made people and rulers fearful, too. Everyone fell subject and any who spoke was burned at the stake. This led to corrupt activity such as indulgences and simony.
“All of them want to lead a life of pleasure and abundance in princely pomp and circumstance, without having to work for it” (Ozment, 54). The laity support the church and the papacy. The Reformers argue the clergy hid behind holy clothes, instead they use the money for their own personal gain. The people grew poorer and the church grew richer. The Reformers were angry and spoke about it. The papacy fights these accusation causing conflict within the

Show More
Related

  • Compare and Contrast Religion during Reformation, Industrial Revolution, and World at War

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    The periods during the Reformation, Industrial Revolution, and the World at War all experienced religious and church conflicts. During the Renaissance and Reformation (1330 – 1650), the fundamental practices of the church came under fire. The church at this time was the largest and most political body. The pope, himself, was the most recognizable political figure. It was due to this authority that the church and its pope were more interested in political issues and less with the spiritual needs of the people (McGraw-Hill, p. 76). Many of the Roman Catholic Church’s high priests had bought their way into position and had very little religious experience. Often the only members of the community that were literate were the clergy thus adding to their control of the common people.

    Read More

  • Catholic Reformation Dbq

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Reformation occurred all over Western Europe. It was mostly set in Germany where various parts of corruption in the Church happened. Martin Luther started the process of the Reformation, he was German so he understood how the Catholic Church took advantage and didn't think this was fair. The Catholic Reformation took place between 1450-1650 which was the biggest revolution in Germany, although the understanding of Luther's actions weren't taken notice of until he put the 95 Theses on the Church's door. Luther felt that Bishops and Priests didn't understand the bible correctly. Luther wanted the Reformation to help fix this by helping the uneducated and powerless. Some of the movement of this was

    Read More

  • The Church in England's Need for Considerable Reform in 1529

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    The long-term causes of the Reformation- the corruption of the church and the hostility of the laity- appear to have been historical illusion. " I have come to the conclusion, that the Church in England in 1529 needed considerable reforms, because many abuses, undoubtedly, had occurred in various departments of religious life.

    Read More

  • Medieval Church Case Study

    1891 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prior to the careers of Popes Celestine V and Boniface XII in the 13th century, the long and, sometimes tumultuous, history of the church can be helpful in setting the stage for these two church official’s very famous, and very different tenures as pope. In different forms and methods, the medieval Catholic Church has always had a strong hold on society in addition to politics. The church has also had a troubling past when it comes to corruption, usually manifesting itself through the pursuit of this dominance over political and outside figures on all aspects of everyday life. Coupling these two themes together, the past actions and power exerted

    Read More

  • The Short-Term and Long-Term Causes of the Protestant Reformation

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reformation is generally associated with the publication of Martin Luther ninety five theses. It was his way to show the protest against the “business” made on religious people: the Holy Roman Empire was earning money on selling people indulgences. Martin Luther got the support of German princes, who were on the same side, but with different motives (they wanted to get autonomy). Luther was the great part of reformation, his influence was immediate, and people listened to him. One of the immediate effects of reformation can be observed in the development of that times writers. For example, Francois Rabelais satirized church, writing about their “business” in humorous way. The other writers, like Erasmus wrote more specifically about the pappy and their role in the lives of ordinary Christians. The major short term of reformation was about the informational acknowledgement, Luther told people the truth about the papacy and their actions, and the reaction of people was immediate: the loss of respect to church, papacy. These results were really strong, because people felt that, all the dogmas...

    Read More

  • Martin Luther Thesis Statement

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”

    Read More

  • The Protestant Reformation And The Counter-Reformation

    1405 Words  | 3 Pages

    attempts to do so. It created social change in Europe but did not reform the Church, which was its

    Read More

  • Power and Corruption in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    The tithes from the people were what made the Church so wealthy (“The Medieval Church”). With wealth and power, and the fear of damnation, the Church was able to be as corrupt as it wanted because there was no one to stop them. Because of this corruption in the Church, a man by the name of Geoffrey Chaucer bec...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Effects Of The Protestant Reformation

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are so many causes from the Protestant Reformation. In the Protestant, there was three different sections that got affected more the the others. When the Protestant Reformation happened it affected the Sociality, Political, and Economic the most.

    Read More

  • The Reformation and the Church

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.

    Read More

  • Catholic Church Reformation Research Paper

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the the Catholic Church in Europe during the sixteenth century many reforms were needed. There were many issues including the incompetency of priests, and clerical immorality and absenteeism. Additionally, because of these predicaments people began to not only question the teachings of the church, they questioned the authority of the church as well. Initially, the Papacy was reluctant for reform to occur. The Papacy did not want to lose power or wealth and believed that they may if reforms ensued.

    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

  • Corruption In Church In The Middle Ages

    1759 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout this paper, we will look into the disappointing church corruption of the middle ages, more specifically, the unbiblical practices, serious problems, hypocritical popes, and finally, the people trying to fight the corruption!

    Read More

  • Church Reform Essay

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Catholic Church’s corruption during the late Middle Ages further enabled church reforms due to the ever-increasing view of the loss of credibility within the church by both the laity and clergy. Thus implementing the ideas of reform. Martin Luther is considered the father of the reformation where he instigated the challenging for the church, papal authority, and changed how the people were allowed to worship. Carlstadt and Zwingli, much like Luther, practiced Evangelical traditions, however, they expanded further than Luther in regards to doctrine and practice. John Calvin on the other hand challenged some of the Evangelical and Reformed Traditions by various religious changes politically and socially. Lindberg examines the Evangelical

    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 Corruption In The Roman Catholic Church

Open Document