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The role of the Catholic church and impact cause
Roman Catholic church in the middle ages in Europe
The Roman Catholic Church from1500 to present
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From his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ preached his most famous words that went on to form the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church: “Turn away from wrong – confess wrong-doing”; “show compassion to the poor, the despised, the outcast”; “Be sincere, not a hypocrite”; “Love your enemies; do not hate, be reconciled”. It is from these words that the entire Catholic Faith, 1.2 billion strong, is largely based. But has the Catholic Church truly adhered to these preachings by the saviour? Would God truly be happy with the history of the Catholic Church, and the state it is in today?
If you ignore the faith aspect of the Church and instead concentrate on the history and actions the Church has taken and done then many Catholics, priests and
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The Catholic Church habitually donates billions of pounds to overseas charities – The Economist stated in 2010 that the American Catholic Church alone donated $4.7 billion to charities, not to mention the amount given to local charities through the Sunday collections in churches all over the world. 26% of all world HIV/AIDS help organizations are run in some way by the Catholic Church, and especially in Africa where Catholic missionaries and charities have successfully managed to greatly alleviate the rate of HIV/AIDS. It’s not only about the physical relief of the poor – it’s about the message that the Church preaches: a message of hope and …show more content…
Would He be content to know that His ambassadors on Earth acted and still act the way they do; pillaging countries for monetary gain, taking advantage of the needy and ignorant, and ostracizing certain groups of His children from the church on the basis of their sex, orientation, or religious beliefs? He would be ashamed at the state of the church, and He would despair for their actions. God would hate the Catholic Church.
Works Cited
• Economist.co.uk (2012): “Earthly Concerns” (online), available at http://www.economist.com/node/21560536 (accessed on 13 Dec 2013)
• Independece.co.uk (2010): “Is Religion a force for good in the world?” (online), available at http://www.independence.co.uk/issues-online/topics/rights-and-discrimination/religion/is-religion-a-force-for-good-in-the-world (accessed on 13 Dec 2013)
• YouTube.com (2011): “Intelligence Squared Debate – Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world?” (online), available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLtuD2CKY-U (accessed on 13 Dec 2013)
• Wikipedia.com (2013): “Catholic Church” (online), available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church (accessed 13 Dec 2013)
• Unknown: “The Holy Bible”; London, Collins Publishing (2008)
• Russell, B: “Why I am not a Christian”; London, George Allan & Unwin Ltd
...did the Christian Holy Church of Europe. From time eternal it seems the Christian church has always been behind some sort of evil and murder for its sake. The twentieth century had seen racist and prejudices and the repression of racial minorities, the sick and handicapped. Man has a constant battle with himself between good and evil. Human nature is never as rational or compassionate as people want to believe. Instead of being guided by common respect and tolerance of those who are different, we seek to change what might threaten or challenge us.
Public expressions of hatred towards the Jewish people built on this very concept formed the basis of Christian anti-Semitism. The Roman church, in many instances, actually preached anti-Semitism based on the claim that the Jews were connected to killing Jesus. St. Augustine, one of the major influencing characters of the early Catholic Church, reportedly believed
When Hitler was questioned as to why he was partaking in a crusade to destroy the Jews, he declared that he was ‘only continuing what Christianity had preached and practiced for 2000 years’. This clearly indicates that although the feelings of contempt for the Jews changed from a theological concern to a racial matter, the Nazis were influenced by early Christian anti-Judaism and were able to manipulate negative Christian attitudes and portrayals of Jews to justify their plan to annihilate the Jews of Europe.
...rsued this moral throughout his time as Pope. Thus, through following the works of, and Jesus’ teachings of inclusion, John XXIII has contributed to Christianity being considered a living religious tradition.
The Jews have been the only people accused of deicide and this caused hatred from Christians. During the diaspora, the Jews settled in the Mediterranean countries, although they settled as far away as Europe. Constant uprooting prevented the Jews from becoming agriculturalists and pastoralists, therefore they worked at trades. During the middle ages, the Jews made ornamental glass objects and worked at money lending. They were seen as prosperous and resented by the people of the countries where they settled. Resentment built against the Jews by the less prosperous people of the settled countries. The attitude of the Christian church was summed up, from our lecture, by John Chrysostom who wrote: “The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon.” The churches were reluctant to help the Jews during the holocaust because of the long-standing hatred. The Jews caught in German-occupied areas after World War I had little help except for few organizations and many countries did
How could the Christian church, which bases itself off kindness and peace, allow the Crusades to happen? The religion known to be loving of all was the cause of the most catastrophic occurrence in the late eleventh and late thirteenth centuries because of misconceptions and avarice of the pope. Of all of the religious wars fought, this was the one with the highest level of ridiculousness. Members of the church fought for all of the wrong reasons and the outcome was poor because of it. Even though the Crusades were justified by the false philosophies of both parties, they were overall beneficial economically. Before one can analyze the thoughts of the people, he or she must know what came about to make them think like this.
It is acknowledged that at this time the Church community has not yet reached its highest potential and is faced with the limitations of human shortcomings and temporal constrictions. With an understanding of its abilities and its boundaries, the Church seeks to work with the world community to come closer to the life to which God calls the world." As this quote from one of the Documents in Vatican II states, the Church needs to have a relationship with the "outside world" as the Church itself is comprised of humans. And that the Church has a good relationship with the outside world is necessary for the Church to reach its highest potential. These are some of the changes that took place in Vatican II and naming all of them would not be necessary. The modern Church is the way it is because of most of what happened in Vatican II.
Unlike other institutions, the Roman Catholic church relied heavily on direct violence when solving conflicts during the Middle Ages. The church used dubious strategies for internal and external conflicts, becoming a haven for violence and hatred. Muslims were viewed as savages, and did not believe Jesus Christ to be a savior to men, just a prophet (Notes). Thus, Islamic followers were a threat to salvation for Christians, who were unable to rationally think through this threat to their belief system. To eliminate the situation with the Muslims, Pope Urban II called for the first crusade, “to help expel that wicked race from our Christian lands before it is too late” (Source 40). Thus, war erupted between the two groups spanning multiple centuries
The Jews have practically always been persecuted ever since they dispersed from biblical Israel throughout the countries of Europe. Much of Europe’s religious base has been Catholic throughout the years since the days that the Roman Empire conquered most of Europe, hence the term, “all roads lead to Rome”. The spread of Catholicism instilled the story of Christ to the people and many people held/hold Jewish people responsible
For more than two thousand years anti-Semitism has plagued the Jews, however, the term has only been around for about thirty years (Strack 594). Due to the hateful accusations and of those who did not understand their religion, Jews, as a scorned people, gradually became more exclusive and intolerant of other religions. Because of Judaism’s strict adherence to their own beliefs and unwillingness to consider any alternatives, Muslims and Christians have scorned and persecuted Jews.
One of the first examples of Anti-Semitism started in the first century. The Catholic church stated that Jews were responsible for Jesus Christ being crucified. The Catholics then destroyed jewish temples and exiled them into different places. Doctrines were created stating numerous lies about the jews, exaggerating on everything from rituals with childrens blood, to worshiping the anti-christ and showing extreme hatred towards the roman church. The rituals were called blood libel. They were often burned at the stake for “performing” these rituals. In the twelfth century, the Almoravid dynasty, began killing jews in Paris if they refused to convert to christianity. Jews were often treated as outsiders and were often kicked out of towns, cities, villages and caravans. They were so hated in France that they would be kicked out of the city on a regular basis, but they would still always come back time after time.
The Catholic Church has long been a fixture in society. Throughout the ages, it has withstood wars and gone through many changes. It moved through a period of extreme popularity to a time when people regarded the Church with distrust and suspicion. The corrupt people within the church ruined the ideals Catholicism once stood for and the church lost much of its power. In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer primarily satirizes the corruptness of the clergy members to show how the Catholic Church was beginning its decline during the Middle Ages.
...re more open to debate and discussion. Yet they are not open to changing their religion. Being Catholic is like some indelible mark that they have accepted and have no desire to change. It is a coat they have always worn and feel comfortable in; they do not look for any other, because, in their eyes, no other coat would fit or suit their needs. Cultural Catholics appear happy to bring up their children as Catholics and to send them to Catholic schools. They may have lost some confidence in the Church because of the scandals concerning the sexual abuse of children by priests and brothers, but they like the rituals and celebrations that surround baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmations, weddings, and funerals. Even those who rarely give much time or thought to the Church would find it difficult to forego these events or to celebrate them in a Protestant church.
Why is the Catholic Church so corrupt in its teaching? They have found ways to control the knowledge that their followers contemplate on. The control of knowledge and power is the foundation for every successful religious organization. The Catholic Church have acquired this power through strategic control on the mind of its follower. The Catholic Church propagate their ideals as righteous in order to be accepted; for without this acceptance, they are faced with the task of initiating this power through force. So to beguile their followers, they present themselves in “sheep clothing” (KJV, Matt 7:15). They are accepted as blameless, peaceful, loving and harmless but in actuality, “they are ravening wolves” (KJV, Matt. 7:15).
To belong to the church one must accept as factually true the gospel of Jesus as handed down in tradition and as interpreted by the bishops in union with the pope. The most important thing in this divine tradition is the Bible, its text determined and disseminated by the church. The church, according to the Roman Catholic catechism, is the only Christian body that is “one, holy, catholic (universal)”.