Roman Cathollicism

Tracing back to Jesus of Nazareth, Roman Catholicism is one of the largest religions in the world. During the period of the Romans occupation Jesus preached to Jerusalem. Over a long span of time after Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, the bishops spread out across the world to create a “universal” church. The spread of Christianity was phenomenon that traveled along Roman roads and was the topic of conversation in Roman population centers Katholikos means “universal” in Greek. Today Vatican City and Saint Peter's Basilica both stand over the grave of Peter, and the pope is considered to be Peter's successor. Catholic Christianity began as a looked down on and degraded religion in the religious community. Persecution of Roman Catholicism was not constant but came from time to time. For example, Nero blamed Christians for the huge Roman fire that he himself may have sparked in 64 C.E. Nero also had Christians burning in his garden for light. In addition, Paul and Peter, both apostles, were burned in city-wide persecution. Even though the religion was illegal in the Roman Empire when it first originated, within some three centuries and with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, Roman Catholicism was legalized and eventually was recognized as the official religion of the Empire in Rome, hence the name Roman Catholicism. In the 2nd century, a leader in the area named Ignatius used the word catholicity to describe how Christianity was already found in the universal Roman world as it was seen and practiced by at that time. This period of time when Jesus and his early apostles preached his word was called the apostolic age. When Rome fell in the middle of the 5th century, the church thought their power in the west was tempo...

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...Fridays of Lent. Also, Catholics can only drink water one hour prior to taking Communion. The official prayer of the Catholic religion is called liturgy. Catholic Church services are called Masses. Each Mass service consists of readings from the Bible and preaching from the priest, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, in which bread and wine are symbolically given to become the body and blood of Christ and are eaten in Communion.

Works Cited

Collinge, William J. "Christianity: Roman Catholicism." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Ed. Thomas Riggs. Vol. 1: Religions and Denominations. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 242-251. Student Resources in Context. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.

"Roman Catholicism." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

Ridenour, Fritz. So What's the Difference? Ventura, CA: Regal, 2001. Print.