Topic
Church History
The story of the Church from Pentecost through the councils, the great schism and the Reformation — told honestly.
Questions about church history
All in Q&A
Why do Catholics believe in the Real Presence?
Because Jesus said so, and meant it literally. In John 6 he insisted repeatedly that his flesh must be eaten, let disciples walk away rather than soften it, and at the Last Supper said "This is my body." The earliest Christians read these words literally, and the Church has never stopped doing so.
Who decided which books are in the Bible?
The books of the Bible were written over many centuries, but the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, discerned which writings were inspired. The full 73-book canon was set out by regional councils in the late fourth century and solemnly defined by the Council of Trent in 1546.
What is the difference between Catholic and Orthodox Christians?
Catholic and Orthodox Christians share the same sacraments, apostolic succession and nearly all doctrine. The main differences concern the authority of the Pope, the wording of the Creed (the "filioque"), and some liturgical and disciplinary practices. The division dates especially from 1054.
Was the Catholic Church the first Church?
Catholics believe the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Jesus on the apostles around A.D. 30–33. The early Church already had bishops, the Eucharist, and a recognized role for Rome. The name "Catholic Church" appears by A.D. 107. The great divisions came later — the East–West split in 1054 and the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.
What was the Protestant Reformation?
The Reformation was a 16th-century movement, begun by Martin Luther in 1517, that challenged Church abuses and key Catholic teachings, leading to the formation of Protestant churches. The Catholic Church responded with genuine reform at the Council of Trent. Today Catholics and Protestants work toward reconciliation while real differences remain.
Why are there so many religious orders? Can anybody join?
Each order exists for its own purpose — the Franciscans' love for the poor, the Dominicans' preaching, the Benedictines' monastic life. Only priests who belong to an order are consecrated religious, but secular priests, permanent deacons and lay people can join an order's third order as tertiaries.
Why all the fuss about The Da Vinci Code, since it's just fiction?
The Church as an institution has made no official statement on the book. The concern comes from faithful Catholics who saw it confuse people about the early Church, Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and Christian doctrine — and Dan Brown himself presented it as based on fact. Calling a work fiction does not license spreading historical falsehoods.
Who runs the Catholic Church between popes?
During an interregnum, the day-to-day business of the Church is handled by the cardinal camerlengo (chamberlain). He makes only decisions of immediate necessity; anything not urgent waits for the new pope.
Why are snipers a routine part of the pope's security?
Besides being head of the Church, the pope is head of state of Vatican City. Like other heads of state, he has an armed security detail — and John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in 1981.
What are the criteria for a pope choosing his name?
There are no official criteria. Popes usually honor a predecessor or someone they admire, or signal the direction of their papacy. The only unwritten custom is that no pope takes the name Peter.
Where did the Bible's chapter and verse numbers come from?
The chapter divisions are usually credited to Stephen Langton, a 13th-century English scholar who became Catholic archbishop of Canterbury. The verse numbers are generally credited to Robert Estienne (Stephanus), a 16th-century French printer.
Was Benedict XVI the 264th or the 265th pope?
Both numbers are correct, counted differently. Benedict XVI was the 264th successor of Peter — and since Peter was the first pope, that makes Benedict the 265th pope.
Why is the pope's cassock white when other clergy usually wear black?
The custom goes back to Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican who kept wearing his white Dominican habit as pope. His successors continued it, and white is now the pope's traditional color.
When Aquinas likened his work to straw, was that a retraction?
No. After a revelation at Mass in 1273, Aquinas stopped writing, saying all he had written seemed like straw compared with what he had seen. No one has understood this as a retraction: Leo XIII promoted Thomism, and Aquinas was named a Doctor of the Church.
Why did past popes refer to themselves as "we"?
The "royal we" is a custom borrowed from monarchy. Popes were traditionally regarded as monarchs and used some of a sovereign's protocols. As recent popes have set aside the outward trappings of monarchy, the "royal we" has become less common.
Did the Church change its doctrine during the Counter-Reformation?
No. The Council of Trent changed discipline, not doctrine: it founded seminaries, unified the liturgy, and clarified doctrine without — as it could not — changing it. The Protestant Reformation, by contrast, produced continual division over interpreting Scripture.
Why did Henry VIII need a dispensation to marry his brother's widow?
Because of the impediment of affinity. In the 16th century, affinity arose from intercourse itself and reached beyond direct-line relatives. Since Catherine was presumed to have had relations with Henry's brother, the impediment had to be dispensed before she and Henry could validly marry.
Is St. Christopher still a saint?
Yes. His feast is no longer on the universal calendar, but he is still recognized as a saint. He was an early martyr about whom little is known; like many early saints he was acclaimed, not formally canonized, and his feast may still be kept locally.
Did Fulton Sheen support Vatican II?
Yes. In his autobiography Treasure in Clay, Sheen devoted a chapter to the Council and called Gaudium et Spes "brilliant." He saw the turmoil after the Council as the kind of opposition that always follows an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Was Luther's revision of the Bible a return to the "true Bible" of the early Church?
No. No early council endorsed the 66-book Protestant canon. The 73-book canon appears at the Council of Rome (382, though scholars dispute its decisions) and at Hippo and Carthage (393, 397). Luther dropped seven books, questioned others, and added words to his German translation of Romans.
Has the Church ever condemned a Marian devotion as idolatrous?
Yes. In the fourth and fifth centuries the Collyridians treated Mary as a goddess, offering her a sacrifice of bread in their liturgies. St. Epiphanius of Salamis defended the orthodox position against them in his Panarion.
Should John Paul II have retired because of his infirmity?
John Paul II saw staying in office as accepting the cross Christ gave him; to those urging him to resign he said Christ didn't come down from the cross. His service to the end showed the papacy is a call to service and suffering, not efficiency.
Did Fulton Sheen take a permissive stand on contraception?
No. There is no substantive evidence he rejected the Church's teaching; he defended it before and after Humanae Vitae. In his 1969 interview with David Frost he called it "the law," while expressing sympathy for those who struggle, and his books Three to Get Married and The World's First Love firmly oppose contraception.
Did Christianity borrow from Mithraism?
It seems the reverse. Mithraism had some similarities to Christianity, but our knowledge of it is very imperfect, and in a number of details Mithraism was probably the borrower from Christianity.
Is kneeling a construct of feudal relations from the Byzantine court?
No. Even if it were, kneeling expresses humility in our culture. But kneeling as submission is far older than Byzantium: it appears throughout the Old and New Testaments — Jesus himself knelt to pray in Gethsemane.
How can the Church of St. Pius X be compared with that of John Paul II?
Without specific charges, they can't really be compared. Both popes were innovators — Pius X shocked many by admitting children of seven to Communion and urging frequent Communion. The Church's practice and understanding develop, as a man grows from childhood while staying the same person; both can be holy popes.
Why did the Church ban the Divine Mercy devotion from 1959 to 1978?
Faulty translations from the Polish made St. Faustina's writings appear doctrinally suspect, so the Holy See suppressed the devotion for about twenty years. Once the translations were corrected, the ban was lifted — largely through the work of the Archbishop of Krakow, who became John Paul II that same year.
Newman said "to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." Why don't more Protestant historians become Catholic?
Newman's maxim is a general observation, not a rule. Belief in Catholicism is ultimately a gift of faith that must be accepted and acted on. Some may not have received it; others may not have accepted it. We commend them to God's mercy, trusting that those who follow him according to their light may be saved.
Did Pope Leo X say "It has served us well, this myth of Christ"?
There is no documentation for it. The quote is believed to come from a satirical work, "The Pageant of the Popes," by the Protestant controversialist John Bale (1495–1563).
What happened to the three prayers at the end of Low Mass?
These were the Leonine prayers, requested by Leo XIII after Low Mass for the whole Church and later offered by Pius XI for Russia's conversion: three Hail Marys, the Hail Holy Queen, the prayer to St. Michael and a threefold invocation of the Sacred Heart. They were never part of the Missal, and their removal came before Vatican II closed in 1964.