Emergence of the Church and the Papacy in Medieval Europe

EMERGENCE OF CHURCH:

Ø  Christianity kept many practices from Jewish tradition. Christianity thought the Jewish scriptures to be sacred and used mostly the Septuagint edition [Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures] and translation as the Old Testament, and added other texts as the New Testament.

Ø  Christians professed Jesus to be the God of Israel, having taken human form, and considered Jesus to be the Messiah (Christ) who had been prophesied about in the Old Testament and so was expected by the people of Israel.

Ø  Christianity continued many Judaic practices: ritual worship, including the use of incense, an altar, a set of scriptural readings adapted from synagogue practice, use of sacred music in hymns and prayer, and a religious calendar, as well as other typical features: an exclusively male priesthood, and ascetic practices.

PERSECUTIONS OF CHRISTIANS:

Ø  According to Church tradition, it was under Nero's persecution that the saints Peter  and Paul  became martyrs in Rome. Several of the New Testament writings mention persecutions and very difficult times.

Ø  For 250 years there were times when Christians suffered from persecutions, because they refused to worship the Roman emperor. That was seen as treason and punished by execution. But the Christian religion continued to spread throughout the Mediterranean region. In the late fourth century they became the dominant religious force of the Roman Empire. 

CHRISTIANITY LEGALIZED:

Ø  Emperor Galerius issued an edict permitting the practice of the Christian religion in April of 311CE.

Ø  In 313CE, Emperor Constantine I and Emperor Licinius announced toleration of Christianity in the Milan. Constantine became the first Christian emperor; he had learnt about Christianity from his mother, Mrs. Helena.

Ø  By 391CE, under the reign of Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity had become the state religion of Rome. When Christianity was legalized the Church took the same provinces for administration as the imperial government and called them dioceses. The Bishop of Rome claimed to be the highest amongst all others and chose the title ‘Pope’.

Ø  During this era, there were several Ecumenical Councils. Ecumenical Councils were a meeting of the Bishops of the church of the whole world who have come together to discuss matters of Church doctrine and practice. These were mostly concerned with Christological disputes. The two Councils of Niceaea (324, 382) condemned Arianism and produced the Nicene Creed to define the faith.

Ø  The Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorianism and affirmed the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Theotokos ("God-bearer" or "Mother of God"). Perhaps the most important was the Council of Chalcedon that affirmed that Christ had two natures, fully God and fully man, at the same time. That meant that Monophysitism was condemned.

THE PAPACY:

Ø  Papacy, the office and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope  (Latin  papa, from Greek pappas, “father”),  who presides over the central government of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest of the three major branches of Christianity.

Ø  The term Pope was originally applied to all the Bishops in the West and also used to describe the patriarch of Alexandria, who still retains the title. In 1073, however, Pope Gregory VII restricted its use to the Bishop of Rome, confirming a practice that had existed since the 9th century.

Ø  Lord Jesus Christ is believed to have appointed Peter as the rock on which the church will be built; and Peter is believed to have been martyred in Rome. As the capital of the empire, Rome is also a natural centre for the growing church.

THE FIRST CHURCHES: AD 312-337:

Ø  Constantine establishes three important churches in Rome. They are St John church,St Paul church and St Peter church.

THE SACK OF ROME: AD 410

Ø  Both the emperor (Honorius) and the Pope (Innocent I) safely fled and sheltering on the coast, at Ravenna, when Alaric and his Visigoths entered Rome in AD 410 and spend three days of plunder.

LEO THE GREAT: AD 440-461

Ø  The first Pope to indicate the real potential of the papacy is Leo I, who has an unusual span of twenty-one years in office. He uses his time well, not only in the papal duty of restraining heretics but also in rehearsing other roles to be played by Rome.

Ø  Leo was born in Tuscany in Italy around the year 400 and served as an advisor and diplomat for two popes. He was still a deacon when he was elected pope. Pope Leo was the first pope to call himself the successor to St. Peter.

Ø  These include defining Catholic orthodoxy (his epistle called Tome is widely accepted by his contemporaries in this context), and the assertion of the Pope's authority over other Bishops by the power of the keys, granted by Jesus to Peter and supposedly passed on to his successor

Ø  Pope Leo was responsible for important changes in the Church year. He added new feasts and placed greater importance on the celebration of Christmas. He replaced pagan holidays with Christian celebrations and began the practice of fasting during certain Church seasons.

Ø  Heresies, or false teachings, were another area of concern for Pope Leo. He wrote letters to the bishops to help them better understand the true teachings of the Church that have come down to us from the Apostles; he gave sermons correcting false teachings, and he even called an important Church meeting to deal with confusion caused by false teachings.

Ø  Leo the Great is also responsible for helping people understand the meaning of the Incarnation, God becoming man in Jesus. For his great gift of teaching, Pope Leo has been given the title of Doctor of the Church.

Ø  Pope Leo was also a peacemaker. During Leo's pontificate Rome is threatened by Attila the Hun (in 452) and Gaiseric the Vandal (455). He negotiates with both, and is traditionally credited with persuading Attila to turn back short of Rome and with convincing Gaiseric that the city should not be utterly destroyed.

Ø  Leo is best known for being a good shepherd and pastor for all the people of the Church, from the bishops to the poor who begged for food on the streets of Rome. He reached out to the poor and neglected people of the world and urged the bishops to do the same. His homilies helped people know how to live their faith because they were full of practical advice. He died around November 10 in the year 461.

GREGORY THE GREAT: AD 590-604

Ø  Gregory (c. 540-604) was born into a prominent family. He studied law and by age 30 was mayor of Rome. He entered the Benedictine monastery, hoping to live a simple life and distributing his wealth to the poor and to monasteries.

Ø  That hope changed quickly. Gregory was sent to represent the pope in the court of the emperor of Constantinople. Gregory was sent back to Rome to become the pope’s secretary. When Pope Pelagius II died in 596, Gregory, who was at that time abbot of his monastery, was elected to take his place.

Ø  During his 14-year pontificate, Gregory served the faithful in many pastoral ways. His monastic background enabled him to improve the liturgy and church music. Gregorian chant is named in his honor. Many of the prayers recited in the Eucharist are attributed to Pope Gregory, for example, the Christmas Preface and the Preface of Easter and the Ascension. He is also credited with the placement of the “Our Father” in the Mass.

Ø  Gregory’s papal writings and teachings were extremely influential. They were based on his vision of pastoral care to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the people. Pope Gregory rebuilt ruined churches. His talents were spiritual and also tempered with day-to-day practicality, and he lived as simply as a monk.

Ø  He updated clergy education and emphasized the urgency of preaching and living the Good News. During a time of famine throughout Europe, Pope Gregory organized the distribution of food to the starving and encouraged the rich to serve the poor. He called this work “the art of arts.”

Ø  Gregory was a genuinely pastoral pope. His profound concern for the poor shaped the direction of ministry for centuries. No single person in the history of the church other than St. Benedict did more to reverse the Dark Age than Gregory the Great. One small example of Gregory’s pastoral concern was his introduction of illustrated Bibles in order to make the word of God accessible to the illiterate.

Ø  Pope Gregory I combined pastoral leadership and prayer with personal holiness and social service. But his later years were troubled with poor health. He died on March 12, 604, and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica with the epitaph “Consul of God.”

Ø   He was canonized by acclamation at the time of his death. He is the patron saint of musicians and teachers. You will often see a dove in artwork of Gregory; it was said that when he dictated homilies to his assistant, a dove could be seen speaking from his mouth.