Marriage In The Catholic Church Marriage in the Catholic Church, also known as holy matrimony, is the “covenant by which a man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and...
Sex And Gender Roles In The Catholic Church Sex and gender roles in the Roman Catholic Church have been the subject of both intrigue and controversy throughout the Church’s history. The cultural influence of the Catholic Church has been vast, particularly upon Western society. Christian concepts, introduced into evangelized societies worldwide by the Church,...
Catholic Theology Of Sexuality Catholic theology of sexuality, like Catholic theology in general, is drawn from natural law, canonical scripture, divine revelation, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic Church. Sexual morality evaluates sexual behavior according to standards laid out by Catholic moral theology and often provides general principles by which Catholics can evaluate whether...
Catholic Theology On The Body This article covers Catholic theology on the body. The theology on the body is a broad term for Catholic teachings on the human body. The dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, defined in Pope Pius XII’s 1950 apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, is one of the most recent developments in the Catholic theology of...
Catholic-Protestant Relations Catholic-Protestant relations refer to the social, political, and theological relations and dialogue between the Catholics and Protestants. This relationship began in the 16th century with the beginning of the reformation and thereby Protestantism. A number of factors contributed to the Protestant Reformation. Namely, disagreement on the nature of salvation and by extension...
Catholic Ecumenical Councils This article covers Catholic Ecumenical Councils. According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical (“world-wide”), if it is “a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him”. In addition to ecumenical Councils, there...
Catholic Church And Ecumenism This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and Ecumenism. The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement, especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside...
Catholic Church And Judaism This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and Judaism. Christianity started as a movement within Judaism in the mid-1st century. Worshipers of the diverging religions initially co-existed, but began branching out under Paul the Apostle. In 380, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, and a...
Catholic Church And Slavery This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and slavery in detail. The issue of slavery was historically treated with concern by the Catholic Church. Throughout most of human history, slavery has been practiced and accepted by many cultures and religions around the world, including ancient Rome. Certain passages in...
Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Cases This article covers Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in detail. There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, nuns, Popes, and other members of religious life. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities,...
Catholic Church And Abortion This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and abortion. The official teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus, since it holds...
Women In The Catholic Church This article covers the role of women in the Catholic Church. Women play significant roles in the life of the Catholic Church, although excluded from the Catholic hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons. In the history of the Catholic Church, the church often influenced social attitudes toward women. Influential...
Canon Law Of The Catholic Church The canon law of the Catholic Church (“canon law” comes from Latin ius canonicum) is “how the Church organizes and governs herself”. It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of...
Anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the United States, turned anti-Catholicism, opposition to the Pope (anti-Papalism), mockery of Catholic rituals, and opposition to Catholic adherents into major political themes. The anti-Catholic sentiment which resulted from this trend...
Catholic Art Catholic art is art produced by or for members of the Catholic Church. This includes visual art (iconography), sculpture, decorative arts, applied arts, and architecture. In a broader sense, Catholic music and other art may be included as well. Expressions of art may or may not attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form Catholic teaching....
Mediatrix In Catholic Mariology, the title Mediatrix refers to the intercessory role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvific redemption by her son Jesus Christ and that he bestows graces through her. Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by many saints since at least the 5th century. Its use grew...
Queen Of Heaven Queen of Heaven (Regina Caeli) is a title given to the Virgin Mary, by Christians mainly of the Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The Catholic teaching on this subject is expressed in the papal encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, issued by Pope Pius XII in 1954. It states that Mary...
Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala (Malabar region), who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity. They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Saint Thomas...
Schism Of 1552 The schism of 1552 was an important event in the history of the Church of the East. It divided the church into two factions, of which one entered into communion with Rome becoming part of the Catholic Church at this time and the other remained independent until the 19th century. Although the Eliya line,...
Ecumenical Patriarchate Of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constantinopolitanus; Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi, İstanbul Ekümenik Patrikhanesi, “Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate”) is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches (or “jurisdictions”) that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, currently Bartholomew, Archbishop...