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Changes in the Roman Catholic Church

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St. Peter's square marks the capital of the Catholic religion.

The Catholic Church is one of the oldest forms of Christianity. Naturally, the Church of today is very different from the early Church in the Roman Empire, and this is partially due to the adaptations the Church has made. In particular, there have been several times when the future of Catholicism is shaped by the decisions of ecumenical councils. Though Catholics themselves would deny that the councils broke with previous teachings and traditions, the outcomes of these councils marked significant developments for Catholicism.

  1. First Council of Nicea, 325

    • Since its beginnings, Catholicism struggled with those who purported errors concerning Catholic doctrine. At Nicea, in modern Turkey, the Church hierarchy successfully defined its position against the errors of Arianism, a belief that denied the Church's position on the divinity of Christ. To guard against this and other, similar errors, the council generated a statement of Catholic beliefs, which is recited by Catholics around the globe daily as the Nicene Creed. Significantly, the pope and other ecclesiastic leaders assented to the Council's decisions, thus confirming the binding authority it would have on Catholics afterward.

    Council of Trent, 1545 to 1563

    • Though many attempted to break with Catholicism over the centuries, no Christian denomination ever succeeded in displacing it as the dominant religion in Western Europe. In the mid-16th century, however, a combination of Church weakness and Martin Luther's theological revolution resulted in the formation of Protestantism, which contested the authority of the Church over Christians.

      Against Luther's teachings, the Church redefined the necessity of the sacraments and grace for salvation, as well as the exclusive authority of the Catholic Church over questions of moral authority, including the translation and interpretation of the Bible. The Council stands as the most important element of the Catholic Counter Reformation, for its proscriptions began a movement to reform abuses within the Church, and the Tridentine form of the mass that sprang from it became standard practice for more than 400 years.

    First Vatican Council, 1869 to 1870

    • Just as Luther's ideas had made many question the wisdom of Church teachings, so also did the new beliefs of rationalism, liberalism and materialism. To defend the Church against the invasion of these beliefs, the First Vatican Council re-defined its position on the authority of the pope, as well as the incompatibility of rationalism with Catholicism. Two dogmatic constitutions were issued to deal with each of these concerns: "Dei Filius" re-affirmed the belief in the divine and necessary nature of the Catholic Church for salvation. "Pastor Aeternus" defined the belief that the pope had supreme authority over the Catholic Church, and his edicts in matters of faith and morals are infallible, due to the protection that Christ has promised this office.

    Second Vatican Council, 1962 to1965

    • Though the First Vatican Council had intended to examine the direction of the Church, the Council was cut short by the invasion of an Italian army, and it failed to reconvene to discuss this and other matters. When Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, much of its intention was to re-examine the Church's relationship with its faithful in light of dramatic social, political, economic and even technological changes since Trent.

      Like other Councils, the Second Vatican concerned itself with defining the Church's position in light of modern issues. Its documents of "Lumen Gentiu" and "Dei Verbum" declared the Church's traditional position that it housed the fullness of truth within it, and that the interpretation of Scripture should not be subjected to re-interpretation, though some historically conditioned approaches may be allowed.

      "Sacrosanctum Concilium" provided the most significant changes for Catholics, for it authorized greater participation by the laity in the mass, as well as for it to be offered in native, non-Latin languages. Though the Second Vatican represented similar, non-substantial changes to Catholicism, as did Nicea, Trent and the First Vatican, the Second Vatican Council's purpose is often obscured by widespread abuse of its proscriptions.

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