Important Eras in the History of the Catholic Church

Eras in the Catholic Church

Catholic Church history is composed of many eras. Listed below is a brief outline of these eras and how each one highlighted both favorable and unfavorable events.

From the historical Jesus to the rescript of Milan

We have in this historical period many events. Here is a list with brief descriptions or enumerations.

• The historical existence of Jesus up to His passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven
• The birth of the Church at Pentecost and the forming of the first Christain communities
• The spread of Christianity through the missions of St. Paul
• The leadership of the Church Fathers
• Beginnings of crises, schisms and heresies: Gnostic systems, Manichaeism, Marcionism, The Encratius, Montanism and others
• Beginnings and prevalence of Christian persecutions in the Roman Empire
• The conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity and his eventual proclamation of a rescript (the rescript of Milan, 313), that makes Christianity an official religion in the Roman Empire

From Constantine the great to Gregory the great

• Due to certain dogmatic (truths about the faith) controversies, the General Councils in the East were held
• Doctrines on the Trinity and on Christology were being established
• Great forerunners of various doctrines were: St. Ambrose, St. Augustine (in relation to his struggle for the doctrine of grace and justification), St. Jerome and Pope Gregory the Great
• This was also the era of monasticism; many founders of monasteries led this movement towards an intense prayer life and seclusion from the world

The Middle Ages from 604-700 AD

• The first missionary wave: in German lands, Irish country, and the Anglo-Saxon continent
• The Church becomes a champion of the developing West

The Middle Ages from 700-1050 AD

• The veritable foundation of the Christian West
• The League of the papacy with the Frankish kingdom
• Leadership of Charlemagne in the Western Empire
• The Carolingian empire starts to decline
• Otto the Great and the rejuvenation of the Western empire

The Middle Ages from 1050-1300 AD

• The flowering of the Church in the High Middle Ages through Cluny and the monastic reform movement
• The great Eastern Schism of 1054: the Church is fully divided between the East (with its center at Constantinople) and the West (with its center at Rome)
• The Crusades start as a result of the Holy Land being overran by Islam (Knightly Orders are founded to battle Islamic dominion of the Holy Land)
• The Imitation of Christ becomes popular
• The Inquisition examines all those who do not conform to Church teaching; some are condemned
• The Great Mendicant Orders are born: St. Francis of Assisi and his followers, and St. Dominic and the Dominicans
• The flowering of theology and the universities; scholasticism and its adherents teach a lot about the faith
• The Church is at its height of dominion and rule through the papacy of Innocent III

The Middle Ages from 1300-1500 AD

• The Papacy becomes divided: one at Avignon, France and one at Rome, Italy (St. Catherine of Siena was instrumental in solving this problem
• This is also the era of the Renaissance Popes like Alexander VI and Julius II

The Modern Church from 1500-1789 AD

• Abuses in the late Medieval Church led to the demand for reforms; Martin Luther and others were at the forefront of this movement
• Aside from Martin Luther, there was Ulrich Zwingli and the Anabaptists, and John Calvin and the reformation in Geneva
  
• Eventually, these reformers were led to break away from the Catholic Church and form their own communities


• England also broke away because of dispute between Henry VIII and Thomas More on the matter of divorce


• Attempts at ecclesiastical reforms were made before the eventual calling of the Council of Trent in 1545-1563


• The Catholic Church was reconstructed after the Council in terms of: the Papacy, the Episcopate, and the birth of loyal religious orders like the Society of Jesus


• This was also the era of world mission, the age of geographical discoveries, the birth of Christianity in Latin America, the missions to India and China and more
• The Enlightenment in Europe becomes a strong influential intellectual force

The Modern Church from 1789-1918 AD

• The French Revolution and Secularization started this era in the Church
• The Catholic Church was restored in nineteenth century Germany, France and Spain
• The Church still remained in England and also spread to the United States
• The First Vatican Council was held during this era

The Modern Church from 1918 AD to present

• This is an era marked by two world wars
• Three popes remarkably led the Church during this modern age: John XXIII and his call to begin the Second Vatican Council - the Council that led to much liturgical change and new theology in the Church; Paul VI - a Pope who continued the Vatican Council after John XXIII died before its culmination and was instrumental in keeping the moral ideal of no contraception among Catholics; and John Paul II - the Pope who was the most missionary, and stressed the importance of holiness in the Church by beatifying and canonizing numerous blesseds and saints
• Pope emeritus Benedict succeeded the long 26-year papacy of St. John Paul II and directed the Church towards a post-John Paul II theology and spirituality

The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation

The Reformation and Counter-Reformation

A response to a growing decadence

The Reformation started at the beginning of the fifteenth century. It lasted until the end of the seventeenth century with the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This reform movement came about because of these negative realities: the increasing decadence of the popes, the general laxity of the clergy, the excessive financial demands of the Holy See, and the political encroachments of the papacy. These negative realities caused some voices to be raised against Rome: protesting voices like John Huss, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Servetus, Zwingli, and Calvin, to name some. Many of these protesting voices broke up with the Catholic Church. These events soon affected religious life in Europe so greatly that the Holy Roman Empire eventually fell to pieces.

The Counter-Reformation, Trent, and the Spanish leadership

Because of the very divisive events that followed one after another, the Church had to establish her doctrine more solidly to confute the protesting voices which sought to undermine also what was good in Catholicism. It took the Catholic Church to organize a Council (Trent) that lasted for twenty-five sessions within a span of eighteen years before a satisfactory definition of the Catholic faith was re-established. This movement to redefine the Catholic foundation was the Counter-Reformation. Though the Holy Roman Empire fell into pieces as a result of many divisive events, the Holy See at Rome had delegated to the king of Spain a spiritual sovereignty not only within the framework of Spain's continental territory but also extended to the New World (the Americas). This is the reason why the proponents of the Counter-Reformation came from the Spaniards St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The Catholic Reformation at the grass roots


Though the Counter-Reformation had its main movement in ecclesiastical and hierarchical circles, there was also the same movement in the grass roots level. On a small scale, there were devout leaders who moved their religious order to undertake reform. Already mentioned were St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross - both reformers of their Carmelite Order. Aside from these two, there were also: the Franciscan Observatine preachers St. Bernardine of Siena and St. John Capistrano; the Benedictines of Bursfeld and Melk Congregations; the Dominican Lombard Congregation; and many Augustinian monasteries. The reform movement in these religious communities had achieved a certain degree of renewal and was sustained to a certain degree. However, renewal in these grass roots level was not as completely obtained as that of the leaders of the Council, since there often was no support coming from ecclesiastical circles.

Spiritual inspiration and centers of influence


In other grass roots sectors of the Church, there were also some great works and outstanding contributions to the Counter-Reformation movement. One of these was the work of Geert Groote (d. 1384) - who lived a spirituality that captures the ideals embedded in the classic spiritual work, "The Imitation of Christ". Two important fifteenth century congregations - the Canons of St. Augustine of Windesheim and the Brethren of the Common Life - owed their beginnings to Groote's inspiration. Another center of renewal and spiritual influence during this time came from the Carthusian Order. This religious order, founded by St. Bruno, is spiritually structured so as to have no need for reform. Their charterhouse at Cologne exerted quite a considerable influence to many devotees and acted as a spiritual center for many peoples.

Division in Christianity

Since at the grass roots level, which also includes the parishes and the lay faithful, the works of the reformers was constantly frustrated by the failure of the Church hierarchy to support them, many turned to the other doctrines and teachings of the Protestant reformers. As a result, Christian Europe was divided. The whole of northern Germany became Lutheran while the whole of Western Germany became Calvinist. England and her Anglican Church soon broke up with Rome. Only in the south of Europe did the influence of Rome remain unshaken: in Italy, Spain, Austria and Bohemia. In France, most of the French remained Catholic but their sovereigns veered toward Protestantism. This religious schism that gripped Europe also became part of an international war that not only involved mutual excommunications but also the spread of violence and strife. This fight raged on not only between brothers, among families, and between cities, but also among groups of peoples and nations.

Restoration in the post-Tridentine Church


After the Council of Trent applied the implementation of the decrees, the restoration of Catholic life began. This restoration was to be one of the most wonderful phenomena in Church history. Some historians refer to it as an "era of saints". The Catholic faithful, which felt like a retreating army against the Protestant reformers, now gave way to a new battle spirit and a rediscovered self-assurance. And those who also were not overcome during the height of the Protestant reformers influence, but remained very loyal to the practices of their beliefs, now once again rejoiced in their faith. What now appeared in the frontline of ecclesiastical reforms are those who were gifted with the charisma of saints - with saints like St. Pius V (the first pope who became a saint after a lapse of three hundred years), St. Charles Borromeo (the archbishop of Milan who reformed the diocesan seminary structure of the Church), and St. Francis de Sales (the bishop of Geneva who co-founded the Visitation Order and wrote the great spiritual classic, "Introduction to the Devout Life").

Summary

The Reformation and Counter-Reformation movements teach us that the Church, although of divine nature, has human elements. It is the human entity in the Church that is always in need of reform - at any time. Along her history, the Church was led into practices that caused her moral degeneration and a degree of laxity in her system. It was during the 15th-17th centuries wherein the Church was seen to be more in need of reform than any of the centuries that have passed. What is sad was that the reform movement was divided completely. Martin Luther did not intend to break up with the Catholic Church at the start of his protest. However, events led to the division of the Reformation into a Protestant Reformation and a Catholic Reformation. The Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation, however was able to restore the dignity of the Church that was almost destroyed by the events that transpired during this very critical centuries. It was the Council of Trent that provided the solution to the crisis.