Catholic Church

{{Short description|Christian church based in Rome}} {{Redirect-several|Catholic Church|Catholic|Catholicism|Roman Catholic Church}} {{Good article}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=December 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox Christian denomination | icon = Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg | icon_width = 25px | icon_alt = Emblem of the Holy See | name = Catholic Church | native_name = Ecclesia Catholica | native_name_lang = la | image = Saint Peter's Basilica facade, Rome, Italy.jpg | imagewidth = 300px | alt = Saint Peter's Basilica | caption = St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the largest Catholic church building in the world | abbreviation = | main_classification = Catholic | type = | scripture = Catholic Bible | theology = Catholic theology | polity = Episcopal<ref name="Episcopal_Polity">{{cite book|title=Notes of the Episcopal Polity of the Holy Catholic Church|last=Marshall|first=Thomas William|year=1844|location=London|publisher=Levey, Rossen and Franklin|id={{ASIN|1163912190|country=uk}}}}</ref> | governance = Holy See and Roman Curia | leader_title = Pope | leader_name = {{Incumbent pope}} | fellowships_type = {{br list|Particular churches |''sui iuris''}} | fellowships = Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches | fellowships_type1 = | fellowships1 = | division_type = Dioceses | division = {{plainlist| * Archdioceses: 640 * Dioceses: 2,851}} | division_type1 = Parishes | division1 = 221,700 approx. | area = Worldwide | language = Ecclesiastical Latin and native languages | liturgy = Latin and Eastern | headquarters = Vatican City | founder = {{Ubl | Jesus Christ, according to | sacred tradition}} | founded_date = 1st century | founded_place = Roman Empire<ref name="RCC">{{cite web|last=Stanford|first=Peter|authorlink=Peter Stanford|title=Roman Catholic Church|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml|website=BBC Religions|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106083425/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=18}} | separations = {{plainlist| * Protestantism * Old Catholicism * Independent Catholicism * Sedevacantism}} | members = {{ubil | 1.279 billion according to ''World Christian Database'' (2026)<ref name="WorldChristianDatabase">{{cite web |last1=Zurlo |first1=Gina A. |last2=Johnson |first2=Todd M. |last3=Crossing |first3=Peter F. |title=Status of Global Christianity, 2026, in the Context of 1900 –2075 |url=https://dev.worldchristiandatabase.org/static/downloads/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2026.2b54be19fc0c.pdf |website=www.worldchristiandatabase.org |publisher=Brill |quote=Christian total 2,673,989,000, Catholic total 1,278,885,000 (47.8% of all Christians) |language=en |date=2026}}</ref> | 1.406 billion according to the ''Annuario Pontificio'' (2023)<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025">{{cite web | title=The Pontifical Yearbook 2025 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2023 | website=L'Osservatore Romano | date=March 20, 2025 | url=https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2025-03/quo-064/aumentano-i-cattolici-nel-mondo-sono-un-miliardo-e-406-milioni.html | language=it | access-date=March 26, 2025}}</ref> }} | ministers_type = Clergy | ministers = {{plainlist| * Bishops: 5,430 * Priests: 406,996 * Deacons: 51,433 * (2023)<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" /> }} | hospitals = {{ubl | 18,000 clinics | 5,500 hospitals<ref name="World Development p.40">Calderisi, Robert. ''Earthly Mission – The Catholic Church and World Development''; TJ International Ltd; 2013; p. 40</ref> }} | nursing_homes = 16,000<ref name="World Development p.40" /> | primary_schools = 95,200<ref name="Vermont_winter">{{cite journal|title=Laudato Si|journal=Vermont Catholic|date=2016–2017|edition=Winter|volume=8|issue=4|page=73|url=http://www.onlinedigeditions.com/publication/index.php?i=365491&m=&l=&p=1&pre=&ver=html5#{%22page%22:74,%22issue_id%22:365491}|access-date=19 December 2016}}</ref> | secondary_schools = 43,800 | website = {{URL|https://www.vatican.va/|vatican.va}} }} {{Catholic Church sidebar}} {{Christianity|expanded=hide}}

The '''Catholic Church''' ({{langx|la|Ecclesia Catholica}}), also called the '''Roman Catholic Church''',{{refn|group=note|This term may either refer to the entire church, including both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, or to the Latin Church specifically.}} is the largest Christian church, with an estimated 1.28 to 1.41 billion baptized members worldwide as of 2026. It consists of 24 autonomous (''sui iuris'') churches—the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches—organized into nearly 3,500 dioceses and eparchies governed by bishops. Throughout history, the church has had a large role in the development of Western civilization. Catholic communities are present worldwide through missions, immigration, and conversions. The majority of Catholics live in the Global South, reflecting rapid demographic growth in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as secularization in parts of Europe and North America.

Catholic doctrine is rooted in the Nicene Creed and holds that the church is the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" founded by Jesus Christ.<ref name="Catholic News Service">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703923.htm |title=Vatican congregation reaffirms truth, oneness of Catholic Church |publisher=Catholic News Service |access-date=17 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070710201403/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703923.htm |archive-date=10 July 2007}}</ref>{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=7}}{{refn|group=note|While the Catholic Church considers itself to be the authentic continuation of the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ, it teaches that other Christian churches and communities can be in an imperfect communion with the Catholic Church.<ref name="note1cite1" /><ref name="note1cite2" />}} It teaches that bishops are the successors of the apostles and that the pope—the bishop of Rome—is the successor of Saint Peter the Apostle, entrusted with a unique and primary pastoral role. The pope serves as the head of the church; the Diocese of Rome forms his local jurisdiction, while the Holy See serves as the church's central governing authority through the Roman Curia. Apostolic teaching is understood to be transmitted through Scripture and sacred tradition, interpreted by the magisterium, the church's teaching authority. Catholic liturgical life includes the Roman Rite, other rites of the Latin Church, and the liturgical traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Religious orders, monastic communities, and lay movements contribute to a wide range of theological and devotional expressions within Catholicism globally.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|835|quote=The rich variety of ... theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches 'unified in a common undertaking shows all the more resplendently the catholicity of the undivided Church'.(cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 23)}}</ref><ref name="Gunton2">Colin Gunton. "Christianity among the Religions in the Encyclopedia of Religion", ''Religious Studies'', Vol. 24, no. 1, p. 14. In a review of an article from the Encyclopedia of Religion, Gunton writes: "[T]he article [on Catholicism in the encyclopedia] rightly suggests caution, suggesting at the outset that Roman Catholicism is marked by several different doctrinal, theological and liturgical emphases."</ref>

Among the church's seven sacraments, the Eucharist is seen as the source and summit of the Christian life and is celebrated in the Mass. Catholics believe that through consecration by a priest, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated as the Mother of God and honored through dogmas such as the Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and Assumption, including devotional practices.{{refn|name=marian_dogmas|{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55423/the-four-marian-dogmas|publisher=Catholic News Agency|title=The Four Marian Dogmas|access-date=25 March 2017}}|}} Catholic social teaching emphasizes care for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. The church operates tens of thousands of educational, medical, and charitable institutions worldwide, becoming the largest non-governmental provider of education and health care.

Its relations with other Christian traditions have been shaped by divisions. The separation between the church and Eastern Orthodox churches within the state Roman church developed gradually and was solidified by the Fourth Crusade, amidst theological and political disputes, especially over papal authority.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davie |first=Grace |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=8 December 2021 |isbn=9780191872402 |pages=70 |language=English}}</ref> Earlier schisms occurred with the Church of the East after the Council of Ephesus (431) and with the Oriental Orthodox Churches following the Council of Chalcedon (451). The 16th-century Protestant Reformation led to new Christian traditions and prompted the Catholic Counter‑Reformation. Since the late 20th century, the church has faced criticism on its teachings on sexuality, clerical celibacy, the ordination of women, and its handling of clerical sexual abuse.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-19 |title=Top 5 Issues Hounding Today's Catholic Church |url=https://www.christianitydaily.com/news/top-5-issues-hounding-todays-catholic-church.html |access-date=2026-01-19 |website=www.christianitydaily.com |language=en-US}}</ref> {{TOC limit|3}}

==Name== {{Further|Catholic (term)|Roman Catholic (term)}} [[File:Ignatius of Antiochie, poss. by Johann Apakass (17th c., Pushkin museum).jpg|thumb|left|The first use of the term "Catholic Church", meaning "universal church", was by the Church Father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his ''Letter to the Smyrnaeans'' in {{circa|110|lk=no}} AD.<ref>John Meyendorff, ''Catholicity and the Church'', St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-88141-006-3}}, p. 7</ref> Ignatius of Antioch also is credited with the first recorded use of the term ''Christianity'' ten years earlier, in {{circa|100|lk=no}} AD.<ref>{{Citation | last1 =Elwell | first1 =Walter | last2 =Comfort | first2 =Philip Wesley | year =2001 | title =Tyndale Bible Dictionary | publisher =Tyndale House Publishers | isbn =0-8423-7089-7|pages=266, 828}}</ref> He died in Rome, with his relics located in San Clemente al Laterano.|253x253px]] Catholic (from {{langx|el|καθολικός|katholikos|universal}}) is first attested as an adjective used to describe the church in the early second century.<ref>MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', p. 127.</ref> The first known use of the phrase "the catholic church" ({{langx|el|καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία|katholikḕ ekklēsía}}) appears in a letter written around AD 100 by Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans,{{refn|group=note|Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans ({{Circa|110 AD|lk=no}})}} which reads: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal [katholike] Church."<ref name="CathEnc1910_Catholic" /> In the ''Catechetical Lectures'' ({{Circa|350|lk=no}}) of Cyril of Jerusalem, the name "Catholic Church" was used to distinguish it from other groups that also called themselves "the church".<ref name="CathEnc1910_Catholic">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Catholic |last=Thurston |first=Herbert |author-link=Herbert Thurston |place=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |date=1908 |access-date=17 August 2012 |editor-first=Kevin |editor-last=Knight |editor-link=Knight |volume=3 |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103033237/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-23.htm |title=Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture XVIII, 26 |publisher=Tertullian.org |date=6 August 2004 |access-date=17 August 2012 |archive-date=8 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608224834/https://www.tertullian.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-23.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The "Catholic" notion was further emphasized in the edict ''De fide catolica'', issued in 380 by Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire, when he established the state church of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/Constitutiones/Thessalonique.htm |title=Edictum de fide catholica |access-date=9 October 2017 |archive-date=8 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208135704/http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/Constitutiones/Thessalonique.htm }}</ref>

Since the East–West Schism of 1054, the Eastern Orthodox Church has taken the adjective "Orthodox" as its distinctive epithet; its official name continues to be the "Orthodox Catholic Church".<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy "Eastern Orthodoxy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531013354/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy |date=31 May 2020 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online.</ref> The Latin Church was described as "Catholic", with that description also denoting those in communion with the Holy See after the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, when those who ceased to be in communion became known as Protestants.<ref>"catholic, adj. and n." Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press, June 2014. Web. 7 August 2014. Excerpt: "After the separation of East and West 'Catholic' was assumed as its descriptive epithet by the Western or Latin Church, as 'Orthodox' was by the Eastern or Greek. At the Reformation, the term 'Catholic' was claimed as its exclusive right by the body remaining under the Roman obedience, in opposition to the 'Protestant' or 'Reformed' National Churches. These, however, also retained the term, giving it, for the most part, a wider and more ideal or absolute sense, as the attribute of no single community, but only of the whole communion of the saved and saintly in all churches and ages. In England, it was claimed that the Church, even as Reformed, was the national branch of the 'Catholic Church' in its proper historical sense." Note: The full text of the OED definition of "catholic" can be consulted here.</ref><ref name="McBrien">McBrien, Richard (2008). ''The Church''. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available [http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245213 Browseinside.harpercollins.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827023130/http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061245213 |date=27 August 2009 }}. Quote: "[T]he use of the adjective 'Catholic' as a modifier of 'Church' became divisive only after the East–West Schism... and the Protestant Reformation. ... In the former case, the Western Church claimed for itself the title ''Catholic'' Church, while the East appropriated the name ''Orthodox'' Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were called ''Protestant''."</ref>

While the "Roman Church" has been used to describe the pope's Diocese of Rome since the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages (6th–10th century), "Roman Catholic Church" has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in the late 16th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/167063|title=Roman Catholic, n. and adj.|work=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=24 October 2017|url-access=subscription|archive-date=25 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625133257/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/167063|url-status=live}}</ref> Further, some refer to the Latin Church as "Roman Catholic" in distinction from the Eastern Catholic churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholicnewsherald.com/88-news/fp/5548-eastern-catholics-where-are-they-where-should-they-be|title=Eastern Catholics: Where are they? Where should they be?|work=Catholic News Herald|publisher=Diocese of Charlotte|date=12 March 2020|access-date=19 March 2022|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104221641/https://catholicnewsherald.com/88-news/fp/5548-eastern-catholics-where-are-they-where-should-they-be|url-status=live}}</ref> "Roman Catholic" has occasionally appeared in documents produced by the Holy See,<ref name="RCHolySeeR" group="note">Examples uses of "Roman Catholic" by the Holy See: the encyclicals [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_31121929_divini-illius-magistri_en.html ''Divini Illius Magistri''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923233927/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_31121929_divini-illius-magistri_en.html |date=23 September 2010 }} of Pope Pius XI and [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html ''Humani generis''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419021937/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html |date=19 April 2012 }} of Pope Pius XII; joint declarations signed by Pope Benedict XVI with [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061123_common-decl_en.html Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on 23 November 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302070228/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061123_common-decl_en.html |date=2 March 2013 }} and [http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/b16bart1decl.htm Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on 30 November 2006.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430072019/http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/b16bart1decl.htm |date=30 April 2011 }}</ref> and has been used by certain national episcopal conferences and local dioceses.<ref name="RCbishop" group="note">Example use of "Roman" Catholic by a bishop's conference: ''The Baltimore Catechism'', an official catechism authorized by the Catholic bishops of the United States, states: "That is why we are called Roman Catholics; to show that we are united to the real successor of St Peter" (Question 118) and refers to the church as the "Roman Catholic Church" under Questions 114 and 131 ([http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/baltimore/bcreed09.htm Baltimore Catechism).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203520/http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/baltimore/bcreed09.htm |date=23 September 2015 }}</ref>

The name "Catholic Church" for the whole church is used in the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (1990) and the ''Code of Canon Law'' (1983). "Catholic Church" is also used in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965),<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Vatican.va.|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council|title=Documents of the II Vatican Council|access-date=4 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040605190838/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/|archive-date=5 June 2004|quote=Note: The pope's signature appears in the Latin version.}}</ref> the First Vatican Council (1869–1870),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum20.htm|title=Decrees of the First Vatican Council – Papal Encyclicals|date=29 June 1868|access-date=29 July 2018|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108180831/https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum20.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> the Council of Trent (1545–1563)<ref>[https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/trentall.html "The Bull of Indiction of the Sacred Oecumenical and General Council of Trent under the Sovereign Pontiff, Paul III."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730022027/https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/trentall.html |date=30 July 2018 }} ''The Council of Trent: The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Oecumenical Council of Trent''. Ed. and trans. J. Waterworth. London: Dolman, 1848. Retrieved from History. Hanover.edu, 12 September 2018.</ref> and numerous other official documents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13121a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Roman Catholic|website=New Advent|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=1 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401054227/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13121a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOWNAME.HTM|title=Kenneth D. Whitehead|website=ewtn.com|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120121958/https://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HOWNAME.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History== {{Main|History of the Catholic Church}}

===Apostolic era and papacy=== {{Main|Apostolic Age}}

[[File:Perugino - Entrega de las llaves a San Pedro (Capilla Sixtina, 1481-82).jpg|thumb|alt=Painting a haloed Jesus Christ passing keys to a kneeling man.|A {{Circa|1481–1482}} fresco by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel showing Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter]] [[File:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg|thumb|''The Last Supper'' in the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church in Milan, Italy, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting the Last Supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles, depicts the final meal of Jesus before his crucifixion and death.]] The New Testament, particularly the Gospels, records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the Twelve Apostles, and his Great Commission to them, instructing them to continue his work.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=30}}<ref name="Kreeft98O">Kreeft, p. 980.</ref> The ''Acts of Apostles'' recounts the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message throughout the Roman Empire.<ref>Burkett, p. 263</ref>  The Catholic Church teaches that its public ministry began on Pentecost, which occurred fifty days after the date on which Christ is believed to have risen from the dead.<ref name="Barry48" /> At Pentecost, the apostles are held to have received the Holy Spirit, preparing them for their mission of leading the church.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1076|quote=The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit...}}</ref><ref>{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Holy Ghost}} "He [the Holy Spirit] is essentially the Spirit of truth (John 14:16–17; 15:26), Whose office it is to ... to teach the Apostles the full meaning of it [of the truth] (John 14:26; 16:13). With these Apostles, He will abide forever (John 14:16). Having descended on them at Pentecost, He will guide them in their work (Acts 8:29)...</ref> The Catholic Church further teaches that the college of bishops, led by the bishop of Rome, is the successor to the apostles.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880, 883}}</ref>

In the account of the Confession of Peter found in the Gospel of Matthew, Christ designates Peter as the "rock" upon which his Church will be built.<ref>Christian Bible, {{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:13–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle/5630/Incidents-important-in-interpretations-of-Peter|title=Saint Peter the Apostle: Incidents important in interpretations of Peter|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=8 November 2014|archive-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110070846/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/453832/Saint-Peter-the-Apostle/5630/Incidents-important-in-interpretations-of-Peter|url-status=live}}</ref> The Catholic Church considers the bishop of Rome, the pope, to be the successor of Saint Peter.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880–81}}</ref> Some scholars hold that Peter was the first bishop of Rome,<ref name="JoyceCE1913">{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=The Pope|first=George|last=Joyce}}</ref> while other scholars argue that the institution of the papacy does not depend on the view that Peter was bishop of Rome, or even on the claim that he ever resided in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|title=Was Peter in Rome?|publisher=Catholic Answers|date=10 August 2004|quote=if Peter never made it to the capital, he still could have been the first pope, since one of his successors could have been the first holder of that office to settle in Rome. After all, if the papacy exists, it was established by Christ during his lifetime, long before Peter is said to have reached Rome. There must have been a period of some years in which the papacy did not yet have its connection to Rome.|access-date=9 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212105950/http://www.catholic.com/tracts/was-peter-in-rome|archive-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>

Many scholars maintain that a church structure consisting of multiple presbyters/bishops persisted in Rome until the mid-2nd century, when a structure with a single bishop and multiple presbyters was adopted,<ref name="REB">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Raymond E.|year=2003|title=101 Questions and Answers on the Bible|url={{googlebooks|b8ubeFP6JUYC|page=132|plainurl=y}}|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-4251-4|pages=132–34}}</ref> and that later writers retrospectively applied the title "bishop of Rome" to the most prominent members of the clergy in the earlier period, as well as to Peter himself.<ref name="REB" /> On this basis, Bart D. Ehrman argues Peter "could not have been the first bishop of Rome", while also noting that the church "did not have anyone as its bishop until about a hundred years after Peter's death."{{refn|name=ehrman|{{cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/peter-paul-and-mary-magdalene-9780195343502|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D|title=Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=US|date=2006|isbn=978-0-19-530013-0|page=84|quote=Peter, in short, could not have been the first bishop of Rome, because the Roman church did not have ''anyone'' as its bishop until about a hundred years after Peter's death.}}|}} Raymond E. Brown likewise states that it is anachronistic to speak of Peter in terms of a local bishop of Rome, but that Christians of that period would have regarded Peter as exercising roles that contributed "to the development of the role of the papacy in the subsequent church". These roles, Brown argues, "contributed enormously to seeing the bishop of Rome ... as the successor of Peter ... for the church universal".<ref name="REB" />

===Antiquity and Roman Empire=== {{Main|Early Christianity|Pentarchy|List of heresies in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:Old St Peter's Basilica, Rome, about the year 1450 restored from ancient authorities.jpg|thumb|A 19th-century illustration by Henry William Brewer of Old St. Peter's Basilica, built in 318 by Constantine the Great]] The Roman Empire facilitated the spread of new ideas through its extensive network of roads and waterways, the relative security of the ''Pax Romana'', and the promotion of a common culture with strong Greek influences, all of which allowed ideas to be more easily expressed and understood.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=24}} However, unlike most religions in the Roman Empire, Christianity required its followers to renounce all other gods, a practice inherited from Judaism. Because Christians refused to participate in pagan festivals and civic rituals, they were excluded from many aspects of public life, leading some non-Christians, including government authorities, to fear that they were angering the gods and thereby threatening the peace and prosperity of the empire. The resulting prosecutions became a defining element of early Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the 4th century.<ref name="macculloch155and164">MacCulloch, ''Christianity'', pp. 155–59, 164.</ref>

In 313, Constantine the Great—the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity—issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized the Christian faith, and he moved the imperial capital to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) in 330. In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire, a status that continued within the shrinking territory of the Byzantine Empire until its fall in 1453. Elsewhere, the church functioned independently of imperial authority, becoming especially evident after the East-West Schism. During the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, five principal sees emerged—Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem—formalized in the mid-6th century, arranged by Justinian I, the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, as the pentarchy.<ref name="Valliere2012">{{cite book|last=Valliere|first=Paul|year= 2012|title=Conciliarism|url={{googlebooks|Qrt3Z7fyzlUC|page=92|plainurl=y}}|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01574-6|page=92}}</ref><ref name="Bartholomew2008">{{cite book|last=Patriarch|first=Bartholomew|year=2008|title=Encountering the Mystery|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_UB3_UpIcQC&pg=PA3|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-385-52561-9|page=3|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112403/https://books.google.com/books?id=4_UB3_UpIcQC&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 451, the Council of Chalcedon, in a canon of disputed validity,<ref name="Michalopulos">{{cite web|last=Michalopulos|first=George C.|url=http://www.aoiusa.org/canon-28-and-eastern-papalism-cause-or-effect|title=Canon 28 and Eastern Papalism: Cause or Effect?|date=11 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110112941/http://www.aoiusa.org/canon-28-and-eastern-papalism-cause-or-effect|archive-date=10 January 2013}}</ref> elevated the see of Constantinople to a role "second in eminence and power to the bishop of Rome".<ref name="Noble214">Noble, p. 214.</ref> From {{Circa|350|500}}, the bishops, or popes, of Rome steadily increased their authority through consistently intervening in helping orthodox leaders during theological disputes, which encouraged appeals to them.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Rome (early Christian)". Cross, F.L., ed., ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref> Emperor Justinian, under his controlled territories, established a form of caesaropapism where he could regulate "the minutest details of worship and discipline" and "theologian opinions" in the church—establishing imperial influence over Rome and other Western territories again.<ref>Ayer, p. 553</ref> This act created the Byzantine Papacy period (537–752) in which popes required approval from the emperor or his representative for consecration, leading to most being selected by the emperor from his Greek-speaking subjects, which created a "melting pot" of Western and Eastern Christian traditions in art and liturgy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/behindl_bau_2003_00_6167|url-access=registration|title=Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections|first=Frederic J.|last=Baumgartner|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2003|isbn=978-0-312-29463-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/behindl_bau_2003_00_6167/page/n29 10]–12}}</ref><ref>Duffy, Eamon. 1997. ''Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes''. Yale University Press. pp. 66–67</ref>

In the following centuries, Germanic tribes who invaded the Roman Empire adopted Christianity in its Arian form, which the Council of Nicaea declared heretical, causing discord between Germanic rulers and Catholic subjects.<ref>Le Goff, p. 14: "The face of the barbarian invaders had been transformed by another crucial fact. Although some of them had remained pagan, another part of them, not the least, had become Christian. But, by a curious chance, which was to leave serious consequences, these converted barbarians—the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Burgundians, Vandals, and later the Lombards—had been converted to Arianism, which had become a heresy after the council of Nicaea. They had in fact been converted by followers of the 'apostle of the Goths', Wulfilas."</ref><ref>Le Goff, p. 14: "Thus what should have been a religious bond was, on the contrary, a subject of discord and sparked off bitter conflicts between Arian barbarians and Catholic Romans."</ref> In 497, Clovis I, the Frankish ruler, converted to orthodox Catholicism and he aligned himself with the papacy and the monastic communities—an act that unified Germanic rulers and Catholic subjects for the most part.<ref>Le Goff, p. 21: "Clovis' master-stroke was to convert himself and his people not to Arianism, like the other barbarian kings, but to Catholicism."</ref> Following his lead, the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in 589, and the Lombards in Italy gradually adopted it during the 7th century.<ref>Le Goff, p. 21</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Drew|first=Katherine Fischer|year=2014|title=The Lombard Laws|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|url={{googlebooks|7ItMSn421GAC|pg=PR18|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-8122-1055-2|page=xviii}}</ref>

Western Christianity—particularly through its monastic institutions—played a massive role in preserving classical civilization, including its artistic traditions and literacy.<ref name="Cahill_Thomas">{{cite book|title=How The Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe |first=Thomas |last=Cahill |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin Random House |location=New York City}}</ref> Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–543), one of the founders of Western monasticism, with his ''Rule'', exerted a crucial influence on European culture with his appropriation of the church's monastic spiritual heritage and his preservation and transmission of ancient culture with the spread of the Benedictine tradition. During this time, monastic Ireland became a center of scholarship; early Irish missionaries such as Columbanus and Columba spread Christianity and established monasteries across continental Europe.<ref name="Cahill_Thomas" />

===Middle Ages and Renaissance=== {{Further|History of Christianity during the Middle Ages|Christianity in the 16th century#Renaissance Church}} [[File:Santa Capilla, París, Francia, 2022-11-01, DD 80-82 HDR.jpg|270px|thumb|An interior view of the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité in Paris, France, completed in 1248. During the Middle Ages, many buildings in the Gothic architecture-style were erected as places of worship for the Catholic Church.]] From Late Antiquity to the dawn of the modern age, the Catholic Church held a dominant influence on Western civilization, being the primary sponsor of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque styles in art, architecture, and music—including visual artists like Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Titian, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Caravaggio.<ref name="O'CollinsPref">O'Collins, p. v (preface).</ref><ref>Woods, pp. 115–27</ref><ref>Duffy, p. 133.</ref> A Stanford University historian Paul Legutko said the church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions" of Western civilization.<ref>{{cite web|title=Review of ''How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilisation''|first=Thomas Jr.|last=Woods|url=http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c6664|work=National Review Book Service|access-date=16 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822150152/http://www.nrbookservice.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6664|archive-date=22 August 2006}}</ref>

Monks established the first universities in Europe in the time of Western Christendom.<ref>{{cite book|title=Managing the University Campus: Information to Support Real Estate Decisions|first=Alexandra |last= Den Heijer| isbn=9789059724877| year =2011|publisher=Academische Uitgeverij Eburon| quote= Many of the medieval universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Christian Education|first=Mark|last= A. Lamport |year= 2015| page =484|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield| isbn=9780810884939|quote= All the great European universities—Oxford, to Paris, to Cologne, to Prague, to Bologna—were established with close ties to the Church.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World|first=Thomas |last=B M. Leonard|year= 2013| isbn=9781135205157| page = 1369|publisher=Routledge|quote= Europe established schools in association with their cathedrals to educate priests, and from these emerged eventually the first universities of Europe, which began forming in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.}}</ref> In higher education, several older cathedral schools became universities beginning in the 11th century, including the University of Oxford, University of Paris, and University of Bologna. Dating back to 6th-century AD, monks and nuns spearheaded higher education with Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools.<ref name="auto">Riché, Pierre (1978): "Education and Culture in the Barbarian West: From the Sixth through the Eighth Century", Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, {{ISBN|0-87249-376-8}}, pp. 126–27, 282–98</ref> These new universities expanded their curriculums to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians.<ref>Rudy, ''The Universities of Europe, 1100–1914'', p. 40</ref> Thus, due to its initial origins, the university is generally regarded as starting in a Medieval Christian setting.<ref name="verger1999">{{cite book |last=Verger |first=Jacques |date=1999 |author-link=:fr:Jacques Verger |title=Culture, enseignement et société en Occident aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles |edition=1st |language=fr |publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes in Rennes |isbn=978-2-86847-344-8 |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL822497W |access-date=17 June 2014 |archive-date=13 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313042832/https://openlibrary.org/works/OL822497W/Culture_enseignement_et_soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_en_Occident_aux_XIIe_et_XIIIe_si%C3%A8cles |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Verger, Jacques. "The Universities and Scholasticism", in ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'': Volume V c. 1198–c. 1300. Cambridge University Press, 2007, 257.</ref><ref name="Rüegg, Walter 1992, pp. XIX">Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in: ''A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-36105-2}}, pp. xix–xx</ref>

Massive mid-7th century Islamic invasions elongated the struggles of power between Christianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basis; the Byzantine Empire lost its lands of the eastern patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch were reduced to Constantinople, the empire's capital, and the Frankish state, centered away from the Islamic domination of the Mediterranean, evolved into the dominant power that shaped the Western Europe of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pirenne|first=Henri|year=1980|title=Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade|others=Frank D. Halsey (trans.)|location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Princeton University Press|orig-date=1925|url={{googlebooks|TKUN4UdfVaQC|page=27|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-691-00760-1|pages=27–32}}</ref> Battles in Toulouse and Tours halted Islamic advancements in the West; a failed siege of Constantinople halted them in the East. In 751, the Byzantine Empire lost the city of Ravenna, which governed the small fragments of Italy, including Rome, to the Lombards, meaning confirmation by a no longer existent exarch was not asked during the election of Pope Stephen II in 752—the papacy had to look elsewhere for a civil power to protect it.<ref>{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Jeffrey|year=2014|title=The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages|publisher=Routledge|url={{googlebooks|Zod9AwAAQBAJ|page=230|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-1-317-67817-5|page=230}}</ref> The Frankish king Pepin the Short conquered the Lombards in 754 at the urgent request of Pope Stephen, and then gifted the lands back to the pope, initiating the time of the Papal States. In the 860s, Rome and the Byzantine East had a conflict during the Photian schism, as Photius criticized the Latin West for adding the ''filioque'' clause, after being excommunicated by Nicholas I, causing unresolved issues that led to further divisions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Willston|year=1985|title=History of the Christian Church|publisher=Simon and Schuster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFw8PtQhpVoC&pg=PA250|isbn=978-0-684-18417-3|pages=250–51|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112235/https://books.google.com/books?id=bFw8PtQhpVoC&pg=PA250#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Dolci Santa Caterina da Siena.JPG|thumb|upright|A painting of St. Catherine of Siena by Carlo Dolci. A 14th century Catholic mystic associated with Dominican spirituality, she helped to heal the Great Western Schism.]] In the 11th century the efforts of Hildebrand of Sovana led to the creation of the College of Cardinals to elect new popes, starting with Pope Alexander II in the papal election of 1061. When Alexander II died, Hildebrand was elected to succeed him, as Pope Gregory VII. The basic election system of the College of Cardinals which Gregory VII helped establish has continued to function into the 21st century. Pope Gregory VII further initiated the Gregorian Reforms regarding the independence of the clergy from secular authority. This led to the Investiture Controversy between the church and the Holy Roman emperors, over which had the authority to appoint bishops and popes.<ref name="Vidmar107">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), pp. 107–11</ref><ref name="Duffy78">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 78, quote: "By contrast, Paschal's successor Eugenius II (824–27), elected with imperial influence, gave away most of these papal gains. He acknowledged the Emperor's sovereignty in the papal state, and he accepted a constitution imposed by Lothair which established imperial supervision of the administration of Rome, imposed an oath to the Emperor on all citizens, and required the pope–elect to swear fealty before he could be consecrated. Under Sergius II (844–847) it was even agreed that the pope could not be consecrated without an imperial mandate and that the ceremony must be in the presence of his representative, a revival of some of the more galling restrictions of Byzantine rule."</ref>

In 1095 the Byzantine emperor, Alexius I, appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions in the Byzantine–Seljuk wars,<ref name="rileysmith">Riley-Smith, p. 8</ref> which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=140–41}} In the 11th century strained relations between the primarily Greek church and the Latin Church separated them in the East–West Schism, partially due to conflicts over papal authority. The Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople by renegade crusaders proved the final breach.<ref>{{cite book|last=Phillips|first=Jonathan|title=The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2005|url={{googlebooks|kkA2nomlPLwC|pg=PT19|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-1-101-12772-8|page=PT19}}</ref>

In the twelfth century, inquisitions began in the Catholic Kingdom of France in response to the Albigensians. The system spread throughout other European countries in the succeeding centuries, through multiple forms: first as individual inquisitors sporadically appointed for certain problem areas by popes, then as state-sponsored tribunals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Henry Ansgar |title=Inquisition and the Prosecution of Heresy: Misconceptions and Abuses |journal=Church History |date=December 1989 |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=439–451 |doi=10.2307/3168207 |jstor=3168207 }}</ref> The ''ad hoc'' use of torture by secular medieval judges was common, and the directives governing inquisitions progressively allowed various situations where non-maiming, non-bloody torture could or must be used to corroborate testimony, not only on some classes of accused but sometimes even on denouncers and witnesses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Henry Ansgar |title=Judicial Torture in Canon Law and Church Tribunals: From Gratian to Galileo |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |date=2015 |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=754–793 |jstor=43898858 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43898858 |issn=0008-8080}}</ref>

In the early 13th century mendicant orders were founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán. The ''studia conventualia'' and ''studia generalia'' of the mendicant orders played a large role in the transformation of church-sponsored cathedral schools and palace schools, such as that of Charlemagne at Aachen, into the prominent universities of Europe.<ref>Woods, pp. 44–48</ref> Scholastic theologians and philosophers such as the Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas studied and taught at these studia. Aquinas' ''Summa Theologica'' was an intellectual milestone in its synthesis of the legacy of ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle with the content of Christian revelation.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=158–59}}

A growing sense of church-state conflicts marked the 14th century. In 1309, to escape instability in Rome, Pope Clement V became the first of seven popes to reside in the fortified city of Avignon in southern France<ref name="Duffy122">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 122</ref> during a period known as the Avignon Papacy. The Avignon Papacy ended in 1376 when the pope returned to Rome.<ref name="McManners232">Morris, p. 232</ref> In 1378 a 38-year-long Western Schism began, with claimants to the papacy located in Rome, Avignon and, after 1409, Pisa.<ref name="McManners232" /> The matter was largely resolved in 1414–1418 at the Council of Constance, with the claimants in Rome and Pisa agreeing to resign and the third claimant excommunicated by the cardinals, who held a new election naming Martin V pope.<ref name="McManners240">McManners, p. 240</ref>

In 1438 the Council of Florence convened, which featured a strong dialogue focussed on understanding the theological differences between the East and West, with the hope of reuniting the Catholic and Orthodox churches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Geanakoplos|first=Deno John|year=1989|title=Constantinople and the West|location=Madison|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-11880-8}}</ref> Several eastern churches reunited, forming the majority of the Eastern Catholic Churches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Collinge|first=William J.|year=2012|title=Historical Dictionary of Catholicism|publisher=Scarecrow Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LR0Nyt3bi_MC&pg=PA169|isbn=978-0-8108-5755-1|page=169|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=8 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908080036/https://books.google.com/books?id=LR0Nyt3bi_MC&pg=PA169|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Age of Discovery and Counter-Reformation=== {{Main|Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery|Counter-Reformation}}

{{multiple image | footer = With the rise of Protestantism, the Catholic Church lost some adherents in Europe. Counter-Reformation groups such as the Jesuits were founded to tackle this. At the same time, Catholicism spread in the Americas through evangelisation, represented by the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. | align = left | image1 = Glorificación de San Ignacio de Loyola (Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla).jpg | width1 = 150 | caption1 = | alt1 = | image2 = Our Lady of Guadalupe by Nicolás Enríquez, retablo, El Paso Museum of Art.jpg | width2 = 165 | caption2 = | alt2 = }} The Age of Discovery beginning in the 15th century saw the expansion of Western Europe's political and cultural influence worldwide. Because of the rise in power overseas of strongly Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal (as well as France), Catholicism was spread to the Americas, Asia and Oceania by explorers, conquistadors, and missionaries, as well as by the conversion of people who lived in these societies to the Catholic faith. Pope Alexander VI had awarded sovereignty rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal (later confirmed by the Treaty of Tordesillas)<ref name="Koschorke13">Koschorke, pp. 13, 283</ref> and the ensuing ''patronato'' system allowed state authorities, not the Vatican, to control all clerical appointments in the new colonies.<ref>Hastings (1994), p. 72</ref> In 1521 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made the first Catholic converts in the Philippines.<ref name="Koschorke21">Koschorke, p. 21</ref> Elsewhere, Portuguese missionaries under the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier evangelized in India, China and Japan.<ref name="Koschorke3">Koschorke, pp. 3, 17</ref> The French colonization of the Americas beginning in the 16th century established a Catholic Francophone population and forbade non-Catholics to settle in Quebec.<ref>Lyons (2013), p. 17</ref>

In 1415 popular Bohemian preacher Jan Hus was burned at the stake for refusing to recant Wycliffite heresies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schaff |first1=Phillip |title=New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. V: Goar - Innocent |page=418 |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc05/encyc05.h.xiii.html}}</ref> His "hot-headed" reform efforts presaged Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar in Germany, who sent a list of topics for academic disputation, the ''Ninety-five Theses'', to several bishops in 1517.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=215}} His theses protested against some Catholic doctrines as well as contemporary practices such as the supposed sale of indulgences, and these were the start of a rapidly escalating series of inflammatory works ending with ''On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church'' (1520) which accused the Pope of being the anti-Christ:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schaff |first1=Phillip |title=New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VII: Liutprand - Moralities |page=71 |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07/png/0089=71.htm}}</ref> this led to his excommunication in 1521.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=215}}<ref name="Vidmar184">Vidmar, p. 184.</ref> In Switzerland Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and other Protestant Reformers further criticized certain Catholic teachings. These challenges developed into the Reformation, which gave birth to the great majority of Protestant denominations{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=223–24}} and also crypto-Protestantism within the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fernández|first=Luis Martínez|title=Crypto-Protestants and Pseudo-Catholics in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean|journal=Journal of Ecclesiastical History|volume=51|issue=2|pages=347–65|year=2000|doi=10.1017/S0022046900004255|s2cid=162296826}}</ref> Meanwhile, Henry VIII of the Kingdom of England petitioned Pope Clement VII for a declaration of nullity concerning his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When this was denied, he had the Acts of Supremacy passed to make himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, spurring the English Reformation and the eventual development of Anglicanism.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=235–37}}

[[File:Ruínas 1.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the Jesuit mission of São Miguel das Missões in Brazil]] The Reformation contributed to clashes between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V and his allies. The first nine-year war ended in 1555 with the Peace of Augsburg but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict—the Thirty Years' War—which broke out in 1618.<ref name="Vidmar233" /> In France a series of conflicts termed the French Wars of Religion was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots (French Calvinists) and the forces of the French Catholic League, which were backed and funded by a series of popes.<ref name="Duffy177">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 177–78</ref> This ended under Pope Clement VIII, who hesitantly accepted King Henry IV of France's 1598 Edict of Nantes granting civil and religious toleration to French Protestants.<ref name="Vidmar233">Vidmar, ''The Catholic Church Through the Ages'' (2005), p. 233</ref><ref name="Duffy177" />

The Council of Trent (1545–1563) became the driving force behind the Counter-Reformation in response to the Protestant movement. Doctrinally, it reaffirmed many central Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation, the keeping of the sacraments, and the requirement of good works anchored in love and hope to justify one's salvation, as well as faith as a necessary condition to attain such salvation.{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=242–44}} In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world, in part through missionaries and imperialism, although its hold on European populations declined due to the growth of religious scepticism during and after the Enlightenment.<ref>Maxwell, Melvin. ''Bible Truth or Church Tradition'', p. 70</ref>

===Enlightenment and modern period=== {{Main|Age of Enlightenment}}

{{Modern persecutions of the Catholic Church}} From the 17th century onward, the Enlightenment questioned the power and influence of the Catholic Church over Western society.<ref name="Pollard8">Pollard, pp. 7–8</ref> In the 18th century, writers such as Voltaire and the ''Encyclopédistes'' wrote biting critiques of both religion and the Catholic Church. One target of their criticism was the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV of France, which ended a century-long policy of religious toleration of Protestant Huguenots. As the papacy resisted pushes for Gallicanism, the French Revolution in 1789 shifted power to the state, caused the destruction of churches, the establishment of a Cult of Reason,{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=283–85}} and the martyrdom of nuns during the Reign of Terror.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=The Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne}}</ref> In 1798 Napoleon's General Louis-Alexandre Berthier invaded the Italian Peninsula, imprisoning Pope Pius VI, who died in captivity. Napoleon later re-established the Catholic Church in France through the Concordat of 1801.<ref name="Collins176">Collins, p. 176</ref> The end of the Napoleonic Wars brought Catholic revival and the return of the Papal States.<ref>Duffy, pp. 214–16</ref>

In 1854 Pope Pius IX, with the support of the overwhelming majority of Catholic bishops, whom he had consulted from 1851 to 1853, proclaimed the Immaculate Conception as a dogma in the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19930324en.html|title=John Paul II, General Audience|publisher=Vatican.va|date=24 March 1993|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810175256/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19930324en.html|archive-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> In 1870 the First Vatican Council affirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility when exercised in specifically defined pronouncements,<ref name="Leith">Leith, ''Creeds of the Churches'' (1963), p. 143</ref><ref name="Duffy232">Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), p. 232</ref> striking a blow to the rival position of conciliarism. Controversy over this and other issues resulted in a breakaway movement called the Old Catholic Church.<ref name="Fahlbusch">Fahlbusch, ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'' (2001), p. 729</ref>

The Italian unification of the 1860s incorporated the Papal States, including Rome itself from 1870, into the Kingdom of Italy, thus ending the papacy's temporal power. In response Pius IX excommunicated King Victor Emmanuel II, refused payment for the land and rejected the Italian Law of Guarantees, which granted him special privileges. To avoid placing himself in visible subjection to the Italian authorities, he remained a "prisoner in the Vatican".<ref>{{cite book|last=Kertzer|first=David I.|year=2006|title=Prisoner of the Vatican|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y_4eaFsFdI4C&pg=PT155|isbn=978-0-547-34716-5|page=PT155|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112426/https://books.google.com/books?id=y_4eaFsFdI4C&pg=PT155#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> This stand-off, which was spoken of as the Roman question, was resolved by the Lateran Treaty in 1929, whereby the Holy See acknowledged Italian sovereignty over the former Papal States in return for payment and Italy's recognition of papal sovereignty over Vatican City as a new sovereign and independent state.<ref>{{cite book|chapter='Utterly Faithless Specimens': Italians in the Catholic Church in America|first=Peter R.|last=D'Agostino|editor-last=Connell|editor-first=William J.|editor2-last=Gardaphé|editor2-first=Fred|title=Anti-Italianism: Essays on a Prejudice|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2010|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qp_GAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|isbn=978-0-230-11532-3|pages=33–34|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112304/https://books.google.com/books?id=qp_GAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Catholic missionaries generally supported, and sought to facilitate, the European imperial powers' conquest of Africa during the late nineteenth century. According to the historian of religion Adrian Hastings, Catholic missionaries were generally unwilling to defend African rights or encourage Africans to see themselves as equals to Europeans, in contrast to Protestant missionaries, who were more willing to oppose colonial injustices.<ref>Adrian Hastings, ''The Church in Africa, 1450–1950'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1996, 394–490</ref>

===20th century=== {{Main|Catholic Church in the 20th century}}

[[File:Members of the Royal 22e Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII.jpg|thumb|Members of the Canadian Army's Royal 22nd Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII on 4 July 1944, following the Battle of Anzio, which liberated Rome from Nazi German and the Italian fascist occupation during World War II]] [[File:Second Vatican Council by Lothar Wolleh 003.jpg|thumb|Bishops listen during the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s]] [[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan Meeting with Pope John Paul Ii at The Papal Library Vatican Pontifical Palace During Visit to The Vatican - DPLA - 5f33de6fe59d61cb712405563ab04adc.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II and then U.S. president Ronald Reagan (pictured with his wife Nancy) meeting in June 1982; both Pope John Paul II and Reagan were credited with contributing to the Revolutions of 1989, which led to the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War two years later, in 1991.]] During the 20th century, the church's global reach continued to grow, despite the rise of anti-Catholic authoritarian regimes and the collapse of European colonial empires, accompanied by a general decline in religious observance in the West. Under the popes Benedict XV and Pius XII the Holy See sought to maintain public neutrality through the World Wars, acting as peace broker and delivering aid to the victims of the conflicts. In the 1960s Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, which ushered in radical change to church ritual and practice, and in the later 20th century the long papacy of Pope John Paul II contributed to the fall of communism in Europe, and a new public and international role for the papacy.<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; ''A Short History of Christianity''; Viking; 2011</ref><ref name="communist">{{cite news|title=Pope Stared Down Communism in Homeland – and Won|publisher=CBC News|date=April 2005|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html|access-date=31 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223141702/http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/pope/communism_homeland.html|archive-date=23 December 2007}}</ref> From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticized for its doctrines on sexuality, its inability to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases.

The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council of Trent, four centuries before.<ref>''The Second Vatican Council Celebrating Its Achievements and the Future''. p. 86</ref> Initiated by Pope John XXIII, this ecumenical council modernized the practices of the Catholic Church, allowing the Mass to be said in the vernacular (local language) and encouraging "fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |title=Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium |publisher=Vatican.va |date=4 December 1963 |access-date=12 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221180735/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |archive-date=21 February 2008}}</ref> It intended to engage the church more closely with the present world (''aggiornamento''), which was described by its advocates as an "opening of the windows".<ref name="Duffy272">Duffy, pp. 270–76</ref> In addition to changes in the liturgy, it led to changes to the church's approach to ecumenism,<ref>Duffy, ''Saints and Sinners'' (1997), pp. 272, 274</ref> and a call to improved relations with non-Christian religions, especially Judaism, in its document ''Nostra aetate''.<ref name="NOSTRA AETATE">{{cite web|author=Pope Paul VI|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html|title=''Nostra aetate'': Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions|date=28 October 1965|access-date=16 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220214550/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html|archive-date=20 December 2008|quote=According to Section 4: "True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures."}}</ref>

The council, however, generated significant controversy in implementing its reforms: proponents of the "Spirit of Vatican II" such as the Swiss theologian Hans Küng said that Vatican II had "not gone far enough" to change church policies.<ref>Bauckham, p. 373</ref> Traditionalist Catholics, such as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, however, strongly criticized the council, arguing that its liturgical reforms led "to the destruction of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments", among other issues.<ref>{{cite journal|last=O'Neel|first=Brian|url=http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0304fea2.asp|title=Holier Than Thou: How Rejection of Vatican II Led Lefebvre into Schism|journal=This Rock|volume=14|issue=4|location=San Diego|publisher=Catholic Answers|date=3 April 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510014807/http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0304fea2.asp|archive-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> The teaching on the morality of contraception also came under scrutiny; after a series of disagreements, ''Humanae vitae'' upheld the church's prohibition of all forms of contraception.<ref>{{cite book|last=May|first=John F.|year=2012|title=World Population Policies: Their Origin, Evolution, and Impact|publisher=Springer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCQRxtm3Z34C&pg=PA202|isbn=978-94-007-2837-0|pages=202–03|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112236/https://books.google.com/books?id=UCQRxtm3Z34C&pg=PA202#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kinkel|first=R. John|year=2014|title=Papal Paralysis: How the Vatican Dealt with the AIDS Crisis|publisher=Lexington|url={{googlebooks|O9dkAgAAQBAJ|page=2|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-7391-7684-9|page=2}}</ref><ref group="note">While ruling contraception to be prohibited, Pope Paul VI did, however, consider natural family planning methods to be morally permissible if used with just cause.</ref><ref name="HV_then_now">{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/germain-grisez-on-humanae-vitae-then-and-now|title=Germain Grisez on "Humanae Vitae", Then and Now: The Dust Still Hasn't Settled, But There Are Signs of Hope|publisher=Zenit: The World Seen from Rome|date=14 July 2003|access-date=16 November 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129021843/http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/germain-grisez-on-humanae-vitae-then-and-now|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1978 Pope John Paul II, formerly Archbishop of Kraków in the Polish People's Republic, became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. His 26 1/2-year pontificate was one of the longest in history and was credited with hastening the fall of communism in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/April-02.html;jsessionid=08931E713115A304B13BB1A6FA315A63.public1|title=2 April – This Day in History|publisher=History.co.uk|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513125001/http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/April-02.html;jsessionid=08931E713115A304B13BB1A6FA315A63.public1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Peter and Margaret Hebblethwaite and Peter Stanford|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/02/guardianobituaries.catholicism|title=Obituary: Pope John Paul II|work=The Guardian|date=2 April 2005|access-date=28 October 2010|location=London|archive-date=29 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829041832/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/02/guardianobituaries.catholicism|url-status=live}}</ref> John Paul II sought to evangelize an increasingly secular world. He travelled more than any other pope, visiting 129 countries,<ref>{{cite book|last=Maxwell-Stuart|first=P.G.|year=2006|title=Chronicle of the Popes: Trying to Come Full Circle|location=London|publisher=Thames & Hudson|page=234|isbn=978-0-500-28608-1}}</ref> and used television and radio as means of spreading the church's teachings. He also emphasized the dignity of work and natural rights of labourers to have fair wages and safe conditions in ''Laborem exercens''.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Paul II|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html|title=Laborem exercens|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|date=15 May 1981|access-date=16 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027122758/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html|archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> He emphasized several church teachings, including moral exhortations against abortion, euthanasia and against the widespread use of capital punishment, in ''Evangelium Vitae''.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Paul II|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html|title=Evangelium Vitae|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|date=25 March 1995|access-date=16 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027122758/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html|archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref>

===21st century=== Pope Benedict XVI, elected in 2005, was known for upholding traditional Christian values against secularization,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,635185276,00.html |title=Benedict's encyclical offers hope for world |work=Deseret News |first=Jerry Earl |last=Johnston |date=18 February 2006 |access-date=12 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092429/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C635185276%2C00.html |archive-date=2 April 2015}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307235713/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635185276/Benedicts-encyclical-offers-hope-for-world.html WebCitation archive]</ref> and for increasing use of the Tridentine Mass as found in the Roman Missal of 1962, which he titled the "Extraordinary Form".<ref>Gledhill, Ruth [https://web.archive.org/web/20070218185841/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article667813.ece "Pope set to bring back Latin Mass that divided the Church"] ''The Times'' 11 October 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805040153/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article667813.ece WebCitation archive]</ref> Citing the frailties of advanced age, Benedict resigned in 2013, becoming the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/pope-benedict-resignation/ |first1=Laura |last1=Smith-Spark |first2=Hada |last2=Messia |title=Pope's resignation was not forced by health issues, spokesman says |work=CNN |date=13 February 2013 |access-date=30 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402233151/http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/pope-benedict-resignation/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pope Francis became in 2013 the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first from outside Europe since the eighth-century Gregory III.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Donadio|first=Rachel|date=27 October 2019|title=Pope Francis, the Revolutionary, Takes On the Traditionalists|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/pope-francis-revolutionary-culture-war/600877/|access-date=19 June 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728034227/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/pope-francis-revolutionary-culture-war/600877/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ambrosino|first=Brandon|date=13 July 2018|title=Everything you need to know about Pope Francis|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17570124/who-is-pope-francis|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Vox|language=en|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203402/https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17570124/who-is-pope-francis|url-status=live}}</ref> Francis made efforts to further close Catholicism's estrangement with the Eastern churches.<ref name="orthodox">Ritter, Karl, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/pope-francis-jews_n_2883560.html "Pope Francis reaches out to Jews"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215230923/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/pope-francis-jews_n_2883560.html |date=15 February 2016 }}, huffingtonpost.com, 16 March 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.</ref> His installation was attended by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church,<ref name="patriarch">Demacopoulos, George E., [http://www.archons.org/news/detail.asp?id=619 "The extraordinary historical significance of His Holiness' presence at Pope Francis' installation as Bishop of Rome"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018142627/http://www.archons.org/news/detail.asp?id=619 |date=18 October 2017 }}, Archon News (Order of St. Andrew the Apostle), 19 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.</ref> the first time since the Great Schism of 1054 that the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has attended a papal installation,<ref>{{cite news|title=Our Eastern Brothers|first=Alton J.|last=Pelowski|journal=Columbia|date=May 2013|pages=20–23|url=http://www.kofc.org/un/en/columbia/detail/2013_05_eastern.html|access-date=17 March 2017|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525144237/http://www.kofc.org/un/en/columbia/detail/2013_05_eastern.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> while he also met Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the largest Eastern Orthodox church, in 2016; this was the first such high-level meeting between the two churches since the Great Schism of 1054.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-35565085|title=Unity call as Pope Francis holds historic talks with Russian Orthodox Patriarch|publisher=BBC|date=12 February 2016|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-date=12 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212224729/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-35565085|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017 during a visit in Egypt, Pope Francis re-established mutual recognition of baptism with the Coptic Orthodox Church.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetrumpet.com/15756-catholics-and-copts-seek-shared-baptism|title=Catholics and Copts Recognise Shared Baptism|work=The Philadelphia Trumpet|date=3 May 2017|last=Miille|first=Andrew|access-date=22 May 2017|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525143547/https://www.thetrumpet.com/15756-catholics-and-copts-seek-shared-baptism|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pope Leo XIV was elected as Pope in the 2025 conclave, following the death of Francis. He is the first Augustinian pope, the first North American pope (born in Chicago in the United States), and the first pope of Peruvian citizenship.<ref name="Atlantic2025">{{Cite web |last=Rocca |first=Francis X. |date=May 8, 2025 |title=The Conclave Just Did the Unthinkable |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/05/pope-leo-robert-prevost-american/682749/ |access-date=May 30, 2025 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |archive-date=18 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250518194513/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/05/pope-leo-robert-prevost-american/682749/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Organization== {{Anchor|Organization and demographics|Organization and demographics}} {{Main|Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|Catholic Church by country}}

[[File:Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg|thumb|The crossed keys of the Holy See symbolize those of Simon Peter. The triple crown papal tiara symbolizes the triple power of the pope as "father of kings", "governor of the world" and "Vicar of Christ". The gold cross symbolizes the sovereignty of Jesus.]] The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of holy orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church.<ref name="CCC880">{{Cite CCC|2.1|880–883|quote='[T]he Roman Pontiff [the pope], ... has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.' 'The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head.' As such, this college has 'supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff.'}}</ref><ref name="CEHierarchy">{{Cite CE1913 | wstitle = Hierarchy| title = Hierarchy | first = A.| last = Van Hove }} "It is usual to distinguish a twofold hierarchy in the Church, that of order and that of jurisdiction, corresponding to the twofold means of sanctification, grace, which comes to us principally through the sacraments, and good works, which are the fruit of grace."</ref> There are three levels of clergy: the episcopate, composed of bishops who hold jurisdiction over a geographic area called a diocese or eparchy; the presbyterate, composed of priests ordained by bishops and who work in local dioceses or religious orders; and the diaconate, composed of deacons who assist bishops and priests in a variety of ministerial roles. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the bishop of Rome, known as the pope ({{langx|la|papa|translation=father}}), whose jurisdiction is called the Holy See ({{lang|la|Sancta Sedes}} in Latin).<ref name="section880">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P2A.HTM#PZ|work=Catechism of the Catholic Church|title=Christ's Faithful – Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life: The episcopal college and its head, the Pope|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|location=Vatican City|year=1993|access-date=14 April 2013|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303075200/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P2A.HTM#PZ|url-status=live}}</ref>

In parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both. Additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services. The Catholic Church has been described as the oldest multinational organization in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Paula |date=April 2017 |title=Globalization of the Catholic Church: Implications for managing a large multinational organization for a long period of time |url=https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=honors_marketing |website=Bryant Digital Repository |access-date=30 July 2023 |archive-date=21 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521192442/https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=honors_marketing |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Pope, CEO |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2013/03/09/pope-ceo |access-date=30 July 2023 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220035/https://www.economist.com/business/2013/03/09/pope-ceo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yglesias |first=Matthew |date=13 March 2013 |title=The New Pope Runs One of America's Largest Businesses |language=en-US |work=Slate |url=https://slate.com/business/2013/03/catholic-church-revenue-one-of-america-s-biggest-businesses.html |access-date=30 July 2023 |issn=1091-2339 |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730234720/https://slate.com/business/2013/03/catholic-church-revenue-one-of-america-s-biggest-businesses.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Holy See, papacy, Roman Curia, and College of Cardinals=== {{Main|Holy See|Pope|Roman Curia|College of Cardinals}}

{{Further|List of popes}} [[File: Pope Leo XIV 2 (4x5 cropped).png|thumb|left|Pope Leo XIV, the 267th and current pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ''ex officio'' as bishop of Rome and sovereign of Vatican City, was elected in the 2025 papal conclave.]] The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is headed{{refn|group=note|According to Catholic teaching, Jesus Christ is the 'invisible Head' of the Church<ref>{{cite web|title=Lesson 11: On the Church|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55449/lesson-11-on-the-church|publisher=Catholic News Agency|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809120229/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/catechism/baltimore-catechism/lesson-11-on-the-church|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Most|first=William G.|title=The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/catholic-church-is-the-mystical-body-of-christ-89|website=ewtn.com|publisher=Global Catholic Network|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804083816/https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/catholic-church-is-the-mystical-body-of-christ-89|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Christ's Headship|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/Culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32529|website=catholicculture.org|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023022220/https://www.catholicculture.org/Culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32529|url-status=live}}</ref> while the pope is the 'visible Head'.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Pope|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm|website=newadvent.org|access-date=3 September 2020|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007002926/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12260a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lumen Gentium|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|website=The Holy See|access-date=15 March 2020|archive-date=6 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906031754/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|url-status=live}}</ref> }} by the pope, currently Pope Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025 by a papal conclave. The office of the pope is known as the ''papacy''. The Catholic Church holds that Christ instituted the papacy upon giving the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See, or the Apostolic See (meaning the see of the apostle Peter).<ref>{{cite book|first=Jaroslav|last=Pelikan|year=1985|title=Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 4: Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300–1700)|publisher=University of Chicago Press|url={{googlebooks|Qve0IqI5YC|page=114|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-226-65377-8|page=114}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Feduccia|year=2005|title=Primary Source Readings in Catholic Church History|publisher=Saint Mary's Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bkc6gh1JdGkC&pg=PA85|isbn=978-0-88489-868-9|page=85|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112255/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bkc6gh1JdGkC&pg=PA85|url-status=live}}</ref> Directly serving the pope is the Roman Curia, the central governing body that administers the day-to-day business of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Gerard |date=2022-03-19 |title=With Pope Francis' reform of the Roman Curia, nine years of work is coming to fruition |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/03/19/roman-curia-pope-francis-242636 |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=America Magazine |language=en |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319235224/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/03/19/roman-curia-pope-francis-242636 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The pope is also sovereign of Vatican City,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/State_and_Government/|title=Vatican City State – State and Government|publisher=Vaticanstate.va|access-date=11 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722082631/http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/State_and_Government/|archive-date=22 July 2010}}</ref> a small city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome, which is an entity distinct from the Holy See. It is as head of the Holy See, not as head of Vatican City State, that the pope receives ambassadors of states and sends them his own diplomatic representatives.<ref>{{cite web|work=British Foreign and Commonwealth Office|url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/europe/holy-see/|title=Country Profile: Vatican City State/Holy See {{!}} Travel and Living Abroad|date=27 February 2012|access-date=26 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231084624/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/europe/holy-see/|archive-date=31 December 2010}}</ref>

The position of cardinal is a rank of honour bestowed by popes on certain clerics, such as leaders within the Roman Curia, bishops serving in major cities and distinguished theologians. For advice and assistance in governing, the pope may turn to the College of Cardinals.<ref name="McDonough227">McDonough (1995), p. 227</ref>

Following the death or resignation of a pope,{{refn|The last resignation occurred on 28 February 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI retired, citing ill health in his advanced age. The next most recent resignation occurred in 1415, as part of the Council of Constance's resolution of the Avignon Papacy.<ref name="duffy415">Duffy (1997), p. 415</ref>|group=note}} members of the College of Cardinals who are under age 80 act as an electoral college, meeting in a papal conclave to elect a successor.<ref name="duffy416">Duffy (1997), p. 416</ref> Although the conclave may elect any male Catholic in the world as pope, since 1389 only cardinals have been elected.<ref name="duffy417and18">Duffy (1997), pp. 417–18</ref>

===Canon law=== {{Main|Canon law of the Catholic Church}}

{{See also|Catholic Church#Liturgy}} {{Catholic canon law}}  Catholic canon law ({{Langx|la|jus canonicum}})<ref>''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th ed., p. 771: "Jus canonicum"</ref> is the system of laws and 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 Catholics toward the mission of the church.{{sfn|Della Rocca|1959|p=3}} The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Western legal system,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berman |first=Harold J. |author-link=Harold J. Berman |title=Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition |year=1983 |pages=86, 115 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674517769}}</ref> and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Edward N. |last=Peters |author-link=Edward N. Peters |url=http://canonlaw.info/ |title=CanonLaw.info Home Page |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928005444/http://www.canonlaw.info/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Raymond |last=Wacks |author-link=Raymond Wacks |title=Law: A Very Short Introduction|edition=2nd |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |page=13 |isbn=978-0198745624}}</ref> while the distinctive traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic particular churches ''sui iuris''.<ref>Pete Vere & Michael Trueman, ''Surprised by Canon Law'', vol. 2. Cincinnati, Ohio: Servant Books, 2007, p. 123</ref>

Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws from promulgation by the supreme legislator—the Supreme Pontiff—who possesses the totality of legislative, executive and judicial power in his person,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM|title=Canon 331 – 1983 Code of Canon Law|website=Vatican.va|publisher=Segreteria per la Comunicazione|access-date=15 March 2020|archive-date=2 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402021624/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> while particular laws derive formal authority from promulgation by a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator, whether an ordinary or a delegated legislator. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition. It has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system:<ref name="clinfocat" /> laws, courts, lawyers, judges,<ref name="clinfocat">{{Cite web |first=Edward N. |last=Peters |author-link=Edward N. Peters |url=http://www.canonlaw.info/a_catechistintro.htm |title=A Catechist's Introduction to Canon Law |website=CanonLaw.info |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802095547/http://www.canonlaw.info/a_catechistintro.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> a fully articulated legal code for the Latin Church{{sfn|Della Rocca|1959|p=49}} as well as a code for the Eastern Catholic Churches,{{sfn|Della Rocca|1959|p=49}} principles of legal interpretation,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: text – IntraText CT|website=intratext.com|access-date=18 June 2014|archive-date=11 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211125942/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P2.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> and coercive penalties.<ref>{{cite periodical |url=https://stjosephcanonlaw.com/sites/default/files/newsletter-preview-pdfs/christifidelis30.7.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714200828/https://stjosephcanonlaw.com/sites/default/files/newsletter-preview-pdfs/christifidelis30.7.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=Canonical Basics |periodical=Christifidelis |publisher=St. Joseph Foundation |date=25 December 2012 |volume=30|issue=7|page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion|title=Conscience and Coercion|journal=First Things|access-date=24 March 2015|quote=The 1983 Code of Canon Law still teaches that the Church has a coercive authority over the baptized, with the authority to direct and to punish, by temporal as well as spiritual penalties, for culpable apostasy or heresy.|first=Thomas|last=Pink|date=1 August 2012|publisher=The Institute on Religion and Public Life|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402085937/http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion|url-status=live}}</ref>

Canon law concerns the Catholic Church's life and organization and is distinct from civil law. In its own field it gives force to civil law only by specific enactment in matters such as the guardianship of minors.<ref>{{cite book|first=John P.|last=Beal|year=2000|title=New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgZEjvB5cEC&pg=PA85|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-4066-4|page=85|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112254/https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgZEjvB5cEC&pg=PA85#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, civil law may give force in its field to canon law, but only by specific enactment, as with regard to canonical marriages.<ref name="Malta">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/archivio/documents/rc_seg-st_19930203_s-sede-malta_en.html|date=3 February 1993|access-date=6 August 2014|title=Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta on the recognition of civil effects to canonical marriages and to the decisions of the ecclesiastical authorities and tribunals about the same marriages|website=Vatican.va|publisher=Secretariat of State|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216060609/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/archivio/documents/rc_seg-st_19930203_s-sede-malta_en.html|archive-date=16 February 2014}}</ref> Currently, the 1983 Code of Canon Law is in effect for the Latin Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law: Book I General Norms (1–6)|publisher=Intratext Library|access-date=3 April 2015|archive-date=29 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429083022/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> The distinct 1990 ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (''CCEO'', after the Latin initials) applies to the autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jgray.org/codes/cceo90eng.html|title=1990 Code of Canons of Oriental churches|website=jgray.org|publisher=Jason Gray|access-date=3 April 2015|archive-date=12 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312160522/http://www.jgray.org/codes/cceo90eng.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Latin and Eastern churches=== {{anchor|Autonomous particular churches|Particular churches ''sui iuris''}} {{Main|Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites|Latin Church|Eastern Catholic Churches}}

In the first thousand years of Catholic history, different varieties of Christianity developed in the Western and Eastern Christian areas of Europe, Asia and Africa. Though most Eastern-tradition churches are no longer in communion with the Catholic Church after the Great Schism of 1054 (as well as the earlier Nestorian Schism and Chalcedonian Schism), 23 autonomous particular churches of eastern traditions participate in the Catholic communion, also known as "churches ''sui iuris''" ({{langx|la|"of one's own right}}"). The largest and most well known is the Latin Church, the only Western-tradition church, with more than 1 billion members worldwide. Relatively small in terms of adherents compared to the Latin Church, are the 23 self-governing Eastern Catholic Churches with a combined membership of 17.3 million {{As of|2010|lc=y}}.<ref name="Roberson">{{cite web |url=http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=125&pagetypeID=1&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 |author=Ronald G. Roberson |title=Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics 2010 |work=CNEWA |access-date=30 April 2011 |archive-date=18 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518233329/http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=125&pagetypeID=1&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gunton">Colin Gunton. "Christianity among the Religions in the Encyclopedia of Religion", ''Religious Studies'', Vol. 24, no. 1, p. 14. In a review of an article from the ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', Gunton writes "... [T] he article [on Catholicism in the encyclopedia] rightly suggests caution, suggesting at the outset that Roman Catholicism is marked by ''several different doctrinal and theological emphases''."</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_orientalium-ecclesiarum_en.html |title=Orientalium Ecclesiarum |work=Vatican Council II |access-date=30 April 2011 |at=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000901223734/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_orientalium-ecclesiarum_en.html |archive-date=1 September 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-other-catholics-a-short-guide-to-the-eastern-catholic-churches.html |title=The Other Catholics: A Short Guide to the Eastern Catholic Churches |author=Kevin R. Yurkus |website=Catholic Education Resource Center |date=14 July 2005 |access-date=20 June 2017 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227183405/https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-other-catholics-a-short-guide-to-the-eastern-catholic-churches.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Latin Church is governed by the pope and diocesan bishops directly appointed by him. The pope exercises a direct patriarchal role over the Latin Church, which is considered to form the original and still major part of Western Christianity, a heritage of certain beliefs and customs originating in Europe and northwestern Africa, some of which are inherited by many Christian denominations that trace their origins to the Protestant Reformation.<ref name="west_christ">[http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westessay.html "General Essay on Western Christianity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428000510/http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westessay.html |date=28 April 2017 }}, [http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westrc.html "Western Church/Roman Catholicism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225133021/http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/west/westrc.html |date=25 February 2021 }} ''Overview of World Religions''. Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria. 1998/9 ELMAR Project. Accessed 26 March 2015.</ref>

The Eastern Catholic Churches follow the traditions and spirituality of Eastern Christianity and are churches that have always remained in full communion with the Catholic Church or who have chosen to re-enter full communion in the centuries following the East–West Schism or earlier divisions. These churches are communities of Catholic Christians whose forms of worship reflect distinct historical and cultural influences rather than differences in doctrine.<ref name="Blackwell Publishing">{{cite book |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity |date=1999 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=0-631-23203-6 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Ken |location=Malden, MA |editor2=David Melling}}</ref>

The pope's recognition of Eastern Catholic Churches has caused controversy in ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox and other eastern churches. Historically, pressure to conform to the norms of the Western Christianity practised by the majority Latin Church led to a degree of encroachment (Liturgical Latinisation) on some of the Eastern Catholic traditions. The Second Vatican Council document, ''Orientalium Ecclesiarum'', built on previous reforms to reaffirm the right of Eastern Catholics to maintain their distinct liturgical practices.<ref name="Blackwell Publishing"/>

A church ''sui iuris'' is defined in the ''Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches'' as a "group of Christian faithful united by a hierarchy" that is recognized by the pope in his capacity as the supreme authority on matters of doctrine within the church.{{refn|{{cite web |url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PR.HTM |title=Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches, Title 2 |publisher=intratext.com |date=1992}}}} The Eastern Catholic Churches are in full communion with the pope, but have governance structures and liturgical traditions separate from that of the Latin Church.<ref name="Gunton" />

Some Eastern Catholic churches are governed by a patriarch who is elected by the synod of the bishops of that church,<ref name="CCEO55_150">[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P1R.HTM "''CCEO'', Canons 55–150"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224135155/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P1R.HTM |date=24 February 2021 }}. Intratext.com (English Translation). 1990.</ref> others are headed by a major archbishop,<ref name="CCEO151_154">"''CCEO'', Canons 151–154". 1990.</ref> others are under a metropolitan,<ref name="CCEO155_173">"''CCEO'', Canons 155–173". 1990.</ref> and others are organized as individual eparchies.<ref name="CCEO">"''CCEO'', Canons 174–176". 1990.</ref> Each church has authority over the particulars of its internal organization, liturgical rites, liturgical calendar and other aspects of its spirituality, subject only to the authority of the pope.<ref name="CCEO27_7">[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PR.HTM "''CCEO'', Canon 27–28."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722181249/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PR.HTM |date=22 July 2011 }}. Intratext.com (English Translation). 1990.</ref> The Roman Curia has a specific department, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to maintain relations with them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/orientchurch/profilo/rc_con_corient_pro_20030320_profile.html |title=Congregation for the Oriental Churches: Profile |publisher=Vatican.va |location=Rome |access-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514004919/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/orientchurch/profilo/rc_con_corient_pro_20030320_profile.html |archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref>

===Dioceses, parishes, organizations, and institutes=== {{further|List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)|Parish in the Catholic Church|Religious institute|Catholic charities}} {{Catholicism map}} Individual countries, regions, and major cities are served by particular churches known as dioceses in the Latin Church, or eparchies in the Eastern Catholic Churches, each of which are overseen by a bishop. {{as of|2021}}, the Catholic Church has 3,171 dioceses globally.<ref name="sees">Vatican, ''Annuario Pontificio'' 2009, p. 1172.</ref> The bishops in a particular country are members of a national or regional episcopal conference.<ref>''Annuario Pontifico per l'anno 2010'' (''Città di Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana'', 2010)</ref>

Dioceses are divided into parishes, each with one or more priests, deacons, or lay ecclesial ministers.<ref name="OneFaith52">Barry, p. 52</ref> Parishes are responsible for the day to day celebration of the sacraments and pastoral care of the laity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1T.HTM|title=Canon 519 1983 Code of Canon Law|website=Intratext.com|quote=The parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling with the cooperation of other priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance with the law.|access-date=25 March 2015|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131004630/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1T.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> {{as of|2016}} there are approximately 221,700 parishes worldwide.<ref name="Vermont_winter" />

In the Latin Church, Catholic men may serve as deacons or priests by receiving sacramental ordination. Men and women may serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, as readers (lectors), or as altar servers. Historically, boys and men have only been permitted to serve as altar servers; however, since the 1990s, girls and women have also been permitted.<ref name="Apostalicae86">{{cite book|title=Acta Apostolicae Sedis 86|year=1994|pages=541–42|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS%2086%20%5B1994%5D%20-%20ocr.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721142407/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS%2086%20%5B1994%5D%20-%20ocr.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2015}}; [http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=5212 English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209105945/https://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=5212 |date=9 February 2021 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|In 1992, the Vatican clarified the 1983 Code of Canon Law removed the requirement that altar servers be male; permission to use female altar servers within a diocese is at the discretion of the bishop.<ref name="Apostalicae86" />}}

Catholics may enter into consecrated life either on an individual basis, as a hermit or consecrated virgin, or by joining an institute of consecrated life (a religious institute or a secular institute) in which to take vows confirming their desire to follow the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.<ref name="Canons573-746">They can be laity or ordained priests. {{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|title=Canon 573–746|website=1983 Code of Canon Law|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=9 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418141521/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1Y.HTM|archive-date=18 April 2016}}</ref> Examples of institutes of consecrated life are the Benedictines, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Missionaries of Charity, the Legionaries of Christ and the Sisters of Mercy.<ref name="Canons573-746" />

"Religious institutes" is a modern term encompassing both "religious orders" and "religious congregations", which were once distinguished in canon law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22+the+1983+code+uses+the+single+term+religious+institute%22&btnG=Search&as_sdtp=on|title=Google Scholar|website=scholar.google.com|access-date=5 June 2022|archive-date=5 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605181033/https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22+the+1983+code+uses+the+single+term+religious+institute%22&btnG=Search&as_sdtp=on|url-status=live}}</ref> The terms "religious order" and "religious institute" tend to be used as synonyms colloquially.<ref>Cafardi, Nicolas P. [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22+Religious+order+is+a+colloquialism%22&btnG=Search&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=on "Catholic Law Schools and Ex Corde Ecclesiae"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224195313/https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22+Religious+order+is+a+colloquialism%22&btnG=Search&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=on |date=24 February 2021 }}, ''Theological Exploration'', vol. 2. no. 1 of Duquesne University and in ''Law Review'' of University of Toledo, vol. 33</ref>

By means of Catholic charities and beyond, the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.<ref name="Geopolitics">{{cite journal|last=Agnew|first=John|title=Deus Vult: The Geopolitics of Catholic Church|journal=Geopolitics|date=12 February 2010|volume=15|issue=1|pages=39–61|doi=10.1080/14650040903420388|s2cid=144793259 |issn=1465-0045 }}</ref>

===Membership=== {{Main|Catholic Church by country}}

{{Further|List of Christian denominations by number of members}} {{Chart | chart = Catholics per continent.Line.chart | data = World population-Catholics.tab }} {{Chart | chart = Catholics percentage per continent.Line.chart | data = World population-Catholics.tab }}

{{bar box | width=250px | float=left | title=Geographic distribution of Catholics in 2023<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" /> |bars= {{bar percent|Americas|Blue|47.8}} {{bar percent|Europe|Gold|20.4}} {{bar percent|Africa|Brown|20.0}} {{bar percent|Asia|#d4213d|11.0}} {{bar percent|Oceania|Purple|0.8}} }} As of 2020 Catholicism is the second-largest religious body in the world after Sunni Islam.<ref>{{cite web|quote=The Roman Catholic Church, which consists of 23 particular Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church is the world's second largest religious body after Sunni Islam.|url=https://www.yourdictionary.com/catholic-church|title=Definition of Catholic Church on the Your Dictionary website|publisher=Yourdictionary.com|access-date=3 June 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308175053/https://www.yourdictionary.com/catholic-church|url-status=live}}</ref> Catholics represent about half of all Christians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chryssides|first1=George D.|last2=Wilkins|first2=Margaret Z.|date=2014|title=Christians in the Twenty-First Century|page=9|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54558-3|quote=Roughly half of all Christians worldwide are Roman Catholics}}</ref> According to the ''World Christian Database'', there are 1.279 billion Catholics constituting 47.8% of 2.674 billion Christians globally, as of 2026.<ref name="WorldChristianDatabase" /> According to the ''Annuario Pontificio'', church membership, defined as baptized Catholics, was 1.406 billion at the end of 2023, which was 17.4% of the world population:<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" /> Under Pope Francis the church membership grew by almost 11%, with growth concentrated in Africa and loss in Europe.<ref>Anthony Faiola. (21 April 2025). "Pope Francis, whose humility and empathy reshaped the papacy, dies at 88". [https://wapo.st/44yfumD Washington Post website] Retrieved 21 April 2025.</ref>

Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world, followed by Mexico, the Philippines and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/|title=The Global Catholic Population|date=13 February 2013|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=4 April 2021|archive-date=28 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928103612/https://www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Geographic distribution of Catholics worldwide continues to shift, with 20.0% in Africa, 47.8% in the Americas, 11.0% in Asia, 20.4% in Europe and 0.8% in Oceania.<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" />

Catholic ministers include ordained clergy, lay ecclesial ministers, missionaries and catechists. Also as of the end of 2023, there were 463,859 ordained clergy, including 5,430 bishops, 406,996 priests (diocesan and religious) and 51,433 deacons (permanent).<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" /> Non-ordained ministers, as at October 2024, include 2,883,049 catechists and 413,561 lay missionaries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fides.org/en/attachments/view/file/STATISTICS_2024_002_.pdf |title=Catholic Church Statistics 2024 |website=fides.org |access-date=26 March 2025 |date=17 October 2024}}</ref>

Catholics who have committed to religious or consecrated life as a state of life or relational vocation include 49,414 male religious (as of 2022) and 589,423 women religious (as of 2023). These are not ordained, nor generally called "ministers" unless also engaged in one of the lay minister categories above.<ref name="Yearbook_3/20/2025" />

==Doctrine== {{Main|Catholic theology}}

Catholic doctrine has developed over the centuries, reflecting direct teachings of early Christians, formal definitions of heretical and orthodox beliefs by ecumenical councils and in papal bulls, and theological debate by scholars. The church believes that it is continually guided by the Holy Spirit as it discerns new theological issues and is protected infallibly from falling into doctrinal error when a firm decision on an issue is reached.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|889|quote=[I]n order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Second Vatican Council|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|work=Lumen Gentium|publisher=Vatican|access-date=24 July 2010|title=Chapter III, paragraph 25|quote=by the light of the Holy Spirit ... vigilantly warding off any errors that threaten their flock.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906031754/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|archive-date=6 September 2014}}</ref>

It teaches that revelation has one common source, God, and two distinct modes of transmission: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition,<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|80–81}}</ref><ref name="LumenG3">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Lumen Gentium chapter 2, Paragraph 14|publisher=Vatican|year=1964|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|access-date=9 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906031754/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|archive-date=6 September 2014}}</ref> and that these are authentically interpreted by the Magisterium.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|888–92}}</ref><ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|85–88}}</ref> Sacred Scripture consists of the 73 books of the Catholic Bible, consisting of 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament writings. Sacred Tradition consists of those teachings believed by the church to have been handed down since the time of the Apostles.<ref name="Schreck16">Schreck, pp. 15–19</ref> Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are collectively known as the "deposit of faith" ({{lang|la|depositum fidei}} in Latin). These are in turn interpreted by the Magisterium (from {{lang|la|magister}}, Latin for "teacher"), the church's teaching authority, which is exercised by the pope and the College of Bishops in union with the pope.<ref name="Schreck30">Schreck, p. 30</ref> Catholic doctrine is authoritatively summarized in the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', published by the Holy See.<ref name="cat">Marthaler, preface</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=John Paul II|first=Pope|title=Laetamur Magnopere|publisher=Vatican|year=1997|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/aposletr.htm|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314024145/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/aposletr.htm|archive-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>

===Nature of God=== {{Main|Trinity}}

[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|This diagram depicts the Shield of the Trinity, which expresses many aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity.]]The Catholic Church holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a ''perichoresis'' ("mutual indwelling") of three ''hypostases'', or "persons": God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost), which together are called the "Holy Trinity".<ref name="232_252">{{Cite CCC|2.1|232–37, 252}}</ref>

Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the "Second Person" of the Trinity, God the Son. In an event known as the Incarnation, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God became united with human nature through the conception of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christ, therefore, is understood as being both fully divine and fully human, including possessing a human soul. It is taught that Christ's mission on earth included giving people his teachings and providing his example for them to follow as recorded in the four Gospels.<ref name="McGrath">McGrath, pp. 4–6.</ref> Jesus is believed to have remained sinless while on earth, and to have allowed himself to be unjustly executed by crucifixion, as a sacrifice of himself to reconcile humanity to God; this reconciliation is known as the Paschal Mystery.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|595}}</ref> The Greek term "Christ" and the Hebrew "Messiah" both mean "anointed one", referring to the Christian belief that Jesus' death and resurrection are the fulfilment of the Old Testament's messianic prophecies.<ref name="Kreeft71">Kreeft, pp. 71–72</ref>

The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that "the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, not as from two principles but as from one single principle".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/pccufilq.htm|title=Greek and Latin Traditions on Holy Spirit|work=ewtn.com|access-date=12 February 2015|archive-date=3 September 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040903132523/http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCCUFILQ.HTM}}</ref> It holds that the Father, as the "principle without principle", is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that he, as Father of the only Son, is with the Son the single principle from which the Spirit proceeds.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|248}}</ref> This belief is expressed in the {{lang|la|Filioque}} clause which was added to the Latin version of the Nicene Creed of 381 but not included in the Greek versions of the creed used in Eastern Christianity.<ref name="245_248">{{Cite CCC|2.1|245–48}}</ref>

===Nature of the church=== {{Main|Catholic ecclesiology}}

The Catholic Church teaches that it is the "one true church",<ref name="Catholic News Service" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html|title=Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church|location=Rome|publisher=Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|date=29 June 2007|author=William Cardinal Levada|access-date=26 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813100622/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html|archive-date=13 August 2013}}</ref> "the universal sacrament of salvation for the human race",<ref name="GAUDIUM">{{cite web|title=Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ''GAUDIUM ET SPES'' § 45|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html|publisher=Vatican.va|date=7 December 1965|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017073250/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html|archive-date=17 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|title=Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ''Lumen Gentium''|editor-first=Pericle|editor-last=Felici|date=21 November 1964|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906031754/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html|archive-date=6 September 2014}}</ref> and "the one true religion".<ref>Para. 2, 2nd sentence: {{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html|title=Dignitatis humanae|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211202206/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html|archive-date=11 February 2012}}</ref> According to the ''Catechism'', the Catholic Church is further described in the Nicene Creed as the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church".<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|811}}</ref> These are collectively known as the Four Marks of the Church. The church teaches that its founder is Jesus Christ.<ref name="Kreeft98">Kreeft, p. 98, quote "The fundamental reason for being a Catholic is the historical fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, was God's invention, not man's;... As the Father gave authority to Christ (Jn 5:22; Mt 28:18–20), Christ passed it on to his apostles (Lk 10:16), and they passed it on to the successors they appointed as bishops." (see also Kreeft, p. 980)</ref>{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|p=30}} The New Testament records several events considered integral to the establishment of the Catholic Church, including Jesus' activities and teaching and his appointment of the apostles as witnesses to his ministry, suffering, and resurrection. The Great Commission, after his resurrection, instructed the apostles to continue his work. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as Pentecost, is seen as the beginning of the public ministry of the Catholic Church.<ref name="Barry48">Barry, p. 46.</ref> The church teaches that all duly consecrated bishops have a lineal succession from the apostles of Christ, known as apostolic succession.<ref name="OneFaith46">Barry, p. 46</ref> In particular, the Bishop of Rome (the pope) is considered the successor to the apostle Simon Peter, a position from which he derives his supremacy over the church.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|880}}</ref>

Catholic belief holds that the church "is the continuing presence of Jesus on earth"<ref name="Schreck131">Schreck, p. 131</ref> and that it alone possesses the full means of salvation.<ref name="CCC_816">{{Cite CCC|2.1|816|quote=The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: 'For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God.' [''Unitatis redintegratio'' 3 § 5.]}}</ref> Through the passion (suffering) of Christ leading to his crucifixion as described in the Gospels, it is said Christ made himself an oblation to God the Father to reconcile humanity to God;<ref name="608_">{{Cite CCC|2.1|608}}</ref> the Resurrection of Jesus makes him the firstborn from the dead, the first among many brethren.<ref>Colossians 1.18</ref> By reconciling with God and following Christ's words and deeds, an individual can enter the Kingdom of God.<ref name="OneFaith26">Barry, p. 26</ref> The church sees its liturgy and sacraments as perpetuating the graces achieved through Christ's sacrifice to strengthen a person's relationship with Christ and aid in overcoming sin.<ref name="CoCCC_Paschal">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#God%20Comes%20to%20Meet%20Man|title=The paschal mystery in the sacraments of the church|date=2005|access-date=14 December 2014|website=Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church|publisher=Vatican.va|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122221130/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#God%20Comes%20to%20Meet%20Man|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Final judgement=== {{Main|Last Judgment#Catholicism}}

The Catholic Church teaches that, immediately after death, the soul of each person will receive a particular judgement from God, based on their sins and their relationship to Christ.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1021–22, 1039, 1051|quote=The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life}}</ref><ref name="Schreck397">Schreck, p. 397</ref> This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in universal judgement of all mankind. This final judgement, according to the Church's teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of both a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1038–41}}</ref>

Depending on the judgement rendered following death, it is believed that a soul may enter one of three states of the afterlife: * Heaven is a state of unending union with the divine nature of God, not ontologically, but by grace. It is an eternal life, in which the soul contemplates God in ceaseless beatitude.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1023–29, 1042–50}}</ref> * Purgatory is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although destined for Heaven, are not fully detached from sin and thus cannot enter Heaven immediately.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1030–32, 1054}}</ref> In Purgatory, the soul suffers, and is purged and perfected. Souls in purgatory may be aided in reaching heaven by the prayers of the faithful on earth and by the intercession of saints.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur215.htm|title=Saints' Prayers for Souls in Purgatory|publisher=Ewtn.com|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=30 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430072118/http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur215.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> * Final Damnation: Finally, those who persist in living in a state of mortal sin and do not repent before death subject themselves to hell, an everlasting separation from God.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1033–37, 1057}}</ref> The church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1058}}</ref> No one is predestined to hell and no one can determine with absolute certainty who has been condemned to hell.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1037}}</ref> Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death, be illuminated with the truth of the Catholic faith, and thus obtain salvation.<ref name="Luke23">Christian Bible, {{bibleverse||Luke|23:39–43}}</ref> Some Catholic theologians have speculated that the souls of unbaptized infants and non-Christians without mortal sin but who die in original sin are assigned to limbo, although this is not an official dogma of the church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7529&CFID=32422018&CFTOKEN=46037657|title=Library: The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised|publisher=Catholic Culture|date=19 January 2007|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501133631/http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7529&CFID=32422018&CFTOKEN=46037657|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the Catholic Church teaches that it alone possesses the full means of salvation,<ref name="CCC_816" /> it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of Christian communities separated from itself to "impel towards Catholic unity"<ref name="ewtn.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/Doctrine/subsistit.htm|title=Christ's Church Subsists in the Catholic Church|website=ewtn.com|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120114032/https://www.ewtn.com/library/Doctrine/subsistit.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and "tend and lead toward the Catholic Church",<ref name="ewtn.com" /> and thus bring people to salvation, because these separated communities contain some elements of proper doctrine, albeit admixed with errors. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved through the Catholic Church but that people can be saved outside of the ordinary means known as baptism of desire, and by pre-baptismal martyrdom, known as baptism of blood, as well as when conditions of invincible ignorance are present, although invincible ignorance in itself is not a means of salvation.<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle=Baptism|first=William|last=Fanning}} (See: "Necessity of baptism" and "Substitutes for the sacrament")</ref> The Vatican II document ''Lumen'' ''gentium'' further clarifies the possibility of salvation of those who "through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart," being "moved by (divine) grace".{{CCC|847}}

===Saints and devotions=== {{Main|Saint|Canonization|Veneration|Catholic devotions}}

A saint (also historically known as a hallow) is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God, while canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares that a person who has died was a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the "canon", or list, of recognized saints.<ref name="WilsonFischer2005">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Douglas|last2=Fischer|first2=Ty|year=2005|title=Omnibus II: Church Fathers Through the Reformation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zClmDnl3b3EC&pg=PA101|publisher=Veritas Press|isbn=978-1-932168-44-0|page=101|quote=The word 'hallow' means 'saint,' in that 'hallow' is just an alternative form of the word 'holy' ('hallowed be Thy name').|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112757/https://books.google.com/books?id=zClmDnl3b3EC&pg=PA101#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DiehlDonnelly2001">{{cite book|last1=Diehl|first1=Daniel|last2=Donnelly|first2=Mark|year=2001|title=Medieval Celebrations|publisher=Stackpole Books|url={{googlebooks|WKyMpNnRWUC|page=13|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-8117-2866-9|page=13|quote=The word hallow was simply another word for saint.}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The first persons honoured as saints were the martyrs. By the fourth century, however, "confessors"—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by suffering—began to be venerated publicly.<ref name="ce beccari">{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Confessor |last1=Beccari |first1=Camillo|volume=4}}</ref>

In the Catholic Church, both in Latin and Eastern Catholic churches, the act of canonization is reserved to the Apostolic See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the candidate for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the person is now in Heaven and that he may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the church, including in the Litany of the Saints. Canonization allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite; for permission to venerate at a local level only beatification is needed.<ref>"Beatification, in the present discipline, differs from canonization in this: that the former implies (1) a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate, which is (2) a mere permission, and no precept; while canonization implies a universal precept" ([http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonisation".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724145034/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm |date=24 July 2018 }} ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 2. New York, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Accessed 27 May 2009.).</ref>

Devotions are "external practices of piety" which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Michael P.|year=1989|title=Catholic Cults and Devotions: A Psychological Inquiry|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHVmFOHNr7cC&pg=PA7|isbn=978-0-7735-0693-0|page=7|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=10 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310112749/https://books.google.com/books?id=FHVmFOHNr7cC&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> These include various practices regarding the veneration of the saints, especially veneration of the Virgin Mary. Other devotional practices include the Stations of the Cross, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Face of Jesus,<ref name="etwndevoti">{{cite web|url=http://ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.asp|title=Catholic Prayers, Novenas, Prayers of Jesus, Marian Prayers, Prayers of the Saints|work=EWTN|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407085827/http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.asp|archive-date=7 April 2015}}</ref> the various scapulars, novenas to various saints,<ref name="popdevos">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12275b.htm|title=Popular Devotions|work=New Advent|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-date=24 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424075244/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12275b.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> pilgrimages<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm|title=Pilgrimages|work=New Advent|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-date=11 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211020331/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and devotions to the Blessed Sacrament,<ref name="popdevos" /> and the veneration of saintly images such as the ''santos''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-15-ca-38635-story.html|first=Christopher|last=Knight|title=Art Review: Images of 'Santos': Fascinating Portrait of Catholic Devotion|work=Los Angeles Times|date=15 September 1994|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-date=16 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416195335/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-15/entertainment/ca-38635_1_art-center|url-status=live}}</ref> The bishops at the Second Vatican Council reminded Catholics that "devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them."<ref>''Sacrosanctum Concilium'', 13</ref>

===Virgin Mary=== {{Catholic mariology sidebar}} {{Main|Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church|Mariology of the Catholic Church|Mariology of the saints|Mariology of the popes}}

[[File:Antolinez-inmaculada-bilbao.jpg|alt=|thumb|left|The Blessed Virgin Mary is highly regarded in the Catholic Church, proclaiming her as Mother of God, free from original sin and an intercessor.]] Catholic Mariology deals with the dogmas and teachings concerning the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, as well as the veneration of Mary by the faithful. Mary is held in special regard, declared the Mother of God ({{Langx|el|Θεοτόκος|links=yes|lit=God-bearer|translit=Theotokos}}), and believed as dogma to have remained a virgin throughout her life.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20120101_world-day-peace_en.html|title=Pope Benedict XVI. 1 January 2012 – Feast of Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary|publisher=Vatican.va|date=1 January 2012|access-date=17 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702070352/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20120101_world-day-peace_en.html|archive-date=2 July 2012}}</ref> Further teachings include the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception (her own conception without the stain of original sin) and the Assumption of Mary (that her body was assumed directly into heaven at the end of her life). Both of these doctrines were defined as infallible dogma, by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and Pope Pius XII in 1950 respectively,<ref name="Barry, p. 106">Barry, p. 106</ref> but only after consulting with the Catholic bishops throughout the world to ascertain that this is a Catholic belief.<ref>Schaff, Philip (2009). ''The Creeds of Christendom''. {{ISBN|1-115-46834-0}}, p. 211.</ref> In the Eastern Catholic churches, however, they continue to celebrate the feast of the Assumption under the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God on the same date.<ref>{{cite web |title=People, Look East: The Dormition of Mary |url=https://cnewa.org/people-look-east-the-assumption-of-mary/ |website=CNEWA |language=en-us |date=15 August 2021 |access-date=22 August 2021 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821231251/https://cnewa.org/people-look-east-the-assumption-of-mary/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The teaching that Mary died before being assumed significantly precedes the idea that she did not. St John Damascene wrote that "St Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to Heaven."<ref>{{cite web |title=What do we mean by "the sleep of Mary" or "the dormition of Mary"? |url=https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-do-we-mean-by-the-sleep-of-mary-or-the-dormition-of-mary/ |website=Catholic Straight Answers |language=en |date=21 May 2013 |access-date=22 August 2021 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821233423/https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-do-we-mean-by-the-sleep-of-mary-or-the-dormition-of-mary/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Devotions to Mary are part of Catholic piety but are distinct from the worship of God.<ref>Schreck, pp. 199–200</ref> Practices include prayers and Marian art, music and architecture. Several liturgical Marian feasts are celebrated throughout the Church Year and she is honoured with many titles such as Queen of Heaven. Pope Paul VI called her Mother of the Church because, by giving birth to Christ, she is considered to be the spiritual mother to each member of the Body of Christ.<ref name="Barry, p. 106" /> Because of her influential role in the life of Jesus, prayers and devotions such as the Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Salve Regina and the Memorare are common Catholic practices.<ref>Barry, pp. 122–23</ref> Pilgrimage to the sites of several Marian apparitions affirmed by the church, such as Lourdes, Fátima and Guadalupe,<ref>Schreck, p. 368</ref> are also popular Catholic devotions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Baedeker|first=Rob|title=World's most-visited religious destinations|work=USA Today|date=21 December 2007|url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-12-21-most-visited-religious-spots-forbes_N.htm|access-date=3 March 2008|archive-date=8 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308234445/http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-12-21-most-visited-religious-spots-forbes_N.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Sacraments== {{Anchor|Celebration of the sacraments|Doctrine of the sacraments}} {{Main|Sacraments of the Catholic Church}}

[[File:20190529 Spain and Portugal El Camino Pilgrimage 1063 (48002601588).jpg|thumb|left|Holy Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, Portugal. The host and the chalice are displayed to the people immediately after the consecration of the bread and wine into the Holy Body and Blood of Christ.]] The Catholic Church teaches that it was entrusted with seven sacraments that were instituted by Christ. The number and nature of the sacraments were defined by several ecumenical councils, most recently the Council of Trent.<ref name="1113_14">{{Cite CCC|2.1|1113–14, 1117}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Other councils that addressed the sacraments include the Second Council of Lyon (1274); Council of Florence (1439); as well as the Council of Trent (1547)<ref name="1113_14" />|}} These are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick (formerly called Extreme Unction, one of the "Last Rites"), holy orders and holy matrimony. Sacraments are visible rituals that Catholics see as signs of God's presence and effective channels of God's grace to all those who receive them with the proper disposition (''ex opere operato'').<ref>Kreeft, pp. 298–99</ref> The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' categorizes the sacraments into three groups, the "sacraments of Christian initiation", "sacraments of healing" and "sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful". These groups broadly reflect the stages of people's natural and spiritual lives which each sacrament is intended to serve.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1210–11}}</ref>

The liturgies of the sacraments are central to the church's mission. According to the ''Catechism'':

{{Blockquote | In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the "communion of the Holy Spirit" who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ. This assembly transcends racial, cultural, social—indeed, all human affinities.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1097}}</ref> }}

According to church doctrine, the sacraments of the church require the proper form, matter, and intent to be validly celebrated.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Sacraments}}</ref> In addition, the Canon Laws for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches govern who may licitly celebrate certain sacraments, as well as strict rules about who may receive the sacraments.<ref name="CoCC291">{{cite news |title=''CoCC'' 291 |publisher=Vatican.va |quote=To receive Holy Communion one must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace, that is, not conscious of being in mortal sin. Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion. Also important for those receiving Holy Communion are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast prescribed by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gestures and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ.}}</ref> Notably, because the church teaches that Christ is present in the Eucharist,<ref name="Kreeft326">Kreeft, p. 326</ref> those who are conscious of being in a state of mortal sin are forbidden to receive the sacrament until they have received absolution through the sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).<ref name="Kreeft331" /> Catholics are normally obliged to abstain from eating for at least an hour before receiving the sacrament.<ref name="Kreeft331">Kreeft, p. 331</ref> Non-Catholics are ordinarily prohibited from receiving the Eucharist as well.<ref name="CoCC291" /><ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1400–01}}</ref>

Catholics, even if they were in danger of death and unable to approach a Catholic minister, may not ask for the sacraments of the Eucharist, penance or anointing of the sick from someone, such as a Protestant minister, who is not known to be validly ordained in line with Catholic teaching on ordination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/general-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19930325_directory_en.html |title=Principles and Norms on Ecumenism – 132 |work=vatican.va |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816040600/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/general-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19930325_directory_en.html |archive-date=16 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1400}}</ref> Likewise, even in grave and pressing need, Catholic ministers may not administer these sacraments to those who do not manifest Catholic faith in the sacrament. In relation to the churches of Eastern Christianity not in communion with the Holy See, the Catholic Church is less restrictive, declaring that "a certain ''communion in sacris'', and so in the Eucharist, given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged."<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1399}}</ref>

===Sacraments of initiation=== {{Main|Sacraments of initiation}}

====Baptism==== [[File:Baptême Cathédrale de Troyes 290308.jpg|left|thumb|Baptism of Augustine of Hippo as represented in a sculptural group in Troyes Cathedral (1549), France]] As viewed by the Catholic Church, baptism is the first of three sacraments of initiation as a Christian.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1275}}</ref> It washes away all sins, both original sin and personal actual sins.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1263}}</ref> It makes a person a member of the church.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1267}}</ref> As a gratuitous gift of God that requires no merit on the part of the person who is baptized, it is conferred even on children,<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1282}}</ref> who, though they have no personal sins, need it on account of original sin.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1250}}</ref>

If a new-born child is in a danger of death, anyone—be it a doctor, a nurse, or a parent—may baptize the child.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lazowski|first=Philip|year=2004|title=Understanding Your Neighbor's Faith: What Christians and Jews Should Know About Each Other|publisher=KTAV Publishing House|url={{googlebooks|HIhIPIYLQ6QC|page=157|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-88125-811-0|page=157}}</ref> Baptism marks a person permanently and cannot be repeated.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1272}}</ref> The Catholic Church recognizes as valid baptisms conferred even by people who are not Catholics or Christians, provided that they intend to baptize ("to do what the Church does when she baptizes") and that they use the Trinitarian baptismal formula.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1256}}</ref>

====Confirmation==== {{Main|Confirmation in the Catholic Church}}

The Catholic Church sees the sacrament of confirmation as required to complete the grace given in baptism.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1285}}</ref> When adults are baptized, confirmation is normally given immediately afterwards,<ref name="cann883">{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P31.HTM|title=Canon 883|website=1983 Code of Canon Law|publisher=Intratext.com|date=4 May 2007|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208064642/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P31.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> a practice followed even with newly baptized infants in the Eastern Catholic Churches.<ref name="cceo695">{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_PJB.HTM|title=''CCEO'', Canon 695|publisher=Intratext.com (English translation)|date=1990|access-date=30 June 2011}}</ref> In the West confirmation of children is delayed until they are old enough to understand or at the bishop's discretion.<ref name="cann891">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P33.HTM|title=Canon 891|website=1983 Code of Canon Law|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628184246/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P33.HTM|archive-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> In Western Christianity, particularly Catholicism, the sacrament is called ''confirmation'', because it confirms and strengthens the grace of baptism; in the Eastern Churches, it is called ''chrismation'', because the essential rite is the anointing of the person with chrism,<ref name="Chrism">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Seven%20Sacraments%20of%20the%20Church|title=Compendium of the CCC, 267|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-date=27 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Seven%20Sacraments%20of%20the%20Church|url-status=live}}</ref> a mixture of olive oil and some perfumed substance, usually balsam, blessed by a bishop.<ref name="Chrism" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/florence.htm#3|title=Council of Florence: Bull of union with the Armenians|publisher=Ewtn.com|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103203301/http://www.ewtn.com/library/councils/florence.htm#3|archive-date=3 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Those who receive confirmation must be in a state of grace, which for those who have reached the age of reason means that they should first be cleansed spiritually by the sacrament of Penance; they should also have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to show in their lives that they are Christians.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1310}}</ref>

====Eucharist==== {{Main|Eucharist in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:BentoXVI-51-11052007 (frag).jpg|thumb|Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist at the canonization of Frei Galvão in São Paulo, Brazil on 11 May 2007.]] For Catholics, the Eucharist is the sacrament which completes Christian initiation. It is described as "the source and summit of the Christian life".<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1322–24}}</ref> The ceremony in which a Catholic first receives the Eucharist is known as First Communion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=601|title=Catholic Activity: Preparing for First Holy Communion|publisher=Catholicculture.org|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref>

The Eucharistic celebration, also called the Mass or Divine liturgy, includes prayers and scriptural readings, as well as an offering of bread and wine, which are brought to the altar and consecrated by the priest to become the body and the blood of Jesus Christ: the substance of bread and wine changes despite the accidents (e.g., the visible form) remaining: a change called transubstantiation.<ref>{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist|first=Joseph|last=Pohle}}</ref>

The words of consecration reflect the words spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper, where Christ offered his body and blood to his Apostles the night before his crucifixion. The sacrament re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross,<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1365–1372|quote=Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice, thus, in the ritual text of the Mass, the priest asks of the congregation present, 'Pray, brothers and sisters, that this my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.' The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: 'This is my body which is given for you' and 'This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.' [Lk 22:19–20] In the Eucharist, Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he 'poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' [Mt 26:28]}}</ref> and perpetuates it. Christ's death and resurrection give grace through the sacrament that unites the faithful with Christ and one another, remits venial sin, and aids against committing moral sin (though mortal sin itself is forgiven through the sacrament of penance).<ref name="ccc1392">{{Cite CCC|2.1|1392–95}}</ref>

left|thumb|upright|A Catholic prays in a church in Mexico.

===Sacraments of healing===

====Penance==== {{Main|Sacrament of Penance}}

The sacrament of penance (also called Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Confession, and Conversion<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 296 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref>) exists for the conversion of those who, after baptism, separate themselves from Christ by sin.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 297 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref> Essential to this sacrament are acts both by the sinner (examination of conscience, contrition with a determination not to sin again, confession to a priest, and performance of some act to repair the damage caused by sin) and by the priest (determination of the act of reparation to be performed and absolution).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 302–03 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref>

Serious sins (mortal sins) should be confessed at least once a year and always before receiving the Eucharist, while confession of venial sins also is recommended.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 304–06 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref> The priest is bound under the severest penalties to maintain the "seal of confession", absolute secrecy about any sins revealed to him in confession.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 309 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Anointing of the sick==== {{Main|Anointing of the Sick in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:Extreme Unction Rogier Van der Weyden.jpg|left|upright=1.35|thumb|The ''Seven Sacraments Altarpiece'' triptych painting of Extreme Unction (anointing of the sick) with oil being administered by a priest during last rites. Rogier van der Weyden, 1445.]] While chrism is used only for the three sacraments that cannot be repeated, a different oil is used by a priest or bishop to bless a Catholic who, because of illness or old age, has begun to be in danger of death.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 316 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref> This sacrament, known as anointing of the sick, is believed to give comfort, peace, courage and, if the sick person is unable to make a confession, even forgiveness of sins.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 319 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120439/http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Sacraments%20of%20Healing |url-status=live }}</ref>

The sacrament is also referred to as ''unction'', and in the past as ''extreme unction'', and it is one of the three sacraments that constitute the last rites, together with Penance and Viaticum (Eucharist).<ref>{{cite CE1913| wstitle = Extreme Unction | first = Patrick | last = Toner }}</ref>

===Sacraments at the service of communion=== According to the Catechism, there are two sacraments of communion directed towards the salvation of others: priesthood and marriage.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1534}}</ref> Within the general vocation to be a Christian, these two sacraments "consecrate to specific mission or vocation among the people of God. Men receive the holy orders to feed the church by the word and grace. Spouses marry so that their love may be fortified to fulfil duties of their state".<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1535}}</ref>

====Holy orders==== {{Main|Holy orders in the Catholic Church}}

thumb|Priests lay their hands on the ordinands during the rite of ordination. The sacrament of holy orders consecrates and deputes some Christians to serve the whole body as members of three degrees or orders: episcopate (bishops), presbyterate (priests) and diaconate (deacons).<ref name="cann10081009">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3N.HTM |title=Canon 1008–1009 |website=1983 Code of Canon Law |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302172900/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3N.HTM |archive-date=2 March 2016}} (As modified by the 2009 [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_letters/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apl_20091026_codex-iuris-canonici_en.html motu proprio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616013341/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_letters/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apl_20091026_codex-iuris-canonici_en.html |date=16 June 2011 }} ''Omnium in mentem'')</ref><ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1536}}</ref> The church has defined rules on who may be ordained into the clergy. In the Latin Church the priesthood is generally restricted to celibate men, and the episcopate is always restricted to celibate men.<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/WCRB.htm Karl Keating, "What Catholics Really Believe: Setting the Record Straight: Chapter 46: Priestly Celibacy"]. ''ewtn.com''. Retrieved on 27 August 2015.</ref> Men who are already married may be ordained in certain Eastern Catholic churches in most countries,<ref>{{cite news |last=Niebuhr |first=Gustav |title=Bishop's Quiet Action Allows Priest Both Flock And Family |work=The New York Times |date=16 February 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/16/us/bishop-s-quiet-action-allows-priest-both-flock-and-family.html |access-date=4 April 2008}}</ref> and the personal ordinariates and may become deacons even in the Latin Church<ref name="CCL1031">[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM Canon 1031] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221173442/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM |date=21 February 2008 }} Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref><ref name="CCL1037">[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM Canon 1037] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218110036/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM |date=18 February 2008 }}, Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref> (see clerical marriage). After becoming a Catholic priest, a man may not marry (see clerical celibacy) unless he is formally laicized.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JKgZEjvB5cEC&dq=Beal+%22dispensation+from+celibacy%22&pg=PA390 John P. Beal, ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law'' (Paulist Press 2000] {{ISBN|978-0-80914066-4}}), pp. 389–390</ref>

All clergy, whether deacons, priests or bishops, may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral liturgies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons |url=http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/diaconate/faqs.cfm |author=Committee on the Diaconate |publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |access-date=9 March 2008}}</ref> Only bishops and priests can administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, reconciliation (penance) and anointing of the sick.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P16.HTM Canon 42] Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref><ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM Canon 375] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |date=19 February 2008 }}, Catholic Church Canon Law. Retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref> Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders, which ordains someone into the clergy.<ref name="OneFaith114">Barry, p. 114.</ref>

====Matrimony==== {{Anchor|Sacrament of marriage}} {{Main|Marriage in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:Jf9694Wedding San Nicolas Church Tolentine Marriage Pampangafvf 02.JPG|thumb|Wedding mass in the Philippines]] The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a social and spiritual bond between a man and a woman, ordered towards the good of the spouses and procreation of children; according to Catholic teachings on sexual morality, it is the only appropriate context for sexual activity. A Catholic marriage, or any marriage between baptized individuals of any Christian denomination, is viewed as a sacrament. A sacramental marriage, once consummated, cannot be dissolved except by death.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1601, 1614|quote=The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.}}</ref>{{refn|Marriages involving unbaptized individuals are considered valid, but not sacramental. While sacramental marriages are insoluble, non-sacramental marriages may be dissolved under certain situations, such as a desire to marry a Catholic, under Pauline or Petrine privilege.<ref name="Gantley" /><ref name="Doors" />||group="note"}} The church recognizes certain conditions, such as freedom of consent, as required for any marriage to be valid; In addition, the church sets specific rules and norms, known as canonical form, that Catholics must follow.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1631}}</ref>

The church does not recognize divorce as ending a valid marriage and allows state-recognized divorce only as a means of protecting the property and well-being of the spouses and any children. However, consideration of particular cases by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal can lead to declaration of the invalidity of a marriage, a declaration usually referred to as an annulment. Remarriage following a divorce is not permitted unless the prior marriage was declared invalid.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1629}}</ref>

==Liturgy== {{Main|Catholic liturgy|Eastern Catholic liturgy}}

[[File:Thebible33.jpg|thumb|Catholic religious objects – Holy Bible, crucifix and rosary]] Among the 24 autonomous (''sui iuris'') churches, numerous liturgical and other traditions exist, called rites, which reflect historical and cultural diversity rather than differences in belief.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1200–09}}</ref> In the definition of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, "a rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Church ''sui iuris''".<ref name="CCEO28">[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/__PS.HTM "''CCEO'', Canon 28 § 1"]. Vatican.va ([https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19901018_codex-can-eccl-orient-1_lt.html official text] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604154301/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19901018_codex-can-eccl-orient-1_lt.html |date=4 June 2011 }}). Intratext.com (English translation). 1990. Excerpt: "''Ritus est patrimonium liturgicum, theologicum, spirituale et disciplinare cultura ac rerum adiunctis historiae populorum distinctum, quod modo fidei vivendae uniuscuiusque Ecclesiae sui iuris proprio exprimitur''." (A rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary heritage, differentiated by peoples' culture and historical circumstances, that finds expression in each ''sui iuris'' Church's own way of living the faith).</ref>

The liturgy of the sacrament of the Eucharist, called the Mass in the West and Divine Liturgy or other names in the East, is the principal liturgy of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText – 1362–64|work=vatican.va|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101045530/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM|archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref> This is because it is considered the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ himself.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1367}}</ref> Eastern Catholic Churches have their own rites: the liturgies of the Eucharist and the other sacraments vary from rite to rite, reflecting different theological emphases.

===Western rites=== {{Main|Roman Rite|Latin liturgical rites}}

{{Anchor|Roman Rite of Mass}}{{Roman Rite of Mass}}

The Roman Rite is the most common rite of worship used by the Catholic Church, with the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite form of the Mass. Its use is found worldwide, originating in Rome and spreading throughout Europe, influencing and eventually supplanting local rites.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dobszay|first=Laszlo|date=2010|title=The Restoration and Organic Development of the Roman Rite|chapter=3|location=New York|publisher=T&T Clark International|chapter-url={{googlebooks|FYpD7C7__TYC|page=3|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-567-03385-7|pages=3–5}}</ref> The present ordinary form of Mass in the Roman Rite, found in the post-1969 editions of the Roman Missal, is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, using an officially approved translation from the original text in Latin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sacrosanctum Concilium |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html |website=www.vatican.va}} Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, art. 36, 3-4).</ref>

Its most widely used form was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and revised by Pope John Paul II in 2001. In certain circumstances, the 1962 form of the Roman Rite remains authorized in the Latin Church.

Since 2014, clergy in the small personal ordinariates set up for groups of former Anglicans under the terms of the 2009 document ''Anglicanorum Coetibus''<ref name="Anglicanorum Coetibus">{{cite web|work=Apostolic Constitution of Pope Benedict XVI|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apc_20091104_anglicanorum-coetibus_en.html|title=''"Anglicanorum Coetibus'': Providing for Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans Entering into Full Communion with the Catholic Church"|publisher=vatican.va|date=4 November 2009|access-date=31 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027053023/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apc_20091104_anglicanorum-coetibus_en.html|archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> are permitted to use a variation of the Roman Rite called "Divine Worship" or, less formally, "Ordinariate Use",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/news/OrdinariateNews.php?New-Liturgical-Book-for-the-Personal-Ordinariates-195|title=Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham|work=ordinariate.org.uk|access-date=12 February 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131204/http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/news/OrdinariateNews.php?New-Liturgical-Book-for-the-Personal-Ordinariates-195|url-status=dead}}</ref> which incorporates elements of the Anglican liturgy and traditions.<ref group="note">The Divine Worship variant of the Roman Rite differs from the "Anglican Use" variant, which was introduced in 1980 for the few United States parishes established in accordance with a pastoral provision for former members of the Episcopal Church (the American branch of the Anglican Communion). Both uses adapted Anglican liturgical traditions for use within the Catholic Church.</ref>

In the Archdiocese of Milan, with around five million Catholics the largest in Europe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=10827|title=News Headlines|website=catholicculture.org}}</ref> Mass is celebrated according to the Ambrosian Rite. Other Latin Church rites include the Mozarabic<ref>{{cite web|title=Mozarabic Rite|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10611a.htm|publisher=New Advent|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> and those of some religious institutes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Western Catholic Liturgics/Early Western Liturgics|url=http://www.liturgica.com/html/litWLEarly.jsp?hostname=null#Worship|publisher=Liturgica.com|access-date=29 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521124654/http://www.liturgica.com/html/litWLEarly.jsp?hostname=null|archive-date=21 May 2015}}</ref> These liturgical rites have an antiquity of at least 200 years before 1570, the date of Pope Pius V's ''Quo primum'', and were thus allowed to continue.<ref>{{cite web|title=Quo primum|url=http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi05qp.htm|publisher=New Advent|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref>

===Eastern rites=== {{Main|Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Eastern rites}}

[[File:Crowning in Syro-Malabar Nasrani Wedding by Mar Gregory Karotemprel.jpg|thumb|East Syrian Rite wedding crowning celebrated by a bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope and the Catholic Church]] The Eastern Catholic Churches share common patrimony and liturgical rites as their counterparts, including Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Christian churches who are no longer in communion with the Holy See. These include churches that historically developed in Russia, Caucasus, the Balkans, North Eastern Africa, India and the Middle East. The Eastern Catholic Churches are groups of faithful who have either never been out of communion with the Holy See or who have restored communion with it at the cost of breaking communion with their associates of the same tradition.<ref>{{cite CE1913 | wstitle = Eastern Churches | first = Adrian | last = Fortescue }} See "Eastern Catholic Churches"; In part: "The definition of an Eastern-Rite Catholic is: A Christian of any Eastern Catholic churches in union with the pope: i.e. a Catholic who belongs not to the Roman, but to an Eastern rite. They differ from other Eastern Christians in that they are in communion with Rome, and from Latins in that they have other rites"</ref>

The liturgical rites of the Eastern Catholic Churches include the Byzantine Rite (in its Antiochian, Greek and Slavonic recensions), the Alexandrian Rite, the West Syrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, and the East Syriac Rite. Eastern Catholic Churches have the autonomy to set the particulars of their liturgical forms and worship, within certain limits to protect the "accurate observance" of their liturgical tradition.<ref>{{cite web |title=''CCEO'', Canon 40 |publisher=Intratext.com (English translation) |date=1990 |url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P14.HTM}}</ref>

In the past, some of the rites used by the Eastern Catholic Churches were subject to a degree of liturgical Latinization. In recent years Eastern Catholic Churches have returned to traditional Eastern practices in accord with the 1964 Vatican II decree ''Orientalium Ecclesiarum''.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Parry|editor-first=Ken |editor2=David Melling|display-editors=etal |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity |pages=357–85 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |date=1999 |location=Malden, MA |isbn=978-0-631-23203-2}}</ref> Each church has its own liturgical calendar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eastern Rite Catholicism |url=http://ccky.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Eastern-Rite-Catholicism.pdf |publisher=Catholic Conference of Kentucky |access-date=4 April 2015 |archive-date=10 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410005013/http://ccky.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Eastern-Rite-Catholicism.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Social, moral and cultural issues== ===Catholic social teaching=== {{Main|Catholic social teaching}}

[[File:Pope Francis Korea Haemi Castle 19 (4x5 cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|On 24 May 2015, Pope Francis issued the {{lang|it|Laudato si'}}, an encyclical that deals with questions such as consumerism, responsible development and environmental degradation.]]

Catholic social teaching, reflecting the concern Jesus showed for the impoverished, places a heavy emphasis on the corporal works of mercy and the spiritual works of mercy, namely the support and concern for the sick, the poor and the afflicted.<ref>{{cite CE1913| wstitle = Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy | first = Joseph | last = Delany }}</ref><ref name="Compendium of the CCC, 388">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#Mans%20Vocation:%20Life%20in%20the%20Spirit |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 388 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011}}</ref> Church teaching calls for a preferential option for the poor while canon law prescribes that "The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor."<ref name="Cann22">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PU.HTM |title=Canon 222 § 2 |website=1983 Code of Canon Law |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192100/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PU.HTM |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter ''Rerum novarum'' which upholds the rights and dignity of labour and the right of workers to form unions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rerum-Novarum|title=''Rerum Novarum''|encyclopedia=Britannica|access-date=1 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rerum Novarum Summary |url=https://capp-usa.org/2025/03/rerum-novarum-summary/ |website=CAPP-USA |date=6 March 2025}}</ref>

===Social services=== {{Main|Catholic Church and health care|Catholic school|l2 = Catholic education}}

[[File:MotherTeresa 090.jpg|thumb|upright| Saint Teresa of Calcutta advocated for the sick, the poor and the needy by practising the acts of corporal works of mercy. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.]]

The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world.<ref name="Geopolitics" /> In 2010 the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers said that the church manages 26% of health care facilities in the world, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, pharmacies and centres for those with leprosy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/18624/catholic-hospitals-comprise-one-quarter-of-worlds-healthcare-council-reports|title=Catholic hospitals comprise one quarter of world's healthcare, council reports|publisher=Catholic News Agency |date=10 February 2010|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

The church has always been involved in education, since the founding of the first universities of Europe.<ref name="auto" /> It runs and sponsors thousands of primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities throughout the world<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catholic-education/upload/2013-By-the-Numbers-Catholic-Education.pdf|title=Catholic Education|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20140408052602/http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catholic-education/upload/2013-By-the-Numbers-Catholic-Education.pdf|archive-date=2014-04-08}}</ref><ref name="Vermont_winter" /> and operates the world's largest non-governmental school system.<ref>{{citation|last1=Gardner|first1=Roy|first2=Denis|last2=Lawton|first3=Jo|last3=Cairns|title=Faith Schools|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|page=148|isbn=978-0-415-33526-3}}</ref>

Religious institutes for women have played a particularly prominent role in the provision of health and education services,<ref name="nunsworldwide">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/663/nuns_worldwide.aspx|title=Nuns Worldwide|first=J. J.|last=Zieglera|date=12 May 2012|publisher=Catholic World Report}}</ref> as with orders such as the Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor, the Missionaries of Charity, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vocations.com/womenrel.html|title=Vocations Online Internet Directory of Women's Religious Communities|date=2010|publisher=Joliet Diocese Vocation Office|access-date=14 June 2018|archive-date=10 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910114541/http://www.vocations.com/womenrel.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Catholic nun Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work among India's poor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/press.html|title=Press Release – The Nobel Peace Prize 1979|publisher=Nobelprize.org|date=27 October 1979|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo won the same award in 1996 for "work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1996/press.html|title=Press Release – Nobel Peace Prize 1996|publisher=Nobelprize.org|date=11 October 1996|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref>

The church is also actively engaged in international aid and development through organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Internationalis, Aid to the Church in Need, refugee advocacy groups such as the Jesuit Refugee Service and community aid groups such as the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cpn.nd.edu/resources-for-scholars-clergy-and-practitioners/international-catholic-peacebuilding-organizations/|title=International Catholic Peacebuilding Organisations (directory)|publisher=Catholic Peacebuilding Network|location=Notre Dame, IN|date=2015|access-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403084409/http://cpn.nd.edu/resources-for-scholars-clergy-and-practitioners/international-catholic-peacebuilding-organizations/|archive-date=3 April 2015}}</ref>

===Sexual morality=== {{Main|Catholic theology of sexuality|Catholic theology of the body|Marriage in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:Hans Memling - Allegory with a Virgin - WGA14896.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|An allegory of chastity by Hans Memling]]

====Chastity and marriage==== In the church's teaching, sexual activity should be reserved to married couples without artificial birth control. Marriage is considered the only appropriate context for sexual activity,<ref name="2337_">{{Cite CCC|2.1|2337,2349|quote='People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.' (CDF, ''Persona humana'' 11.) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practise chastity in continence: 'There are three forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to the exclusion of the others. ... This is what makes for the richness of the discipline of the Church.' (St. Ambrose, De viduis 4,23:PL 16,255A.)}}</ref> whether in a sacramental marriage among Christians or in a natural marriage where one or both spouses are unbaptized. Even in romantic relationships, including engagement to marriage, partners are called to abstain from sexual activity, in order to test mutual respect and fidelity.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|2348–50}}</ref>

Chastity in marriage requires, in particular, conjugal fidelity and protecting the fecundity of marriage. The couple must foster trust and honesty as well as spiritual and physical intimacy. Sexual activity must always be open to the transmission of new life;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diocesehelena.org/offices-and-ministries/pastoral-renewal-services/fertility-awareness/church-teaching-about-contraception/|title=Church teaching about contraception|publisher=Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena|access-date=19 December 2014|archive-date=19 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219190706/http://www.diocesehelena.org/offices-and-ministries/pastoral-renewal-services/fertility-awareness/church-teaching-about-contraception/|url-status=dead}}</ref> the church calls this the procreative significance. It must likewise always bring a couple together in love; the church calls this the unitive significance.<ref name="humanaevitae" >{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html|title=Humanae Vitae|author=Pope Paul VI|date=25 July 1968|work=vatican.va}}</ref> Artificial contraception and certain other sexual practices are not permitted, although natural family planning methods are permitted to provide healthy spacing between births, or to postpone children for a just reason.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|2364–72}}</ref>

Church teachings about sexuality have become an issue of increasing controversy in the Western world, especially after the close of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, due to changing cultural attitudes described as the sexual revolution.<ref name="humanaevitae" /> Pope Francis said in 2015 that he was worried that the church has grown "obsessed" with issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over helping the poor and marginalized.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/09/30/big-heart-open-god-interview-pope-francis|title=A Big Heart Open to God: An interview with Pope Francis|website=America|date=30 September 2013|access-date=16 February 2021|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/pope-bluntly-faults-churchs-focus-on-gays-and-abortion.html|title=Pope Says Church Is 'Obsessed' With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 September 2013|author-last1=Goodstein|author-first1=Laurie}}</ref>

====Homosexuality==== {{Main|Homosexuality and the Catholic Church}}

The Catholic Church teaches that "homosexual acts" are "contrary to the natural law", "acts of grave depravity" and "under no circumstances can they be approved", but that persons experiencing homosexual tendencies must be accorded respect and dignity.<ref name="ccc2357-2359">{{Cite CCC|2.1|2357–59}}</ref> According to the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'',

{{blockquote | text = The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided...

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.<ref name="ccc2357-2359" />{{refn|group=note|This part of the ''Catechism'' was quoted by Pope Francis in a 2013 press interview in which he remarked, when asked about an individual: "I think that when you encounter a person like this [the individual he was asked about], you must make a distinction between the fact of a person being gay from the fact of being a lobby, because lobbies, all are not good. That is bad. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well who am I to judge them?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/27823/full-transcript-of-popes-in-flight-press-remarks-released|title=Full transcript of Pope's in-flight press remarks released|publisher=Catholic News Agency|date=5 August 2013|access-date=12 October 2013}}</ref> This remark and others made in the same interview were seen as a change in the tone, but not in the substance of the teaching of the church,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/29/popes-remarks-on-gays-a-shift-in-tone-not-substance/ |publisher=CNN |title=Pope on gays: A shift in tone, not substance |date=29 July 2013 |access-date=12 October 2013 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205092955/https://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/29/popes-remarks-on-gays-a-shift-in-tone-not-substance/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> which includes opposition to same-sex marriage.<ref name="1601_05">{{Cite CCC|2.1|1601–05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-annual-xmas-message-article-1.1225960|work=NY Daily News|date=22 December 2012|title=Pope Benedict denounces gay marriage during his annual Christmas message|first=Carol|last=Kuruvilla|location=New York}}</ref> }} }}

Orthodox Catholic groups, such as Building Catholic Futures, encourage parishes to incorporate celibate gay people into the church communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/06/26/lgbt-catholic-resources-245546|title=Young LGBT Catholics need to know they belong in the church. I'm creating a curriculum to tell them that.|work=America The Jesuit Review|date=26 June 2023|author=Eve Tushnet |access-date=28 May 2025}}</ref> Certain dissenting Catholic groups, such as DignityUSA, oppose the position of the Catholic Church and seek to change it and to educate Catholics on LGBT issues.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dignityusa.org/news/stub | title=Statement of Position & Purpose }}</ref> the Catholic Church has banned all such groups from church property.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html |title=LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON THE PASTORAL CARE OF HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS|work=America The Jesuit Review|date=1 October 1986 |author=Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger |access-date=28 May 2025}}</ref>

====Divorce and declarations of nullity==== {{Main|Declaration of nullity}}

Canon law makes no provision for divorce between baptized individuals, as a valid, consummated sacramental marriage is considered to be a lifelong bond.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1640}}</ref> However, a declaration of nullity may be granted when the proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a valid marriage were absent from the beginning—in other words, that the marriage was not valid due to some impediment. A declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment, is a judgement on the part of an ecclesiastical tribunal determining that a marriage was invalidly attempted.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1625–32}}</ref>

Marriages among unbaptized individuals may be dissolved with papal permission under certain situations, such as a desire to marry a Catholic, under Pauline or Petrine privilege.<ref name="Gantley">Rev. Mark J. Gantley. [http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?number=410268 "Petrine or Pauline Privilege"]. EWTN Global Catholic Network. 3 September 2004. Accessed 15 November 2014.</ref><ref name="Doors">"[http://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/marriage/canonlaw.htm Canon 1141–1143]". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Catholicdoors.com.</ref> An attempt at remarriage following divorce without a declaration of nullity places "the remarried spouse ... in a situation of public and permanent adultery". An innocent spouse who lives in continence following divorce, or couples who live in continence following a civil divorce for a grave cause, do not sin.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|2384–86}}</ref>

Worldwide, diocesan tribunals completed over 49000 cases for nullity of marriage in 2006. Over the past 30 years about 55 to 70% of annulments have occurred in the United States. The growth in annulments has been substantial; in the United States, 27,000 marriages were annulled in 2006, compared to 338 in 1968. However, approximately 200,000 married Catholics in the United States divorce each year; 10 million total {{As of|2006|lc=y}}.<ref name="Soule">{{cite web |last=Soule |first=W. Becket |title=Preserving the Sanctity of Marriage |url=http://www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/cis/cis301.pdf |work=2009 |publisher=Knights of Columbus |access-date=6 January 2014 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107092530/http://www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/cis/cis301.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|With regard to divorce in the United States, according to the Barna Group, among all who have been married, 33% have been divorced at least once; among American Catholics, 28% (the study did not track religious annulments).<ref>{{cite web |title=New Marriage and Divorce Statistics Released |date=2008 |url=https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/15-familykids/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released |publisher=Barna Group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219120231/http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/15-familykids/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released |archive-date=19 December 2014}}</ref>|}} Divorce is increasing in some predominantly Catholic countries in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |title=Divorces rising in Catholic Europe |url=http://religiousconsultation.org/News_Tracker/divorces_rising_in_Catholic_Europe.htm |work=Los Angeles Times |date=24 May 2006}}</ref>

====Contraception and abortion==== {{Main|Christian views on birth control#Catholicism}}

{{see also|Catholic Church and HIV/AIDS|Religious response to assisted reproductive technology#Catholicism}}

[[File:Paulaudenece1977.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|Pope Paul VI issued ''Humanae vitae'' on 25 July 1968.]] The church teaches that sexual intercourse should only take place between a man and woman who are married to each other, and should be without the use of birth control or contraception. In his encyclical ''Humanae vitae''<ref name="humanae">{{cite web|last=Paul VI|first=Pope|title=Humanae vitae|publisher=Vatican|year=1968|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|access-date=2 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303114045/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> (1968) Pope Paul VI firmly rejected all artificial contraception, thus contradicting dissenters in the church who saw the birth control pill as an ethically justifiable method of contraception, though he permitted the regulation of births by means of natural family planning (NFP.) This teaching was continued especially by John Paul II in his encyclical ''{{lang|la|Evangelium Vitae}}'', where he clarified the church's position on artificial contraception, abortion and euthanasia by condemning them as part of a "culture of death" and calling instead for a "culture of life".{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2004|pp=27, 154, 493–94}}

Many Western Catholics have voiced significant disagreement with the church's teaching on contraception.<ref>A summary and restatement of the debate is available in Roderick Hindery. "The Evolution of Freedom as Catholicity in Catholic Ethics." ''Anxiety, Guilt, and Freedom''. Eds. Benjamin Hubbard and Brad Starr, UPA, 1990.</ref> Overturning the church's teaching on this point features high on progressive agendas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Front Page |url=https://ten-commandments.org/ |access-date=8 November 2022 |website=Ten Commandments for Church Reform |language=en-US}}</ref> Catholics for Choice, a political lobbyist group that is not associated with the Catholic Church, stated in 1998 that 96% of American Catholic women had used contraceptives at some point in their lives and that 72% of Catholics believed that one could be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching on birth control.<ref name="cath_choice">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/topics/prevention/documents/1998amatterofconsciece.pdf|title=A Matter of Conscience: Catholics on Contraception|access-date=1 October 2006|author=Catholics for a Choice|year=1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011221417/http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/topics/prevention/documents/1998amatterofconsciece.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2006}}</ref> Use of natural family planning methods among United States Catholics purportedly is low, although the number cannot be known with certainty.{{refn|group=note|Regarding use of natural family planning, in 2002, 24% of the U.S. population identified as Catholic,<ref name="adherents">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19990508224844/http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html Largest Religious Groups in the USA]}}. Accessed 13 November 2005.</ref> but according to a 2002 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of sexually active Americans avoiding pregnancy, only 1.5% were using NFP.<ref name="cdc">{{cite journal|last=Chandra|first=A.|author2=Martinez G.M.|author3=Mosher W.D.|author4=Abma J.C.|author5=Jones J.|title=Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data From the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth|publisher=National Center for Health Statistics|journal=Vital and Health Statistics|volume=23|issue=25|year=2005|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_025.pdf|access-date=20 May 2007}} See Table 56.</ref>|}} As Catholic health providers are among the largest providers of services to patients with HIV/AIDS worldwide, there is significant controversy within and outside the church regarding the use of condoms as a means of limiting new infections, as condom use ordinarily constitutes prohibited contraceptive use.<ref name="CNS.AIDS">{{cite news|title=Pope speaks out on condoms|work=The Catholic Leader|agency=CNS|url=http://catholicleader.com.au/news/pope-speaks-out-on-condoms_45117|date=29 March 2009|access-date=27 March 2017|quote=Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that distribution of condoms only increases the problem of AIDS is the latest and one of the strongest statements in a simmering debate inside the church... he was asked whether the church's approach to AIDS prevention—which focuses primarily on sexual responsibility and rejects condom campaigns—was unrealistic and ineffective... The pope did not get into the specific question of whether in certain circumstances condom use was morally licit or illicit in AIDS prevention, an issue that is still under study by Vatican theologians.}}</ref>

Similarly, the Catholic Church opposes artificial insemination regardless of whether it is homologous (from the husband) or heterologous (from a donor) and in vitro fertilization (IVF), saying that the artificial process replaces the love and conjugal act between a husband and wife.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Medical News Today|url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38686.php|title=Pope Benedict XVI Declares Embryos Developed For In Vitro Fertilisation Have Right To Life|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229164506/http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38686.php|archive-date=29 December 2008}}</ref> In addition, it opposes IVF because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with a soul who must be treated as such.<ref>Allen, John L., ''The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionising the Catholic Church'', p. 223.</ref> For this reason, the church also opposes abortion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/respect-for-unborn-human-life|title=Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church's Constant Teaching|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|author=USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities|access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref>

The Catholic Church oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus, since it holds that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life".<ref name="Catechism">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM#-2C6|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va|access-date=2017-07-05}}</ref> However, the church does recognize as morally legitimate certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus. The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' imposes automatic (''latae sententiae'') excommunication on Latin Catholics who actually procure an abortion,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib6_en.pdf|title=Penal Sanctions in the Church|publisher=The Holy See|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612075224/https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib6_en.pdf|archive-date=Jun 12, 2023}}</ref> if they fulfill the conditions for being subject to such a sanction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/cic_index_en.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224152526/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4W.HTM|url-status=dead|title=Code of Canon Law: Table of Contents|archivedate=December 24, 2007|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

Due to the anti-abortion stance, some Catholics oppose receiving vaccines derived from fetal cells obtained via abortion. On 21 December 2020, and regarding COVID-19 vaccination, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith emitted a document stating that "it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process" when no alternative vaccine is available, since "the moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger, such as the otherwise uncontainable spread of a serious pathological agent."<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1 May 2019|title=Pontifical Academy for Life Statement: Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses|journal=The Linacre Quarterly|language=en|volume=86|issue=2–3|pages=182–87|doi=10.1177/0024363919855896|issn=0024-3639|pmc=6699053|pmid=32431408}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|author=Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|date=21 December 2020|title=Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines (21 December 2020)|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20201221_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html|access-date=23 June 2021|website=Vatican}}</ref> The document states that receiving the vaccine does not constitute endorsement of the practice of abortion, and that "the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good."<ref name=":0" /> The document says further:{{blockquote | Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.<ref name=":0" /> }}

===Death penalty and euthanasia=== {{Main|Catholic Church and capital punishment}}

The Catholic Church is committed to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty in any circumstance.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=Brockhaus |first=Hannah |date=2 August 2018 |title=Vatican changes Catechism teaching on death penalty, calls it 'inadmissible' |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/39033/vatican-changes-catechism-teaching-on-death-penalty-calls-it-inadmissible |access-date=2 August 2018 |website=Catholic News Agency}}</ref> The current ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' teaches that "in the light of the Gospel" the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and that the Catholic Church "works with determination for its abolition worldwide."<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Harlan |first=Chico |date=2 August 2018 |title=Pope Francis changes Catholic Church teaching to say death penalty is 'inadmissible' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-francis-changes-catholic-church-teaching-to-say-death-penalty-is-inadmissible/2018/08/02/0d69ef5e-9647-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html |access-date=2 August 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In his 2020 encyclical ''Fratelli tutti'', Francis repeated that the death penalty is "inadmissible" and that "there can be no stepping back from this position".<ref name=":112">{{Cite web |last=Pentin |first=Edward |date=4 October 2020 |title=Pope's New Encyclical 'Fratelli Tutti' Outlines Vision for a Better World |url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/pope-s-new-encyclical-fratelli-tutti-outlines-vision-for-a-better-world |access-date=6 October 2020 |website=National Catholic Register |language=en}}</ref> On 9 January 2022 Pope Francis stated in his annual speech to Vatican ambassadors: "The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pullella |first=Philip |date=9 January 2023 |title=Pope condemns Iran's use of death penalty against protesters |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pope-says-wars-like-that-ukraine-are-crime-against-god-humanity-2023-01-09/ |access-date=13 January 2023}}</ref>

There is controversy about whether the Catholic Church considers the death penalty intrinsically evil.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Trabbic |first=Joseph G. |date=16 August 2018 |title=Capital punishment: Intrinsically evil or morally permissible? |url=https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/08/16/capital-punishment-intrinsically-evil-or-morally-permissible/ |access-date=27 February 2023 |website=Catholic World Report |language=en-US |quote=The revision of no. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church recently authorized by Pope Francis to develop magisterial teaching on the death penalty has generated a variety of conflicting interpretations. These interpretations could be divided up in different ways. One division might note that some interpretations claim—or strongly imply—that the revision teaches that the death penalty is intrinsically evil, whereas others claim that it continues to teach, in line with past magisterial declarations, that the death penalty is morally permissible in certain circumstances.}}</ref> The American Archbishop José Horacio Gómez<ref name=":1" /> and the Catholic philosopher Edward Feser argue that this is a matter of prudential judgement and that the church does not teach this as a ''de fide'' statement;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Feser |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Feser |date=3 August 2018 |title=Pope Francis and Capital Punishment |url=https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/08/pope-francis-and-capital-punishment |access-date=26 February 2023 |website=First Things |language=en}}</ref> others, such as Cardinals Charles Maung Bo and Rino Fisichella, state that it does.<ref name=":1" />

The Catholic Church opposes active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide on the grounds that life is a gift from God and should not be prematurely shortened. However, the church allows dying people to refuse extraordinary treatments that would minimally prolong life without hope of recovery.<ref name="Dowbiggin98">{{Harvnb|Dowbiggin|2003|p=98}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= |date=21 November 2013 |title=Religious Groups' Views on End-of-Life Issues |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/11/21/religious-groups-views-on-end-of-life-issues/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |website=Pew Research Center |quote=}}</ref>

===Holy orders and women=== {{Main|Ordination of women in the Catholic Church|Women in the Catholic Church}}

Women and men religious engage in a variety of occupations such as contemplative prayer, teaching, providing health care, and working as missionaries.<ref name="nunsworldwide" /><ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7227629.stm|title=Europe – Catholic nuns and monks decline|work=BBC News|date=5 February 2008|access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref> Catholic women have played diverse roles in the life of the church, with religious institutes providing a formal space for their participation and convents providing spaces for their self-government, prayer and influence through many centuries. Religious sisters and nuns have been extensively involved in developing and running the church's worldwide health and education service networks.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/us/21nuns.html|work=The New York Times|first=Kevin|last=Sack|title=Nuns, a 'Dying Breed,' Fade From Leadership Roles at Catholic Hospitals|date=20 August 2011}}</ref>

Holy Orders are reserved for men. Efforts in support of the ordination of women to the priesthood led to several rulings by the Roman Curia or popes against the proposal, as in ''Declaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood'' (1976), ''Mulieris Dignitatem'' (1988) and ''Ordinatio sacerdotalis'' (1994). According to the latest ruling, found in ''Ordinatio sacerdotalis'', Pope John Paul II affirmed that the Catholic Church "does not consider herself authorised to admit women to priestly ordination".<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html ''Apostolic Letter ''Ordinatio Sacerdotalis'' of John Paul II to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125234700/http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html |date=25 November 2015 }} Copyright 1994 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 March 2015</ref>

In defiance of these rulings, independent opposition groups such as Roman Catholic Womenpriests have performed ceremonies they affirm as sacramental ordinations, with, reputedly, an ordaining male Catholic bishop in the first few instances, which, according to canon law, are both illicit and invalid and considered simulations<ref name="cann1379">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P54.HTM|title=Canon 1379|website=1983 Code of Canon Law|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=17 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020161758/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P54.HTM|archive-date=20 October 2012}}</ref> of the sacrament of ordination.<ref name="RCWP">[http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ordained.htm "Ordinations: Response Regarding Excommunication Decree"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201114453/https://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ordained.htm |date=1 February 2019 }}. 2011 Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. Retrieved 5 June 2011</ref>{{refn|According to Roman Catholic Womanpriests: "The principal consecrating Roman Catholic male bishop who ordained our first women bishops is a bishop with apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church in full communion with the pope."<ref name="RCWP" />|group=note}} The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded by issuing a statement clarifying that any Catholic bishops involved in ordination ceremonies for women, as well as the women themselves if they were Catholic, would automatically receive the penalty of excommunication (''latae sententiae'', literally "with the sentence already applied", i.e. automatically), citing canon 1378 of canon law and other church laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/12780/vatican-decrees-excommunication-for-participation-in-ordination-of-women|title=Vatican decrees excommunication for participation in 'ordination' of women|publisher=Catholic News Agency|date=29 May 2008|access-date=6 June 2011}}</ref>

===Sexual abuse cases=== {{Main|Catholic Church sexual abuse cases}}

From the 1990s the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and other church members has become the subject of civil litigation, criminal prosecution, media coverage and public debate in countries around the world. Many Catholic bishops and other officials had protected priests accused of sexual abuse, and transferred them to other assignments elsewhere, where they continued to commit sex crimes against children. There has been resultant extensive public criticism of the church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Accused - BishopAccountability.org |url=https://www.bishop-accountability.org/accused/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Bishop-accountability.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

In response to the scandals, formal procedures have been established to help prevent abuse, encourage the reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their effectiveness.<ref>{{cite news|author=David Willey|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10645748|title=Vatican 'speeds up' abuse cases|work=BBC News|date=15 July 2010|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> In 2014, Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for the safeguarding of minors.<ref name="hspo.b0199/00444.2014.03.22">{{cite press release |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2014/03/22/0199/00444.html |title=Comunicato della Sala Stampa: Istituzione della Pontificia Commissione per la Tutela dei Minori |trans-title=Press Release: Establishment of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors |language=it |publisher=Holy See Press Office |date=22 March 2014 |access-date=30 March 2014 |id=B0199/00444}}</ref>

=== Environmental === The church has also addressed stewardship of the natural environment, and its relationship to other social and theological teachings. In the document {{lang|it|Laudato si'}}, dated 24 May 2015, Pope Francis critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, and laments environmental degradation and climate change.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|first1=Jim|last1=Yardley|first2=Laurie|last2=Goodstein|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweeping-encyclical-calls-for-swift-action-on-climate-change.html|title=Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change|work=The New York Times|date=18 June 2015}}</ref> The pope expressed concern that the warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet as humans pursue short-term economic gains.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/opinion/the-popes-ecological-vow.html|title=The Pope's Ecological Vow|first=Paul|last=Vallely|work=The New York Times |author-link=Paul Vallely|date=28 June 2015|access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref>

==See also== {{Spoken Wikipedia|Catholic Church Spoken Version.ogg|date=23 October 2013}} * Catholic Church and politics * Catholic Church and race * Catholic art * Catholic culture * Catholic peace traditions * Glossary of the Catholic Church * Index of Catholic Church articles * Index of Vatican City-related articles * List of Catholic religious institutes * Liturgical year of the Catholic Church * Lists of Catholics * List of popes * Role of Christianity in civilization * Society of Jesus {{Portal bar|Christianity|Architecture}}

==Notes== {{Notelist|group=note}}

==References== '''NOTE:''' ''CCC'' stands for ''Catechism of the Catholic Church''. The number following ''CCC'' is the paragraph number, of which there are 2865. The numbers cited in the ''Compendium of the CCC'' are question numbers, of which there are 598. Canon law citations from the 1990 ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' are labelled "''CCEO'', Canon xxx", to distinguish from canons of the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'', which are labelled "Canon xxx".

{{Reflist|23em|

|refs=<ref name="note1cite1">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html|title=Responses to Some Questions regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church|publisher=Vatican.va|quote=It is possible, according to Catholic doctrine, to affirm correctly that the Church of Christ is present and operative in the churches and ecclesial communities not yet fully in communion with the Catholic Church, on account of the elements of sanctification and truth that are present in them.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813100622/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html|archive-date=13 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="note1cite2">{{cite news|title=Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church ''Dominus Iesus'' § 17|publisher=Vatican.va|quote=Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The Churches which, while not existing in perfect ''Koinonia'' with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church. ... 'The Christian faithful are therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church of Christ is nothing more than a collection—divided, yet in some way one—of Churches and ecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists, and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches and ecclesial communities must strive to reach.'}}</ref>  }}

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''Trimming the Ark: Catholic Attitudes and the Cult of Change''. New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons. {{ISBN|978-0-09-096850-3}}. * Duffy, Eamon (1997). ''Saints and Sinners, a History of the Popes''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-07332-1}}. * {{cite book |last=Dowbiggin |first=Ian |date=2003 |title=A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America |url= |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=182–183 |isbn=9780195154436}} * Dussel, Enrique (1981). ''A History of the Church in Latin America''. Wm. B. Eerdmans. {{ISBN|0-8028-2131-6}}. * Fahlbusch, Erwin (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity''. Wm. B. Eerdmans. {{ISBN|0-8028-2415-3}}. * Froehle, Bryan; Mary Gautier (2003). ''Global Catholicism, Portrait of a World Church''. Orbis books; Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University. {{ISBN|1-57075-375-X}}. * Gale Group. 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==External links== {{Sister project links|wikt=no|v=no|b=Catholicism}} * [https://www.vatican.va/ Official website of the Holy See]

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