Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church did not begin until the fourth century although the Church cliams otherwise. The creation and organization of the Church was clearly a process that took place over several decades though the official founding event was the Council of Nicea in 325.     

       Constantine appeared on the scene in the midst of the so-called Great Persecution, of Christians which began in 303, under Emperor Diocletian. By 305, the problems caused by the persecution were overtaken by the difficulties of determining Diocletian’s successor. More than six different generals fought to become next the emperor. By 313, just two contenders remained, Constantine and Licinius. The two jointly issued the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity a legal religion and officially ended the persecution. The text of this document (and many others) was edited by the BIshop of Rome as he tried to prove his ascendency over all other bishop.

      Here is the most accurate version of the document:

We saw that, for the good of many, those regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity ought certainly to be made first, so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred; whence any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens may be propitious and kindly disposed to us and all who are placed under our rule And thus by this wholesome counsel and most upright provision we thought to arrange that no one whatsoever should be denied the opportunity to give his heart to the observance of that religion which he should think best for himself, so that the Supreme Deity, to whose worship we freely yield our hearts) may show in all things His usual favor and benevolence.

     Thus, for perhaps the first time in history, a form of religious freedom was officially established.

     It was not until 324 that Christianity became a unique relgion instead of being a part of a collection of separate organizations that accepted, to some degree, the existance of Jesus.  At this time Constantine finally became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.  He was favorably inclined towrd Christians because his little known first name was Jesus.  But he discovered that Christianity itself was not unified. So, acting as the Roman Pontifix Maximus (chief over all religion), he called the Council of Nicea in 325 to bring together the 1800 bishops from around the empire to work out official doctrine and provide the basis for a single Church. Constantine paid for the entire council and even paid for travel, giving bishops the right of free transportation.

     In 380, Emperor Theodosius I decreed that there would be a state religion, the Roman Catholic Church, (the unversal church of Rome). There were recognized in this church Seven Ecumenical Councils, there were considered five primary sees (jurisdictions within the Catholic Church) according to Eusebius - Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, known as the Pentarchy At this time efforts were underway to hold the Empire together by to uniting all religions.

     Emperor Constantine was sympathetic to the religion of his Christian mother, Helena,  But like most Roman emperors, Constantine was a henotheist. Henotheist is devoted to a single God but accepts the existence of other gods. Constantine envisioned a Catholic (universal) church which would reflect these ideas and which would unify the entire empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide.

     Constantine's financial support of those who worked with him made compromise possible. Those hard-noses who would not compromise,were exiled and their writings burned.

     One might say that the Roman Catholic Church  “christianized” the Pagan religions, and “paganized” the Christians. By blurring the differences and erasing the distinctions,  the Roman Catholic Church succeeded in becoming the official religion of the empire.   

     Most Roman emperors (and their citizens) believed in a single god while not denying the existence of other deities (much as in Hinduism today). In Rome, Jupiter was supreme over all other gods, while Roman sailors were often worshippers of Neptune, the god of the oceans. These secondary gods later became known as saints. There was a Saint Venus, a Saint Mercury and so on. Which is why the Catholic Church today has saints who are “in charge” of various attributes. The ancient practice of having a god specific to a particular city was continued by the Catholic Church. Only these gods were known as “patron saints.”  Jupiter the god of Rome, had his name shortened to Peter and he became the patron saint of Rome and the head of the Roman Church.
     The supremacy of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) was based on the idea that, since  the Bishop of Rome attended to the Emperor, he was greater than the other bishops. When the Emperor moved his headquarters to Constantinople, the Patriarch of that city made the same claim to eminence. This led to a conflict between the two leaders and eventually into the division of the Catholic church into two: Roman and Greek. 

     The Bishop of Rome acquired more and more power and influence.  When the Roman empire collapsed, the Pope assumed the spiritual title that had previously belonged to the Roman emperors – Pontificus Maximus.
      At one time ther wer several divisions of the Church did not accept the jurisdiction or supremacy of the Bishop of Rome.  That was changed in the latter part of the twentieth century.
  
                  The various divisions of the Catholic Church: