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Gregorian Reforms
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be named after Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085), though he personally denied it and claimed his reforms, like his regnal name, honoured Pope Gregory I. Overview The Gregorian reform was a frontal attack against the political-religious collusion dating from the Carolingians, in which institutions and church property were largely controlled by secular authorities while the clerics from pope and bishop to country priest were subject by customary law to the authority of the emperor, the king, the prince or the lord. The following practices were thus most protested against: # The investiture of clerics or the handing over of a religious function to a cleric by a layman: The custom had, in the eyes of the reformers, led to the greatest aberrations i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great reforming popes, he initiated the Gregorian Reform, and is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Emperor Henry IV to establish the primacy of papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was also at the forefront of developments in the relationship between the emperor and the papacy during the years before he became pope. He was the first pope to introduce a policy of obligatory celibacy for the clergy, which had until then commonly married, and also attacked the practice of simony. During the power struggles between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, Empire, Gregory excommunicated Henry IV three times, and Henry appointed An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerical Marriage
Clerical marriage is the practice of allowing Christian clergy (those who have already been ordained) to marry. This practice is distinct from allowing married persons to become clergy. Clerical marriage is admitted among Protestants, including both Lutherans and Anglicans. Many Eastern Churches (Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Eastern Catholic), while allowing married men to be ordained, do not allow clerical marriage after ordination: their parish priests are often married, but must marry before being ordained to the priesthood. Eastern Lutheran clergy are permitted to marry after being ordained, and married Eastern Lutherans are eligible to become clergy. Within the lands of the Eastern Christendom, priests' children often became priests and married within their social group, establishing a tightly knit hereditary caste among some Eastern Christian communities. The Latin Catholic Church as a rule requires clerical celibacy for the pries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from the Latin , a Latinization of Greek (), meaning "circular", "in a circle", or "all-round", also part of the origin of the word encyclopedia). The term is now primarily associated with papal encyclicals. The term has been used by Catholics, Anglicans and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Catholic usage Although the term "encyclical" originally simply meant a circulating letter, it acquired a more specific meaning within the context of the Catholic Church. In 1740, Pope Benedict XIV wrote a letter titled ''Ubi primum'', which is generally regarded as the first encyclical. The term is now used almost exclusively for a kind of letter sent out by the pope. For the modern Catholic Church, a papal encyclical is a specific category of papal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerical Celibacy In The Catholic Church
Clerical celibacy is the discipline within the Roman Catholic Church by which only unmarried men are ordained to the episcopate, to the priesthood in the Latin Church (one of the 24 rites of the Catholic Church with some particular exception and in some autonomous particular Churches), and similarly to the diaconate. In other autonomous particular churches, the discipline applies only to the episcopate. According to Jason Berry of ''The New York Times'', "The requirement of celibacy is not dogma; it is an ecclesiastical law that was adopted in the Middle Ages because Rome was worried that clerics' children would inherit church property and create dynasties." For several hundred years after the imposition of celibacy on secular (non-monastic/religious) clergy the sale of church offices continued (known as the sin of Simony). The first male issue of non-married concubines of celibate clergy became set to continue the dynasty (a form of nepotism). To curtail this clerical abuse, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacerdotium
In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin ''minister'' ("servant", "attendant"). In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have been ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained. In the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglicanism and Lutheranism, the concept of a priesthood is emphasized, though in the Church of England there are nearly as many non-ordained licensed lay ministers as there are paid clergy. In other traditions such as Baptist, Methodist, and Reformed groups like Congregationalists and Presbyterians, the term "minister" usually refers to a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divine Providence
In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's intervention in the universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a names of God, title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which refers to God's God the Sustainer, continuous upholding of the existence and natural law, natural order of the universe, and "special providence", which refers to God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people. Miracles and even divine retribution, retribution generally fall in the latter category. Etymology "Divine" evolved in the late 14th century to mean "pertaining to, in the nature of or proceeding from God or a god". This came from the Old French , with a similar meaning, and that from the Latin , meaning "of a god", in turn from , with similar meaning, which was related the Latin , meaning god or deity. The word "providence" comes from Latin meaning foresight or prudence, and that in turn from "ahead" and " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (other), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy#Kingdom of Italy (781–962), King of Italy (''Rex Italiae'') from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany (''Rex Teutonicorum'', ) throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. The Holy Roman Emperor title provided the highest prestige among Christianity in the Middle Ages, medieval Catholic monarchs, because the empire was considered by the Catholic Church to be Translatio imperii, the only successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Thus, in theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered first among equalsamong other Catholic monarchs across E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolaism
Nicolaism (also called Nicholairufus, Nicolaitism, Nicolationism or Nicolaitanism) was an early Christian sect mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. The adherents were called Nicolaitans, Nicolaitanes, or Nicolaites. They were considered heretical by the mainstream early Christian Church. According to Revelation 2:6 and 15, they were known in the cities of Ephesus and Pergamum. In this chapter, the church at Ephesus is endorsed for " atingthe works of the Nicolaites, which I also hate"; and the church in Pergamos is rebuked: "So thou hast also some orshiping in their midstwho hold the teaching of the Nicolaites". In the original Greek, they are called, in genitive, (''Nikolaïtōn''). Several of the early Church Fathers mentioned this group, including Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Epiphanius, and Theodoret, stating that Nicolas the Deacon, one of the Seven Deacons, was the author of the heresy and the sect. Other schola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most powerful and influential of the medieval popes. He exerted a wide influence over the Christian states of Europe, claiming supremacy over all of Europe's kings. He was central in supporting the Catholic Church's reforms of ecclesiastical affairs through his decretals and the Fourth Lateran Council. This resulted in a considerable refinement of Western canon law. He is furthermore notable for using interdict and other censures to compel princes to obey his decisions, although these measures were not uniformly successful. Innocent greatly extended the scope of the Crusades, directing crusades against Muslim Iberia and the Holy Land as well as the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France. He organized the Fourth Crusade of 1202&nd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon Law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church () is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and canon law, ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, 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. It was the first modern Western world, Western legal system and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, while the unique traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular churches '. 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 (Catholic canon law), promulgation by the supreme legislator—the supreme pontiff, who possesses the totality of legislative, executi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libertas Ecclesiae
''Libertas ecclesiae'' ("freedom of the Church" in Latin) is the theory of freedom of religion of ecclesiastical authority of the Catholic Church from secular or the temporal power, that is, the freedom to accomplish its spiritual mission without interference from any secular power. The 11th century Libertas ecclesiae guided the Gregorian Reform in the 11th century. After the decentralization of the post- Carolingian period, this became the slogan of the Catholic Church in light of disapproval over lay warlords installing themselves as abbots and other high-profile churchmen. Unfit to perform theological functions, much less to defend the interests of the Catholic Church, these warlords viewed Catholic Church property as an extension of their own landholdings. What resulted was the plunder of movable wealth (of which the monasteries had become the keepers during the period of Viking invasion) and the parcelling out of land and office as the temporal powers saw fit. This low st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papal Bull
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at least since the 6th century, but the phrase was not used until around the end of the 13th century, and then only internally for unofficial administrative purposes. However, it had become official by the 15th century, when one of the offices of the Apostolic Chancery was named the "register of bulls" ("''registrum bullarum''"). By the accession of Pope Leo IX in 1048, a clear distinction developed between two classes of bulls of greater and less solemnity. The majority of the "great bulls" now in existence are in the nature of confirmations of property or charters of protection accorded to monasteries and religious institutions. In an era when there was much fabrication of such documents, those who procured bulls ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
