Early History and the Fall of Rome

The history of the Catholic Church begins with the teachings of Jesus Christ, who lived
in the 1st century CE in the province of Judea of the Roman Empire. The contemporary
Catholic Church says that it is the continuation of the early Christian community
established by Jesus.

Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire despite persecutions due to
conflicts with the pagan state religion. In 313, the struggles of the early church were
lessened by the legalization of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine I. In 380, under
Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire by
the decree of the emperor, which would persist until the fall of the Western Empire, and
later with the Eastern Roman Empire until the fall of Constantinople.

After the destruction of the Western Roman Empire, the church in the West was a major
factor in preserving classical civilization, establishing monasteries, and sending
missionaries to convert the peoples of northern Europe as far north as Ireland. In the
East, the Byzantine Empire preserved Orthodoxy well after the massive invasions of
Islam in the mid-7th century.

The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Catholic faith competed with
Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes. The 496 conversion of Clovis I,
pagan king of the Franks, saw the beginning of a steady rise of the Catholic faith in the
West.

In 530, Saint Benedict wrote his Rule of Saint Benedict as a practical guide for monastic
community life, and its message spread to monasteries throughout Europe. Monasteries
became major conduits of civilization, preserving craft and artistic skills while
maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, scriptoria, and libraries. They
functioned as centers for spiritual life as well as for agriculture, economy, and
production.

During this period the Visigoths and Lombards moved away from Arianism toward
Catholicism. Pope Gregory the Great played a notable role in these conversions and
dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structures and administration, which then
launched renewed missionary efforts. Missionaries such as Augustine of Canterbury,
who was sent from Rome to begin the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, and, coming the
other way in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Saints Colombanus, Boniface, Willibrord,
and Ansgar, among many others, took Christianity into northern Europe and spread
Catholicism among the Germanic and Slavic peoples. Such missions reached the
Vikings and other Scandinavians in later centuries. The Synod of Whitby of 664, though
not as decisive as sometimes claimed, was an important moment in the reintegration of
the Celtic Church of the British Isles into the Roman hierarchy, after having been
effectively cut off from contact with Rome by the pagan invaders.

In the early 8th century, Byzantine iconoclasm became a major source of conflict
between the eastern and western parts of the church. Byzantine emperors forbade the
creation and veneration of religious images as violations of the Ten Commandments.
Sometime between 726 and 730 the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian ordered
that an image of Jesus prominently placed over the Chalke gate, the ceremonial
entrance to the Great Palace of Constantinople, be removed, and replaced with a cross.
This was followed by orders banning the pictorial representation of the family of Christ,
subsequent Christian saints, and biblical scenes. Other major religions in the East, such
as Judaism and Islam, had similar prohibitions, but Pope Gregory III vehemently
disagreed. Empress Irene, siding with the pope, called for an Ecumenical Council. In
787, the fathers of the Second Council of Nicaea “warmly received the papal delegates
and his message.” At the conclusion, 300 bishops, who were led by the representatives
of Pope Hadrian I “adopted the Pope’s teaching,” in favor of icons.

Spread of Catholicism Beyond Rome

As the political boundaries of the Roman Empire diminished and then collapsed in the
West, Christianity spread beyond the old borders of the Empire and into lands that had
never been under Rome.

Beginning in the 5th century, a unique culture developed around the Irish Sea,
consisting of what today would be called Wales and Ireland. In this environment,
Christianity spread from Roman Britain to Ireland, especially aided by the missionary
activity of Saint Patrick. Patrick had been captured into slavery in Ireland and, following
his escape and later consecration as bishop, he returned to the isle that had enslaved
him so that he could bring them the Gospel. Soon, Irish missionaries such as Saints
Columba and Columbanus spread this Christianity, with its distinctively Irish features, to
Scotland and the Continent. One such feature was the system of private penitence,
which replaced the former practice of penance as a public rite.

Although southern Britain had been a Roman province, in 407 the imperial legions left
the isle, and the Roman elite followed. Some time later that century, various barbarian
tribes went from raiding and pillaging the island to settling and invading. These tribes
are referred to as the “Anglo-Saxons,” predecessors of the English. They were entirely
pagan, having never been part of the Empire, and although they experienced Christian
influence from the surrounding peoples, they were converted by the mission of Saint
Augustine sent by Pope Gregory the Great. Later, under Archbishop Theodore, the
Anglo-Saxons enjoyed a golden age of culture and scholarship. Soon, important English
missionaries such as Saints Wilfrid, Willibrord, Lullus, and Boniface would begin
evangelizing their Saxon relatives in Germany.
The Development of Papal Supremacy

During the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, and throughout the Middle
Ages, the office of pope not only gained supremacy over the entire Christian Church but
also developed political power rivaling that of the secular rulers of Europe.