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:This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. See Catholicism (disambiguation) for alternative meaningsCatholicism has two main ecclesiastical meanings, described in Webster's Dictionary as: a) "the whole orthodox Christian church, or adherence thereto;" and b) "the doctrines or faith of the Roman Catholic church, or adherence thereto." 1 The term comes from the Greek adjective καθολικος (katholikos), meaning "general" or "universal", the feminine form of which is καθολικη.
1 Brief organizational history of the Christian Church
The early Christian church came to be organized under five patriarchs, the bishops of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. The Bishop of Rome was recognized by all the Patriarchs as "the first among equals," with doctrinal or procedural disputes often referred to Rome for an opinion, but with no statement of monarchical ecclesiastic status for Rome. When the Imperial capital moved to Constantinople, papal influence was often challenged. While Rome claimed special authority descending from St. Peter 2 and St. Paul, who, all agreed, were martyred and buried in Rome, Constantinople had become the residence of the Emperor and the Senate, and the churches at Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria were all older than Rome. Antioch furthermore was considered to have been the see of St Peter, before he went to Rome.
The first great rupture in the Church followed the Council of Ephesus (AD 431Events June Council of Ephesus: Nestorianism is rejected, the Nicene creed is declared to be complete. Nestorius is deposed from his see. October 1 Maximianus is enthroned as Patriarch of Constantinople. Marcian (future Eastern Roman Emperor), is captured), which affirmed the status of the Virgin Mary as TheotokosTheotokos is a Greek word that means "God-bearer" or "Mother of God". It is a title assigned by the early Christian Church to Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus. The theological significance at the time was to empha. The majority of those who refused to accept this Council were PersianPersia is the historical name for the state of Iran. The name was used in the West due to the ancient Greek name for Iran, Persis''. Persia is used to describe the nation of Iran, its people, or its ancient empire. The name Persia comes from a province in Christians, a Church now known as the Assyrian Church of the EastThe Assyrian Church of the East is a church that traces its origins to the See of Babylon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. It sometimes calls itself the Assyrian Orthodox Church but should not be confused with the distinct Syrian Orthodox. The next major break was after the Council of ChalcedonThe Council of Chalcedon was an ecumenical council that took place from October 8- November 1, 451 A. D at Chalcedon, a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor. It is the fourth of the first seven Ecumenical Councils in Christianity, and is therefore recognized as (AD 451Alternate uses, see Number 451. Events September 20 Attila, king of the Huns, invades Gaul, but is stopped in his tracks at Troyes by Aetius in the Battle of Chalons. Thorismund succeeds Theodorid his father as king of the Visigoths. October 8 Council of). This Council repudiated Eutychian MonophysitismMonophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning 'one' and physis meaning 'nature') is the christological position that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. There. The terms adopted by this Council were unacceptable to many Christians who preferred to use a Christology formulated primarily in Alexandria. These Christians are now often referred to in English as the Oriental Orthodox CommunionThe term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keeps the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church the councils of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus. The Oriental Orthodox churches r ("Eastern" and "Oriental" are not necessarily synonymous in English). The next major rift within Catholicism was in the 11th century. Doctrinal disputes, including those represented in the filioque clause, conflicts between methods of Church government, and perhaps the evolution of separate rites and practices, precipitated a split in AD 1054 that divided the Catholic Church once again, this time between a "West" and an "East". England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Scandinavia, and much of the rest of Western Europe were in the Western camp, and Greece, Russia and many of other Slavic lands, Anatolia, and the Christians in Syria and Egypt who accepted the Council of Chalcedon made up the eastern camp. This division is called the East-West Schism. The most recent major split within a Catholic Church occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation, after which many Protestant denominations emerged and the Anglican Church was established.
All of the preceding groups, excepting non-Anglican Protestants, consider themselves to be fully and completely Catholic. Each of them, excepting the Anglicans, considers itself not only to be completely Catholic but to be exclusively Catholic, even if a different group happens to use the term "Catholic" in its name. In short, no less than five major Christian traditions currently have a claim to being "the Catholic Church", and each defends the validity of the claim on the basis of uniquely-held doctrines that do not completely agree with the doctrines of the other four. An exception is the Roman Catholic Church’s view of the Churches estranged in the East-West Schism, a rupture it sees as involving only a break of ecclesiastical communion (schism in the strict sense), while in the others heretical doctrines played a part.
