How did Catholicism originate?

Answer

Emperor Constantine was fighting a great battle, vying for control of the Kingdom, when he "saw" a great fiery cross in the sky". He took this as a sign of victory, that he was to be the political and spiritual ruler of the Roman empire. Adopting some of the Old Testament, the pantheonic religion of Rome and excerpts from an errant church that was Christ's resulted the the political socio-religious organization that evolved to what it is today.

Answer

The principal early Christian sects are generally known today as Catholic Orthodox Christianity and Gnosticism, although other groups also existed. Although Catholic Orthodox Christianity was the predecessor of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church was not yet a separate denomination with its own unique theology, including, for example, papal infallibility.

Under Constantine and later emperors, Roman state patronage for the Catholic Orthodox Church ensured that it was able to expropriate the property of other churches which did not share their views, and provided a cover for persecution until through impoverishment and persecution of its rivals there was essentially only one Christian Church left in the Roman Empire.

The view held by religious authorities in the mainly Greek-speaking eastern regions was that there were 5 senior leaders, or Metropolitans, in this Christian Church, one of whom was the bishop of Rome. However, the bishop of Rome, designated in the west as the Pope, insisted that he had greater authority than the other Metropolitans. Gradually, differences built up until the Great Schism of 1054, when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I excommunicated each other. There were attempts at reconciliation and the Churches came close to being reunited in 1274 and in 1439, but the schism eventually became permanent.

The western Church, based on Rome, has become known as Roman Catholic, while the eastern Churches have become known as Orthodox Churches.

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Roman Catholics would probably trace their origin back to Christ himself. The establishment of the specific church, though, more likely goes back to the establishment of the Vatican by the emperor Constantine around the 4th century.

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The early Christian Church simply identified Itself as the Church. The apostles, as chosen by Christ, were quick to identify groups that were not part of Tradition and the Covenant set up by Christ, as the rejection of the Gnostics and Simon Magus in the New Testament illustrates. The Church was highly organized with teachings, hierarchy and ceremonies and had a clear idea of its purpose as early Church writings and documents, such as the Didache, attest.

The Church, however, was persecuted. The Jews defamed it as a heresy (rightly so if Christ indeed was not God), and the Romans saw the new religion as intolerant, impious and treacherous to their Pagan state and beliefs. Over turbulent centuries, the Christian influence steadily gained converts until finally, in the fourth century, Constantine definitively recognized it as a legal religion and granted it state patronage. The Church thus emerged as a political entity at this point. The Church was given state patronage and granted property, as all property had been confiscated. Those sects or branches that the Church identified as schismastic or heretical were denied these boons and were actively restricted.

When Rome fell to barbarian invasions, the West and the East lost easy contact. The two had different rites and traditions, but this political break emphasized their difference as the West plunged into the Dark Ages while the East was resplendent in civilization. Above all, the East resented having to obey the pope who resided in the fallen West. Their own regional hierarchies, or patriarchs, had jurisdictions and traditions that had been installed by the apostles themselves. The early Church Fathers, whose writings can still be read, were quite clear in that the bishop of Rome was to be given especial respect, dominance and that it was necessary to be in communion with him. But, having these apostolic traditions themselves, they decreed that there were other honoured sees of equal authority, all of which had to be in communion in order for the operation of the Church. After many grievances, misunderstandings and mistranslations (the "filoque" issue turned out to be a failure to understand that they were saying the same thing but coming at it from two different directions), a split finally occurred. The Church, as promised by Christ, can never fail, so either the West or the East went into Schism. The Western Church has become identified by the adjective "Catholic" and the East by the adjective "Orthodox". Essentially, they are both of the Church, although one has deliberately put itself outside via its schism, in essence, putting itself in suspended animation. The Western Church believes Itself to retain the wholeness of the Church by continuing to be in communion with the pope, which they declare is the highest authority of the Church. The Eastern Church believes the West to be in schism by withdrawing from the patriarchal communion and asserting independent and supreme authority. Over the years, the East has respected the split and declared that no new dogmas can be defined without the return of the Western patriarch, although some progress has been made as needed. The West, believing this communion unnecessary, has continued to define and refine dogmatic teachings based on the papal supremacy. Thus the schism has become a matter of heresy as well, making a healing even more difficult. Through the centuries, some of the Eastern rites have joined the Catholic Church, perhaps spurred by political considerations as much as Faith. These rites have been absorbed entirely, with their apostolic traditions left intact, but they recognize the pope as the Church's head.