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The history of the Catholic Church is the formation, events, and historical development of the Catholic Church through time.. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, it started from the day of Pentecost at the upper room of Jerusalem; [1] the Catholic tradition considers that the Church is a continuation of the early Christian community established by the Disciples of Jesus.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 9 ] It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization .
Stained glass window in a Catholic church depicting St. Peter's Basilica in Rome sitting "Upon this rock," a reference to Matthew 16:18. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ founded only "one true Church", and that this one true Church is the Catholic Church with the bishop of Rome (the pope) as its supreme, infallible head and locus of communion. [8]
[458] [459] Although the Catholic Church had long ruled that witches did not exist, the conviction that witches were both real and malevolent developed throughout fifteenth-century European society. [460] [461] No single cause of "witch frenzy" is known, although the Little Ice Age is thought to have been a factor. [462]
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, . Ecclesiastical history is the scientific investigation and the methodical description of the temporal development of the Church considered as an institution founded by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Ghost for the salvation of mankind. ...
The Catholic Church believes it is the continuation of those who remained faithful to the apostolic leadership and rejected false teachings. [168] Catholic belief is that the Church will never defect from the truth, and bases this on Jesus' telling Peter the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. [169]
The Catholic Church teaches in its doctrine that it is the original church founded by Christ on the Apostles in the 1st century AD. The encyclical of Pope Pius IX , Singulari Quidem , states: "There is only one true, holy, Catholic Church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church.
History of the Catholic Church – the church says that its bishops are the successors to the Apostles of Jesus, and that the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope, is the sole successor to Saint Peter, who is believed to have been appointed head of the church in the New Testament and who is said to have ministered in Rome.