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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 word catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the ancient Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos) ' universal ') [3] [4] comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (katholou) ' on the whole, according to the whole, in general ', and is a combination of the Greek words κατά (kata) ' about ' and ὅλος (holos) ' whole '.
According to Acts 11:26, Antioch was where the followers were first called Christians. Peter was later martyred in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire . The apostles went on to spread the message of the Gospel around the classical world and founded apostolic sees around the early centers of Christianity .
According to numerous records of the early Church Fathers, Peter was present in Rome, was martyred there, and was the first bishop of Rome. Dogma and traditions of the Catholic Church maintain that he served as the bishop of Rome for 25 years until 67 AD when he was martyred by Nero [7] (further information: Great Fire of Rome).
The Baltimore Catechism, the official catechism authorized by the Catholic bishops of the United States between 1885 and 1965, states: "That is why we are called Roman Catholics; to show that we are united to the real successor of St. Peter" (Question 118), and refers to the Church as the "Roman Catholic Church" under Questions 114 and 131. [7]
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant , across the Roman Empire , and beyond.
360: Julian the Apostate becomes the last non-Christian Roman Emperor. February, 380: Emperor Theodosius I issues an edict, De Fide Catolica, in Thessalonica, published in Constantinople, declaring Catholic Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. [18] 381: First Ecumenical Council of Constantinople.
The Church of Saint Peter near Antioch (modern-day Antakya), the city where the disciples were called "Christians" [24] The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament, in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year.