The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church. This is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics
worldwide, as of 2016. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within Rome, Italy. Catholic theology is based on the Nicene Creed.
A church is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church
founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. The word church also describes a body or assembly of Christian believers, while "the Church" refers to the worldwide Christian religious community.
In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization. From the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western
Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian peninsula, dating from the 8th century BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population) and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.
The linguistic term 'Catholic' derived from a Greek word meaning 'universal' was historically recorded as early as 107 CE in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch.
In 380 CE, under the Edict of Thessalonica issued by Emperor Theodosius I, Nicene (Catholic) Christianity officially became the state religion of the Roman Empire, leading to the institutional regulation of religious practices and the formalisation of a calendar of feast days like Christmas and Easter.
Early Catholics were taught Christianity by the priests, nuns and at Catholic schools - and not through Bible study. The priests role was to pass on Christian beliefs and practise to his congregation. The priest acted as an intermediary between God and the people; as mankind was regarded as inherently sinful.
Catholics were discouraged from individual Bible study and pushed towards conforming with traditional Church teachings.
In 1909, Pope Pius X first encouraged Bible study. For the first time, Catholics could now study the Bible for themselves and Catholicism returned to being a 'religion of the book' for the people
Historically, Jesus was a practicing Jew, and the original Jesus movement was a reform movement within Judaism . Conversely, the Catholic Church views Jesus' mission as universal, intended for the entire world, not just the Jewish people .
Early Christian bishops organized regional synods and ecumenical councils to systematically define orthodox Christian doctrines and combat widespread heresies. These massive assemblies were essential for creating a unified creed, standardizing the New Testament canon, and establishing clear administrative laws for a rapidly growing global church. Prominent gatherings, like the Council of Nicaea, were often financed and politically mandated by Roman emperors to secure empire-wide religious stability.
Paul's new doctrine met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church led by James, who regarded the substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism.
Paul was duly summoned to Jerusalem by the leaders James, Peter and John to explain his doctrine in 50 AD.