Roman Catholicism

During the Middle Ages the Christian Church was divided into two main branches. The Christianity that developed and flourished in the Near East, Egypt and Greece, absorbed much of classical Greek learning, while the Western Christianity, which had its headquarters in Rome, developed along different lines. These two branches of Christianity grew apart and the Byzantine or Eastern Church has Constantinople as its centre and the Patriarch as its head, while the Western Church came to be known as the Roman Catholic Church and has the Pope as its leader. 

For fourteen centuries the Roman Catholic Church was the Christian Church of Western Europe. During this period the church grew in political and financial] power, and, of course, it was the main spiritual authority of men. To deal with all the numerous spiritual and religious problems within the faith, a religious law called the canon law came into existence. The Catholic Church ministers the seven sacraments thro’gh which men’s life is chartered. These are; 

(i) Baptism 

(ii) Confirmation or entry into the church 

(iii) Holy Communion 

(iv) Penance

 (v) Anointing 

(vi) Holy orders 

(vii) Marriage is the seventh sacrament, 

and because of the sacramental vature of matrimony, divorce is not admissible to the Catholics. Thus the church regulates a man’s life from the cradle to the grave through the administration of the sacraments.