The Religions Book

226 ENTERING INTO THE FAITH

The seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic
Church mark different stages of Christian life.
Partaking in the sacraments shows
membership of the Church;
being part of the Church is,
Catholics believe, necessary
for salvation.

readmit them to the Church if they
truly repented, or whether to exclude
them and let them form their own,
separate communities. Cyprian was
adamant that the Church should
forgive them and allow them back,
since in his understanding there
could be only one true Church, and
it was impossible for people to be
saved outside it. He likened the
Church to Noah’s Ark in the
Old Testament story of the flood,
commenting that just as the only
people who were saved were those
on the Ark, so too the only people to
be saved from God’s judgment of
evil were those in the Church.
By Cyprian’s time, the Church
had already developed a clearly
defined structure. Deacons and
priests led local congregations,
while bishops and archbishops
were responsible for slightly larger
geographical areas. Partly due to the

political and economic importance

of Rome itself during this early

period, the Bishop of Rome was

increasingly seen as the leader of

the whole Church, and by the

6th century was the only bishop

called the pope (from a Greek

word meaning “father”).

Papal power increased during

the medieval period. Although at

first the Pope’s preeminence was

seen as a useful way to ensure the

unity of the Church, by the start of

the 11th century, Eastern Greek-

speaking church leaders felt they

were being unfairly dominated by

the Western, Latin-speaking Pope.

In 1054, in the Great Schism, the

Church split into Eastern and

Western branches, citing doctrinal

differences as well as the issue of

papal authority. However, the Pope

in Rome still claimed to be leader of

the worldwide Church, and at the

Fouth Lateran Council of Church

leaders in 1215, Pope Innocent III

reasserted his authority over the

powerful bishops in the Eastern

Church at Constantinople, Antioch,

Alexandria, and Jerusalem.

In Western Europe, the Roman

Catholic Church, presided over by

the Pope, was seen as the only true

family of faithful Christians until

the end of the Middle Ages. The

dominance of the Roman Catholic

Church in medieval life added weight

to the idea that it was impossible to

be saved outside the Church.

Seven sacraments

While the Church had established

massive political and economic

influence during the medieval

period, its main power was spiritual.

It understood that one of its main

functions was to bring visibility to

the spiritual union between God

and his people. Because the

Christian relationship with God

seemed intangible by nature, it was

more convenient to assess Christian

faith by the state of a person’s

relationship with the Church.

Within the Church, special rites

were used to mark different stages

of the Christian life. Known as

You cannot have God

for your Father, if you

do not have the Church

for your mother.

Cyprian, The Unity

of the Church

Matrimony

Eucharist

Holy orders Penance

Extreme unction

Baptism

Confirmation