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St. Peter, close disciple of Jesus and
martyred in Rome, is the source of papal
prerogative. His authority is thought to
be inherited by the popes, and so to
reject their word is to reject Jesus.CHRISTIANITY
sacraments, these rites were
physical actions that had spiritual
significance. Originally, the early
Church celebrated only two
sacraments—baptism and the
Eucharist—tracing them back to
the example and teaching of Jesus
himself. However, during the Middle
Ages, their number increased to
a total of seven, all of which were
offered with the authority of the
Catholic Church. These were:
baptism (the moment a person
enters the Church and their sin is
washed away); confirmation (the
point at which a person receives
the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to help
live a Christian life); the Eucharist
(a regular celebration of the
forgiveness achieved by the death
and resurrection of Jesus); penance
(the actions specified by a priest in
order for a person to be reconciled
with God after confessing sin);
extreme unction, otherwise known
as the last rites (anointing and
giving comfort and the assurance
of forgiveness to the dying); and holy
orders (when a person decides to
spend their life serving God within
the Church). The last of the seven
rites was marriage, which was
considered a sacrament because
the close relationship between
a husband and wife was thought
to mirror the close relationship
between God and his people.
Receiving the sacraments was
a clear indication that a person
remained a member of the Catholic
Church, and so could rely on being
saved by God. Church legislation
was therefore developed to guide
both priests and lay people as to
how the sacraments should be
properly used. They were considered
so important that the clergy were
forbidden from making a profit from
doing their duties. At the Fourth
Lateran Council, it was decreed
that all Christians should receive
the Eucharist at least once a year at
Easter, and should also confess their
sins and do penance at least once
annually. The prayers of a priest at
the bedside of a sick person were
considered so essential that doctors
were required to call a priest to
attend to the patient before they did
their own work. These important
regulations ensured that the Church
offered the sacraments freely and
regularly, and that Church members
received what was offered.Avoiding damnation
Like other Church councils before
and after it, the Fourth Lateran
Council made it clear that to reject
the sacraments of the Catholic
Church was to remove oneself from
the Church and so also to lose the
salvation offered on behalf of God.
If the Church was to be seen as the
mother of the faithful, then anyone
who was not a child of the Church
could not enjoy salvation.
Special condemnation was
reserved for people who not only
failed to receive the sacraments
themselves, but also taught others
to reject them. Since it was believed
that the popes of the Roman Church
had inherited and passed on trueteaching from Peter, one of Jesus’s
closest disciples and considered the
first pope, anyone who rejected the
teaching of the pope was held to be
rejecting the teaching of Jesus.
Unrepentant heretics (believing in
anything other than the teachings
of the Catholic Church) faced the
punishment of excommunication:
they were removed from the Church
and forbidden from receiving
sacraments until they changed their
minds. If they died before giving up
their heresies, they could expect to
miss out on God’s salvation and to
endure the horrors of hell.
At the end of the Middle Ages,
the monopoly on salvation by the
Catholic Church was challenged by
the Protestant Reformation (p.230–
37). No longer could a single Christian
institution claim that there was no
possibility of salvation outside itself.
However, the idea that salvation is
not possible outside the wider
Christian Church has persisted
among many Christian groups. ■There is one Universal
Church of the faithful,
outside of which there is
absolutely no salvation.
Fourth Lateran
Council