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Indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions…" The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying (once, or many times) of a specified prayer, but may also include a pilgrimage, the visiting of a particular place (such as a shrine, Church (building), church, or cemetery), or the performance of specific good works. Indulgences were introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances of the early church and granted at the intercession of Christians awaiting martyrdom or at least imprisoned for the faith.Cross, F. L., ed. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and the authority of the Catholic Church. Towards the end of the Renaissance, the Reformation marked the beginning of Protestantism. It is considered one of the events that signified the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe. The Reformation is usually dated from Martin Luther's publication of the '' Ninety-five Theses'' in 1517, which gave birth to Lutheranism. Prior to Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers, there were earlier reform movements within Western Christianity. The end of the Reformation era is disputed among modern scholars. In general, the Reformers argued that justification was based on faith in Jesus alone and not both faith and good works, as in the Catholic view. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western world, Western and History of Christianity, Christian history. Born in Eisleben, Luther was ordained to the Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the contemporary Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, in particular the view on indulgences and papal authority. Luther initiated an international debate on these in works like his ''Ninety-five Theses'', which he authored in 1517. In 1520, Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so, Excommunication in the Catholic Church, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purgatory
In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul. A common analogy is dross being removed from gold in a furnace. In Magisterium, Catholic doctrine, purgatory refers to the final cleansing of those who died in the State of Grace, and leaves in them only "the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven"; it is entirely different from the punishment of Damnation, the damned and is not related to the forgiveness of sins for salvation. A forgiven person can be freed from his "unhealthy attachment to creatures" by Indulgence#Catholic teaching, fervent charity in this world, and otherwise by the non-vindictive "temporal (i.e. non-eternal) punishment" of purgatory. In late medieval times, metaphors of time, place and fire were frequently adopted. Catherine of Genoa (fl. 1500) re-framed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treasury Of Merit
The treasury of all merit or treasury of the Church (''thesaurus ecclesiae''; , ''thesaurós'', treasure; , ''ekklēsía''‚ convening, congregation, parish) consists, according to Catholic belief, of the merits of Jesus Christ and his faithful, a treasury that because of the communion of saints benefits others, too. According to the ''Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms'', this Catholic belief is a way of expressing the view that the good works done by Jesus and others can benefit other people, and "contemporary Roman Catholic theologians see it as a metaphor for ways in which the faith of Christ and the saints helps others". Treasury of the Church The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: The treasures that any individual Christian can lay up in heaven are nothing in comparison to those that Jesus himself has laid up, and it is for a portion of his merits that 4th-century Ephrem the Syrian appealed so as to wipe out his own indebtedness. is also seen as a basis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Of Trent
The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most impressive embodiment of the ideals of the Counter-Reformation.""Trent, Council of" in Cross, F. L. (ed.) ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', Oxford University Press, 2005 (). It was the last time an ecumenical council was organized outside the city of Rome. The Council issued key statements and clarifications of the Church's doctrine and teachings, including scripture, the biblical canon, sacred tradition, original sin, justification, salvation, the sacraments, the Mass, and the veneration of saintsWetterau, Bruce. ''World History''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994. and also issued condemnations of what it defined to be heresies committed by proponents of Protestantism. The consequences of the council were als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacrament Of Penance
The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. During reconciliation, mortal sins must be confessed and venial sins may be confessed for devotional reasons. According to the dogma and unchanging practice of the church, only those ordained as priests may grant absolution. Nature The church teaches, based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, that confession is not a tribunal or criminal court, where one is condemned by God like a criminal, but a "wedding banquet hall, where the community celebrates Easter, Christ's victory over sin and death, in the joyful experience of his forgiving mercy." In confession, the church believes, God judges a person in the sense of bringing to light his or her sins, by granting the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It was a comprehensive effort arising from the decrees of the Council of Trent. As a political-historical period, it is frequently dated to have begun with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and to have ended with the political conclusion of the European wars of religion in 1648, though this is controversial. However, as a theological-historical description, the term may be obsolescent or over-specific: the broader term Catholic Reformation () also encompasses the reforms and movements within the Church in the periods immediately before Protestantism or Trent, and lasting later. The effort produced Apologetics, apologetic and polemical documents, anti-corruption efforts, spiritual movements, the promotion of new religious orders, and the flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penance
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derives from Old French and -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... and Latin ''paenitentia'', both of which derive from the same root meaning repentance, a sincere change of heart and feeling of remorse ( contrition). Penance and repentance, similar in their derivation and original sense, have come to represent conflicting views of the essence of repentance, arising from the controversy in the Protestant Reformation as to the respective merits of Faith in Christianity">"faith" and "good works". According to dictionary definitions, the primary meaning of ''penance'' is the deeds done out of ''penitence''. Like the latter, ''repentance'' refers to the gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an inquisitor and is venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the implementation of the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman Rite within the Latin Church, known as the Tridentine mass. Pius V declared Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. As a cardinal, Ghislieri gained a reputation for putting orthodoxy before personalities, prosecuting eight French bishops for heresy. He also stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face when he wanted to make a 13-year-old member of his family a cardinal and subsidize a nephew from the papal treasury. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
