4. FOUNDATION AND SPREAD OF THE CHURCH
Christ compared the Church to a grain of mustard-seed, which is the smallest of seeds, but grows into a tree in which the birds of the air build their nests (Matt. xiii. 31, 32).
1. Christ laid the foundation of the Church when, in the course of His teaching, He gathered a number of disciples, and chose twelve of these to preside over the rest and one to be Head of all.
2. The Church first began its life on Pentecost, when some three thousand people were baptized.
Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. After the miracle at the gate of the Temple some two thousand more were baptized.
3. Soon after the descent of the Holy Ghost the apostles began to preach the Gospel throughout the world, in accordance with the commands of Christ (Mark xvi. 15), and founded Christian communities in many places.
St. Paul, after his conversion in 34 A.D., labored more abundantly than all the apostles (1 Cor. xv. 10); he traversed Asia Minor, the greater part of Southern Europe, and many islands of the Mediterranean. After him St. Peter labored most. After escaping by a miracle from his prison in Jerusalem, he founded his see at Rome where, in company with St. Paul, he suffered martyrdom. St. John, the beloved disciple, lived at Ephesus with our blessed Lady, and governed the Church in Asia Minor. His brother, St. James the Greater, travelled as far as Spain, and was beheaded in Jerusalem in 44 A.D. His body rests at Compostella. St. James the Less governed the Church at Jerusalem, and was cast down from a pinnacle of the Temple in A.D. 63. St. Andrew preached to the people living along the lower Danube, and died on a cross in Achaia. St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew made their way to the Euphrates and Tigris, and as far as India. St. Simon evangelized Egypt and North Africa.
The apostles established their communities after the following plan: having converted and baptized a number of men in a place, they chose assistants, to whom they imparted a greater or less portion of their own powers; and before leaving the place they made choice of a successor, and gave him full powers (Acts xiv. 22).
Those who received only a small portion of the apostolic power were called deacons, and priests those who had ampler faculties. The representatives of the apostles were called bishops. Christ gave the apostles power to choose successors when He gave to them the self-same power which He had received from the Father (John xx. 21); and it was His wish that they should choose successors, for He told the apostles that their mission should continue to the end of the world (Matt. xxviii. 20).
Among all the Christian communities that of Rome took the highest rank, because it was presided over by St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, and because to the Head of that community as successor of St. Peter the primacy of St. Peter was transferred.
St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (107 A.D.) in a letter to the Christians of Rome, begs them not to set him free and calls the Roman community the “chief community of the holy band of the faithful;” and St. Iremeus, Bishop of Lyons (202 A.D.), says “All the faithful over the whole world must conform to the Roman Church on account of its principality.”
All Christian communities which have been formed in the course of time professed the same faith, and acknowledged the same means of grace and the same Head. Hence they formed one large community the Catholic Church.
4. When the great persecutions broke out, the Church spread more rapidly over the earth.
During the first three centuries there were ten persecutions, the severest being under Nero and Diocletian (284-385 A.D.), the latter monster condemning some 2,000,000 Christians. They were martyred in various ways; they were beheaded like St. Paul, crucified like St. Peter, stoned like St. Stephen, thrown to the lions like St. Ignatius of Antioch, roasted on gridirons like St. Lawrence, drowned like St. Florian, flayed like St. Bartholomew, cast over cliffs or from high places like St. James, burned at the scaffold like St. Polycarp, buried alive like St. Chrysanthus, etc. The very means adopted to exterminate the Christian religion helped to propagate it. The speeches of the Christians before their judges often converted the hearers. The joy with which they faced death, their superhuman patience, and their love of their enemies, were powerful influences on the heathen. Added to this were the miracles which often happened during the martyrdoms, as for instance in the case of St. Polycarp and St. John at the Lateran Gate. In the words of St. Rupert, the martyrs are like the seed which is buried in the earth, and sprouts and brings forth much fruit; or of St. Leo tho Great, if the storm scatters the seed this benefit results that instead of one, some fifty other trees grow up. “The blood of the martyrs,” says Tertullian, “is the seed of Christians.” The life of the Christians was then a model, and they abounded in saints. At the risk of their life they prayed to God in the catacombs. Two years of probation were demanded of the catechumens before reception.
When the Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, had permitted his subjects to become Christians and later made the Christian religion the State religion (324 A.D.), the Church indeed nourished externally, but fervor and religious discipline soon began to suffer.
Constantino was led to this step by the appearance of the luminous cross in the heavens (312 A.D.), and still more by his holy mother St. Helena. The following were some of his ordinances: Sundays and feast days were to be observed with solemnity; the temples of the heathen were to be handed over to the bishops; the gladiatorial combats and the crucifixion of criminals were forbidden, and many churches were built. By the miraculous draught of fishes related in the fifth chapter of St. Luke and the two boats almost sunk with the weight of fish, was prefigured the future of the Church, which should suffer schism with the increase of its members, while Christians should sink down to earthly things. The heresy of Arius (318 A.D.) began its deadly work in the time of Constantine, and had a great following. At this time also ceased the test of the catechumens, so that it was easier to become a member of the Church. St. Augustine had reason to say: “If the Church is harassed by external foes, there are many in her bosom who by their unruly life make sad the hearts of the faithful.”
5. In the Middle Ages nearly all the heathen nations began to enter the Church.
In Austria about 450 A.D., the monk Severinus preached the Gospel for thirty years along the banks of the Danube. St. Gregory the Great, in 600 A.D., sent St. Augustine at the head of a number of missioners to convert England; eighty years later the country was Christian and had twenty-six sees. Germany owes most to St. Boniface, who preached the Gospel there for about forty years (755 A.D.). The Greek monks Saints Cyril and Methodius worked among the Slavs, mainly of Bohemia and Moravia, with great success. The Hungarians were converted by their holy king Stephen (1038 A.D.) “the apostolic king.” Christianity was gradually introduced into Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia and Poland after 1000 A.D.
The Church was hard pressed by Islam during the Middle Ages.
Islamism or Mohammedanism was founded by Mohammed, a native of Mecca, who gave himself out to be a prophet of the one true God, promised sensual joy after death, allowed plurality of wives, imposed a pilgrimage to Mecca, taught fatalism, and after propagating his doctrines by fire and sword, was poisoned in 632 A.D., by a Jewish woman. The Koran is the sacred book of the Mohammedans. They keep the Friday with great solemnity, and pray five times a day turned towards Mecca. Mohammed’s successors were the caliphs, who undertook wars of conquest on a large scale, every where rooting out the Christian religion. They overran a great part of Asia, North Africa, Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean. Charles Martel, in a series of victories (732-738 A.D.), arrested their advance into France, and ever since their failure in 1638 before Vienna, their progress in the West was arrested.
In addition the Church lost many adherents in the Middle Ages by the Greek schism.
The causes of the schism were as follows: The emperors of the East kept trying to make the patriarchs of Constantinople independent of Rome, while these were often for their heresies put under ban by the councils. In time it came about that the ambitious Photius, backed up by the emperor, held a council of the Eastern bishops, and broke away from Rome (867 A.D.). The succeeding emperor re-established the old relations with Rome. Two hundred years later, how ever, the patriarch Michael Cerularius renewed the contest (1054 A.D.), and the schism effected by him lasts till the present day. They call themselves the Orthodox Greeks, while we call them the Schismatic Greeks, in opposition to the United Greeks or Uniates, who preserved their allegiance to Rome.
6. In later times many nations of the newly discovered countries were converted.
The Spaniards and Portuguese led the van of missionary enterprise. One of the most famous of these missionaries is St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, who used to call the little children together with a bell, as he made his way through the cities of India, the islands of Molucca, and Japan, to teach them the truths of religion (1552 A.D.); he had the gift of tongues, and baptized some two million heathens. After his death great work was done in China by the Jesuits, especially Ricci and Schall. Another great missionary is St. Peter Claver (1654 A.D.) whose work was mostly among the negroes in South America. Cardinal Lavigerie in our own time has done much in Africa, especially in resisting the slave trade, and founding a congregation for the conversion of the natives. The College of Propaganda was founded at Rome in 1662 for the train ing of young men from all nations for a missionary career. At present some 15,000 priests, 5,000 lay brothers and 50,000 nuns are at work in the foreign missions; the missionaries belong for the most part to the Orders of Jesuits, Franciscans, Capuchins, Benedictines, and Lazarists. The organizations for the support of the missions are the Propagation of the Faith and the Holy Childhood. It is a sacred obligation to help in such work, and the efforts of non- Catholics in this direction may well put us to shame.
In later times the Church has lost many members by the Lutheran and Anglican heresies.
Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk of Erfurt, and later teacher in the high school at Wittenburg, took offense because he thought that he was not sufficiently held in esteem at Rome. When Pope Leo X., anxious to complete the building of St. Peter s, gave indulgences to those who should subscribe to the work, and sent out preachers to promulgate these indulgences, Luther came forward with his ninety-five propositions on indulgences, and nailed them to the door of the church at Wittenburg. These propositions at first condemned only the abuses of indulgences in the Church, but later went on to combat the teaching of the Church on the subject (1517).
Refusing to withdraw them at the command of the Pope he was excommunicated (1520), and also outlawed by the emperor for not answering the summons requiring him to appear before the council at Worms. He sought protection from the Elector of Saxony. His heresy soon spread over Germany and led to many religious wars. The name Protestant was assumed by the Lutherans at Spires in 1529, on account of their protest against Catholic doctrine. The Peace of Augsburg secured to the Protestants the same rights as Catholics (1555). The Council of Trent set forth the points in dispute between Catholics and Protestants (1545-1563). Luther died in 1546. His chief errors are contained in the following propositions: (1). There is no supreme teaching power in the Church. (2). The temporal sovereign has supreme power in matters ecclesiastical. (3). There are no priests. (4). All that is to be believed is in the Scripture. (5). Each one may interpret the Holy Scriptures as he likes. (6). Faith alone saves, good works are superfluous. (7). This last follows from the fact that man lost his free will by original sin. (8). There are no saints, no Christian sacrifice, no sacrament of confession, no purgatory. The Jesuits, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola (1540), won many back again to the fold of the Church. Zwingli and Calvin in Switzerland, and Henry VIII. in England, about the same time helped in Luther’s deadly work. The errors of the Anglican Church were drawn up later in the form of Thirty-nine Articles, which are quite Lutheran in tone.
7. At present the Catholic Church numbers about 260,000,000 members. *
These are under the direction of about 1200 bishops, counting about 15 patriarchs, 200 archbishops and 20 prelates with dioceses. There are some 350,000 Catholic priests in the whole world. The in habitants of Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Belgium, and Ireland are nearly all Catholics. In Switzerland about half are Catholics; in Germany over a third of the population, and in Russia 11,000,000. In Europe about three-quarters of the entire population are Catholic. In America there are 80,000,000 Catholics, of whom there are 10,000 000 in the United States, forming one-seventh of the entire population, while Mexico, south and central America, with the exception of Brazil, are almost entirely Catholic. The adjacent islands are mainly Catholic. In Asia there are only 10,000,000 Catholics, in Africa 3,000,000, in Australia 1,000,000. The Protestants, comprising the various sects of Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, etc., number 150,000,000; they inhabit England, North and Central Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, parts of Switzerland and Hungary, and the United States of America. The Oriental Greeks or Schismatic Greeks number about 100,000,000. They occupy for the most part the Balkan peninsula and Russia. Besides these there are some 10,000,000 of various other Christian sects, hence a total of 520,000,000 Christians. Since the inhabitants of the earth amount to about 1,500,000,000 only a little over one-third of the human race is Christian. The Mohammedans number 170,000,000; they inhabit Arabia, Western Asia, the northern half of Africa, and part of Turkey. In addition there are 8,000,000 Jews; they are for the greater part in Russia and Austria. Finally there are still 800,000,000 heathens, dwelling for the most part in Southern Africa, India, China and Japan.
Ed. Note: The later edition of this text had 288,000,00 Catholics worldwide, 1478 bishops, 15 patriarchs, 314 archbishops, and 20 prelates. 375,000 priests in the world. It reported a worldwide population of 1,700,000,00. 1,116,000,000 heathens. Today, after the great scourge of death in WWII, by Nazis, the Soviets, and the Marxist regimes in Asian, the world population has grown by 7X. It would appear God wanted to make it more difficult for the Marxist and Trotskyite murderers to kill everyone.
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4. Uwe na uhakika "Kristo alilinganisha Kanisa na ""mbegu ya haradali,"" ambayo ni mbegu ndogo zaidi, lakini inakua na kuwa mti ambao ndege wa angani hujenga viota vyao ndani yake." kumi na tatu. 31 na 32). 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Kristo aliweka msingi wa Kanisa wakati, katika mwendo wa mafundisho yake, alikusanya idadi ya wanafunzi, na kuchagua kumi na wawili kati yao kuongoza wengine na mmoja kuwa Mkuu wa wote. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Kanisa lilianza maisha yake kwa mara ya kwanza siku ya Pentekoste, wakati watu wapatao elfu tatu walipobatizwa. Pentekoste ni siku ya kuzaliwa kwa Kanisa. Baada ya muujiza huo kwenye lango la Hekalu, wengine elfu mbili hivi walibatizwa. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Baada ya Roho Mtakatifu kuteremka, mitume walianza kuhubiri Injili duniani kote, kwa mujibu wa amri za Kristo (Marko 16:1). 15), na kuanzisha jumuiya za Kikristo katika maeneo mengi. Baada ya kugeuzwa imani mwaka wa 34 B.K., Paulo alifanya kazi kwa bidii kuliko mitume wote (1 Kor. kumi na tano. 10); alisafiri kupitia Asia Ndogo, sehemu kubwa ya Ulaya Kusini, na visiwa vingi vya Mediterania. Baada yake Mtakatifu Petro alifanya kazi kwa bidii zaidi. Baada ya kuokoka kwa muujiza kutoka gerezani huko Yerusalemu, alianzisha makao yake ya kifalme huko Roma, ambako, pamoja na Mtakatifu Paulo, aliteseka kwa kifo cha shahidi. Mtakatifu Yohana, mwanafunzi mpendwa, aliishi Efeso pamoja na Bibi yetu Mbarikiwa, na aliongoza Kanisa katika Asia Ndogo. Mtakatifu Yakobo Mkuu, ndugu yake, alisafiri hadi Hispania, na kukatwa kichwa huko Yerusalemu mwaka wa 44 BK. Mtakatifu Yakobo mdogo alitawala Kanisa la Yerusalemu, na alitelezwa kutoka juu ya hekalu mwaka wa 63 KK. Mtakatifu Andrea alihubiri kwa watu wanaoishi kando ya Danube ya chini, na akafa msalabani huko Achaia. Thomas na Bartholomew walikwenda hadi Mto Eufrates na Tigri, na hadi India. Mtakatifu Simoni alieneza injili Misri na Afrika Kaskazini. Mitume walianzisha jamii zao kwa kufuata mpango ufuatao: baada ya kugeuza na kubatiza idadi ya watu katika mahali fulani, walichagua wasaidizi, ambao waliwapa sehemu kubwa au ndogo ya nguvu zao wenyewe; na kabla ya kuondoka mahali walifanya uchaguzi wa mrithi, na kumpa nguvu kamili. 22) Wale waliopokea sehemu ndogo tu ya mamlaka ya kiapostoli waliitwa mashemasi, na wale waliokuwa na mamlaka kubwa zaidi waliitwa makasisi. Wawakilishi wa mitume waliitwa maaskofu. Kristo aliwapa mitume nguvu ya kuchagua wafuasi, alipowapa nguvu ileile aliyoipokea kutoka kwa Baba (Yohana 20:28). 21) Na ilikuwa ni mapenzi yake kwamba wapate kuchagua wafuasi, kwa maana aliwaambia mitume kwamba utume wao unapaswa kuendelea hadi mwisho wa ulimwengu (Mt. xxviii. 20). Kati ya jumuiya zote za Kikristo, jumuiya ya Roma ilikuwa na cheo cha juu zaidi, kwa sababu iliongozwa na Mtakatifu Petro, mkuu wa mitume, na kwa sababu kwa Mkuu wa jumuiya hiyo, kama mrithi wa Mtakatifu Petro, cheo cha kwanza cha Mtakatifu Petro kilipitishwa. "Mtakatifu Ignatius, Askofu wa Antiokia (107 A.D.) katika barua yake kwa Wakristo wa Roma, anawaomba wasiwaachilie huru na anaita jumuiya ya Roma ""jumuiya kuu ya kundi takatifu la waumini"" na Mtakatifu Iremio, Askofu wa Lyon (202 A.D.), anasema ""Watu wote waaminifu duniani kote lazima wajiunge na Kanisa la Roma kwa sababu ya ufalme wake.""" Kwa hiyo walifanyiza jumuiya moja kubwa, Kanisa Katoliki. 4. Uwe na uhakika Wakati mateso makubwa yalipoanza, Kanisa lilipanuka haraka zaidi duniani. Katika karne tatu za kwanza kulikuwa na mateso kumi, yenye ukali zaidi chini ya Nero na Diocletian (284-385 W.K.), yule mnyama wa mwisho akihukumu Wakristo wapatao milioni mbili. Walikatwa vichwa kama Paulo, wakasulubishwa kama Petro, wakapigwa mawe kama Stefano, wakatupwa kwa simba kama Mtakatifu Ignacio wa Antiokia, wakapikwa kama Mtakatifu Laurence, wakamezwa kama Mtakatifu Florian, wakakandamizwa kama Mtakatifu Bartholomew, wakatupwa kwenye miamba au kutoka mahali pa juu kama Mtakatifu Yakobo, wakapigwa moto kama Mtakatifu Polikarpo, wakazikwa wakiwa hai kama Mtakatifu Krisanthus, na kadhalika. Njia zenyewe zilizotumiwa kuangamiza dini ya Kikristo zilisaidia kueneza dini hiyo. Mara nyingi hotuba za Wakristo mbele ya mahakimu wao ziliwageuza wasikilizaji. Furaha waliyokuwa nayo walipokabili kifo, subira yao ya juu ya kibinadamu, na upendo wao kwa maadui wao, zilikuwa na uvutano wenye nguvu juu ya wapagani. Mfano wa miujiza ya kiume ni ile ya St. Polycarp na St. John katika lango la Lateran. "Mtakatifu Rupert anasema, ""Watu waliokufa kwa ajili ya imani ni kama mbegu iliyozikwa ardhini, na kuzaa matunda mengi, na kama vile Mtakatifu Leo Mkuu, kama dhoruba itatawanya mbegu hiyo, basi mti mwingine watano utachipuka badala ya mmoja.""" "Damu ya wafia-imani", asema Tertullian, "ni mbegu ya Wakristo". Maisha ya Wakristo wakati huo yalikuwa kielelezo, nao walikuwa na watakatifu wengi. Wakiwa na hatari ya uhai wao walisali kwa Mungu katika makaburi ya wafu. Katekumeni walihitaji miaka miwili ya majaribio kabla ya kupokea. Mfalme wa Roma, Konstantino Mkuu, alipowaruhusu watu wake kuwa Wakristo na baadaye akafanya dini ya Kikristo kuwa dini ya serikali (324 KK), Kanisa lilijaa kwa kweli kwa nje, lakini upesi bidii na nidhamu ya kidini ilianza kuathiriwa. Konstantino aliongozwa na mwangaza wa msalaba wa mwanga katika mbingu (312 KK) na zaidi ya hayo na mama yake mtakatifu, Mtakatifu Helena. "Hizi ndizo baadhi ya amri zake: ""Siku za Jumapili na siku za sikukuu zilipaswa kuadhimishwa kwa heshima; mahekalu ya wapagani yalipaswa kupewa maaskofu; mapigano ya wapiganaji na kusulubiwa kwa wahalifu yalipigwa marufuku; na makanisa mengi yalijengwa.""" "Kwa mfano, ""kuvuja kwa samaki"" kwa njia ya miujiza iliyotajwa katika Luka 5 na mashua mbili zilizozama kwa uzito wa samaki, ilionyesha kwamba wakati ujao Kanisa lingesababisha mgawanyiko kwa sababu ya kuongezeka kwa idadi ya washiriki wake, huku Wakristo wakishuka katika mambo ya kidunia." Uongo wa Arius (318 KK) ulianza kazi yake ya mauti katika wakati wa Konstantino, na ulikuwa na wafuasi wengi. Wakati huohuo, mtihani wa kuwa katekumeni ulikoma, ili iwe rahisi kuwa mshiriki wa Kanisa. "Mtakatifu Augustine alisema hivi: ""Ikiwa Kanisa linafadhaishwa na maadui wa nje, kuna wengi ndani yake ambao kwa maisha yao yasiyo na nidhamu wanafanya mioyo ya waumini iwe na huzuni.""" Katika Enzi za Kati karibu mataifa yote ya kipagani yalianza kuingia katika Kanisa. Katika mwaka wa 450 KK, mtawa Severinus wa Austria alitangaza Injili kwa miaka 30 kwenye ukingo wa Mto Danube. Mnamo mwaka wa 600 B.K., Mtakatifu Gregory Mkuu alimtuma Mtakatifu Augustine, akiwa kiongozi wa mishonari kadhaa, kugeuza dini ya Kiingereza; miaka themanini baadaye, nchi hiyo ilikuwa ya Kikristo na ilikuwa na makao makuu ishirini na sita. Mtakatifu Boniface wa Ujerumani alitangaza Injili kwa miaka 40 hivi. Watawa wa kiigiriki Watakatifu Cyril na Methodius walifanya kazi miongoni mwa Waslavoni, hasa wa Bohemia na Moravia, kwa mafanikio makubwa. "Wahungaria walianza kuamini Ukristo na mfalme wao mtakatifu Stefano (1038 KK), ""Mfalme wa Mitume"" na hatua kwa hatua Ukristo ulianzishwa katika Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Urusi na Poland baada ya mwaka 1000 KK." Kanisa lilikabili mkazo mkali kutoka kwa Uislamu wakati wa Enzi za Kati. Uislamu au Uislamu wa Kiislamu ulianzishwa na Muhammad, mzaliwa wa Mecca, ambaye alijitoa mwenyewe kuwa nabii wa Mungu wa kweli mmoja, aliahidi furaha ya hisia baada ya kifo, aliruhusu wenzi wengi, aliweka safari ya kwenda Mecca, alifundisha fatalism, na baada ya kueneza mafundisho yake kwa moto na upanga, aliuawa kwa sumu mwaka 632 AD na mwanamke Myahudi. Koran ni kitabu takatifu cha Waislamu. Wao huadhimisha Ijumaa kwa heshima kubwa, na kusali mara tano kwa siku wakiwa wameelekeza macho yao kuelekea Mecca. Wafuasi wa Mohammed walikuwa makhalifa, ambao walifanya vita vya ushindi kwa kiwango kikubwa, kila mahali wakikomesha dini ya Kikristo. Walichukua sehemu kubwa ya Asia, Afrika Kaskazini, Hispania na visiwa vya Mediterania. Charles Martel, katika mfululizo wa ushindi (732-738 BK), alisimamisha maendeleo yao katika Ufaransa, na tangu kushindwa kwao mwaka 1638 mbele ya Vienna, maendeleo yao katika Magharibi yalifungwa. Kwa kuongezea, Kanisa lilipoteza wafuasi wengi katika Enzi za Kati kwa sababu ya mgawanyiko wa Kigiriki. Sababu za kugawanyika zilikuwa kama ifuatavyo: Maliki wa Mashariki waliendelea kujaribu kuwafanya mabwana wa Constantinople wawe huru kutoka Roma, wakati hawa mara nyingi kwa sababu ya uzushi wao waliwekwa chini ya marufuku na halmashauri. Baada ya muda, Fotio mwenye tamaa ya makuu, akiungwa mkono na maliki, alifanya baraza la maaskofu wa Mashariki, na kujitenga na Roma (867 W.K.). Maliki aliyefuata alianzisha tena mahusiano ya zamani na Roma. Hata hivyo, miaka mia mbili baadaye, Mtakatifu Michael Cerularius alirudisha mashindano hayo (1054 KK), na migawanyiko iliyofanywa na yeye inaendelea hadi leo. "Wanajiita ""Wagiriki wa Orthodox"" na ""Wagiriki wa Schismatic"" kwa sababu ya kuunga mkono Uunani na Uropa." 6. Uwe na uhakika Katika nyakati za baadaye mataifa mengi ya nchi zilizogunduliwa hivi karibuni yaligeuzwa imani. Wahispania na Wareno waliongoza kazi ya wamishonari. Mmoja wa wamishonari hao mashuhuri zaidi ni Mtakatifu Francis Xavier, mtume wa India, ambaye alikuwa akizungumza na watoto wadogo kwa kengele alipokuwa akisafiri kupitia miji ya India, visiwa vya Molucca, na Japani, kuwafundisha ukweli wa dini (1552 KK); alikuwa na zawadi ya lugha, na kubatiza wapatao wapatao milioni mbili. Baada ya kifo chake kazi kubwa ilifanywa nchini China na Wajesuiti, hasa Ricci na Schall. Mmisionari mwingine wa kwanza aliyejulikana ni Mtakatifu Petro Claver (1654-1654) ambaye alitumikia hasa miongoni mwa Wenyeji wa Amerika Kusini. Kadinali Lavigny alianzisha kanisa la kuwahamasisha wenyeji wa Afrika. Chuo cha Utangazaji kilianzishwa huko Roma mwaka 1662 kwa ajili ya mafunzo ya vijana kutoka mataifa yote kwa ajili ya kazi ya umishonari. Kwa sasa, makuhani 15,000, ndugu 5,000 wa kidini, na watawa 50,000 wa kidini wanafanya kazi katika misheni za kigeni; wamishonari hao ni wa madhehebu ya Wayesuiti, Wafransiskani, Wakapuchini, Wabendektini, na Walasari. Mashirika ya kuunga mkono misheni ni Uenezaji wa Imani na Utoto Mtakatifu. Ni wajibu mtakatifu kusaidia katika kazi hiyo, na jitihada za wasio Wakatoliki katika mwelekeo huu zaweza kutufanya tuone aibu. Katika nyakati za baadaye Kanisa limepoteza washiriki wengi kwa sababu ya uzushi wa Kilutheri na wa Anglikana. Martin Luther, mtawa wa Augustini wa Erfurt, na baadaye mwalimu katika shule ya sekondari huko Wittenburg, alikasirika kwa sababu alifikiri kwamba hakuheshimiwa vya kutosha huko Roma. Papa Leo X, akiwa na hamu ya kukamilisha ujenzi wa kanisa la St. Peter, alipotoa indulgences kwa wale ambao walipaswa kujiunga na kazi hiyo, na kutuma wahubiri kueneza indulgences hizi, Luther alitoa mapendekezo yake 95 juu ya indulgences, na kuzipiga kwenye mlango wa kanisa huko Wittenberg. Mawazo hayo mwanzoni yalilaani tu matumizi mabaya ya indulgences katika Kanisa, lakini baadaye yaliendelea kupigana na mafundisho ya Kanisa juu ya mada hiyo (1517). Kwa kukataa kuondoa amri za Papa, alikataliwa kutoka kwa kanisa (1520) na pia akaondolewa katika sheria na maliki kwa kutojibu wito wa kuhudhuria baraza la Worms. Alitafuta ulinzi kutoka kwa Mteule wa Saxony. Upesi uzushi wake ulienea kotekote Ujerumani na kusababisha vita vingi vya kidini. "Jina ""Mprotestanti"" lilitumiwa na Walutheri huko Spires mwaka wa 1529 kwa sababu ya kupinga mafundisho ya Kikatoliki." Amani ya Augsburg iliwapa Waprotestanti haki sawa na za Wakatoliki (1555). Baraza la Trent liliweka wazi mambo yaliyokuwa yakibishaniwa kati ya Wakatoliki na Waprotestanti (1545-1563). Luther alikufa mwaka 1546. Makosa yake makuu yanapatikana katika sentensi zifuatazo: (1) Hakuna mamlaka ya juu ya kufundisha katika Kanisa. (2) Mtawala wa kilimwengu ana mamlaka kuu katika mambo ya kidini. (3) Hakuna makasisi. (4) Yote hayo yanayopaswa kuaminiwa yako katika Kitabu. (5) Kila mtu aweza kutafsiri Maandiko Matakatifu kama anavyopenda. (6) Imani pekee ndiyo inayoponya, matendo mema hayana maana. (7). Jambo hilo la mwisho linatokana na ukweli kwamba mwanadamu alipoteza hiari yake kwa sababu ya dhambi ya asili. (8) Hakuna watakatifu, hakuna dhabihu ya Kikristo, hakuna sakramenti ya kukiri, hakuna purgatory. Kanisa la Jesuiti, lililoanzishwa na Mtakatifu Ignatius wa Loyola (1540), liliwafanya wengi warudi tena kwenye Kanisa. Zwingli na Calvin katika Uswisi, na Henry VIII. Uingereza, karibu wakati huohuo alisaidia katika kazi ya Luther ya kifo. Maelezo ya Kanisa la Anglikana yalirekebishwa baadaye katika Fomu ya Makala Thelathini na Tisa, ambayo ni ya Kilutheri kabisa. 7. Uwe na mtazamo gani? Kwa sasa Kanisa Katoliki lina washiriki wapatao 260,000,000. Maafisa hao wanaongozwa na maaskofu wapatao 1200, wakiwemo maaskofu 15 wa kanisa, maaskofu wakuu 200 na maaskofu wakuu 20 wenye dayosisi. Kuna makasisi 350,000 hivi wa Katoliki ulimwenguni. Karibu watu wote wa Italia, Hispania, Ufaransa, Austria, Ubelgiji, na Ireland ni Wakatoliki. Katika Uswisi, karibu nusu ni Wakatoliki; katika Ujerumani, zaidi ya thuluthi moja ya wakazi, na katika Urusi, 11,000,000. Katika Ulaya karibu robo tatu ya idadi nzima ya watu ni Wakatoliki. Katika Amerika kuna Wakatoliki 80,000,000 ambao 10,000,000 wapo katika Marekani, wakifanyiza theluthi moja ya idadi ya watu wote, wakati Mexico, Amerika ya Kusini na ya Kati, isipokuwa Brazil, ni Wakatoliki karibu wote. Visiwa vilivyo karibu ni vya Kikatoliki hasa. Katika Asia kuna Wakatoliki 10,000,000 tu, katika Afrika 3,000,000, katika Australia 1,000,000. WaProtestanti, ambao ni makundi mbalimbali ya Walutheri, Wakalvini, Waanglikana, na wengineo, wana idadi ya 150,000,000; wanaishi Uingereza, Kaskazini na Kati ya Ujerumani, Uholanzi, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, sehemu za Uswisi na Hungaria, na Marekani. Wagiriki wa Mashariki au Wagiriki wa Schismatic wanakadiriwa kuwa 100,000,000. Wao huchukua sehemu kubwa ya peninsula ya Balkan na Urusi. Kwa kuongezea, kuna madhehebu mengine ya Kikristo ya karibu 10,000,000; kwa hiyo, jumla ya Wakristo ni 520,000,000. Kwa kuwa idadi ya watu duniani ni milioni 1 500 tu, ni zaidi ya thuluthi moja tu ya watu walio Wakristo. Waislamu wana idadi ya watu milioni 170,000, wanaishi katika Arabia, Asia Magharibi, nusu ya kaskazini mwa Afrika, na sehemu ya Uturuki. Kwa kuongezea kuna Wayahudi 8,000,000; wao ni kwa sehemu kubwa katika Urusi na Austria. Kwa kweli, kuna watu wapatao milioni 800,000 ambao wanaishi Afrika Kusini, India, China, na Japani. Ed. - Ed. - Ed. "Kumbuka: ""Katolika"" katika toleo la baadaye la maandishi haya ilikuwa na 288,00,000 Wakatoliki ulimwenguni pote, maaskofu 1,478, mabishopu 15, mabishopu wakuu 314, na maaskofu wakuu 20."" Kuna makuhani 375,000 ulimwenguni. Inaripoti idadi ya watu ulimwenguni pote kuwa 1,700,000.00. 1.116,000,000 waabudu wa dini zisizo za Kikristo Baada ya vita vikubwa vya dunia vya pili vya dunia, na kuzinduliwa na Nazi, Sovieti na utawala wa Marxist huko Asia, idadi ya watu duniani imeongezeka mara saba. "Hata hivyo, Mungu alitaka kuwafanya wauaji wa Marx na Trotsky kuwa vigumu zaidi kuwaua watu wote.""" Makala hii, 4. "Kutoka kwa ""Ukumbusho wa Kanisa"" na ""Ukumbusho wa Kanisa"" ni sehemu ya kitabu cha ""Ukumbusho wa Kanisa"" cha Bellarmine." Usitumie makala nzima bila ruhusa ya maandishi. Sehemu zinazofaa zinaweza kuchapishwa tena maadamu zimeunganishwa na ukurasa huu.