The Papacy Research Paper

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The origin of the Roman Catholic doctrine of penance underlies in early Christian bishops’ activities focused on uncovering of peasants’ paganism and inflicting of corresponding penalty on them. In most cases, the penalty was to penance, which has to take place during certain number of days on bread and water (Backman, 223). Specifically, a number of days or rather to say severity of penalty depended on the nature of pagan rituals realized by peasants. Of course, people suspected in severest pagan actions, all those witches and magicians, incurred most days of penance. Naturally, it was believed that by such means peasants were able to purge of their sins and to merit God’s remission. Thus, early Christian bishops have enlightened minds and …show more content…

In particular, the development of the papacy and its relationship to secular ruler up to 1050 C.E. bring evidence in favor of rulers’ dependence on the will of the Catholic Church.
As a religious and political center of the Catholic Church, the papacy has originated as purely religious organ. Still, with its gradual development and due to a significant role played by the papacy in determination of the Roman Empire political future, it has gained the status of God’s ideological successor. Specifically, the popes have determined the Roman world’s future via their ability to affect secular rulers’ decisions.
The whole process of the papacy interests’ penetration into secular rulers’ minds has started with one of the Four Latin Doctors, that is, St. Gregory’s becoming a pope. As other forgoing to him popes, Gregory has aimed at bringing as many people to Christianity as he could. He focused his efforts on conversion of influential persons. Here it must be said that “…his extraordinary success certainly paved the way for what the papacy would become” (Backman, 86). It refers to his positioning himself as a servant of God’s servants, by which he emphasized on his mediating role between God’s will and people. Anyhow, by means of Gregory’s actions focused on bridge building with secular rulers the Catholic Church has gradually increased its influence among Roman