Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The Catholic leaders adopted methods that were not written in the Bible. Instead they picked and chose whatever was convenient to them. What they didn’t understand is that salvation does not get transferred from pope to pope. Even in today’s culture they don’t get it. After all pope is selected by a group of cardinals. A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Where in the Bible says that pope and the next pope is a successor of Apostle Peter? This is a mockery and it is against the teachings of Christ.

At the height of the Renaissance, western Europe was still Roman
Catholic, but this changed with the beginning of the Reformation. This
movement led to the start of many new Christian churches that broke
away from the Catholic Church.

The Reformation began in the early 1500s and lasted into the 1600s.
Until then, all Christians in western Europe were Catholics. However,
even before the Reformation, the Church’s religious and moral authority
was starting to weaken. One reason for the weakening of the Church
was the humanism of the Renaissance. Humanists often were secular,
or nonreligious, in their thinking, and they believed in free thought and
questioned many accepted beliefs.

Problems within the Church added to this spirit of questioning. Many
Catholics were dismayed by worldliness and corruption (immoral and
dishonest behavior) in the Church. Sometimes, bishops and clergy used
questionable practices to raise money. Some popes seemed more
concerned with power and wealth than with spiritual matters.
These problems led a number of Catholics to call for reform. They
questioned the authority of Church leaders and some of the RC Church’s
teachings. Those who broke away from the Church entirely became
known as “Protestants” because of their protests against the Catholic
Church. The establishment of Protestant churches divided Christians
into many separate groups.

Later on, you will learn about the factors that weakened the
Roman Catholic Church and how a German priest, Martin Luther, ignited
a movement that ended the religious unity of Europe. By the Late Middle Ages, two major problems were weakening the Roman Catholic Church.

The first was worldliness and corruption within the Church, and the second was political conflict between the pope and European monarchs.

Worldliness and Corruption Within the Church During the Middle
Ages, the Catholic Church united the Christians of western Europe in a
single faith. However, the RC church was a political and economic
institution as well as a religious one. By the 1300s, many Catholics felt
that the church had become too worldly and corrupt.

Too frequently, RC church officials failed to live up to their role as spiritual
leaders. For example, priests, monks, and nuns made vows, or solemn
promises, not to marry or have children, but many broke these vows.
Others seemed to ignore Christian values, and Church leaders often
behaved like royalty instead of God’s servants. For example, the popes,
and many cardinals and bishops, were extremely wealthy and powerful.

To be continued …

May we give thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ for enabling us to understand what it means to seek the glory of God.

In Jesus name. Amen.

Maranatha!

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