The History of the Catholic Church

We must know our history if we are to learn from it.

History is always an interesting field of study to me. When we first begin to study history as children we learn it as a series of individual events on particular dates. As we continue to learn about our history we begin to see it not as a collection of isolated events.

The history of the Catholic Church is no exception. For example, the Second Vatican Council is perceived by most people as a singular and swift change in the way Church does things. For the way many people they are correct. The Mass was changed from Latin to the local language (in our case English) and the priest turned around just like that.

Even though this is the way most people experienced the Second Vatican Council, the changes were coming for much of the twentieth century.

Here are three papers I wrote that hopefully will help you see the events in the history of the Catholic Church not as isolated events but as a developing history guided by the Holy Spirit.

• Vatican I - Vatican I promulgated the Church teaching on infallibility but that was not the only thing it hoped to accomplish. How should we understand the First Vatican Council today?
• Vatican II - In this paper, I explore the question of was the Second Vatican Council responsible for sudden changes or were things already beginning to change.
• Catholic School Controversy - In this paper, I explore the Catholic School Controversy in America during the 19th Century.