Back to America- Final Reflection

Church and State:  The ongoing debate

While at home and abroad, we learned a great amount about the relationship between the Catholic Church and the secular government.  Specifically, a great deal was taught about the connections between the different popes and the Roman emperors.

Back in the first century, when Christianity was first blossoming, dramatic conflict did not exist between the church and the secular world.  This was mostly because the community was small enough and unobtrusive enough to not cause a great outrage from non-Christians.  Claudius allowed for the persecution of Christians, but did not enforce it.  Nero, on the other hand, used the Christian community as a scape-goat for his atrocious acts against society.  For instance, he burned down a neighborhood on Palatine Hill in order to build his palace, but charged the Christians for it, in order to avoid personal persecution.  After Nero’s hateful rampage through the empire, he not only made it legal, but also mandatory, to persecute Christians, forcing the community to go underground and to begin worshiping in private.  This led to the increase in house-churches, like the one we visited at St. Clement’s basilica.  After Nero’s death, the Roman persecution of Christians lightened, but only slightly. 

For the next 300 years, until Costantine’s conversion, Christians were treated as sub-humans.  They were accused of incest and cannibalism, as well as being blamed for most natural disasters.  In the fourth century, Constantine changed the future of Catholicism by converting to Christianity (bringing his entire empire with him.)  This led to a major decline in Christian persecutions as well as an increase in the total number of conversions.  For years to come, the Pope and Emperor would fight for power, alternately allying with and militarily confronting one another.  In the fourteenth century, the French King encouraged (through forceful persuasion) the papacy to move from Italy to France, in order to promote the king’s administration.  This Avignon Papacy led to a split in the Catholic Church, two separate popes, and eventually, The Great Schism.  The Great Schism occurred when the clerical council, in an effort to reconcile the two branches of the church that were forming, appointed a third pope to be the ‘official ruler’ of the Catholic Church.  This only created more confusion and the conflict was not resolved until more than 100 years after the Avignon Papacy began.

Nowadays, the Vatican is considered its own city-state, separate from that of the Italian government.  This helps to keep the Catholic Church neutral in most political manners while still maintaining its historical geographic position.   The pope, meanwhile, still holds great political influence today.  After learning about the long, colorful history and relationship of Catholicism and the secular world, I do not think that the two will ever be completely separated.  A large majority of the Catholic community, a group that continues to grow throughout the world, will forever rely on their Catholic leader before their secular leader.  This is why the Pope and the secular rulers will be forced to work hand in hand, to balance the amount of power that each holds.

Catholic art or artistic catholics:  The Chicken or the egg?

While in Rome, the class visited many artistically significant religious sites.  From these visits, I understand that the Christian Church not only played a huge role in the advancement of art throughout the centuries, but art in turn impacted the development of the Catholic Church.

            Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel, for example, would never have been created if the tyrannical Pope Julius II did not forcibly commission the young artist to paint.  Michelangelo used new artistic interpretations to portray the New and Old Testaments.  In a religious breakthrough, Michelangelo painted God and Adam as the same size.  This was controversial in many respects, but it reminded the audience that ‘Man was created in God’s image.’  The Last Judgment depicted the apocalypse in the baroque style and presented the saints as Jesus’ helpers in bringing the souls to heaven.

            Rome boasts home to many unimaginably beautiful Caravaggio paintings.  Caravaggio had a unique perspective on the Catholic parables.  In the Madonna di Loreto, he painted Mary as a humble working class mother, without any shoes or telling sign of her saintliness.  This angered many people, for they believed that the Virgin Mother must be depicted as the revered woman of God that she is.  A few understood then, and people have come to appreciate now, that Caravaggio was indeed respectful in his interpretation.  Mary did not believe in the power of material possessions.  To portray her as a lavishly dressed, self-conscious girl would have been more offensive than Caravaggio’s portrayal. The importance of the painting stems from the fact that Mary was recognized as a holy person, despite not bearing any earthly signifier of the fact.  Caravaggio’s paintings, such as this one, reminded Catholics of the very basics of the bible and the Holy Family; An idea that had been lost during the rich depictions of the renaissance.


            One of the most amazing pieces of art that I saw in Rome was the ‘dome’ at St. Ignatius church.  Before the completion of the church, the architectural budget had dried up, so the Jesuits had a choice to make.  They decided to paint a false dome onto the ceiling, where a real one could not be built.  Walking into the church, I could not imagine that anything was amiss.  It was not until I was directed by my professor to stand directly beneath the dome that I could appreciate the flatness of the surface.  While artistically breathtaking and almost incomprehensible, the message that I heard behind this dome struck me far more deeply.  I feel that this optical illusion reminds the congregation that everything is not always as it may seem.  The ‘criminal’ nailed to the cross?  He may just be the messiah.  The humble beggar on your doorstep?  A saint in disguise.  The dark and impressive dome?  Merely a budgeted painting on a flat ceiling.

Christianity in the Modern World

            I have many friends who refer to Christianity as an ‘archaic’ religion.  After this trip, though, I realize now more than ever how ‘kept up with the times’ Catholicism has remained throughout the ages.  The church, an organization largely concerned with the truth, has for years recognized and appreciated the value of science and mathematics.   

Our class visited the official astronomer of the Vatican.  I was amazed at the amount of   technology we saw in their astronomy tower.  We met with Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit scientist, who has worked at the Vatican astronomy center for decades.  The large domed astronomy tower contained a telescope that must have been at least twenty feet tall.  As we took turns studying the sky through the scope, Guy explained that the church has been funding research and advocating advances in science since, practically, the beginning of Christianity.  In the past, most of the world's best scientists were clergymen, according to Guy, because they were the only ones with the time and the finances to test theories and make hypotheses.  Nowadays, a greater variety of people are scientists and the discoveries of the research world are becoming exponentially advanced.  The church, however, has not waived in its dedication to academia and modern technology.  In fact, during the 1990s, Pope John Paul II apologized for the treatment of Galileo and the subsequent forsaking of a blunt scientific fact.

Science and technology are not the only areas in which the Christian church has changed.  Pope Francis seems to be simultaneously reverting to the very basics of Christianity and ushering in a new era Catholicism.  The Pope preaches love, acceptance, and charity; the main ideals of Jesus Christ.  The manner in which Pope Francis carries out these theories, however, is revolutionary in terms of the Church.  Francis has outwardly stated that God feels love towards his people, not hate.  This was a liturgical slap in the face for many who used ‘God’s hate’ as a justification of their political beliefs.  Francis washed the feet of a Muslim woman, an act many of us felt we could have understood Jesus to commit.  Francis was also the first Pope to publicly state that God will accept anyone, not just Catholics, into his kingdom.  Two months into his papacy, Pope Francis gave a sermon stating, “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!”  I think this newfound acceptance of all religions and beliefs reminds the world that the Church is a fluid concept, constantly changing and adjusting with the times, while staying true to its foundations.

We have seen a great deal of fluctuation between different themes and ideals of the Catholic Church in an attempt to stay modern and grow with the congregation.  Pope Francis’ declarations are just a continuation in a long line of papal recognitions of contemporary times and need for change.  Through our course, we have seen the good (such as the first universities, built by the Christian Church) and the not-so-good (the crusades… also apologized for by John Paul II!) that may come from the Church’s urgency to stay relevant and contemporary with the changing times. I have great faith that Francis’ changes will prove to be great for the church, but only time will tell.

            Obviously, since Christianity plays across such a large scope of time, I can barely mention a fraction of the recurring themes throughout the religion.  From Constantine, to the Spanish Inquisition, to the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica, I feel that I have finally gained an idea of the history of Catholicism.  The two weeks studying abroad has left me equipped to study my religion more critically and thoroughly than I had before.

Thanks for reading! Ciao! J