Church History

Dear Reader,

Catholics belong to the oldest institution in the world. Catholics believe that their Church is both human and divine—a Church of saints and sinners. Because it has divine origin, not only has it survived many attacks from within and without, it has remarkably grown and developed in the 2,000 years of its existence. It is currently the spiritual home for 1.2 billion people around the world. Because the Church is human, it has, and will always have, in every era, imperfect and sinful leaders and members.

Writing about the 2000 years of our Church’s history is quite a challenge particularly with regard to what to include and what not to include. I am hoping my articles will introduce you to all of the main events and key figures in our history and motivate you to explore them in more depth. Three of the articles focus on American church History. A bibliography at the end of the first article will enable you to look more closely into the making of the Catholic Church.

When I shared excerpts from these articles in our parish bulletin, they were very well received.

In Christ,

Fr. Eamon Tobin

Part 1 The Apostolic Age

Part 2 The Apostolic Age Part II

Part 3 The Fourth through Seventh Centuries Part I

Part 4 The Fourth through Seventh Centuries Part II

Part 5 The Fourth through Seventh Centuries Part III

Part 6 The Middle Ages

Part 7 The High Middle Ages

Part 8 The Late Middle Ages

Part 9 The Protestant Reformation