The Rise of the Papacy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Rise of the Papacy - Research Paper Example e on earth will be  loosed in heaven†.1 After the ascension, Peter of course played an active and pivotal role in building the first Christian communities in Judea, Greece, and Rome. Although the earliest forms of Christianity were not â€Å"Catholic† per se, the subsequent movement of Catholicism traces its origins back to the very earliest Christians and leverage this understanding as a means of developing a type of ethos with respect to the church’s stature within Christendom. The purpose of this brief essay will focus upon the rise of the papacy and the manner through which the bishops of Rome came to define, and indeed be called, â€Å"pope† in the contemporary sense and meaning of the word. It is the hope of this author that such a level of discussion will be beneficial in helping the reader to come to a more profound understanding with respect to how this institution came into being and the causal factors that facilitated the rise of the papacy at the distinct moment in time that it took place. As has previously been referenced within the introduction, the foundations of the papacy can be traced back to the belief that Christ would found a church with Peter as its figurehead. As Christianity grew and Christian communities sprung up throughout the Mediterranean region, and elsewhere, the fundamental need for some type of control structure and/or figure of leadership was abundantly apparent. Peter, Paul, and the other apostles, noted in the New Testament, spent a great deal of time running between these early communities and seeking to avert major crises of faith/doctrine. As a matter of defining the way in which these groups of believers would engage with the gospel, interact with one another, and seek to integrate with the remainder of the Christian communities throughout the world, early forms of Christianity soon began to nominate and promote bishops within these communities as a means of providing a type of regional figurehead that could help to