Early Roman Catholic Mission

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Early Roman Catholic Mission
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The Decline of the Roman Empire and its
Consequences

• A century of the churchs identification with
  imperial power.
• Christian advance identified with territorial
  occupation
• Whole populations Christianized baptize now,
  teach later public paganism prohibited,
  submission to the central church required
  outwardly
• Nominalism
• The Crisis of 410
• Alaric the Goth sacks Rome.
• Confusion
• Insecurity
• Local kings and rulers rise to fill the political
  vacuum.

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Gregory

• Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome
• From 590
• Strengthens the central control of Rome on the
  Church universal
• Goal is a uniform Christian civilization
• The Barbarians engaged
• Augustine of Canterbury sent by Gregory
• The Roman connection
• With Augustine 3 streams of Christianity meet in
  Britain Celtic, British, Roman.
• Rome slowly but surely dominates

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Augustine
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Augustine of Canterbury

• Augustines reluctance
• Encounter with King Ethelbert
• Conversions
• Christianity and native practices
• Confrontations with Celtic leadership

Augustine baptizing Ethelbert
Augustines cross the first meeting place of
Augustine and Ethelbert
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18 July 601From Gregory To Augustine

• How should a missionary respond to ancient pagan
  customs?
• The heathen temples of these people need not be
  destroyed, only the idols which are to be found
  in them.If the temples are well built, it is a
  good idea to detach them from the service of the
  devil, and to adapt them for the worship of the
  true God And since the people are accustomed,
  when they assemble for sacrifice, to kill many
  oxen in sacrifice to the devils, it seems
  reasonable to appoint a festival for the people
  by way of exchange. The people must learn to
  slay their cattle not in honour of the devil, but
  in honour of God and for their own food when
  they have eaten and are full, then they must
  render thanks to the giver of all good things.
  If we allow them these outward joys, they are
  more likely to find their way to the true inner
  joy.It is doubtless impossible to cut off all
  abuses at once from rough hearts, just as the man
  who sets out to climb a high mountain does not
  advance by leaps and bounds, but goes upward step
  by step and pace by pace.
• (Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English
  Nation, Bk I30)

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Augustine

• Their virtuous life and their preaching made
  such a deep impression that the King Ethelbert
  of Kent (c. 560-616) was before long converted,
  and by the end of the year Augustine was able to
  baptize 10,000 Saxons. (Neill 59)

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Holland

• Willibrord (c. 658-739)
• From Britain
• Apostle of the Frisians
• Established the Church in Frisia which would
  survive political travails.

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Boniface
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Boniface

• Wynfrith of Crediton (c. 680-754)
• Born in England
• Served under Willibrord
• Apostle to Germany
• A man who had a deeper influence on the history
  of Europe than any Englishman who has ever
  lived.
• (Christopher Dawson, The making of Europe, 1953,
  p 166)
• Commissioned by Pope Gregory II as missionary to
  the German frontier.

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Boniface

• As Missionary
• Roman but Celtic ecclesiastical
  allegiance/vernacular culture and language
• Strategy for permanence
• Reform earlier work done by others
• Strict organization of Churches
• Support of Rome
• The Oak of Thor

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Boniface

• As Administrator
• Established 6 bishoprics of Bavaria
• Established monastery in Fulda (significant to RC
  Christianity to the present)
• Sent in 741 to reform Frankish Church.
• Bishoprics and abbeys controlled by the kings and
  corrupted.
• Bound the Frankish church to Rome.

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Boniface

• Later life Again a missionary
• Unreached Frisians of the north side of Zuider
  Zee
• Martyrdom in 754

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Boniface