The history of the Catholic church begins with the start of Christianity about 2,000 years ago. After Jesus’ death, Christianity spread throughout the Middle East and Europe. At that time the Roman Empire ruled these regions. At first the Romans had their own religion, and they often mistreated Christians. But in the 300s ce the Romans made Christianity their main religion.
The western part of the Roman Empire fell in the 400s, but Christianity stayed strong. The bishops (leaders of the church in a certain area) of Rome gained more and more power. They became known as popes. However, bishops in the eastern part of the empire (called the Byzantine Empire) disagreed with the popes. The eastern and western halves of the Christian church finally split in 1054. The eastern half became the Eastern Orthodox churches. The western half became the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church was the most powerful organization in western Europe for hundreds of years. But in the 1500s people began to break away from Roman Catholicism to form new Christian churches. This movement was called the Protestant Reformation. Northern Europe became mainly Protestant, but southern Europe remained mostly Catholic.
Meanwhile European explorers and settlers brought Roman Catholicism to the Americas. Catholic missionaries (people working to promote their religion) spread Roman Catholicism around the world.
