Roman Catholicism: Media
Videos
Who was St. Peter the Apostle?
Questions and answers about St. Peter the Apostle.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How to become a saint: Canonization explained
Step one: Be Catholic.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The Western Schism and the Roman Catholic Church
Learn about the Great Schism (Western Schism) and the Council of Constance.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Scaliger/Dreamstime.com; © Photos.com/Getty Images Plus
How is a pope elected?
Popes are elected for life. Learn about how they get the job.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; thumbnail © Neneo/Dreamstime.com
The history of land ownership in post-Reformation Ireland
Demographic map demonstrating the shift of land ownership in Ireland from Catholic...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The architecture of St. Peter's Basilica
Overview of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Stefano Valeri/Dreamstime.com
Images
St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica on St. Peter's Square, Vatican City.
Colour Library International
Gathering of cardinals
Roman Catholic cardinals gathering in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, for mass...
Michael Kappeler—picture alliance/Getty Images
Skellig Michael
A stone oratory on Skellig Michael overlooking the Atlantic Ocean near southwestern...
Jibi44
Cluny: belfry tower
Octagonal belfry tower and smaller belfry tower of the surviving south transept of...
© Alexander/Fotolia
Main routes of the Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago is a network of Christian pilgrimage routes that lead to Santiago...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII, after his expulsion from Rome, laying a ban of excommunication...
Leonard von Matt/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Crusaders
Band of Crusaders embarking for the Holy Land, detail from 15th-century “Statutes...
Photos.com/Getty Images
Giotto: St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, fresco attributed to Giotto,...
Andrea da Firenze: The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas
The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas, fresco by Andrea da Firenze, c. 1365;...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Papal Palace in Avignon
The Rhône River at Avignon, France, with the Saint-Bénézet Bridge and (background)...
Dallas and John Heaton from Stone—CLICK/Chicago
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More, detail of oil on panel by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527; in the...
Photos.com/Getty Images
Indulgences
The sale of indulgences in church; woodcut from the title page of Luther's pamphlet...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, John R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
Council of Trent
Opening session of the Council of Trent in 1545, by Nicolò Dorigati, 1711; Museo...
A. Dagli—De Agostini Editore/age fotostock
Cornelius Jansen
Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen, engraving by Jean Morin.
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, marble and gilded bronze niche sculpture by Gian...
Kelsey Carroll
Pius VI
Pope Pius VI was driven out of Rome by French armies in 1798. He died a prisoner...
From Historical and Philosophical Memoirs of Pius the Sixth, and of his Pontificate by Jean-Francois Bourgoing, 1799
Pope Pius XII
Pius XII served as pope from 1939 to 1958; photograph by Yousuf Karsh.
Karsh/Woodfin Camp and Associates
Second Vatican Council
Council fathers processing through St. Peter's Square during the opening ceremony...
© Keystone-France—Gamma-Rapho /Getty Images
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI was elected in 1963 and continued the ecumenical reforms of the Second...
AP
John Paul II, 1979
Pope John Paul II was born in Poland and elected to the papacy in 1978. He was the...
Lochon-Francolon-Simon/Gamma Liaison
Pope Francis
Pope Francis meeting pilgrims during an audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall in...
© Tiziana Fabi—AFP/Getty Images
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Spanish missionary and Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas, 1791 engraving.
Courtesy of the Organization of American States
Old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Cupolas of the Old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the cityscape of Mexico...
Óscar Romero, c. late 1970s
Salvadoran archbishop Óscar Romero was martyred in El Salvador in 1980 and made a...
AP/Shutterstock.com
Catholic procession
A Catholic procession of the Flower & Palm Festival held each May in honor of the...
© Kobby Dagan/Dreamstime.com
Anti-Catholic riot
Lithograph of an anti-Catholic riot in Philadelphia in 1844.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Archbishop José H. Gomez
Archbishop José H. Gomez greeting inmates at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles...
© Mario Tama/Getty Images News
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Statue of Native American saint Kateri Tekakwitha in front of the Loretto Chapel...
© Thomas H. Mitchell—500px/Getty Images
Pope Francis and Canadian residential school survivors
Pope Francis meeting with residential school survivors at Nakasuk Elementary School...
© Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/GettyImages
Rubaga Cathedral
Rubaga Cathedral (also known as St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral) in Kampala, Uganda.
Picturepoint, London
Devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho
Two worshippers pray before a statue of Our Lady of Kibeho in the chapel of the Sanctuary...
© Friedrich Stark/Alamy
The pope as the supreme authority in Roman Catholic societal hierarchy
Detail of The Church Militant and Triumphant, fresco by Andrea da Firenze,...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
St. Peter the Apostle
St. Peter the Apostle, stained-glass window, 19th century; in St. Mary's Church,...
© Ronald Sheridan/Ancient Art & Architecture Collection
Codex
Pages from a codex (c. 1325) containing portions of Peter John Olivi's Principia...
The Newberry Library, Purchased jointly with the University of Notre Dame; gift of William and Joan Brodsky and the B. H. Breslauer Foundation, 2011 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Creating a new cardinal
Newly appointed Cardinal Anthony Poola receiving a red biretta to be worn over his...
© Alessandra Benedetti—Corbis/Getty Images
Franciscan friars
Daily procession of Franciscan friars in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
© dominika zarzycka/Shutterstock.com
Sister Helen Prejean
Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun known for her work with death row inmates...
© Amanda Edwards—Discovery Communications/Getty Images
St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine of Hippo, painting by Lippo Memmi, early 14th century; in the Pushkin...
Photos.com/Getty Images
St. Matthew
“St. Matthew,” page from the Ada Codex, c. 890; in the Stadtbibliothek Trier, Germany...
Courtesy of the Stadtbibliothek Trier, Ger.
The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, fresco by Michelangelo, 1533–41; in the Sistine Chapel,...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Baptism of Christ
Baptism of Christ, page from the Benedictional of St. Aethelwold (folio 25), Anglo-Saxon,...
Reproduced by permission of the British Library
Last Supper
Last Supper, fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1480; in the Church of Ognissanti,...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Traditional Latin mass
A priest celebrating a traditional Latin mass in the Maternal Heart of Mary Church...
© The Sydney Morning Herald—Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Divine office at a Benedictine abbey
Benedictine monks singing vespers, a canonical hour of the divine office, on Holy...
John Stephen Dwyer
Pentecost celebration
A woman lighting a prayer candle in a church during the feast of Pentecost in Moscow.
© Dikiiy/Shutterstock.com
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child Surrounded by Angels, central panel of the triptych by...
Telarci—Giraudon/Art Resource/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Spread of Roman Catholicism
Routes of missionaries, dates of establishment of dioceses, and current distribution...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Pedro Arrupe
Spanish Jesuit priest Pedro Arrupe served as superior general of the Society of Jesus...
© Antony Matheus Linsen—Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Antiabortion protesters
Pro-life supporters rallying during a National Vigil for Life in Dublin, 2014.
© Michael Debets/Alamy
Seven deadly sins
The seven deadly sins of Roman Catholicism.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley
Interactives
Pope Francis: A Life in Pictures
A slideshow of highlights from the life of Pope Francis.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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