Why did the Catholic Church decide to base themselves in Rome after what the Romans did to Jesus?
The Bible states that little baby Jesus died on the cross for our sins. However, it also says that this evil act was committed by the Romans, who owned Bethlehem and the surrounding area at that time.
So why, when the Romans were finally defeated, did the Catholic Church decide to move and base itself in Rome?
Is this the ultimate demonstration of Christian forgiveness or did they just make a mistake?
Also, does anyone know when the Catholics actually left Bethlehem and move to Rome?
Jesus was 33 years of age when He was sacrificed on the cross to attone for the sins of humanity.
St. Peter was appointed by Jesus to be the leader of the disciples and shortly after the Church was formed in 33 AD he moved his bishopric to Rome after establishing the Church of Antioch. This was long before the fall of Rome by many centuries. Most Romans were eventually converted to Catholic Christianity. God bless!
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
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February 03 2010 07:21 am | Catholic
KingTiger on 03 Feb 2010 at 1:00 pm #
lol they crucified little baby Jesus?
They based it in Rome because that’s where Christianity had its first roots.
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ask a mexican on 03 Feb 2010 at 1:29 pm #
Romans embraced Christianity (due to rising popularity), under Constantine’s rule and they eventually made it their official religion in 380 AD
Although Rome was one of three dioceses whose primacy was officially sanctioned by the council of Nicaea, it had certain qualities that destined it for particular prominence. It was located in the capital of the empire, it was wealthy and known for supporting other churches around the world
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Gluon on 03 Feb 2010 at 2:13 pm #
Constantine
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World History
Gorgeoustx Go Spurs Go! on 03 Feb 2010 at 2:39 pm #
Constantine ordered it.
Read a history book sometime.
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OnlyMe on 03 Feb 2010 at 3:17 pm #
Well first Jesus was not a baby when He died on the cross. And the church in Rome is not the church that Jesus started. The Roman church is the great false religion spoken of in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
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Strappado on 03 Feb 2010 at 3:58 pm #
There weren’t any catholics in Bethlehem at the time I assume, but anyway, it was certainly strategic to move to Rome. And to make Christianity appeal even more to the Romans, they shifted the blame of Jesus’ death over to the Jews.
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Christian Here! on 03 Feb 2010 at 4:23 pm #
True the Romans crucified him, but the Jews wanted it done. You can find this in the Bible, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
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The Bible
Mike K on 03 Feb 2010 at 4:35 pm #
Hello,
1) All roads lead to Rome.
2) Without the Roman Empire, its infrastructures, roads, Pax Romana, protection as well as a universal language, Koine Greek, Christianity would not have spread as easily.
Cheers,
Michael Kelly
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The Preacher on 03 Feb 2010 at 4:56 pm #
I don’t know so much that they chose so just to do it. Rather, it is fulfillment of God’s plan.
If you study the beast upon which the whore rides, as mentioned in Revelation 17, it all points to the Roman Catholic Church. But it HAS to be in Rome (a city on seven hills/mountains), or else it wouldn’t fit. It’s all part of a grander scheme of God, rather than a random choice of Catholicism.
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GMYOUNG_98 on 03 Feb 2010 at 5:10 pm #
The Church in Rome was set up by the Apostle Paul. I grew to be the largest Church, because at that time Rome was the biggest City probably on Earth. The Roman Church also claimed Peter to be the first Bishop (pope). When the early Church began to get organised, Romes Church in the West managed to gain influence over other Churches in western europe, and hence the Catholic Church was born. initially, the Church was run on a City by City basis.
It is by Luck that Rome took over.
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bob b on 03 Feb 2010 at 5:23 pm #
At Pentecost in Jerusalem, a large crowd became believers and went back to their homes.
A group of them went to Rome where they lived and started a church. Peter and Mark went there to help them later. After a couple hundred years the gospel was perverted and a group formed the Catholic church from false teachings of the gospel. They did this because most of the people couldn’t read the bible and it was all based off of works.
The sad thing is it grew and grew. Just look how big it is today world wide.
The Catholic church is the false church that will deceive many in the book of Daniel (it might be in Revelation also)
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Calvin on 03 Feb 2010 at 6:11 pm #
You do realize that the Roman Catholic Church was founded by Romans don’t you? (Directly by it’s Emperor in fact).
Would it not make sense that Romans would put the center of their own church in Rome?
The Roman Catholic Church, for all its faults, sits in Rome and demonstrates clearly the conquering power of the Lord God. The very power that crucified Him and ridiculed Him….embraced Him. The entire Western world bowed their knee to Him in fact (the kings of the mightiest civilizations of mankind). What others might argue was simply a Jewish carpenter turned traveling homeless rabbi….ruled above the strongest….and that willingly gave Him the throne above their own.
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PaulCyp on 03 Feb 2010 at 6:39 pm #
The Catholic Church is not based in Rome. It is based in Vatican City, which is across the river from Rome, and which is not even part of Italy. It is a sovereign state.
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cristoiglesia on 03 Feb 2010 at 6:46 pm #
Jesus was 33 years of age when He was sacrificed on the cross to attone for the sins of humanity.
St. Peter was appointed by Jesus to be the leader of the disciples and shortly after the Church was formed in 33 AD he moved his bishopric to Rome after establishing the Church of Antioch. This was long before the fall of Rome by many centuries. Most Romans were eventually converted to Catholic Christianity. God bless!
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
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skepsis on 03 Feb 2010 at 7:32 pm #
In the early days of the Church, Christianity was spread by missionaries going from city to city. They would preach the basics of the faith, make converts, get them set up in communities and move on to the next town. So, many towns and cities had Christian communities living somewhere inside them. The bigger the city, the larger the Christian community. The biggest cities in the Roman Empire with Christian populations were Rome, Byzantium (Constantinople), Damascus, Alexandria and obviously Jerusalem. Each operated fairly independently, with their leaders coming together only to decide doctrinal issues. The "headquarters" of the Church was in Jerusalem, at least until Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE. After that there was no central authority.
Rome was the capital of the Empire, and the source of Christian persecution, but as the capital, it also had the widest access to other parts of the Empire. The bishop in the biggest city would have a lot of influence. Constantinople became the capitol of the Eastern half of the Empire and the patriarch of Constantinople was also an important Christian authority. When Christianity was legalized, these bishops and patriarchs went mainstream and participated in civil government, just as the pagan religious authorities used to do.
Then the Western Empire fell. Without any civil government, people in Western Europe turned to the most recognizable authority they could find to prevent the complete collapse of civilization, the bishop of Rome. He had to learn about providing civil services fast, and he did it by standardizing rules and policies, setting up a hierarchical organization and simplifying administration. He did this with the Church too, turning himself into a sort of super-bishop over all the other bishops, making sure everyone did things the same way. People started calling him the big "papa", or "pope", because he took care of everybody.
That didn’t happen in the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Emperor and patriarchs were fine. When the pope offered his superior organizing skills to them, they weren’t interested. Every major city should have its own kind of "pope" in their opinion, not one big one over all. This eventually led to a split between the Orthodox and Catholic branches of Christianity. The Eastern dioceses were all independent and the Western ones were under the pope, simply because the Western Empire had failed. There was no "moving". Rome just became the hub of Catholicism through natural political developments.
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Misty on 03 Feb 2010 at 8:09 pm #
The Romans crucified him as the request of his own people, the Jews.
The Church is based in Rome because that is where Peter (the first pope) was and that is where he died.
The Catholics were never really based in Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, and was crucified outside of Jerusalem. The very first Christians were in Jerusalem.
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Daver on 03 Feb 2010 at 8:21 pm #
<<Why did the Catholic Church decide to base themselves in Rome after what the Romans did to Jesus?>>
You have to remember that the Romans didn’t know any better. They were pagan and did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Remember, Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive them as they knew not what they were doing.
<<The Bible states that little baby Jesus died on the cross for our sins.>>
Actually, the Bible clearly states that Jesus was an adult by then.
<<However, it also says that this evil act was committed by the Romans, who owned Bethlehem and the surrounding area at that time. So why, when the Romans were finally defeated, did the Catholic Church decide to move and base itself in Rome?>>
Saint Peter himself set up the Church’s headquarters in Rome during his lifetime. Long before the Roman Empire collapse.
<<Is this the ultimate demonstration of Christian forgiveness or did they just make a mistake?>>
It was a show of God’s power. What better way of demonstrating that the Christian God Jesus is God than to have the Church set up shop in the capital city of the world’s most powerful kingdom?
<<Also, does anyone know when the Catholics actually left Bethlehem and move to Rome?>>
Left Jerusalem, you mean?
Peter arrived in Rome in the 0060’s.; having been crucified in Rome in 69AD.
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implumbus on 03 Feb 2010 at 8:52 pm #
ok….lets just get a few things straight.
the catholic church was started in rome after Constantine converted pagan worship with Christian faith, the catholic church was never in israel at any location so it didnt leave there to go to rome.
pontious pilate stated Jesus was not at fault or innocent and this outraged caiphas and the others who were bent on Jesus being crucified, yeah the romans completed the crucifiction but only after the jews insisted that He be hung. so altho the romans were the ones who physically hung Him on the cross it was the jews who insisted it be done and pilate was not in a position to refuse it…in fact he said he washed his hands of the blood of the innocent man…Jesus…
its not important who killed the Saviour…it is finished and it was finished to insure Him as the Messiah and to reveal to the world the love of Father….focus on that….and everything else will be ok…†
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