F e r n e t i r e f f Ê m Pedipiee ^ ©10® SHg!I! Compiled by Rev. Gerard Doetterl, with Ecclesiastical Approbation First Century: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven." —Christ. "You are fellow citizens with the saints—built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ him- self being the chief cornerstone." —St. Paul, year 62. "The Apostles have preached to us the Gospel, from the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ from God. Christ, there- fore, was sent by God, and the Apostles by Christ. While preaching in country places and cities they appointed their first fruits—bishops and deacons. So also our Apostles knew, through the Lord Jesus Christ, that contention List of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ in the year A. D. 33, and contemporary historical events in each era. St. Peter of Bethsaidi in Galilee, Prince of the Apostles, who received from Jesus Christ the Supreme Pon- tificial Power to be transmitted to his successors; resided first at Antioch, then at Rome where he was martyred in the year A.D. 67. His successors are as follows: St. Linus, M 76 St. Anacletus or Cletus, M.... 88 St. Clement I, M 97 St. Evaristus, M 105 St. Alexander I, M 115 St. Sixtus I, M 125 St. Telesphorus, M 136 St. Hyginus, M 140 St. Pius I, M 155 St. Anicetus, M 166 St. Soterus, M 175 St. Eleuterius, M 189 St. Victor I., M 199 St. Zephyrinus, M 217 St. Callistus I, M 222 St. Urban I, M 230 St. Pontian, M 235 St. Anterus, M 236 The Rise and Spread of Christianity; Destruction of Jerusalem A.D. 70; Destruction of Pompeii A.D. 79; Beginning of Rome's Decline OosoUHied would arise on account of the episcopal dignity. For this reason, having a perfect knowledge, they appointed the aforesaid (bishops and deacons) and then gave a rule for future succession, so that when these should die, other approved men might take over their ministry and office." —Si. Clement, fourth pope, year 90 to 99. "May you all follow the bishop even as Jesus Christ fol- lows the Father. Where the bishop appears, there let the multitude be also; even as where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." —St. Ignatius, third bishop of Antioch, martyred in year 101. Second Century: "When the blessed Apostles (Peter and Paul) had es- tablished and organized the Church (at Rome) they in- trusted the office of governing the Church to Linus. The latter is mentioned by Paul in his letters to Timothy. He (Linus) was succeeded by Anacletus, and after him as the third f rom the Apostles, Clement received the episcopal authority. He had seen the Apostles himself, and had con- versed with them, and even now he retained a most vivid recollection of their preaching and tradition. He was not the only one in this regard, for at that time many still survived who had been taught by the Apostles. St. Fabian, M 250 St. Cornelius, M 253 St. Lucius I, M 254 St. Stephen I, M 257 St. Sixtus II, M 258 St. Dionysius 268 St. Felix I, M 274 St. Eutychian, M 283 St. Caius, M 296 St. Marcellinus, M 304 St. Marcellus I, M 309 St. Eusebius, M 309 St. Melchiades, M 314 Conversion of the Roman Emperor St. Patrick arrives in Ireland; Found St. Sylvester I 335 St. Mark 336 St. Julius I 352 Liberius 366 St. Damasus I 384 St. Siricius 399 St. Anastasius I 401 St. Innocent I 417 St. Zozimus 418 St. Boniface I 422 St. Celestine I 432 St. Sixtus III 440 St. Leo I (the Great) 461 Constantine; Decline of Paganism; tion of Venice A.D. 452 3 "Polycarp not only was taught by the Apostles and spoke with many who had seen our Lord, but by the Apostles he was also made bishop of the Church of Smyrna in Asia. W e ourselves have seen him, in our youth—for this was a long life of perseverence, and he departed this life after a most glorious and noble matyrdom. He consistently taught these things which he had learnt from the Apostles and which he in turn handed down to the Church, and indeed they alone are true. All the churches in Asia and the successors of Polycarp down to the present time bear witness thereto. "If there should be disagreement on some slight ques- tion, would it not be proper to go back to the oldest churches in which the Apostles lived, and from them take for the question at issue what is certain and clear?" —St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, martyred 202. Third Century: "But if any heretics dare to intrude on the apostolic age, that thus they may seem to have been handed down from the Apostles, we are able to say: Let them, then, make known the origin of their churches; let them unroll the series of their bishops, so coming down by succession from the beginning, that their first bishop had for his authority St. Hiiary 468 St. Simplicius 483 St. Felix III or II 492 St. Gelasius I 496 Anastasius II 498 St. Symmacus 514 St. Hormisdas 523 St. lohn I 526 St. Felix IV or III 530 Boniface II 532 John II 535 St. Agapitus 536 St. Silverius, M 537 Vigilius 555 The Kingdom of the Franks h Britain; St. Augustine spreads Pelagius I 561 John III 574 Benedict I 579 Pelagius II 590 St. Gregory I (the Great) 604 Sabinianus 606 Boniface III 607 St. Boniface IV 615 St. Deusdeditus or Adeodatus I 618 Boniface V 625 Honorius I 638 Severinus 640 John IV 642 Christian; The English conquest of nity in England 4 and for his predecessor some one of the Apostles, or of the apostolic men, so he were one that continued steadfast with the Apostles. For in this manner do the apostolic churches indicate their origins; as the church of Smyrna shows that Polycarp was placed there by John; as that of the Romans adduces Clement, ordained by Peter; simi- larly, of course, the other churches show those, whom, having been appointed by the Apostles to the episcopate, they have as transmitters of the apostolic seed. —Tertullian, priest of Carthage, died about 240. "Or is perhaps the dignity of the Catholic Church, and the faithful and uncorrupted majesty of the people within her, and even the priestly authority and power, to be set aside to such an extent that men who are set without the Church may tell us they wish to judge a prelate of the Church ?" —St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, martyred in 258. Fourth Century: "Guard the Faith, and that Faith alone, which is now delivered to thee by the Church, confirmed as it is by all the scriptures." —Sf. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, died 386. Theodore I 649 St. Martin I, M 655 St. Eugene I 657 St. Vitalian 672 Adeodatus II 676 Donus I 678 St. Agathonus 681 St. Leo II 683 St. Benedict II 685 John V 686 Conon 687 St. Sergius I 701 John VI 705 John VII 707 The Saracens conquer Egypt; Moh Carlovingian Dynasty; Days of the Sisinnius 708 Constantine 715 St. Gregory II 731 St. Gregory III 741 St. Zachary 752 Stephen II 752 Stephen III 757 St. Paul I 767 Stephen IV 772 Adrian I 795 St. Leo III 816 Stephen V 817 St. Paschal I 824 Eugene II 827 imetans in Spain; Founding of the Emperor Charlemagne 5 "Those who had separated themselves from the Church no longer had within themselves the grace of the Holy Ghost; for when the line of succession was broken, com- munication likewise ceased." —St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, died 379. "The Church founded by Christ and confirmed by the Apostles is one for all. The mad error of various forms of irreligion has severed itself from her." —St. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, died 368. Fifth Century: "Come to us, brothers, come! That you may be engrafted on the true vine. You yourselves cannot but perceive what the Catholic Church is, and what it is to be cut off from the stem. Let them come before it be too late; before they lose the little Catholic sap that yet remains to them, and become dry wood fit only for the fire. Come then to us, brothers, if you will, and be engrafted on the vine. It grieves us to see you lying as you are, lopped off from the tree. Reckon, then, one by one, the pontiffs who have sat from his time downwards on Peter's very seat, and mark the regular succession in that order of Fathers. That seat is the rock, which the proud gates of hell overcome not." —St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, Africa, died 430._ Valentine 827 Gregory IV 844 Sergius II 847 St. Leo IV 855 Benedict III 858 St. Nicholas I (the Great) 867 Adrian II 872 John VIII 882 Marinus I 884 St. Adrian III 885 Stephen VI 891 Formosus 896 Boniface VI 896 Stephen VII ....' 897 Romanus 897 Theodore II 897 John IX 900 Benedict IV 903 Leo V 903 Sergius III 911 Anastasius III 913 Landus 914 John X 928 Leo VI 928 Stephen VIII 931 John XI 935 Leo VII 939 Stephen IX 942 Decay of the Frankish Empire; Division into Modern France, Germany, and Italy; Days of King Alfred the Great Sixth Century: After the first five hundred years, it would be a ridicu- lous task to trace the Catholicity and unity of the Church, for, by this time the Catholic Church was already the major influence on thought in the whole civilized world. She had produced her libraries and schools, she had called great Councils, meetings of her bishops, to protect her unity of Faith, to keep discipline, to "minister to the flock of Christ." Her far-spread strength in the Faith, from this period, is all too clearly seen from the larger-scale "preaching to the nations": St. Patrick brought the Gospel to Ireland in the fifth century; St. Palladius is the apostle to Scot- land in the fifth century; France, long ago partly Catholic, receives St. Remigius in this century; St. Boniface (bap- tized Winfr id) is the apostle to Germany and Bavaria early in the eighth century. SS. Cyril and Methodius bring the Gospel to Slavonia, Russia, Poland and Moravia, in the ninth century. St. Olave, King of Norway, brought missionaries to his people in the eleventh century. SS. Ulfrid and Eskill brought the Catholic Faith to Sweden in the eleventh century. Marinus II 946 Agapitus II 955 John XII 964 Leo VIII 965 Benedict V 966 John XIII 972 Benedict VI 974 Benedict VII 983 John XIV 984 John XV 996 Gregory V 999 Sylvester II 1003 John XVII 1003 John XVIII 1009 Sergius IV 1012 Benedict VIII 1024 John XIX 1032 Benedict IX 1044 Sylvester III 1045 Benedict IX 1045 Gregory VI 1046 Clement II 1047 Benedict IX 1048 Damasus II 1048 St. Leo IX 1054 Victor II 1057 Stephen X 1058 Nicholas II 1061 Conversion of Vladimir the Great; Introduction of Christianity into Russia; Mohametans invade India fi/ftat mote # j cou/cf 6e ¿aid' f Jesus Q V will buil ... a n d ik&f A.D. 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 Christ come t o br ing | a every n a t i o n . He estgb bring His message throu each n a t i o n . There fo re found in every century Only the Roman Catho acid test of logic., Photius cFaeeiks F A C T S History reveals that Christ established ONE Church- "Thou art P upon this rock I will build my church."—NOT CHURCHES (Matt. I6£l promised to be with THAT Church (HIS Church) until the end of time. | I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (Matt. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16, 18) Consec that Church MUST BE in the world today. BUT. the ONLY church in ex today that can trace its being and origin back to Christ IS the R< C A T H O L I C CHURCH. THEREFORE, it must be the Church of Chrfc Who founded YOUR church? Was it CHRIST, or some MERE centuries too late? A.D. 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 THE VERDICT OF TIME AND CATHOLICS — For 1900 years the Catholic Church has been teaching exactly the same identical truths. Those truths have suc- cessfully stood the test of time. They have been accepted by the greatest in- tellects the world has produced, and they have consequently the quality of stability and permanency thai are an antecedent proof of their credibility, because error and falsehood cannot endure. Ihr ist ^Lslablished Onty Qm Qiurck Aid my Church'- NOT CHURCHES (Maü. 16, 18.) here sAall 6e one foSci amnt one. shepherd {John JO, 16 J 100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 WOLIC APOSTOLIC CATHOLICS J : I salvat ion t o a l l men in t g b l i s h e d His Church t o trough every century in to ore. His Church m u s t be ury teach ing a l l nat ions, i tholic Church meets th is ir ,Own Judgment Will Tell You I Peter, and 16,1 18) He >e?''Behold att. 28,20) isequently, I existence . ROMAN ;hrift. ERE MAN Robert Browne I I I Martin Luther I I . John Knox I I Henry VIII Eastern Orthodox* Congregationalists Lutherans * Presbyterians » Episcopalians Salvation Army Baptists » Methodists » Christian Scientists Mormons Quakers Adventists Spiritualists 100 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 S 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 7 0 0 1 8 0 0 1 9 0 0 ' *SPUT INTO OISSENTINC c*0UM William Booth John Smith — r ~ " John Wesley — ¡ — I Mary B. Eddy-]— Joseph Smith - George Fox —| 1— William Miller Fox Family THE CATHOLIC CHURCH has been the pioneer of Church unity. She looks, with dismay and regret at the multiplicity of Christian denominations, and invites them all into that unity tor which Christ came into this world, suffered and died I Cor. 1, 10: "Now I beseech yoo, brethren, through the name ot Our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you, but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment." GOD SPEED THE DAY1 So we could recite at length till we have told of the Church in North and South America, and come to the present great apostolate in China, in India, Africa, and "the uttermost parts of the earth." The magnificent unity, charity, zeal and beneficence, as well as the mightily growing strength and popularity, of the Catholic Church, is clear too from her standing amongst the instructors of the world. Think of her teach- ing or school record: CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES BEFORE REFORMATION—77 The great universities of Oxford and Bologna, Cam- bridge and Paris, Salamanca and Prague, were founded by our apostolic Catholic Church. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES SINCE THE REFORMATION—39 "Ever since the day the Church received from Christ the commission to "teach all nations,' she has devoted herself to that work. Even when she had to exist under ground, because of the wars waged to exterminate her, she taught school in the catacombs. In the second century she con- Alexander II 1073 St. Gregory VII 1085 B. Victor II! 1087 B. Urban II 1099 Paschal II 1118 Gelasius II 1119 Callistus II 1124 Honorius II 1130 Innocent II 1143 Celestine II 1144 Lucius li 1145 B. Eugene III 1153 Anastasius IV 1154 Adrian IV 1159 Alexander III 1181 Lucius III 1185 Urban III 1187 Gregory Vil i 1187 Clement III 1191 Celestine III 1198 Innocent Il i 1216 Honorius III 1227 Gregory IX 1241 Celestine IV 1241 Innocent IV 1254 Alexander IV 1261 Urban IV 1264 Clement IV 1268 Decline of the Byzantine Empire; Founding of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan; Signing of the Magna Charta 10 ducted the great schools of Edessa and Alexandria. And when a little later the Hun and Goth destroyed all her institutions by pillage and fire, and planted a barbarous people in Europe, amid difficulties which today would seem insuperable, she undertook to civilize, Christianize, and educate these hordes. Every monastery had men em- ployed in copying and translating the Bible, the classic productions of Greece and Rome, and every work of an- tiquity which our higher schools use today." (—The Fairest Argument, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Ind.) B. Gregory X 1276 B. Innocent V 1276 Adrian V 1276 John XXI 1277 Nicholas i l l 1280 Martin IV 1285 Honorius IV 1287 Nicholas IV 1292 St. Celestine V 1296 Boniface VIII 1303 B. Benedict XI 1304 Clement V 1314 John XXII 1334 Benedict XII 1342 Clement VI 1352 Innocent VI 1362 B. Urban V 1370 Gregory XI 1378 Urban VI 1389 Boniface IX 1404 Innocent VII 1406 Gregory XII 1415 Martin V 1431 Eugene IV 1447 Nicholas V 1455 Callistus III 1458 Pius II 1464 Paul II 1471 Beginning of England's House of Commons; Discovery of the African Coast; Origin and Development of Printing 11 "Rome maintained civil education until the fifth cen- tury, but with the barbaric invasion learning died. Along- side the schools of the Roman Empire there grew up Christian schools teaching the things of their religion; but the intellectual life was different. Institutions of learn- ing began and prospered especially in connection with the monasteries of Southern Gaul (France). By the end of the sixth century there were no longer any civil schools; church schools alone existed, which were called Cathedral or Episcopal (Catholic Bishops') schools; there were a large number of them. In the sixth and seventh centuries there were three classes of schools, all named for their connection with the Church, which was conducting the educational affairs of the world, namely, the parochial, the cathedral, and the cloistral schools. They taught the seven sciences or liberal arts, grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music, along with religion. "Religion and learning flourished in Ireland, for these monasteries were both religious institutions and seminaries of learning in which sacred and prafane studies were pur- sued with success." —(From Rev. Dr. M. D. Jeffries, in "The Baptist Courier, October, 1916). Sixtus IV 1484 Innocent VIII 1492 Alexander VI 1503 Pius III 1503 Julius II 1513 Leo X 1521 Adrian VI 1523 Clement VII 1534 Paul III 1549 Julius III 1555 Marcellus II 1555 Paul IV 1559 Pius IV 1565 Cofumbus discovers America in I Chapel by Michael Angelo; Defeat St. Pius V 1572 Gregory XIII 1585 Sixtus V 1590 Urban VII 1590 Gregory XIV 1591 Innocent IX 1591 Clement VIII 1605 Leo XI 1605 Paul V 1621 Gregory XV 1623 Urban VIII 1644 Innocent X 1655 Painting of the Papal Sistine the Spanish Armada 12 • Ireland had seven universities in the sixth century. • England had more grammar schools before the "Refor- mation" than at any time since. • Germany had 40,000 elementary schools before Luther was born. • Scotland, in the thirteenth century, had a Catholic school in every town. • Italy, same century, had 12,000 in the parish schools of Florence alone. • Gladstone, English statesman, jurist and scholar, though not a Catholic, views the grand procession of apostolic truth through the ages, and says: "The Catholic Church has marched for more than fifteen hundred years at the head of human civilization; and has harnessed to her chariot, as the horses of a triumphal car, the chief intellec- tual and material forces of the world!" The little Galilean mustard seed has grown! Sweet Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Kingdom come! Alexander VII 1667 Clement IX 1669 Clement X 1676 Innocent XI 1689 Alexander VIII 1691 Innocent XII 1700 Clement XI 1721 Innocent XIII 1724 Benedict XIII 1730 Clement XII 1740 Benedict XIV 1758 Clement XIII 1769 The Boston Tea Party; Signing of of Communism, Nazism, and Fasc Clement XIV 1774 Pius VI 1799 Pius VII 1823 leo XII 1829 Pius VIII 1830 Gregory XVI 1846 Pius IX 1878 Leo XIII 1903 Pius X 1914 Benedict XV 1922 Pius XI 1939 Pius XII e Declaration of Independence; Rise 13 A Non-Catholic Testimony "A few days ago a friend asked me what I thought would be the effect of this war on the Catholic Church, the largest and most world-wide exponent of Christianity in this war-of-all- faiths. I was able to respond with assurance that of all the institutions now existing, the Catholic Church seemed to me to have the best chance of survival. "It lived through the fall of the Roman Empire, and was the light in the darkness which followed that fall. It preached and fought the crusades. It survived the invasions of the Tartar hordes. It is ful l of age and wisdom. It endures the Christian civil war which Martin Luther kindled, and it has encountered many schisms on its long road f rom the days of Saint Peter to the Pope of today. There is in her a vitality which nothing has seriously menaced and a leadership made wise by the wisdom of long experience. "What a long procession of kings and conquerors she has seen come and go! When she began her labors the world which Europe knew was in the basin of the Mediterranean. It was the Catholic, Columbus we call him, who discovered America before Protestantism was born. South of us today, Christianity is nearly all Catholic. In some of the South American countries it is the state religion. "As a result of the war, political institutions have already tumbled and more will fall before it is finished, but the Christian religion and particularly its oldest exponent, the Catholic Church, is built on a firmer foundation than any politi- cal institution. The Catholic Church has lived long enough to see practically every nation of Europe a democracy and a monarchy, and she has seen some of them change more than once. She has seen democracies rise and fall and in turn supplant each other, and through it all she has carried the lamp by whose light Europe found its way out of dark ages. "No matter what your faith or unfaith, of one thing you may be certain: whatever happens in this war it will not happen to the Catholic Church. It will be here when the storm of battle passes, just as surely as the mountain will remain when the storm-wrack which now hides its top is blown away." —THOMAS L O M A X HUNTER, N o n - C a t h o l i c C o l u m n i s t f o r the R i c h m o n d - V i r g i n i a , T imes-Dispatch . 14 'Pace t&e ¡ F S O T AM I RIGHT? Four hundred years ago all English speaking people were Catholic. Many of the greatest minds of the age—• scientists, philosophers, reformers, poets, critics, etc., have become convinced that the Catholic Church is the Living Representative of The Greatest Mind of all time, Jesus Christ, The Son of God. Are They Right or Am I? AM I JUST? As an American I do not deny, even to murderers, the hearing I refuse to the Catholic Church. I condemn her upon the evidence of her enemies only, and in doing so I forget that men once so condemned Jesus Christ Himself. Is This Just? AM I PRUDENT? Jesus founded a Church to teach all nations and to endure to the end of the world. "Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (Matt. 28:19-20) To her teachers He said, "He that heareth you heareth Me and he that despiseth you despiseth Me." (Luke 10:16) "He that believeth not shall be condemned." Mark 16:16) History tells me that she is the only world-wide church that has preserved her identity, authority and worship from Apostolic times—that she is the only Church founded by the infallible Son of God. Am I Prudent in Failing to Investigate Her Claims? Saint James tells us that Faith without good works is dead. What Have I Done to Merit a Happy Eternity? REV. J O S E P H B. W A R D 15 T H E R E ' S S T I L L T I M E T O L A Y T H E C O R N E R S T O N E Every year in this country alone Thousands became Catholics of Their Own Free Will and Desire. Before the Catholic Church would admit them, each had to study Facts, had to know exactly what he was doing, had to be convinced that the one body which ever claimed to be God's mouth-piece was alone the Church which Christ founded for all mankind. The Catholic Church is for all types of people; but among her converts is always well represented the very cream of intellec- tuality—scientists, educators, authors, professional men. In Fact, a Catholic Church that teaches absurd superstitious, evil and unpatriotic things exists Only in the minds of the Misinformed. T o know more about the Catholic Church — its people, its beliefs and practices — should be of interest to every Serious and Fair-Minded person. We Trust This Means You. Why not call a Catholic Rectory, or ask one of your friends to take you to a priest? You will find him well educated and very obliging. You Will Not Be Committing Yourself In Any Way. Your visit will be kept quiet, and in your own mind at least you will be certain that you have not sinned against the light. If you prefer, you may investigate the Catholic faith by mail in the privacy of your home. A short, yet complete and inter- esting course of instruction, which can be fitted into the busiest life, is yours for the asking. This involves no cost or obligation on your part. Simply drop a penny post card to the address below saying: "I am a non- Catholic. Please enroll me in your free instruction course, without cost or obligation." CATHOLIC INFORMATION SOCIETY 214 WEST 31st STREET, NEW YORK 1, N. Y. (Opposite Penn Terminal)