Church History and the Fathers

The Fathers of the Church are the great Christian writers of the first centuries, the generations closest to the apostles. Here is who counts as a Church Father, the most important names, why the Church treats their witness as so important, and where to start reading them.

Twenty-one ecumenical councils have shaped Catholic belief, from Nicaea in 325 to the Second Vatican Council. Here is what an ecumenical council is, a guide to the most important ones and the questions they settled, and what authority their teaching carries.

In 1054, legates of the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other, and the split between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is usually dated from that day. But the causes ran much deeper and the break took centuries. Here is what really happened, and where things stand now.