The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent, fresco by Italian artist Pasquale Cati (1550-1620), Altemps chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

The Council of Trent was the Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church convened in Trent in the Holy Roman Empire (now Italy) between 1545 and 1563 in 25 sessions. The council fathers met in Trent (sessions 1-8, 1545-7) and in Bologna (sessions 9-11, 1547) during the pontificate of Pope Paul III, and in Trent (sessions 12-16, 1551-52) under Pope Julius III, and in Trent (sessions 17-25, 1559-63) under Pope Pius IV.

The council issued important reform decrees, defined Church teachings on the scripture and traditions, sacraments, original sin, justification, the veneration of saints and condemnations on heresies, among many other important matters concerning the Catholic Church.

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri)

PD Image 1: The Chair of Saint Peter (bottom center), designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

PD Image 2: The Cathedra Petri and the interiors of Peter's Basilica, Rome

The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri in Latin) is a wooden chair conserved in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, enclosed in a gilt bronze casing designed and executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1647-53 AD. The cathedra in Saint Peter's Basilica was once used by the popes, and hence often said to have been used by Saint Peter himself, but it was a gift from Charles the Bald to the Pope in 875 AD.

Saviour Church, Copenhagen, Denmark

PD Photo: Saviour Church, Copenhagen, Denmark, between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Licensing for reuse/ publication: “No known restrictions on publication”.

Church of All Saints, Yekaterinburg

Photo: Church on Blood in Honor of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land in Yekaterinburg.

The Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land is a Russian Orthodox Church in Yekaterinburg constructed in 2000-2003 on the site where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Tsarina Alexandra, their children and other members of the household were all executed following the Bolshevik Revolution.

After the February Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were taken prisoners. The Tsar and his family were initially kept at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo outside St. Petersburg. Kerensky, leader of the provisional government, moved them to the former Governor's mansion in Tobolsk, and later they were transferred to the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg.

As suspicion of a potential attempt to liberate the Royal family grew, the revolutionaries holding them captive, decided to execute them. On July 17, 1918 the entire imperial family consisting of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia were taken to the cellar of the Ipatiev House and executed.

The Ipatiev House was owned by a man named Nicholas Ipatiev. The Ural Soviet evacuated him and built high walls around the house, where on April 30, the imperial family was moved. In 1974, Ipatiev House was declared a National Monument, but three years later the Soviet government demolished the house, probably to prevent its attracting foreign visitors.

On September 20, 1990 the Sverdlovsk Soviet handed over the plot to the Russian Orthodox Church for construction of a memorial chapel. After the last Tsar's canonization, the Church planned to build a memorial dedicated to the Tsar family. Construction began in 2000, and the main church was consecrated by patriarchs from all over Russia on 16 June 2003, 85 years after the execution of the Tsar and his family.

The completed complex has two churches, a belfry, a patriarchal annex, and a museum dedicated to the Tsar’s family, covering 29,700 square feet area.

Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Fatima, Portugal

The Church of the Most Holy Trinity is a Roman Catholic Church in the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Fátima, Portugal. With a length of 95 meters (312 ft), width 115 meters (377 ft), a maximum height of 20 meters (66 ft) and a seating capacity of about 8500, it is ranked as the fourth largest Christian church in the world. The church was constructed between 2004 and 2007 at a cost of 80 million euros, entirely paid with gifts from the pilgrims.

The first stone was laid on June 6, 2004, was a piece of marble taken from the tomb of Apostle Peter, over which St Peter's Basilica in Rome was built. The stone-laying was only symbolic, as the stone was later installed inside the finished church as an exhibit for the pilgrims.

The Church, dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, was consecrated on October 12, 2007 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima, by the Secretary of State of the Vatican and Legate of Holy Father Benedict XVI, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Church of the Beatitudes, Israel

Photo: the Church of the Beatitudes on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, the spot where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.

The Church of the Beatitudes, near Tabgha in Israel, is a Roman Catholic Church built on the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount. The current church was built in 1938 near the site of a fourth-century Byzantine church. The floor plan of the church is octagonal, representing the eight Beatitudes (meaning ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’), which are blessings from Jesus recorded in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke.

Mosaic of Jesus at Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo

Photo: The sixth-century mosaic of Jesus at Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy. Though depictions of Jesus are culturally important, no undisputed record of what Jesus looked like is known to exist. The basilica church was erected by the Ostrogoth King Theodoric as his palace chapel, during the first quarter of the 6th century, and this Arian church was originally dedicated to Christ the Redeemer.

Interior of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

The construction of the first basilica was begun by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine I, in AD 327 and was completed in Ad 333. That structure was burnt down in the Samaritan Revolt of AD 529. The current basilica was rebuilt in Ad 565 by the Emperor Justinian I. When the Persians invaded in AD 614, they did not destroy the structure, because, according to legends, their commander Shahrbaraz was moved by the depiction inside the church of the Three Magi wearing Persian clothing. So he ordered that the building be spared. The Crusaders made repairs and additions to the building during the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem with permission and help given by the Byzantine Emperor. Over the years, the compound has been expanded. Currently it covers about 12,000 square meters. Now the church is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities, all of them maintaining monastic communities on the site.

The church was one of the direct causes for French involvement in the Crimean War against Russia.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; Jesus’ birthplace

Photo: The Silver Star marks the place where Jesus Christ was born according to Christian tradition. The site is located in Bethlehem, precisely in the cave under the Church of the Nativity.

The Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and it is considered sacred by followers of both Christianity and Islam.

Wikipedia states about Jesus in Islam, "In Islam, Jesus is considered a Messenger of God who had been sent to guide the People of Israel with a new scripture. The Quran, believed by Muslims to be God's final revelation, mentions Jesus 25 times. It states that Jesus was born to Mary (Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, a miraculous event which occurred by the decree of God (Allah). To aid him in his quest, Jesus was given the ability to perform miracles, all by the permission of God. According to Islamic texts, Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, but rather he was raised alive up to heaven. Islamic traditions (but not Quran) narrate that he will return to Earth near the Day of Judgment to restore justice and defeat "the false messiah", also known as the Antichrist. Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is considered to have been a Muslim, as he preached for people to adopt the straight path in submission to God's will. Islam rejects that Jesus was God incarnate or the son of God, stating that he was a mortal man who, like other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message. Islamic texts forbid the association of partners with God, emphasizing the notion of God's divine oneness. Numerous titles are given to Jesus in the Quran, such as al-Massif (the messiah; the anointed one), although it does not correspond with the meaning accrued in Christian belief. Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor to Muhammad, and is believed by Muslims to have foretold the latter's coming".

St. James Church in Medjugorje, Herzegovina

Photo: St. James Church in Medjugorje, in the Herzegovina region

Međugorje, a town located in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, about 25 km southwest of Mostar and close to the border of Croatia, is now best known due to claims of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six Croats since 24 June 1981, and is now visited by thousands of pilgrims from around the world as a Marian shrine.

Pope Saint Clement I: monastic mural

Image: Saint Clement I, one of the first century Bishops of Rome, considered successor to Saint Peter as leaders of the Catholic Church (mural in a monastery of Saint Clement, Macedonia).

Pope Saint Clement I (aka Saint Clement of Rome or Clemens Romanus) is listed from an early date as a Bishop of Rome. Not much is known about Pope Clement's life, but according to Tertullian, he was consecrated by Saint Peter, and he is known to have been a leading member of the church in Rome in the later part of the first century.