Timeline of the Catholic Church
( 32 - 2005)
32 - 499 500 - 999 1000 - 1499 1500 - present
The history of the Catholic Church stretches back 2000 years from where ever in the world you are reading this to a small room in Jerusalem when Mary and the Apostles received the Holy Spirit from God. Since then, protected by the Holy Spirit, God's Holy Church has grown in number and deepened in faith as she proclaims and awaits the second coming of the Word of God. This time line is an attempt to trace that history. At its heart is the line of popes. In 597, St Augustine - the first Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury - enters the scene. With the death of Cardinal Reginald Pole in 1558, that line ends. In between times are come many Saints and Councils, Religious Orders and heresies. As we reach the nineteenth century, Our Lady & St Joseph church takes her place among the great and good. And that is why I have written this timeline: to show how Catholics who attend their own church week in and out (or perhaps only occasionally) are part of something much wider. In these days of falling Mass attendances and marginalisation of Christianity in the public space, it would be easy to forget that we do not stand alone in our faith. But we do not: as the timeline seeks to show, many came before us and many will - no doubt - come after: we are part of a communion that does, in fact, transcend time.
The timeline is a work in progress. At the moment, it focuses on ten aspects of the Church's history. They are colour coded as follows,
The line of popes, starting from St Peter through to John Paul II
The line of Catholic Archbishops of Canterbury between 597 and 1558
Significant events and the parish priests of Our Lady & St Joseph's church
Opening dates for other Catholic churches in the Diocese of Westminster
Significant events and people in the life of the Church in England
Martyrs of the Catholic Church in England
Famous heresies and schisms
The twenty one ecumenical councils of the Church
The foundation of important Catholic Orders
Doctors of the Church
The timeline that I have presented is, I hope, as accurate as the history record allows: naturally, the further one goes back in time, there will be dates that are a matter of uncertainty or dispute. If you find any information that is inaccurate, please do let me know!
NB: I have added links for the following entries: famous heresies and schisms, the twenty one ecumenical councils, Doctors of the Church and all churches of Westminster Diocese. Each is marked with an asterisk: *. In regards the latter, Westminster does - of course - have many more churches than are mentioned here but these are not mentioned as I do not yet know their date of establishment. For a full list of Westminster churches, please click here.
Back to Contents