The role of the Church in the West (5th-15th centuries)
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At the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman Empire began to fall, and the emerging races from northern Europe gradually moved south and infiltrated, such as the Germanics, including the Goths, Franks, Saxons and Vikings.

At that time, the Franks were gaining strength in what is now France, and became a major power in the West after Western Rome. The Bishop of Rome, who had always had a special relationship with the Emperor of Western Rome, relied on these Franks to consolidate his position.

In 496 AD, Clovis, King of the Franks, led 3,000 of his subjects to be baptized on Christmas Day. In 754 AD, the Bishop of Rome was given a large territory by Pepin, King of the Franks. On Christmas Day, 800 AD, the Bishop of Rome crowned Charles the Great, the most famous of the Franks, as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Since then, the interdependence or conflict between the imperial and ecclesiastical powers becomes the cause of social change and political struggle in Western Rome.

Eastern Rome (destroyed later by the Turks in 1453), with Constantinople, or Byzantine, as its capital, considered itself the sole successor to the Roman Empire at that time. The Patriarch of Constantinople, who was dependent on the Roman Emperor, had political, organizational, liturgical and doctrinal conflicts with the Roman bishops, which led to the departure of most of the Eastern Churches from Rome and the establishment of the Orthodox Church.

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In 962 AD, the imperial power of the Holy Roman Empire fell into the hands of Otto I, a Germanic king. At that time, the ecclesiastical authority nominally belonged to the Roman bishops, but was subject to arbitrary manipulation and dismissal by the rulers, and the regime had the mandate (Investiture) to control the Church.

This situation, coupled with the incompetence and corruption of the incumbents, led the Church to a period of darkness in which it was left with no light. (Dark Ages 900-1000). During this period, a monastery in Cluny in eastern France became a ray of light in this darkness. From this monastery a movement developed against the sale of the bishoprics and the practice of the clergy taking wives and concubines, and also for the independence of the Church.

In 1073, a monk who best represented the spirit of the movement was elevated to the position of Bishop of Rome, Gregory VII, who finally succeeded in his struggle for ecclesiastical independence from the emperor and greatly enhanced the status of the Roman bishop (the Pope) in the universal Church. In 1071, the Muslim Turks took over most of Asia Minor, including Jerusalem, and conquered Spain. This was the result of four hundred years of intermittent warfare.

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In 1095 AD, Pope Urban II called for the first crusade, calling on all Christians to participate in order to rescue the Eastern Roman emperors from their plight and recover Jerusalem. After seven or eight conquests lasting about 200 years, the crusade finally ended in 1291.

This movement, born of religious fervor in name only, was heavily laden with political elements and sense of cultural and national superiority. In fact, it was a series of brutal, selfish and superstitious abductions. The Holy Land was not recovered, and resulted in having many collateral effects.

First of all, the new contact between the West and the East led to an intellectual awakening, and thus:

- Facilitated the development of Scholastics,
- gave rise to lay-person religious movements such as the Cathari and the Waldenses.
- Universities were also developed during this period.
- Modern European vernacular literature also began to flourish. Secondly, the Crusades, on the one hand, led to the loss of the landed property of the lords and kings, and, on the other hand, contributed to the development of commerce and the emergence of the urban plebeian class as a political power (especially in France).

The period 1378-1417 AD was the period of The Great Western Schism within the Western Church, during which several opposing and mutually exclusive popes emerged in Rome, Avignon, and Pisa, both at the same time during 39 years. This was purely the result of the struggle between the political factions of the countries of the time; in particular, the conflict between France and Italy.

During the Council of Constance 1414-1418, three co-existing popes died or were deposed, and a fourth, the only pope was elected, ending the schism.

The Church's Preaching
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The Church continued to preach during this long millennium (476-1417), but in a unique way. By and large, she preached as educator, ruler, and preacher.

(1) Educators
At the end of the Roman Empire (476), the Latin culture that it had created was on the verge of destruction under the ravages of the southward migration of the emerging races. The Latin culture preserved by the clergy of the Church at that time, especially the monks of the monasteries, was the only remaining fruit in the field of culture.

When the war came to an end, the clergy became the sole transmitters and preservers of the Latin culture. They drew on the Latin culture to preach the faith to these emerging peoples. They preached in two ways.

- Rationalized Faith (Theology).
A rational approach to explaining the existence of God, creation, salvation, and the “immortality of the soul”. For example, the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Scholastic philosopher.

- Theologizing Culture
This is done in many ways, such as literature (Dante’s Divine Comedy of 1265-1321 is a good example), music, architecture, painting, sculpture, etc., are all rich in theological flavor, especially with regard to the complicated principles of ethics, are based on theology and organized into systematic laws. Therefore, preaching the Gospel to the people of the time meant promoting this theologized culture. In addition, among the less educated people, some popular devotions were used to express their faith, such as reciting the Rosary, veneration of relics, making the Way of the Cross, worshipping the Holy Eucharist, decorating the manger, processions, and honoring the Virgin Mary.

(2) The Rulers
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From the position and standpoint of the ruler, the Church’s authorities were fully focused on preserving and promoting the “Christian social system” (Christendom). The pope, Christian monarchs, and lords of the time used the power of their rulers, their laws, and even their armies to defend and promote this system.

Secondly, one of the most concrete forms of leading the people to express their faith was the construction of magnificent Cathedral Churches. In the heart of the city, in the most remote locations, the Gothic style embellished the environment and continued the teaching of the people. The Cathedral was used not only for religious services, but also as a school, library, and meeting place.

(3) Preachers
As preacher, the Church went beyond the civilized world to convert the “Barbarians,” while doing pastoral, missionary, and social service work in the civilized world, and expressing the message of faith through popular devotions. When the Spanish Muslims (Moors) were taking Christians into slavery in Europe, Peter Nolasco founded the “Mercedarians” in 1218 to offer themselves as slaves in place of a freed Christian. About 70,000 people were redeemed by this organization. Between 1347 and 1350, when the Black Death plague struck Europe, about one in four to one in three people died. As a result, churchmen organized groups to care for the sick and bury the dead. To prevent the poor from being exploited by loan sharks (with interest rates ranging from 32.5% to 43.5%), the Churchmen set up pawnshops (Mons Pietatis) to serve the poor at 4-12% interest when they needed money urgently.