Church

The Christian Church, the Catholic Church, or simply The Church refers to the religious social institution with an organized and hierarchical structure of religious officials charged with representing God's will on earth and providing moral guidance to society, as well as providing for the personal salvation of church members. The Church was established by early Christians in Roman Judea in the first century, and despite persecution by the Romans, it grew and spread throughout the Roman Empire until it was eventually adopted by Constantine and made the state church of the Roman Empire in the fourth century. After the Great Schism in the 11th century, the Church split into an eastern (Eastern Orthodox Church) and western (Roman Catholic Church), and use of the term Catholic Church after this time often refers to the Roman Catholic Church to the exclusion of the Eastern Orthodox Church.