The Catholic Church & Hispanic Americans: History, Faith, and the Future

Introduction

Hispanic and Latino Catholics are not just part of the American Church—they are central to its present and decisive for its future. From the earliest missions of the Southwest to today’s bilingual parishes, youth ministries, and social-justice coalitions, Hispanic Catholics have shaped the Church’s prayer, music, devotions, leadership, and public witness. As the nation celebrates Hispanic American Heritage Month (Sept. 15–Oct. 15), it’s worth tracing the long arc of this relationship—its roots, its distinctive gifts, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities ahead.

I. Deep Roots in the Americas

Before the United States existed, Catholicism was being preached, sung, and lived across lands that would later become U.S. states—New Mexico, Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, and beyond. Mission churches, lay confraternities, and local devotions created a patrimony that still animates parish life.

One symbol unites the hemisphere: Our Lady of Guadalupe, venerated since 1531 and today honored as “Patroness of the Americas.” Her image—Indigenous, maternal, and missionary—has long been a rallying point for evangelization, human dignity, and the defense of migrants. The U.S. bishops annually mark December 12 with statements tying Guadalupe’s message to the protection of life and the unity of peoples. USCCB+2USCCB+2

II. A Living People, Not a Demographic Footnote

Recent social-science data clarifies the scale and dynamism of Hispanic Catholic life in the U.S. Pew Research Center’s 2023–25 analyses estimate that about 36% of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic, with especially strong representation among younger Catholics. At the same time, researchers note a decline in Catholic identification among U.S.-born Latinos and a rise in the religiously unaffiliated—an urgent pastoral signal for the Church. Pew Research Center+1

Journalistic reporting echoes both the vitality and the challenge: Latino Catholics are revitalizing parishes and forming new institutions, even as Gen-Z Latinos leave organized religion at higher rates than previous generations. The Washington Post

III. Distinctive Gifts: Devotion, Family, and Community

Hispanic Catholic spirituality blends strong Marian devotion, Eucharistic centrality, and joyful popular religiosity:

• Guadalupe and Marian devotions (e.g., rosaries, mañanitas) that make faith visible in the streets. USCCB

• Las Posadas, Holy Week processions, and neighborhood altarcitos that turn homes into “domestic churches.”

• The quinceañera blessing, now a recognized liturgical sacramental in the U.S., catechizing about dignity, vocation, and discipleship at a pivotal age. USCCB+1

• A culture of family and hospitality that naturally fosters parish belonging, small faith communities, and mutual aid.

Movements such as Cursillo and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (along with countless lay ecclesial ministries) have formed leaders for decades, while choirs and composers have enriched the American songbook with bilingual liturgical music.

IV. Builders of the Common Good

Hispanic Catholics have been at the forefront of labor rights, immigration advocacy, and pro-life and pro-family work. Ministries at the border and in interior cities accompany migrants with legal aid, sacraments, and community. On Guadalupe’s feast in 2023, the U.S. bishops explicitly connected Marian devotion to “unconditional respect for human life and dignity,” highlighting a consistent ethic that engages issues from abortion to migration. USCCB

V. Leadership and the V Encuentro

A landmark process, the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (2017–2020), convened parishes, dioceses, and national leaders to listen to Hispanic Catholics—especially youth and those at the margins—and to chart pastoral priorities (formation, leadership pipelines, family ministry, vocations, and ecclesial integration). Its Proceedings and Conclusions remain a blueprint for dioceses seeking to move from bilingual accommodation to truly bicultural leadership and structures. USCCB+1

VI. Youth, Language, and Belonging: Today’s Pastoral Priorities

Three urgent fronts define the next decade:

1. Passing on the Faith to U.S.-born Youth
   Data shows U.S.-born Latinos are less likely to remain Catholic than their immigrant parents. Ministries that blend English-dominant settings with Hispanic spiritual culture—retreats, campus ministry, mentorship, and young-adult leadership tracks—are crucial. Pew Research Center

2. Language and Liturgy
   “Spanish or English?” is less helpful than “How do we build bilingual, bicultural communities where everyone can pray and lead?” Parishes that train lectors, catechists, musicians, and finance councils in both languages—and that rotate leadership—form one body rather than parallel congregations.

3. Formation and Pathways to Leadership
   The Church needs more Hispanic lay leaders, deacons, religious, and priests who can navigate cultures with ease. Seminaries and formation programs are taking steps; dioceses that pair scholarships with mentorship and on-ramp roles (youth core teams, RCIA sponsors, parish admin councils) see long-term fruit. Reporting underscores how targeted institutions (e.g., leadership-training centers) are making a measurable impact. The Washington Post

VII. Liturgical and Popular Practices: A “Both/And”

• Quinceañera: When well prepared, the liturgical blessing becomes a mini-catechumenate—connecting dignity, chastity, vocation, and service. Official texts and diocesan guidelines help parishes celebrate with theological depth and cultural beauty. USCCB+1

• Guadalupe: Beyond December 12, Guadalupe spirituality permeates the year, grounding parish missions, youth service projects, and pro-life witness in a Marian key of tenderness and courage. USCCB

VIII. Evangelization in a Time of Religious “Nones”

The rise of the unaffiliated among Latinos is real—but not inevitable. Research suggests people leave when they do not feel known or needed. The most effective parishes cultivate:

• Accompaniment: mentoring small groups, home visits, and personal invitations into real responsibility.

• Beauty: music, art, and processions that carry the Gospel into public space.

• Mission: service to migrants, the poor, the elderly, and the unborn that unites prayer with action.

• Belonging: leadership ladders for teens and young adults (liturgical ministries, digital media teams, parish councils).
  These align with Encuentro priorities and with what sociologists and pastoral leaders observe in thriving Latino-led ministries. USCCB+2V Encuentro+2

IX. What Dioceses and Parishes Can Do Now

1) Invest in Hispanic youth and young adults
Offer bilingual confirmation prep; fund college-age leadership internships; send delegations to regional encuentros and national conferences. USCCB

2) Normalize bilingual, bicultural leadership
Recruit and train parish staff, finance councils, and catechetical teams to operate in both languages; rotate meeting languages with summaries provided to all.

3) Expand sacramental and devotional bridges
Provide robust catechesis for quinceañeras; elevate Guadalupe, Posadas, and Good Friday processions as evangelizing moments supported by solid preaching. USCCB

4) Partner with Latino Catholic institutions
Collaborate with diocesan Hispanic Ministry offices, leadership academies, retreat houses, and formation programs highlighted in national reporting. The Washington Post

5) Focus on families
Equip parents as first catechists; schedule parish life around family rhythms; build ministries around the home (blessing of homes, small Christian communities).

X. Hope on the Horizon

At the universal level, the election of Pope Leo XIV—an American with deep Latin American ties—has prompted fresh attention to the Church’s pastoral realities in the U.S., including the engagement of Hispanic Catholics and the need for credible, healing leadership. His emphasis on synodality (walking together) dovetails with decades of Latino Catholic organizing and the Encuentro model. TIME

Conclusion

Hispanic Catholics have carried the Gospel across borders, languages, and generations. In their songs to Guadalupe, in quinceañera blessings, in neighborhood rosaries and bustling Sunday liturgies, they reveal what the Church is at her best: a family of families, a school of communion, a sacrament of unity. If the American Church leans into bilingual, bicultural formation and leadership—and invites Hispanic Catholics not merely to attend but to lead—the great story of Catholicism in the United States will remain a story of hope.

About the Author

Chris M. Forte is a writer, historian, and cultural researcher specializing in Italian American and Hispanic American heritage, Catholic history, and the intersections of faith, culture, and identity in the United States. He is the creator of The Italian Californian platform, which highlights the rich traditions, neighborhoods, and organizations that preserve immigrant history in California and beyond. His work often blends academic rigor with personal narrative, reflecting his deep commitment to storytelling that bridges past and present.

Forte’s publications explore topics ranging from organized crime and American popular culture to the revival of ethnic neighborhoods and the legacy of Catholicism in immigrant communities. With a focus on making history both accessible and meaningful, he aims to show how faith and culture continue to shape American life.

“Blessed Are the Peacemakers”: A Catholic Response to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk, Political and Religious Violence, and Mass Shootings Introduction

 

“Blessed Are the Peacemakers”: A Catholic 

Response to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk, Political and Religious Violence, and Mass Shootings

Introduction

The assassination of American political commentator Charlie Kirk sent shockwaves through both political and religious communities. While commentators parsed the political implications, the Catholic Church responded as it always does to violence: with grief, prayer, and a renewed call for peace rooted in the Gospel. As Jesus declared in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matt. 5:9).

Catholic social teaching emphasizes three pillars in its response to violence: (1) the inviolable dignity of human life, (2) the necessity of disarming hatred in both rhetoric and practice, and (3) the pursuit of reconciliation and justice. The Church’s pastoral and prophetic voice—echoed in the words of recent popes, bishops, and now Pope Leo XIV—offers guidance not only in processing grief, but also in reforming hearts and societies.

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Catholic Teaching on Violence

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is unambiguous: “The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful” (CCC 2268). Violence against innocent life, whether through assassination, terrorism, or mass shootings, is a direct assault on the image of God in the human person.

Pope St. John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life, 1995), insisted: “The commandment ‘You shall not kill’ has absolute value when it refers to the innocent person. And all the more so in the case of weak and defenseless human beings, who find their ultimate defense against the arrogance of power only in the absolute binding force of God’s commandment.”¹

Pope Benedict XVI, writing in his 2007 World Day of Peace Message, reminded the world that violence can never achieve true justice: “Violence is not the answer. With violence everything is lost. Peace is the only true way to progress.”²

Pope Francis likewise warned against what he called the “throwaway culture,” where life is devalued and human beings are reduced to disposable commodities.³

Building upon these voices, Pope Leo XIV has made clear that political assassination, hate crimes, and mass shootings represent not only a moral collapse but also a failure of civic fraternity.

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Pope Leo XIV on Hatred, Violence, and Hope

Since his election in 2024, Pope Leo has placed special emphasis on the need to temper public discourse and resist cycles of revenge. In a homily at St. Peter’s Square, he declared: “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security zones’ separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”⁴

In an address to media leaders, he urged: “Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world.”⁵ His insistence that rhetoric itself has moral consequences echoes the Church’s conviction that words shape the cultural climate in which violence either festers or is rejected.

Responding directly to Kirk’s assassination, Pope Leo offered pastoral comfort: “No person’s life should be taken for their ideas, their faith, or their politics. Violence is not the path of democracy, nor the way of Christ.”⁶

His global perspective further widens the lens. Reflecting on the violence in Gaza, Pope Leo warned: “There is no future based on violence, forced exile, and revenge.”⁷ And yet he insists on Christian hope: “We keep hoping. I believe strongly that we cannot give up hope, ever.”⁸

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Political and Religious Violence

Political assassination represents the most extreme form of a larger pathology: the reduction of political opponents to enemies who must be eliminated. The Church consistently warns that democratic life cannot survive when polarization hardens into hatred. Pope Leo’s call to “disarm words” suggests that Catholics have a duty not only to refrain from demonizing rhetoric but to actively model charity in political speech.

Religiously motivated violence demands a similar response. In his address to the Roman Curia, Pope Benedict XVI once reminded Christians that “violence in God’s name is always a profanation of God’s name.”⁹ Whether it comes in the form of antisemitism, terrorism, or anti-Christian persecution, Pope Leo echoes this teaching: “Hatred of the other is never God’s will.”

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The American Plague of Mass and School Shootings

Perhaps nowhere does the crisis of violence appear more tragically than in the epidemic of school and mass shootings in the United States. Each event leaves families broken, children dead, and communities scarred.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been consistent in its calls for action. In 2022, they declared: “We must respond to the plague of gun violence with more than thoughts and prayers. We must act to end this scourge.”¹⁰ Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore added: “Every life lost to senseless gun violence is a call to conversion for our nation.”¹¹

Pope Leo’s words apply here with equal force: “There is no future based on violence.” The Catholic response to these tragedies is both pastoral and prophetic: prayer for the dead, comfort for survivors, advocacy for life-protecting policies, and a deeper cultural conversion.

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The Deeper Call: Conversion of Hearts

Catholic teaching insists that laws and policies, though essential, cannot by themselves create peace. The deeper solution is conversion of hearts. As Pope Leo has stated: “Peace begins not in parliaments or in treaties, but in the heart that refuses hatred.”¹²

This means the Eucharist, prayer, and the sacraments must form the core of Christian response. Communities must embody hospitality, inclusion, and mercy. Above all, Catholics are called to obey Christ’s radical command: “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).

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Conclusion

The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the scourge of political and religious violence, and the epidemic of mass shootings confront us with the question: What kind of society are we building? The Catholic answer is clear: a society grounded not in revenge or hatred, but in reconciliation, dignity, and hope.

Pope Leo XIV’s words remind us that even in the shadow of tragedy, despair is not the Catholic way: “We keep hoping. I believe strongly that we cannot give up hope, ever.”

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Notes

1. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995), §57.

2. Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2007.

3. Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013), §53.

4. Leo XIV, Homily, St. Peter’s Square, 2025, reported in Associated Press, September 2025.

5. Leo XIV, Address to Media Representatives, 2025, quoted in Catholic Review, September 2025.

6. Leo XIV, Statement following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Vatican News, September 2025.

7. Leo XIV, Appeal for Gaza Civilians, Reuters, September 21, 2025.

8. Leo XIV, Vatican News interview, September 2025.

9. Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2006.

10. USCCB, Statement on Gun Violence, June 2022.

11. Archbishop William Lori, Pastoral Letter on Life and Violence, 2023.

12. Leo XIV, General Audience, September 2025.

About the Author

Christopher M. Forte is a writer and cultural historian whose work explores the intersections of religion, identity, and society. With a particular focus on Italian American heritage, Catholic thought, and the role of myth in popular culture, Forte has authored both fiction and nonfiction projects ranging from historical novels to scholarly essays. His ongoing research engages with Catholic social teaching, American political life, and the narratives that shape our collective imagination. Blessed Are the Peacemakers reflects his commitment to examining violence, faith, and reconciliation through a Catholic lens, drawing from Scripture, tradition, and contemporary papal reflection.

 

The History of the Title Pontifex Maximus

Introduction

Part of the reason I remain Catholic is precisely because of this great tradition and history. Few institutions on earth carry such an unbroken thread of continuity, stretching back thousands of years. The title Pontifex Maximus is more than a name — it is a symbol of endurance, transformation, and the remarkable way the Church took what was once pagan and reoriented it toward Christ. To me, this continuity is not a weakness but a strength. It signals that the papacy stands in a line of succession that outlasted empires, turning a title of earthly power into a spiritual office that still matters today.

The story of Pontifex Maximus is a fascinating one: from Rome’s pagan high priests to the emperors, from the emperors to the bishops of Rome, and finally to the popes who hold it now. This journey reflects not only the history of the Catholic Church but the broader interplay of religion, politics, and power over the course of Western civilization.

The title Pontifex Maximus is one of the most enduring legacies of ancient Rome, a term that bridges the worlds of pagan religion, imperial politics, and Christian authority. Its journey—from the Republic’s priesthood to the Papacy—reflects not just a change in terminology but a transformation in how sacred authority was imagined, legitimized, and wielded across centuries. As historian Mary Beard observes, “Roman religion was never static; it was continually reshaped to meet the needs of power” (SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome). The story of the Pontifex Maximus is perhaps the clearest example of this reshaping.

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Origins in Pagan Rome

Early Use and Meaning

The Latin phrase Pontifex Maximus translates literally as “greatest bridge-builder.” While the term has often been read metaphorically as a spiritual bridge between gods and mortals, scholars like Jörg Rüpke (in Religion in Republican Rome) caution that the title likely originated in the practical responsibilities of priests who oversaw sacred bridges and crossings. By the early Roman Republic (3rd century BCE), however, the title had crystallized into the office of chief priest, head of the Collegium Pontificum (College of Pontiffs).

The Pontiffs were responsible for maintaining the pax deorum—the peace between the gods and the state. Their authority encompassed ritual law, festivals, burial customs, and the sacred calendar. As Beard explains, “To control the calendar was to control time itself, and with it, the rhythm of Roman life.”

Role and Responsibilities

The Pontifex Maximus was no mere ceremonial figure. He regulated religious law (ius divinum), advised magistrates on proper ritual, and presided over rites central to Rome’s civic identity. He controlled the annales, the official records of Rome, blending religion and historiography. His residence, the Domus Publica in the Forum, stood beside the Temple of Vesta, symbolizing proximity to both state and sacred fire.

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Transition to Imperial Rome

Influence of Julius Caesar

The office gained new weight when Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus in 63 BCE. Caesar’s election, won through lavish bribery, was not simply religious—it was deeply political. As Suetonius records, Caesar boasted that his debts would be repaid if he won, for the office offered unrivaled influence.

Once in power, Caesar used the role to buttress his populist reforms and strengthen his claim to divine favor. “In Caesar’s hands,” writes historian H.H. Scullard, “the Pontifex Maximus was no longer merely a priestly title—it was a cornerstone of political legitimacy.”

Integration into the Imperial Cult

Caesar’s precedent paved the way for Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, who ensured that the Pontifex Maximus was inseparable from the imperial office. By embodying both priest and princeps, Augustus fused the sacred and the political, presenting himself as the guarantor of divine order.

This fusion became central to the imperial cult. The emperor’s role as Pontifex Maximus sanctified his rule, making disobedience not only treason but impiety. Historian Ramsay MacMullen notes: “Religion became the emperor’s most effective weapon of persuasion, more potent than his armies.”

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Adoption by Christian Rome

Decline of Paganism

The fourth century brought dramatic change. Constantine’s conversion and the Edict of Milan (313 CE) marked the ascendancy of Christianity, but the office of Pontifex Maximus did not vanish overnight. Constantine and his successors retained the title, even as they closed temples and promoted Christian bishops.

As Peter Brown argues in The Rise of Western Christendom, this continuity reveals the pragmatism of imperial authority: “Old forms could be emptied of their gods, yet still filled with meaning.”

Christian Emperors and Religious Authority

Even Christian emperors such as Gratian (r. 367–383 CE) initially bore the title. However, Gratian renounced it in 382, refusing to be styled Pontifex Maximus, as it was too bound up with pagan cult. This renunciation left the title in transition, poised for appropriation by Rome’s emerging Christian leadership.

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The Papal Adoption

Transition to the Papacy

As the Western Roman Empire fractured, the bishop of Rome gradually assumed not only pastoral but also civic authority. The papacy filled the vacuum left by imperial retreat, inheriting titles, honors, and symbolism once reserved for emperors.

By the 5th century, Popes began to be associated with Pontifex Maximus, not formally at first, but in substance. Pope Leo I (“the Great,” 440–461 CE) articulated papal supremacy in ways strikingly reminiscent of imperial religious authority.

Establishment in the Papal Office

Over time, the papacy fully embraced the title, claiming continuity with both Rome’s civic past and its sacred mission. As historian Eamon Duffy observes in Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, “The Pope was not only Peter’s heir but Caesar’s too.”

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Modern Significance

Symbol of Papal Authority

Today, Pontifex Maximus is one of the Pope’s official titles, printed on papal inscriptions and coins. While its pagan roots are acknowledged, the title is seen as an emblem of the Pope’s universal authority over the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the symbolism: “The Pope is the bridge-builder between humanity and God, echoing the ancient role but transfigured in Christ.”

Reflection of Historical Continuity

The endurance of the title demonstrates the adaptability of religious traditions. What began as a pagan priesthood became the emblem of the Christian world’s spiritual head. As theologian Jaroslav Pelikan noted, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”

Criticism and Controversy

Protestant and Secular Critiques

The Reformation sharpened attacks on the papacy’s use of the title. Martin Luther famously wrote: *“For who is the man of sin and the son of perdition but he who by his teaching and his ordinances increases the sin and perdition of souls in the Church… the pope is the very Antichrist.”*⁷

In the 19th century, Alexander Hislop argued in The Two Babylons that: *“The Pope is, in fact, the lineal successor of the high priest of Babylon. The titles which the papacy wears today are the same titles which the emperors of Rome assumed when they were at once heads of the State and high priests of the heathen worship.”*⁸

Modern conspiracy literature continues this argument. Dave Hunt declared: *“The title Pontifex Maximus links the papacy directly to the Caesars of Rome and to the pagan priesthood of Babylon… This is not the Church of Christ, but the kingdom of Antichrist.”*⁹

Even secular historians sometimes view the title as political rather than spiritual. Charles Freeman contends: *“The papacy did not inherit Rome’s spiritual mantle—it inherited its bureaucracy and its empire.”*¹⁰

Catholic Responses

Catholic scholars argue that the Church did not preserve paganism but transformed it. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes: *“The title Pontifex Maximus, though of pagan origin, is now understood in its Christian sense: the pope is the supreme bridge-builder, not to pagan gods, but to the one true God through Christ.”*¹¹

Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed this: *“The Pope is the pontiff, the bridge-builder, because he is called to build bridges between God and man, between peoples, and within the Church itself. In this way, what was once a title of empire is now a title of service.”*¹²

Theologian Jaroslav Pelikan captured the broader truth: *“Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”*¹³

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Conclusion

For critics, Pontifex Maximus proves the papacy’s corruption — a pagan office dressed in Christian robes. For Catholics, it demonstrates the Church’s capacity to transform culture and sanctify what came before.

Its endurance — from the Forum to St. Peter’s, from Caesar to Pope — shows the remarkable continuity of authority across millennia. To me, that continuity is a living sign that the Catholic Church, despite flaws and human failings, carries within it the depth of history and the power to reshape it in Christ.

Notes

1. Jörg Rüpke, Religion in Republican Rome: Rationalization and Ritual Change (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012), 37–39.

2. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (New York: Liveright, 2015), 232.

3. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, trans. Robert Graves (London: Penguin Classics, 2007), “Caesar,” 13.

4. Ramsay MacMullen, Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), 80.

5. Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996), 89–90.

6. Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 23.

7. Martin Luther, Smalcald Articles (1537), Part II, Article IV.

8. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons: Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife (London: Seeley, 1853), 25.

9. Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast: The Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1994), 58.

10. Charles Freeman, The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason (New York: Vintage, 2003), 210.

11. Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Pontifex Maximus,” Vol. 12 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911).

12. Benedict XVI, General Audience, March 22, 2006.

13. Jaroslav Pelikan, The Vindication of Tradition (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 65.

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Bibliography

• Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. New York: Liveright, 2015.

• Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

• Duffy, Eamon. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.

• Freeman, Charles. The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason. New York: Vintage, 2003.

• Hislop, Alexander. The Two Babylons: Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife. London: Seeley, 1853.

• Hunt, Dave. A Woman Rides the Beast: The Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1994.

• Luther, Martin. Smalcald Articles (1537).

• MacMullen, Ramsay. Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974.

• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Vindication of Tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.

• Rüpke, Jörg. Religion in Republican Rome: Rationalization and Ritual Change. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.

• Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Translated by Robert Graves. London: Penguin Classics, 2007.

• The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

• Benedict XVI. General Audience, March 22, 2006.

About the Author

Christopher M. Forte is a writer, historian, and cultural commentator whose work explores the intersections of faith, identity, and tradition. With a deep interest in the legacy of Rome and its influence on Christianity, Forte has written extensively on Catholic history, Italian-American heritage, and the cultural mythology of organized crime. His research combines historical scholarship with personal reflection, emphasizing the continuity of tradition and the enduring impact of symbols across time.

Raised in a family deeply conscious of its Italian roots, Forte approaches history as both an intellectual pursuit and a lived inheritance. His Catholic faith informs much of his writing, particularly his exploration of how ancient institutions and titles—such as Pontifex Maximus—have been transformed into Christian symbols of unity and resilience. He is currently developing multiple manuscripts that bridge historical analysis with cultural storytelling, including The Last Shepherds of Zion and Mafia Mythos: America’s Fascination with Organized Crime.

Forte lives and writes in California, where he continues to research, teach, and publish works that highlight the living connection between the past and the present.