The separation of eastern and western Christianity
naturally increased the importance of the Papacy. The popes henceforth had a
free hand to guide the destinies of the Roman Church. That church under their
direction was to show itself vigorous and progressive, with a wonderful power
of adaptation to new and changed conditions.
THE ROMAN CHURCH SURVIVES THE EMPIRE
The Roman Empire in the West had gone down before the
assaults of the Germanic barbarians, but in its place had arisen a new
creation—the Roman Church. The chief city of the old empire became the capital
of the Papacy. The pope took, and has since retained, the title of Supreme
Pontiff (_Pontifex Maximus_), once given to the head of the Roman state
religion. Latin has continued to be the official language of Roman
Catholicism. The Roman genius for law and government found a new expression in
the creation of the papal power. The true successors of the ancient Roman
statesmen were the popes of the Middle Ages. The idea of Rome, of her
universality and of her eternity, lived on in the Roman Church.
