Editing Christendom (section)

===End of Christendom===
[[File:Christian World—Pew Research Center 2010.svg|thumb|330px|Christian majority countries in 2010; Countries with 50% or more Christians are colored purple while countries with 10% to 50% Christians are colored pink.<ref name="assets_pewresearch_org" />{{Update inline|date=March 2024}}]]
The [[European Miracle]], the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the formation of the great [[colonial empire]]s, together with the beginning [[decline of the Ottoman Empire]], mark the end of the geopolitical "history of Christendom".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Warren |title=The Cleaving of Christendom - A history of Christendom vol. 4 |publisher=Christendom Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780931888755}}</ref> Instead, the focus of Western history shifts to the development of the [[nation-state]], accompanied by increasing [[History of atheism|atheism]] and [[secularism]], culminating with the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]] at the turn of the 19th century.<ref name=":0" />

In his 1964 [[encyclical letter]] ''[[Ecclesiam Suam]]'', [[Pope Paul VI]] observed that{{quote|One part of [the] world ... has in recent years detached itself and broken away from the Christian foundations of its culture, although formerly it had been so imbued with Christianity and had drawn from it such strength and vigor that the people of these nations in many cases owe to Christianity all that is best in their own tradition.<ref>Pope Paul VI, [https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_06081964_ecclesiam.html Ecclesiam Suam], paragraph 13, published on 6 August 1964, accessed on 11 July 2024</ref>}}Writing in 1997, Canadian [[theology]] professor [[Douglas John Hall]] argued that Christendom had either fallen already or was in its death throes; although its end was gradual and not as clear to pin down as its 4th-century establishment, the "transition to the post-Constantinian, or post-Christendom, situation (...) has already been in process for a century or two", beginning with the 18th-century rationalist Enlightenment and the French Revolution (the first attempt to topple the Christian establishment).<ref name="1–9Hall"/> American Catholic bishop [[Thomas John Curry]] stated in 2001 that the end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity".<ref name="Curry12"/> He argued the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]] (1791) and the [[Second Vatican Council]]'s [[Dignitatis humanae|Declaration on Religious Freedom]] (1965) are two of the most important documents setting the stage for its end.<ref name="Curry12"/> According to British historian Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010), Christendom was 'killed' by the [[First World War]] (1914–18), which led to the fall of the three main Christian empires ([[Russian Empire|Russian]], [[German Empire|German]] and [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]]) of Europe, as well as the Ottoman Empire, rupturing the Eastern Christian communities that had existed on its territory. The Christian empires were replaced by secular, even anti-clerical republics seeking to definitively keep the churches out of politics. The only surviving monarchy with an established church, Britain, was severely damaged by the war, lost [[Irish Free State|most of Ireland]] due to Catholic–Protestant infighting, and was starting to lose grip on its colonies.<ref name="MacCulloch1024">MacCulloch (2010), p. 1024–1030.</ref>

Changes in worldwide Christianity over the last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the [[Global South]] and Third World countries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Jenkins |year=2011 |title=The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity |chapter=The Rise of the New Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPBoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=101–133 |isbn=9780199767465 |lccn=2010046058}}</ref> The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the [[Third World]] and the Southern Hemisphere in general,<ref>{{cite book|page=2|title=Christianity as a World Religion|author-last1=Kim|author-first1=Sebastian|author-last2=Kim|author-link=Sebastian Kim|author-first2=Kirsteen|author-link2=Kirsteen Kim|publisher=Continuum|location=London|date=2008}}</ref> by 2010 about 157 countries and territories in the world had [[Christianity by country|Christian majorities]].<ref name="assets_pewresearch_org" />