The need for change

    Over the years, Christianity became solidified in the Catholic church. The church was a religious force, but also a political force. During the Middle Ages, the system became more and more corrupt. The wealthy people could "buy" a seat in Heaven by purchasing "les reliques" or indulgences. For example, l'électeur de Saxe, Frédéric le Sage owned 17, 443 reliques which were supposed to spare him  128, 000 years in purgatory. The poor did not have these means.  They had to pay taxes to the government and taxes to the church. When the Plague swept through Europe, it  left many questioning about life after death. 

    People wanted to turn to the Bible for answers. But there was no Bible in the common language of the people .  With the invention of the printing press in the 1400's, more Bibles were printed in French for the people to read for themselves.  This led to a personal faith.

    On the political side, the individual kings and princes wanted more control over their territories. Grégoire VII proclaimed the universal authority of the Pope in 1075. The Pope could make decisions, raise taxes and gather an army from the entire Catholic world. The individual leaders wanted more independence.

     Everyone was a ready for a change. The religious people, the poor and the powerful began to protest.

History of religion

Since we can't get the group together to prepare for this mission, I thought I would share a little about the history of religion in France.  When Charlemagne was crowned in 800 ad as the empereur of the Holy Roman Empire, he wanted all his subjects to be Christians. Christianity became the national religion. 

  Over the years, Christianity became organized into Catholicism with leaders ( the Pope, cardinals and bishops) and rules.  Around 1000 AD, the Pope asked the kings of Europe to help him win the Holy Land back from the Turks ( the Muslims). So the kings of France made several Crusades to the Holy Land. The lost the battle, but they bought "les reliques" while they were there. These holy objects were things like....a piece of the Cross, the Crown of Thorns, the head of John the Baptist, etc.  When the kings of France brought them back to France, they built cathedrales to house them. The people wanted their cathedrales to soar to the heavens and praise God. We will see some of these in southern France.

Preparations

We have 10 students and some parents who have signed up. The job now is to raise support. This is so different from an educational trip where you just pay and go. We look to God for guidance on each detail. It is His trip.