“The Roman Catholic Church is an institution unique in the history of the Christian era. For centuries its teaching and practices have exerted an influence not only on purely religious matters but also on the secular life of that part of the world which is called Christian. ‘Roman Catholicism as we know it is the product of twenty centuries of history. To understand it, we must try to understand this history. Not only is it the product of history, but it involves a distinctive attitude towards history.’ Thus writes Jaroslav Pelikan in his now famous book, The Riddle of Roman Catholicism. To his observation we will add the words of Jean Guitten, ‘It is characteristic of the Catholic Church to change, but always staying the same and even more so. The Catholic Church changes in order to stay herself.’” (V. Norskov Olsen, Papal Supremacy and American Democracy, 1987, p.1)