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Persecution did not begin with the Roman authorities. The New Testament writings tell of fratricidal strife between Jews and Christians.

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The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire. The letter was issued in 313, shortly after the end of the persecution of Christians by the emperor Diocletian.

With the Edict of Milan there began a period when Constantine granted favors to the Christian Church and its members.

It meant that Christians could no longer be persecuted and enabled the religion to grow

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st peter is considered the first pope of the holy catholic church. he was on of the 12 disciples. jesus  changed his name from simon of cephas to peter. this was symbolic as it represented simons change from a humble man to the leader of the true church. his rise from a humble fisherman to the pope was symbolic of jesus church which was build upon the very backs of the ordinary man. these men were of the lower calsses, iliterat and powerless. with the help of the holy spirit they rose up and created the most powerful church on earth.  today st peter remans the patron saint of fisherman, net makers and ship builders. all ordinary skills. jesus decribed him as the rock on which his church was built. as part of this jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. this represented his papacy and the ongoing legacy and connection of the pope to god and jesus. got crucified

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Emperor Nero started a fire in Roman and blamed it on the Jews and they were persecuted.

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First official persecutions began in 64AD during the reign of Nero.

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Several Roman Emperors became unhappy with the growth of Christianity. They began persecutions of Christians that would continue on and off over two hundred years.

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The Christian community