Little was known about the clergy during the Black Death. It has long been believed that the Catholic Church has shirked its duty to serve the people, but this could not be further from the truth. In a recent discovery it was discovered that more than 50% of the clergy were killed during the Black Death. This was not because the clergy were fleeing; rather, the clergy stayed and helped the people in the villages, knowing that the likelihood of them surviving would be slim during this epidemic. My goal in this article is to describe what was happening during the Black Death and how the Catholic Church and its clergy reacted to the epidemic. The Black Death could very likely be considered the most serious epidemic in human history. The Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347 and devastated from 1347 to 1351. This plague killed entire families at a time and destroyed at least 1,000 villages. Contributing greatly to the crisis of the 14th century, the Black Death had many effects beyond its immediate symptoms. Not only did the Black Death have a devastating impact on human life, it also played a key role in shaping the life of the Catholic Church in the years that followed. The Black Death consisted primarily of one disease, bubonic plague, but pneumonic plague was also present during the epidemic. Pneumonic plague was even deadlier, but was not as prevalent as bubonic plague. Symptoms of bubonic plague included high fever, painful limbs, and vomiting blood. The most characteristic feature of the disease was the swollen lymph nodes, which grew until they burst. Death was almost guaranteed soon after. The name "Black Death" not only referred to the sinister nature of the disease, but also to the bla...... middle of paper ......wi priests after the epidemic were often less educated and more inexperienced than i their predecessors. Not all church members stayed true to their beliefs, but those who did certainly made an impact. The Catholic Church did many things to try to help people during the Black Death, but probably the most beneficial thing they gave to those who were suffering was their presence. No one wanted to be around the plague, but those members of the church who responded to the epidemic by helping their neighbors truly show what that Catholic Church was really like in the 14th century. Works Cited Swenson, Robert. “Plague, history and AIDS”. American Scholar 57.2 (1988): 183-200. Academic journal. Network. December 2, 2013. Loose, Paul. “Responses to plague in early modern Europe: the public health implications.” Social Research 55.3 (1988):433-453. Academic journal. Network. December 2. 2013.