Anticommunism and Détente: Mindszenty, the Catholic Church, and Hungarian Émigrés in West Germany, 1972

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Arpad von Klimo
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
German Society ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The West ◽  
The Us ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract Cardinal Mindszenty was head of the Catholic Church of Hungary between 1945 and 1974, but had been imprisoned between 1949 and 1956 and hiding in the US embassy in Budapest from 1956 to 1971. In 1971, Mindszenty left the country and settled in Vienna after long negotiations between the Vatican and the Hungarian communist government. When he visited the Hungarian diaspora and non-Hungarian followers in the West between 1972 and his death in 1975, controversies about communism, Catholicism, and Western society and social change in general erupted. This article analyzes these controversies and the different groups that supported the cardinal and their understanding of anticommunism in the context of a changing West German society and against the background of changes within the Catholic world after Vatican II. The ideas about communism Mindszenty and his right-wing supporters formulated were outdated in the 1970s but had a long afterlife.

Protecting Unborn Life in the Secular Age: The Catholic Church and the West German Abortion Debate, 1969–1989

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 612-645
Author(s):  
Kimba Allie Tichenor
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
The West ◽  
Abortion Debate ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Events ◽  
The Catholic Church

In 1969, the newly elected coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) in West Germany announced plans to reform Paragraph 218, the law that regulated women's access to abortion. This announcement prompted a public debate in West Germany on the state's obligation to protect unborn life—a debate that continues today in reunified Germany. Through an analysis of key events in that debate between 1969 and 1989, this article makes a twofold argument. First it argues that despite West Germany's increasingly secular orientation, the Catholic Church exercised significant political influence with respect to abortion policy throughout the history of the Federal Republic. Second, it argues that the West German Church's participation in these debates exposed deep rifts within the Catholic community, which, in turn, contributed to the formation of a smaller, more activist, and conservative Church. This smaller Church has achieved a remarkable degree of political success in reunified Germany by mobilizing its conservative core constituency, embracing new arguments, and pursuing issue-specific alliances.

The origins of the Catholic Social Guild in Scotland: ‘We have not attacked the Socialists professedly’

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Potocki
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Socialist Society ◽  
The West ◽  
Main Activity ◽  
Social Message ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
The Catholic Church

The activities of John Wheatley's Catholic Socialist Society have been analysed in terms of liberating Catholics from clerical dictation in political matters. Yet, beyond the much-discussed clerical backlash against Wheatley, there has been little scholarly attention paid to a more constructive response offered by progressive elements within the Catholic Church. The discussion that follows explores the development of the Catholic social movement from 1906, when the Catholic Socialist Society was formed, up until 1918 when the Catholic Social Guild, an organisation founded by the English Jesuit Charles Plater, had firmly established its local presence in the west of Scotland. This organisation played an important role in the realignment of Catholic politics in this period, and its main activity was the dissemination of the Church's social message among the working-class laity. The Scottish Catholic Church, meanwhile, thanks in large part to Archbishop John Aloysius Maguire of Glasgow, became more amenable to social reform and democracy.

La Espiritualidad eclesial en una Iglesia en camino

Augustinus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-374
Author(s):  
Vittorino Grossi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
The Catholic Church

The present article describes four ecclesiological models elaborated by Augustine of Hippo after his conversion to Christianity within the Catholic Church (Church / auctoritas, Church / communio, Church / Ciuitas Dei, Church / Cross). A brief summary of the ecclesiology of Vatican II is given and indications are given of the Augustinian elements still susceptible of development in the contemporary Church.

scholarly journals Ks. Andrzej Dziełak „Gdyby nie kardynał kominek, nie byłoby Jana Pawła II”. Wspomnienie o Bolesławie Kominku i Orędziu biskupów Polskich do biskupów niemieckich

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Piotr Sroka
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Great Part ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Catholic Clergy ◽  
Communist State ◽  
Pastoral Letter ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Catholic Church

An account given by Rev. Andrzej Dziełak is one of over a dozen such narratives written down for a scientific conference “Cardinal Kominek – a forerunner of the Polish-German reconciliation” which was organized by The Memory and Future Institute (Wrocław, 4th December 2008). These conference documents give us insight into circumstances and consequences of the Polish bishops addressing the German bishops. In some parts, these documents are focused in the narrative of Rev. Andrzej Dziełak, who in 1965 was a clerical student in the Higher Seminary in Wrocław. For contemporary clerics Cardinal Kominek was an indisputable authority, both moral and intellectual. Every Saturday during a seminary meeting he would share with them his observations on the situation of the Catholic Church in those days in Poland and abroad, and on complex relations with the communist state. Still, the Pastoral Letter of the Polish bishops to the German bishops turned out to be a huge surprise to the Catholic clergy of Wrocław, especially since at the beginning they did not have the text of the document at their disposal. Rev. Dziełak admits that at the beginning the message conveyed in the Letter was received with reluctance by a great part of the congregation. This was due to the recent war and a successful propaganda of the communist government. However, right from the beginning, clerics had no doubts as to the identity of the author of the groundbreaking document – they knew that it was prepared by a bishop of Wrocław who was the most knowledgeable person in the Episcopate regarding German issues.

scholarly journals POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE REGENSBURG LECTURE: THE REPRESENTATION OF ISLAM AND THE “CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS” IN THE ITALIAN MEDIA

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-232
Author(s):  
Martina Ambrosini
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
The West ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Relationship

As those of other Western countries, Italian media often employ the term “clash of civilisation” [conflitto di civiltà] to refer to the relationship between “Islam” and the “West”. The Muslim world is simplistically described, and perceived, as a monolithic reality. Its representation by media ranges from that of an irrational to that of an intolerant religion. The expression “clash of civilization” was especially used in September 2006, after the Pope’s lectio magistralis at Regensburg University caused vigorous protests to take place in the Muslim world. Benedict XVI seemed to present the Christian God as the only rational divinity, and Islam as an irrational religion. After international Muslim communities asked for an official apology, the Pope held a meeting with the ambassadors from Islamic States to the Holy See, and the representatives of the Italian Muslim communities, to explain his words. This paper analyzes the way in which this event was presented by the Italian media – including right-wing, mainstream and Catholic media - with the aim of understanding the official reaction of the Vatican (as reported by the Osservatore Romano), the Italian Catholic Church (as reported by Avvenire), and the Italian public opinion

The Rise of the New Polish Far-right

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Kosman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Positive Presentation ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract While much research has been done regarding right-wing discourse in modern Europe, the literature of Polish far-right discourse is still insufficient. The present paper discusses the discursive strategies of Grzegorz Braun, one of the leaders of Confederation Liberty and Independence, which were implemented by the politician during the 2019 Gdańsk mayoral campaign. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of Braun’s discourse, audiovisual materials were included in the study. The findings show that Braun employs positive presentation of the Catholic Church and himself, and negative presentation of his opponents (LGBT activists, immigrants, the European Union, the elites), whom Braun considers to be in an alliance against Poland and its core values under the name of the “Gdańsk Pact”.

Earth Ethics and American Catholic Environmentalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 146-162
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
The Us ◽  
American Catholic ◽  
Activist Groups ◽  
The Catholic Church

This chapter notes that American Catholics were initially quite reluctant to embrace environmentalism. It asks, after decades of political engagement with labor, poverty, peace, women’s rights, and immigration, why did US Catholics largely overlook the growing environmental problems in the twentieth century? And what caused this to change in the early twenty-first century? The chapter summarizes early Catholic efforts to promote environmentalism and describes the initial responses of the Catholic Church and its members, who often prioritized human needs over environmental matters. It also describes how the Catholic Church and Catholic laypeople started placing greater emphasis on the environment toward the end of the twentieth century. The chapter then surveys the main themes of various Catholic teachings and publications—from the US Catholic Bishops Conference’s Renewing the Earth (1991) to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si (2015)—that have given impetus to more Catholic environmental action. The chapter concludes with a description of the work of two activist groups: the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, an ecumenical organization, and Catholic Climate Change.

The poetry of accumulation: Irish-American fables of resistance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamonn Wall
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Frank Mccourt ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mary Gordon ◽  
American Catholic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
American Authors ◽  
The Catholic Church

Eamonn Wall’s discussion of Irish American Catholic experience reveals many similarities on either side of the pond, and some differences also. The Irish American authors and commentators provide unique perspectives on many facets of Irish life, including the unique role played by the Catholic Church. Among the authors discussed are Frank McCourt, whose account of a poor Catholic childhood in Limerick is so memorably captured in the best-seller, Angela’s Ashes, Colum McCann, Colm Tóibín and Mary Gordon. Similarly, the theologian Richard P. McBrien, journalist and writer Maureen Dezell, and sociologist Andrew Greely combine to illustrate the impact that the Irish Church has had on its American equivalent. Wall maintains that looking towards Ireland from the US, and drawing on American notions of egalitarianism and individual freedom, sometimes allows for a more dispassionate view of Ireland’s Catholic heritage and enables envisaging its future with a far greater clarity than can be achieved when change is all around you.

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