Western Religion Today

2019 ◽  
pp. 47-68
Author(s):  
Paul Gifford
Keyword(s):  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Western Modernity ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
World Council ◽  
Western Religion ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Cognitive Shift ◽  
Academic Theology ◽  
Victorian Age

This chapter argues that Western religion today, besides losing public importance, has also largely been transformed in accordance with this cognitive shift to the ‘this-worldly’. The chapter shows how arguments like ‘believing but not belonging’ and ‘vicarious religion’ do not discredit the secularization thesis; nor does the idea that Christianity gave rise to Western modernity and therefore the West must be religious. The decreasing salience of Christianity became undeniable in the Victorian age. The 1960s saw this trend intensified and diffused more widely; this cognitive shift is illustrated in both the workings of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and in the World Council of Churches Uppsala Assembly (1968). The Christianity that the mainline Western churches exhibit today has become internally secularized, evidenced in characteristic works of modern academic theology.

Roman Catholic Contacts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurjen A. Zeilstra
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The 1960S

Chapter 8 deals with Visser ’t Hooft’s lengthy campaign to have the Roman Catholic Church join the World Council of Churches. It traces developments from the beginning when Protestant ecumenicity was firmly rejected, to the later history from the 1960s onwards. It explores Visser ’t Hooft’s contacts with the Dutch Roman Catholics Jo Willibrands and Frans Thijssen and early attempts at rapprochement, including the creation of the Joint Working Group. The chapter discusses the difference in agendas, and developments during and arising from the Second Vatican Council. It then relates the history of ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic Church in connection with the Roman Catholic movement under successive popes away from membership of the World Council.

Pivotal Years: 1948–1965

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorelei Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

The chapter considers key ecumenical developments in the period 1948–65, between the founding of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the closing of the Second Vatican Council, at which the Catholic Church finally embraced the ecumenical movement. Explaining how that period can be seen as pivotal in the history of the movement, it tracks the developing understanding of the ecumenical challenge reflected in successive assemblies of the WCC and conferences on Faith and Order, both at world level and in North America, and the growing desire for Catholic engagement in the ecumenical movement manifested particularly in the activities of the Catholic Conference for Ecumenical Questions. It then considers the teaching of Vatican II on ecumenism, for example, regarding degrees of communion, and the impact of Catholic participation on the ecumenical movement, notably in the practice of bilateral dialogues.

Unity in Reconciled Diversity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harding Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Many

This chapter considers the development of the idea of the ecumenical goal as one of unity in reconciled diversity. From the 1920s, the ecumenical movement was committed to a visible unity, generally understood as requiring organic union. Confession was seen as opposed to oikoumene. However, particularly as a result of the many bilateral dialogues between the confessions that began following the entry of the Roman Catholic Church into the ecumenical movement after the Second Vatican Council, a rethinking of the value of confessions occurred. The dialogues have often achieved a differentiated consensus which does not abolish all differences but removes their church-dividing character, and the idea of unity in reconciled diversity has correspondingly taken shape. Examining that idea and responding to various critiques of it, the chapter maintains that it can be seen as fully compatible with the formula of unity agreed by the World Council of Churches at New Delhi in 1961.

The Background for Discussing Christian Tradition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Mutual Dependence ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Common Lines ◽  
The Common ◽  
Hans Georg Gadamer

In the post-Reformation controversy over the roles of Scripture and tradition, many theologians misread the Council of Trent as if it had taught that Scripture and tradition are two ‘materially’ separate and equally valid ‘sources’ (plural) of revelation. But Trent reserved the term ‘source’ for the ‘Gospel’, or one revealed message of salvation in Christ. When a personal (rather than a propositional) view of revelation as primary emerged, along with a recognition of the mutual dependence of Scripture and tradition, the stage was set for an ecumenical convergence on tradition. This substantial convergence appeared in a 1963 report of the Faith and Order Commission (of the World Council of Churches) and the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. The common lines of thinking, inspired in part by Yves Congar, Gerhard Ebeling, and Hans-Georg Gadamer, provide a background for discussing tradition today.

Third World Theological Priorities

1987 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kortright Davis
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The Third ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Third World ◽  
First World ◽  
New Tradition

How does one properly account for the rise of theological ferment in the Third World, when so much of the theological activity in that region is so closely related to what happens (or fails to happen) in the First World? To what extent can the decisions of the Second Vatican Council, or the programs of the World Council of Churches, or the initiatives of the Mission Boards in North America, be given credit for the emergence of Third World theologies? Or how do we explain the paradox that in spite of two decades in the growth and development of local theologies in the Third World, much of the way in which Third World churches conduct their business and their worship still fails to reflect such developments? Who sets the priorities for theology in the Third World? What is the procedure for its validation and official acceptance? When does the local church know that it is safe to shift from the received tradition to the new tradition? All these are questions of farreaching significance, for they bear on the very heart of authentic Christianity as it is proclaimed and practised in the Third World. Third World Christians must determine for themselves when and how they will theologize in their own language, in which they were born (Acts 2.8). Third World theologians have stepped out in front and have taken some initiatives for themselves, and among themselves.

scholarly journals Modernity and contemporaneity in dialogue with the heritage

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 158-169
Author(s):  
João Luís Marques
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Young Professionals ◽  
Parish Church ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Worship Space ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Art And Architecture ◽  
The Church

Since the 1960s, the artistic and architectural interventions carried out in the church of Santa Isabel and Rato Chapel, in Lisbon, brought to the debate the overlap of different narratives in these two different spaces of worship: the first, is a parish church preserved by the earthquake of Lisbon (1755), which had its liturgical space redesigned before the Second Vatican Council; the second, is a private chapel annexed to a 18th century palace that became a symbolic worship space for students and engaged young professionals since the 1970s. Enriched with the work of either well-known artists or, sometimes, anonymous architects, the two case studies show us the life of monuments, where Modern and Contemporary Art and Architecture participate in preserving and enhancing their cultural value. At the same time, the liturgical and pastoral activities are shown to be the engine behind successive interventions.

Catholic Feminist Theology

2016 ◽  
pp. 832-849
Author(s):  
Danielle Nussberger
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Feminist Theology ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Feminist Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter charts the history of Catholicism’s feminist theology. It begins with an overview of contexts that contributed to the development of Catholic feminist theology, with particular emphasis on the role of the Second Vatican Council (1963–1965) in the surge of feminist theological dialogue that began in the Catholic Church in the 1960s and 1970s. It then considers various feminist theories that differed in their strategies for overcoming injustice against women, especially the first-, second-, and third-wave feminisms. It also examines Catholic feminist theology’s viewpoints on the methodological concerns of hermeneutics, language, and praxis, along with its interpretation of Scripture and Christian history, what language we should be using to name and call upon the God in whom we believe, Jesus’ redemption of humanity from sin; Mary and the saints; Trinity; and creation.

From Confession to Reconciliation, Vatican II to 2015

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Carey
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Paradigmatic Shift ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Church

This chapter delineates the dramatic decline between 1960 and 2015 in the practice of sacramental penance and other penitential practices and a weakened consciousness of the biblical penitential language associated with the practices. The American cultural revolution of the 1960s and the paradigmatic shift in theology at the Second Vatican Council influenced those developments. The post-conciliar church, however, created new sacramental rites of confession that emphasized the social and ecclesial dimensions of sin and reconciliation, hoping to generate a renewed penitential consciousness. A loss of the sense of sin, though, made it very difficult for popes, bishops, and priests to revive the penitential confessional tradition. In its long history, the church experienced major changes in the theology and practice of penance, but the rapidity of the change in the fifty years after Vatican II was unprecedented, with the possible exception of the changes that took place during the Protestant Reformation.

On Their Own Behalf

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Mary J. Henold
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Feminist Movement ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Catholic Women ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

This chapter introduces the argument that Catholic laywomen expanded on the changes of Vatican II by exploring shifting understandings of gender on a large scale in the ten years following the Second Vatican Council. The historical record reveals a significant output of written material in these years, written by laywomen, and intended to probe unsettled questions about gender rising in those uncertain times. Despite the official church’s reluctance to reassess its teaching on gender roles, moderate and often non-feminist laywomen used ideas from the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s to challenge accepted definitions of Catholic womanhood. In particular, Catholic women questioned the immutability of gender roles, and the accepted and wide-spread teaching of complementarity. They also challenged narrow conceptions of laywomen’s vocation, both spiritual and professional.

scholarly journals A Decade of Ecumenical Dialogue on Canon Law

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-328
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Church Law

In the decades that followed the close of the Second Vatican Council, great progress was made in the dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. During that period, the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) was founded in 1967 by Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury (Michael Ramsey). The rich and common heritage shared by Anglicans and Roman Catholics found expression in the work and statements of ARCIC. In the background was the work of theologians, historians, liturgists and Scripture scholars, and many relationships were being cultivated locally in dioceses and parishes around the world. While the possible significance of Church law had been recognised in the 1974 World Council of Churches Report, Christian Unity and Church Law, there has been no sustained discussion of canon law in the work of ARCIC.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document