Piety and Privilege

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom O'Donoghue ◽  
Judith Harford
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The State ◽  
Financial Cost ◽  
The Public ◽  
Secondary School Education ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
The Church

During the period 1922–1967 the Catholic Church in Ireland opposed any notion of joint responsibility between laity and clergy for secondary school education. The State also permitted the Church to pursue its major interest in education in secondary schools. Unhindered, the Church thus was able to promote within the schools sets of practices aimed at ‘the salvation of souls’ and at the reproduction of a loyal middle class along with priests, brothers, and nuns to maintain and expand the institution. The State for its part supported that arrangement as the Church also acted on its behalf in aiming to produce a literate and numerate citizenry, in pursuing nation building and in ensuring the preparation of an adequate number of secondary school graduates to address the needs of the public service and the professions. All of that took place at a financial cost much lower than the provision of a totally State-funded system of schooling would have entailed.

A Marginalized Laity

2021 ◽  
pp. 142-161
Author(s):  
Tom O’Donoghue ◽  
Judith Harford
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Secondary Schooling ◽  
The Public ◽  
Lay Teachers ◽  
Catholic Clergy ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
The Church

For the period 1922–1967 the Catholic Church opposed any notion of joint responsibility between laity and clergy for primary and secondary schooling. It did so in order to be able to pursue unhindered its major interest in schooling, which was ‘the salvation of souls’ and the production of priests, brothers, nuns, and a loyal middle class. Further, the State cooperated with the Church because in doing so it was able to pursue its own aim of producing a literate and numerate citizenry, pursuing nation building, and preparing an adequate number of secondary school graduates to address the requirements of the public service and the professions without having to provide schools. The Church legitimated the involvement of the teaching religious in associated practices with parents, school inspectors, and lay teachers. Relatedly, it worked to try to ensure that the voices of educationists who were not religious received little hearing in relation to education policy-making. A small number of secondary schools run largely by lay Catholics were able to operate. The individuals in question, in establishing these schools, quietly contested the hegemony of the Catholic clergy and religious in the provision of education, and indicated what might be possible in the future.

A Christian in the Office of Constitutional Judge [1999]

2020 ◽  
pp. 280-287
Author(s):  
Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde ◽  
Mirjam Künkler ◽  
Tine Stein
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
The State ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
The World ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
The Church

In this personal reflection, Böckenförde portrays the dilemma he faced during his tenure as a judge on Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court: trying to bridge his Christian Catholic spirituality with his work as a high-ranking public servant in a secular state. He describes his struggle with the Catholic teachings prior to Second Vaticanum, which at that time still defined the state as ideally Catholic and demanded every believer in public office to act as a vanguard for Christian natural law. But by committing himself to the public good, Böckenförde sidestepped the requirement of the Catholic Church and fully embraced the democratic, religiously neutral political order. Böckenförde justified his position (deviant in the eyes of the Church) by insisting on the strict neutrality demanded from a judge. He pointed to the so-called Church Compromise of the Weimar Republic (Weimarer Kirchenkompromiss), which established the neutrality of the state with regard to religion, and which was re-adopted in West Germany after 1949. He also relinquished his consultative role in the Central Committee of Catholics once he was nominated to the Constitutional Court. Even in cases affecting abortion, he only dealt with the issues at hand as a judge, not as a Catholic. In his view, Christian spirituality can manifest itself in faithfulness to one's office and an integrity that is open to the world.

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDEPENDENT LATVIA

Via Latgalica ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Vladislavs Malahovskis
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The State ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Church

The aim of the paper is to reflect the political activities of the Roman Catholic Church in two periods of the history of Latvia and the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia – in the period of First Independence of the Republic of Latvia, basically in the 1920s, and in the period following the restoration of Latvia’s independence. With the foundation of the independent state of Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church experienced several changes; - bishops of the Roman Catholic Church were elected from among the people; - the Riga diocese was restored the administrative borders of which were coordinated with the borders of the state of Latvia; - priests of the Roman Catholic Church were acting also in political parties and in the Latvian Parliament. For the Church leadership, active involvement of clergymen in politics was, on the one hand, a risky undertaking (Francis Trasuns’ experience), but, on the other hand, a necessary undertaking, since in this way the Roman Catholic Church attempted to exercise control over politicians and also affect the voters in the elections for the Saeima. The status of the Church in the State of Latvia was legally secured by the concordat signed in the spring of 1922 which provided for a range of privileges to the Roman Catholic Church: - other Christian denominations in Latvia are functioning in accordance with the regulations elaborated by the State Control and confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior, but the Roman Catholic Church is functioning according to the canons set by the Vatican; - releasing the priests from military service, introduction of the Chaplaincy Institution; - releasing the churches, seminary facilities, bishops’ apartments from taxes; - a license for the activity of Roman Catholic orders; - the demand to deliver over one of the church buildings belonging to Riga Evangelical Lutherans to the Roman Catholics. With the regaining of Latvia’s independence, the Roman Catholic Church of Latvia again took a considerable place in the formation of the public opinion and also in politics. However, unlike the parliamentarian period of the independent Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church prohibited the priests to involve directly in politics and considered it unadvisable to use the word “Christian” in the titles of political parties. Nowadays, the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in politics is indirect. The Church is able to influence the public opinion, and actually it does. The Roman Catholic Church does not attempt to grasp power, but to a certain extent it can, at least partly, influence the authorities so that they count with the interests of Catholic believers. Increase of popularity of the Roman Catholic Church in the world facilitated also the increase of the role of the Roma Catholic Church in Latvia. The visit of the Pope in Latvia in 1993 was a great event not only for the Catholic believers but also for the whole state of Latvia. In the autumn of 2002, in Rome, a concordat was signed between the Republic of Latvia and the Vatikan which is to be classified not only as an agreement between the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia and the state of Latvia but also as an international agreement. Since the main foreign policy aim of Latvia is integration in the European Union and strengthening its positions on the international arena, Vatican as a powerful political force was and still is a sound guarantee and support in international relations.

A Privileged Minority at their Desks

2021 ◽  
pp. 62-85
Author(s):  
Tom O’Donoghue ◽  
Judith Harford
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Emotional Development ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
The State ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
State Initiatives ◽  
Secondary School Curriculum ◽  
The Church ◽  
Development Of Students

The Catholic Church and the State supported each other in their pursuit of their respective interests in schooling in Ireland. That was particularly so in relation to the secondary school curriculum. The interest of the Church was in maintaining an all-pervasive religious atmosphere justified by reference to its overt aim of using the schools as an instrument for enhancing ‘the salvation of souls’. Concurrently, it supported successive governments in the pronounced emphasis they placed on promoting the Irish language and Gaelic culture, including through the secondary schools. Further, on occasions when it perceived State initiatives in that domain over-zealous failure to have them implemented was due primarily to the Church having the upper hand in the partnership. At the same time, tension never spilled over into displays of public acrimony. A desire on the part of both institutions not to jeopardize the promotion of the intellectual and emotional development of students only in a very narrow sense served to maintain harmony, as it facilitated the deeper interest of both institutions in maintaining their power among the majority of the population.

Poland

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Pope John Paul Ii ◽  
National Values ◽  
The Impact ◽  
State Socialist ◽  
The Church

The chapter on Poland focuses on two questions. Why, in contrast to all other state-socialist countries, did the church’s capacity for integration actually increase rather than decrease despite persecution and discrimination during the communist period? And why has this capacity also remained more or less constant (albeit to a lesser extent) in the period since the end of communist rule? The authors have identified four key factors in the remarkable resistance of the Polish Catholic Church during the period of communist persecution: the fusion of religious and national values, the specific conflict dynamics of the church’s struggle with the state, the structural conservatism of agricultural production in Poland, and the actions of Pope John Paul II. Explanations for the surprising stability of religiosity in Poland after 1990 point to the behaviour of the Church itself, to the internal pluralization of Catholicism, and to the impact of a homogeneous religious culture.

A Catholic Inclusive Approach to Homosexuality in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-408
Author(s):  
Daniel Ude Asue
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Inclusive Approach ◽  
Inclusive Society ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

This essay discusses Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill in Nigeria, with a focus on the contribution of the Nigerian Catholic Church to the law. Though the Catholic Church in Nigeria did not actively contribute towards the public debates about homosexuality that resulted into the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill it nevertheless welcomed the bill. However, the official teachings of the Catholic Church and elucidations from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria could potentially contribute to creating an inclusive society. In what way can we potentially utilize the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to make room for an inclusion of homosexual persons in the life of the church and in society?

A „Katolikus Akció” néven társult szervezkedés Marosvásárhelyen és Ágotha Endre papi életútja

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-176
Author(s):  
Mária Csatlós
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
The State ◽  
Peace Movement ◽  
Catholic Action ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Parish Priest ◽  
Political Actions ◽  
The Church ◽  
Life Work ◽  
The Catholic Church

With the available archival resources and through exploring the life, work and political actions of Endre Ágotha, the dean and parish priest of Nyárádselye I trace the unfolding and failing of the schismatic catholic peace movement legitimated in Marosvásárhely in the period 1950-1956. The state backed “Catholic Action” did not succeed in severing the Catholic Church in Romania from Rome by settling the “pending cases” between the church and the state and only a small portion of the clergy joined the movement, yet it has made significant moral damages by dividing the believers and the clergy. The Holy See condemned the movement and it’s key figure Endre Ágotha has brought upon himself the harshest punishment of the Catholic Church: excommunicates vitandus. He received absolution only on his deathbed.

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

The 1912 Duma Elections: The State, the Opposition and the Clergy

Orthodoxia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
F. A. Gayda
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

This article deals with the political situation around the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1912 (4th convocation). The main actors of the campaign were the government, local administration, liberal opposition and the clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church. After the 1905 revolution, the “official Church” found itself in a difficult situation. In particular, anti-Church criticism intensified sharply and was expressed now quite openly, both in the press and from the rostrum of the Duma. A consequence of these circumstances was that in this Duma campaign, for the first time in the history of Russian parliamentarianism, “administrative resources” were widely used. At the same time, the authorities failed to achieve their political objectives. The Russian clergy became actively involved in the election campaign. The government sought to use the conflict between the liberal majority in the third Duma and the clerical hierarchy. Duma members launched an active criticism of the Orthodox clergy, using Grigory Rasputin as an excuse. Even staunch conservatives spoke negatively about Rasputin. According to the results of the election campaign, the opposition was even more active in using the label “Rasputinians” against the Holy Synod and the Russian episcopate. Forty-seven persons of clerical rank were elected to the House — three fewer than in the previous Duma. As a result, the assembly of the clergy elected to the Duma decided not to form its own group, but to spread out among the factions. An active campaign in Parliament and the press not only created a certain public mood, but also provoked a political split and polarization within the clergy. The clergy themselves were generally inclined to blame the state authorities for the public isolation of the Church. The Duma election of 1912 seriously affected the attitude of the opposition and the public toward the bishopric after the February revolution of 1917.

scholarly journals Minister-Permanent Secretary Relationships: Lessons from Zimbabwe’s Government of national Unity

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Tawanda Zinyama ◽  
Joseph Tinarwo
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
The State ◽  
Team Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Public administration is carried out through the public service. Public administration is an instrument of the State which is expected to implement the policy decisions made from the political and legislative processes. The rationale of this article is to assess the working relationships between ministers and permanent secretaries in the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. The success of the Minister depends to a large degree on the ability and goodwill of a permanent secretary who often has a very different personal or professional background and whom the minster did not appoint. Here lies the vitality of the permanent secretary institution. If a Minister decides to ignore the advice of the permanent secretary, he/she may risk of making serious errors. The permanent secretary is the key link between the democratic process and the public service. This article observed that the mere fact that the permanent secretary carries out the political, economic and social interests and functions of the state from which he/she derives his/her authority and power; and to which he/she is accountable,  no permanent secretary is apolitical and neutral to the ideological predisposition of the elected Ministers. The interaction between the two is a political process. Contemporary administrator requires complex team-work and the synthesis of diverse contributions and view-points.

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