The Catholic Church

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
Christian Family ◽  
The One ◽  
Cover Up ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Roman Catholicism stands at a crossroads, a classic ''best of times, worst of times'' moment. On the one hand, the Catholic Church remains by far the largest branch of the worldwide Christian family, and is growing at a remarkable clip. Yet the Church has also been rocked by a series of scandals related to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, and, even more devastating, the cover-up by the Church hierarchy. The decade-long crisis has taken a massive financial toll, but the blow to both the internal morale and the external moral standing of the Church has been even steeper. Today, the Church has enormous residual strength and exciting future prospects, but also faces steep internal and external challenges. The question of ''whither Catholicism'' is of vital public relevance, for believers and non-believers alike. In The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know, John L. Allen, Jr., one of the world's leading authorities on the Vatican, offers an authoritative and accessible guide to the past, present, and future of the Church. This updated edition includes a new chapter on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the election of Pope Francis, and his extraordinary tenure thus far.

Activities of the Catholic Church in the International Arena: Position of Pope Benedict XVI

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 128-135
Author(s):  
Ivan Danyliuk
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Activities ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The article analyzes the diplomatic activity of the Catholic Church on the internationalarena in the views of Pope Benedict XVI. The article briefly describes the activities of the Catholic Church and the Holy See in the international arena. An analysis of the interconnection between the Catholic Church and the Holy See is made, which is conditioned by the factual merger of the legal order of these institutions. The mission of the Church in the international activities is analyzed. The main focus of the article is made on the views of Pope Benedict XVI on the international activities of the Catholic Church and the Holy See. The article considers the main ideas of the Pope regarding international activities of the Catholic Church and the Holy See, as well as the proposals of Benedict XVI to the international community. Benedict XVI’s critics of the United Nations structures were analyzed, as well as his proposals regarding United Nations reforms and the formation of «true world political authority». Also, the article considered issues that were actualized by Pope Benedict XVI on the international scene, namely: the protection of human rights and freedoms, the protection of religious freedom, responsibility for protection, the issue of peace and refugees. Keywords: Catholic Church, Holy See, Vatican, diplomacy, international relations

scholarly journals Charismatic Leadership in the Catholic Church

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-157
Author(s):  
Irina Borsch ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The article analyzes the ideas of charismatic leadership developed in the Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century. These ideas are connected, on the one hand, with the biblical revival, with the attempts to rediscover the heritage of the Church of the first centuries, and on the other hand, with new social phenomena, which are typical for the era after the Second World War. The social dimension of charisma and its role in the creation of associations were rediscovered in Catholicism during the Second Vatican Council. At the same time, a huge number of new social and evangelical initiatives appealing to charisma appeared. The new church movements became the most prominent and well-known examples of catholic “charismatic associations”. The author shows how the Catholic hierarchy managed to streamline and incorporate the charismatic leadership of lay associations into the reality of the universal church structure. The article emphasizes that the concept of charismatic leadership in the Church is in the process of evolution. The author concludes that the documents of church governance, proclaiming the absence of a conflict between charisma and institution in theory, reflect the political processes of the contemporary Catholic era: the emergence of Catholic movements with a predominant role of laity, the change of generations of Catholic elites and the formation of a new balance of responsibility between movements and the church hierarchy.

Roman Catholicism and Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 436-457
Author(s):  
Petr Kratochvíl
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Political ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
The Church ◽  
Hostile Attitude ◽  
The Catholic Church

This chapter explores the complex relationship between the Catholic Church and Europe over many centuries. It argues that the Catholic Church and Europe played a mutually constitutive role in the early Middle Ages and one would not be conceivable without the other. However, the Church gradually disassociated itself from Europe and vice versa. Since the Reformation, but even more strongly in the last two centuries, the Church’s attitude to Europe has become markedly more ambivalent, due to the rise of the European state, the hostile attitude of the Church to modern European social and political thought, Europe’s ongoing secularization, and the increasingly global nature of the Catholic Church. While the tension between the Church and Europe persists, the process of European unification marked a watershed in the Church’s relationship to Europe, given that integration is a key area in which the Church strongly supports the political developments of the continent.

scholarly journals Rugby (the religion of Wales) and its influence on the Catholic church: should Pope Benedict XVI be worried?

BMJ ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 337 (dec17 2) ◽  
pp. a2768-a2768 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C Payne ◽  
R. E Payne ◽  
D. M Farewell
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Catholic Church

scholarly journals Political Church, Procedural Europe, and the Creation of the Islamic Other

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Mavelli
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractTaking the cue from the controversial speech of Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in 2006, this paper explores the connection between the apparently divergent positions taken by the Catholic Church and the European secular establishment on the question of European identity and Islam. The argument is advanced that the proceduralism of the European secular establishment contributes to breed its nemesis, a conservative politicised church, but also converges with it in identifying Islam as 'the Other.' It is thus asked whether a critical valorisation of Europe's emotional attachments may not actually strengthen its capacity to embrace the 'difference' represented by Islam.

scholarly journals Identité, islam et catholicisme allemand

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Baudry
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Future ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church ◽  
General Perspective ◽  
The Catholic Church

This papers analyses the speech by Benedict XVI at the University of Ratisbonne. I focus on a often overlooked aspect of this speech: the critic of Modernity and the general perspective for the future of religions. Benedict XVI develops an analysis of the place of the Church through the concepts of ‘faith’, ‘reason’, ‘violence’. The apologetic tone is clear: only the Catholic Church has maintened a “reasonable religion“ according to the Pope. But he defends an international perspective for the Church in a globalised world and sketch a manifesto for Catholicism in a multicultural civilisation.

Public Revelation and Private Revelation

2018 ◽  
pp. 45-70
Author(s):  
Daniel Maria Klimek
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Theological Authority ◽  
Marian Apparitions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Official Status ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Beginning with a study of the Catholic Church’s theology of public revelation and private revelations, the chapter considers what is the theological authority that private revelations (like Marian apparitions) have and what is the relationship that such revelations have to Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the development of doctrine in Roman Catholicism. The official norms that the Catholic Church uses to evaluate the authenticity of visionaries, their apparitions and revelations, are studied, as promulgated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1978. The work of the Catholic scholars Augustin Poulain and Benedict Groeschel is considered to better understand the complexities of discerning true from false revelations. The final section considers which Church authorities can intervene in investigating an apparition site, and what has been the Church response and official status regarding the Medjugorje apparitions.

‘Let history judge who was to blame’, 1990–1998

2019 ◽  
pp. 159-198
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Scull
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
Good Friday Agreement ◽  
One Step ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Individuals within the Church, rather than the institution as a whole, became the main negotiators for peace after the revelations of clerical child abuse in the early 1990s. Priests like Fathers Alec Reid, Gerry Reynolds, and Denis Faul worked privately to convince paramilitary groups to lay down their weapons. The Church hierarchy was forced into a defensive position in order to protect its reputation as a moral arbiter after the child abuse revelations. The institutional Catholic Church was no longer able to play a role in the peace process by this point. However, individual priests who fostered relationships with their Protestant counterparts continued to act as negotiators for an end to the conflict. The signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement marked one step in the peace process but after this point the Catholic Church had no influence on these policies.

The Catholic Church, “Politics,” and Violence: The Colombian Case

1977 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H. Levine ◽  
Alexander W. Wilde
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Controversy ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The issue of politics and the Catholic Church in Latin America, relegated until recently to nineteenth-century historians, is very much alive today. On the one hand, the church as an institution is enmeshed in public controversy over human rights with repressive regimes from Paraguay to Panama, from Brazil to Chile. When it serves as a shelter for political and social dissent, it is accused by secular authorities of engaging in a “new clericalism.” On the other hand, it has been assailed by critics within for being wed to existing political powers. These radical clergy and lay people believe that the church's social presence is inevitably political, but want to change its alliances to benefit the poor and dispossessed. Furthermore, they believe that the existing order in given situations is aform of “institutionalized violence” against which the Christian response must be “counterviolence.” Such attacks from right and left occur, paradoxically, just at a time when the Latin American church has turned with unprecedented resolve to fundamental pastoral tasks. Politics has thus become a problem just as the hierarchy can claim, with considerable justification, to have eschewedthe practice of partisanship and the pursuit of power.

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