Accounting as Personal Apology

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larita J. Killian
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Personal Morality ◽  
Moral Position ◽  
Just Price ◽  
Double Entry ◽  
The Catholic Church

ABSTRACT What is the role of accounting? Typically, accounting is viewed as a technology to inform business decisions, such as allocation of economic resources within the marketplace. In contrast, public interest scholars emphasize the social role of accounting. For example, accounting mediates relationships among various parties, impacts social outcomes, and justifies the distribution of economic rewards. This paper contributes to the public interest perspective by exploring the origin of double-entry accounting (DEA) as a form of personal apologia. To develop the thesis that DEA originated as a form of personal apology, this paper draws from modern and medieval scholars. During the medieval period, profit seeking and markets were deeply suspect and, thus, medieval merchants occupied a precarious social and moral position. The Catholic Church was active in determining the “just price” for goods. Personal morality and just, balanced relationships were primary factors in the development of DEA. Confession and penance, sacraments of the Catholic Church, may have provided the model. The thesis that DEA originated as a form of personal apology is plausible. The contemporary, widespread use personal carbon-offset accounting (PCOA) illustrates that accounting retains the power to help construct the moral self and to mediate the individual's status within the community.

scholarly journals Kościół katolicki w Polsce w przestrzeni życia publicznego - analiza socjologiczna

Politeja ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 14 (1(46)) ◽  
pp. 141-166
Author(s):  
Janusz Mariański
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Rejection Reaction ◽  
Public Controversy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Polish Society ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Poland in the area of public life: A sociological analysis For the last few years, a slow process of a specific “cooling down” of religious and Church commitment has been taking place in Poland. In this article we assume that religiosity with institutional protection still plays an important role in the Church landscape of Polish society and the sphere of public life. In Poland, a positive attitude vis‑à‑vis the Catholic Church is an important determinant of one’s religiosity. Individuals who do not have confidence in the Church, and who evaluate it negatively as an institution, tend to participate less in religious practices, and their faith seems to be weakening. Religiosity and commitment to the Catholic Church in Poland are very closely related to each other. There are no major discrepancies in the opinion as to the extent of the secularization of society among Polish sociologists, but there are differences in the assessment and understanding in terms of the social role of the Church. Discussions on the position and role of the Catholic Church in society still go on, and we are far from a conclusive diagnosis, especially regarding our understanding and acceptance of a “model Church” that should function in a democratic and pluralistic society. The final answers remain in the realm of hypotheses and assumptions. The majority of Poles are convinced about the Church’s influence in various spheres of public life, including the political sphere. This view is predominant among almost two thirds of adult Poles, but also among the youth (even to a somewhat greater extent). This means that the Church is perceived by part of Polish society as a quasi‑political institution, or at least one that attempts to fulfill political functions. This view, which is quite popular among Poles, has been maintained at a relatively stable level since 1989. Among those who believe that the Church takes up too much space in the public life of Poland are found those people in whom every reference to public matters results in a rejection reaction, as well as among those who take on a moderate attitude, who consider that it would be better if the Church were less involved in matters of public life, particularly political. Most Poles accepts the principle of separation of Church and state, even though close to half of those surveyed have nothing against authorities who follow the Catholic social teaching. The views of many Poles on the place and role of the Church in the public life of the nation are to a certain extent ambivalent, and even inconsistent and incoherent. A major subject of public controversy is the presence of religious symbols in public life space, although most of Polish society speaks about such symbols with approval.

scholarly journals To Conscience First, and to the Pope (Long) Afterwards? British Catholics and Their Attitudes Towards Morality and Structural Issues Concerning the Catholic Church

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clements ◽  
Stephen Bullivant
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Personal Morality ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract Background The attitudes of Catholics in Britain have undergone significant liberalisation on social moral issues across recent decades, whilst the reputation of the Catholic Church has suffered due to public opposition to its traditional teachings on such issues. But there has been comparatively little recent investigation into British Catholics’ views on these debates using surveys aimed at this religious community. Purpose This article examines the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity amongst Catholics in Britain on core debates affecting the Catholic Church. The aims are to examine, firstly, which groups within the British Catholic Community are more likely to conform to or to dissent from the Church’s teachings and, secondly, whether the socio-demographic and religious correlates of attitudes vary across different types of issue. Methods This article uses a new, nationally representative survey of Catholic adults in Britain (n = 1823). The survey is used to examine the sources of variation in Catholics’ attitudes towards a range of issues relating to the Roman Catholic Church. These issues relate to the priesthood, personal morality, and sinful behaviours. OLS models are used to assesses the relative impact of socio-demographic, religious socialisation, and religious commitment variables. Results The findings show that women are consistently more liberal in their views than men. Greater religious commitment is always associated with support for the traditional teachings of the Church. Conclusions and Implications Exploring the sources of attitudinal heterogeneity among Catholics, we provide new insights into the internal dynamics of ‘Britain’s largest minority’. We conclude by discussing the potential effects of increasing ‘nonversion’ for interpreting religious statistics—a topic of relevance beyond the denominational and geographical confines of this study’s explicit focus.

scholarly journals Pedagogia Prymasa Tysiąclecia Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Bogusław Śliwerski
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Catholic Church

Pedagogy of the Primate of the Millennium, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński An analysis of source texts and selected biographical studies of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński was carried out from the perspectives of the processes of secularization taking place in Poland in the year AD 2020, the radical attacks of left-wing politicians on the Catholic Church and its relationship with the current governing coalition known as the United Right [Zjednoczona Prawica]. This strikes at the foundations of the Second Vatican Council and the role of the Polish Church in regaining the nation’s freedom from socialist domination in 1989. The author therefore recalls not only the exceptional merits of the Polish Primate during the period of totalitarianism of the „People’s Poland” [Polska Ludowa], but also his message to educator-practitioners, parents, and scientists.

scholarly journals Ekumeniczna działalność świeckich dworzan cesarza Justyna I (518-527) w świetle ich korespondencji z Rzymem

Vox Patrum ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 319-325
Author(s):  
Stanisław Koczwara
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Important Thing ◽  
Apostolic See ◽  
The Catholic Church

Taking over the throne in 518 by the Emperor Justin I impacted on the emperor's court to change politics in order to support of the Chalcedonian Synod. The most important thing was that, the Emperor as well as his supporting courtiers, took into consideration the main role of the Apostolic See in protecting truth religion. Courtly guardians of Chalcedon such as the Empress Eufemia, Justinian's relative a commander of the Court Guard Vitalian, maids of honour: Anastasia, Palmacja Julianan Anicia, Celer, Pompeius, German were successful in making an ecumenical effort to restore the union in the Catholic Church.

Master Durand Andree and the Sacrament of Penance as a Moment of Danger

2021 ◽  
pp. 122-143
Author(s):  
Nicole Archambeau
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

This chapter considers the sacrament of penance as one of the most dangerous moments Countess Delphine’s witnesses have ever faced. It describes the testimonies of several witnesses that indicated that the sacrament was a moment they believed things could go terribly wrong. It also notes the changes in the sacrament of penance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which showed extremes presented in the writings of reformers of the Catholic Church. The chapter discusses how the witnesses’ experiences reveal the stresses of the sacrament of penance on pious people who had access to trained confessors or might even be confessors themselves. It elaborates how their testimonies show that it was difficult for them to understand the proliferation of sins and the role of penitential acts in forgiveness.

The Catholic Church and the Kivu Conflict

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard Prunier
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
North And South ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractThis paper examines the role of the Catholic Church in the armed conflict that has engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1993. The conflict itself has two dimensions. Since 1996 the DRC has been at the centre of a major war that has spilled well beyond its borders, embroiling neighbouring states and others further afield. Less well known is the local struggle, in the eastern part of the country in the two provinces of North and South Kivu, which began three years earlier. While having a dynamic of its own, Kivu's fate has become entwined in the wider international conflict. Given its large constituency and immense wealth and infrastructure, the Catholic Church has come to wield enormous influence in the DRC, particularly in the context of a declining state. It was a key player in the movement for democratisation in the early 1990s and more recently it has sought to offer moral guidance on the conflict. But its attempts to adopt a superior moral outlook have been severely tested by the fact that its clergy are now thoroughly zairianised, and have come to embody the ethnic and political prejudices of their respective communities.

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