American Catholic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Hart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Roman Catholics ◽  
The Church

This book places the rise of the United States' political conservatism in the context of ferment within the Roman Catholic Church. How did Roman Catholics shift from being perceived as un-American to emerging as the most vocal defenders of the United States as the standard bearer in world history for political liberty and economic prosperity? This book charts the development of the complex relationship between Roman Catholicism and American conservatism, and it shows how these two seemingly antagonistic ideological groups became intertwined in advancing a certain brand of domestic and international politics. Contrary to the standard narrative, Roman Catholics were some of the most assertive political conservatives directly after World War II, and their brand of politics became one of the most influential means by which Roman Catholicism came to terms with American secular society. It did so precisely as bishops determined the church needed to update its teaching about its place in the modern world. Catholics grappled with political conservatism long before the supposed rightward turn at the time of the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The book follows the course of political conservatism from John F. Kennedy, the first and only Roman Catholic president of the United States, to George W. Bush, and describes the evolution of the church and its influence on American politics. By tracing the roots of Roman Catholic politicism in American culture, the book argues that Roman Catholicism's adaptation to the modern world, whether in the United States or worldwide, was as remarkable as its achievement remains uncertain.

Americanism Redux

2020 ◽  
pp. 184-208
Author(s):  
D. G. Hart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Constitutional Republic ◽  
Political Realities ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Teaching

This chapter investigates the use of Americanism to appropriate Roman Catholicism for the good of a nation. It recounts older Roman Catholic heresy claimed that the American political system was not at odds with church teaching, even though the United States seemed to stand for most of the social and political realities that nineteenth-century popes had condemned. It also talks about the Americanists in the nineteenth-century who argued that Vatican officials misread the United States, stating that the nation was far friendlier to Roman Catholicism than Europeans imagined. The chapter details how Americanists urged the church to update its polity to the nation's political sensibilities, a strategy that would make Roman Catholicism look less odd in the United States. It also highlights ways Americanists adapt Roman Catholicism to life in a secular, constitutional republic.

Belonging to an Ancient Church in a Modern Republic

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-40
Author(s):  
D. G. Hart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Major Party ◽  
Roman Catholics

This chapter talks about Al Smith as the first Roman Catholic to gain the nomination for president of the United States by a major party, the Democrats. It mentions Jacques Villeré, a Roman Catholic, who became the second governor of Louisiana. It also explores the political career of Smith and Villeré, which suggests that Americans were generally comfortable with Roman Catholics holding public office. The chapter refers to Charles C. Marshall, a New York attorney and member of the Episcopal Church, who reminded Americans of the incompatibility between Roman Catholicism and American politics. It details how Marshall pointed out the conflict between Roman Catholic canon law on marriage and the secular laws governing the institution in Protestant countries such as the United States and England.

scholarly journals INTRODUCTION

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
John Xxiii ◽  
Charles De Gaulle ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Pope John Xxiii ◽  
The Church

Charles de Gaulle famously called the Second Vatican Council the most important event in modern history. Many commentators at the time saw the Council as nothing short of revolutionary, and the later judgements of historians have upheld this view. The astonishing enterprise of a man who became, quite unexpectedly, Pope John XXIII in 1958, this purposeful aggiornamento of the Roman Catholic Church was almost at once a leviathan of papers, committees, commissions, and meetings. Scholars have been left to confront no less than twelve volumes of ‘ante-preparatory’ papers, seven volumes of preparatory papers, and thirty-two volumes of documents generated by the Council itself. A lasting impression of the impressiveness of the affair is often conveyed by photographs of the 2,200-odd bishops of the Church, drawn from around the world, sitting in the basilica of St Peter, a vast, orchestrated theatre of ecclesiastical intent. For this was the council to bring the Church into a new relationship with the modern world, one that was more creative and less defiant; a council to reconsider much – if not quite all – of the theological, liturgical, and ethical infrastructure in which Catholicism lived and breathed and had its being.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
D. G. Hart
Keyword(s):  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Moral Theology ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
The Press ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Roman Catholics ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Teaching ◽  
John Courtney Murray

This chapter focuses on how Roman Catholics became prominent players in conservative circles and provides an understanding on the affinity and tension between national and Roman Catholic traditions and ideals. It describes John F. Kennedy's kind of Roman Catholicism, which Americans and the press found acceptable. It also mentions John Courtney Murray, who was considered a potential breakthrough for Roman Catholicism that harmonizes church teaching with national ideals, unlike Kennedy whose electoral victory was an example of religious indifference. The chapter talks about Pope Leo XIII's 1899 condemnation of Americanism or adjustment of the church to freedom, democracy, and popular sovereignty as Roman Catholics were still laboring under papal opposition to modernity in the 1950s. It refers to John T. Noonan, Jr., who authored important books about the church's evolving moral theology.

Thoughts on War

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip S. Meilinger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modern World ◽  
World War ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Intelligence Gathering ◽  
Special Operations ◽  
Strategic Bombing ◽  
Principles Of War

In these provocative essays, military historian Phillip Meilinger explores timeless issues. Beginning with an iconoclastic look at the ideas of Carl von Clausewitz, Meilinger sees an unfortunate influence due to an emphasis on bloody battle, combined with a Euro-centric worldview. Moreover, Clausewitz’s dictum that war is an extension of policy actually says very little to guide modern world leaders. Other essays examine the nature of war in the twenty-first century, principles of war, the meaning of decisive victory, the importance of second front operations, the influence of time in battle, and a look at the first major amphibious and joint campaign of World War II in Norway. He also notes the crucial role played by service culture, and his controversial look at the American military tradition reveals that the US military has played a major role in politics throughout our history. An essay on unity of command in the Pacific during World War II reveals interservice rivalry and conflicting strategic views. Strategic bombing in World War II depended on new analytical tools, such as intelligence gathering. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey examined the results of those bombing campaigns in depth. The United States now engages in wars of choice and requires an international mandate to intervene to restore peace or destroy a terrorist group. We must therefore limit risk and cost, especially to the civilian populace. This leads to a new paradigm emphasizing the use of airpower, special operations forces, intelligence gathering and dissemination systems, and indigenous ground forces.

Patterns of Ecclesiastical Authority: The Problem of Chicago Succession, 1865–1881

1973 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-270
Author(s):  
James P. Gaffey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Ecclesiastical Authority

The inevitable tension between freedom and order within the Roman Catholic Church has ever been an attractive and rich subject of comment. Perhaps nowhere can this issue be studied with more seriousness and clarity than in the fragile equilibrium between American bishops and priests. The balance within clerical ranks in the United States has long represented a singular combination of authority and obedience which has sought to reconcile itself in a society historically egalitarian and devoid of feudal relationships.

Roman Catholics and Baptists in Dialogue

Ecclesiology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-92
Author(s):  
David M. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
Roman Catholics ◽  
The Church

This article provides an overview of the latest report of formal conversations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Baptist World Alliance, The Word of God in the Life of the Church (2010), drawing attention to points of ecclesiological interest. It begins by sketching the report’s historical and theological context in Baptist-Roman Catholic relations and dialogue before considering the aims, scope and methodology of the conversations. The article comments on the report’s treatment of its main themes: Scripture and tradition; Christian initiation; Mary as a model of discipleship; and the ministry of oversight. The article concludes that the report is a substantial theological convergence statement of broad ecumenical interest and significance.

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