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The Holy See is an absolute monarchy, both as a political and as a spiritual entity. The Second Vatican Council indicated, retrieving biblical terms and metaphors, a new way of giving value to the whole people of God, the laity (laos theou), constituted by baptism. Rather than a societas perfecta in a pyramidal system, the intention was to declericalise and in this sense democratise the church and its decision-making, not least seeking to secure its witness in an ever more secular world. Even if a sacramental and ontological difference is maintained, this indicates clergy are no longer a first class of believers against which the laity would be a second class; rather, they are rooted and stand with and within the whole people of God with their specific vocation and ordination. The notion of the royal and universal priesthood of believers, taken from 1 Peter 2:9 and emphasised by Luther and other reformers as they distributed power between ordained and not ordained leaders, was visible in the Second Vatican Council and finds new enactment in the synodality process which culminated in the Ordinary Synod in Rome, in October 2024. Based on his own theology of the people of God, developed during the dictatorship and economic oppression in Argentina, with strong cultural and religious connotations, Pope Francis seeks to further major involvement of the laity and especially of women in the church's administration and transformation processes. Not surprisingly, this process has been receiving criticism both from those who find it is not going far enough and from those who believe the process has already gone far too far. Based on bibliographical and documental research, the intention of this article is to describe and analyse the notion of the people of God as proposed by Pope Francis and its forms of concretisation including its deficiencies, as well as, in dialogue with ongoing debates on populism, highlight the precariousness of any "people" as a concept and as a reality. A dynamic notion of "people" and a theological accountability of the people and the clergy towards each other, towards God and towards the world can do justice to both the ambiguities and the irreplaceability of the people as citizens of the church as well as the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the Croatian framework of collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the educational field, specifically the teaching of Catholic religion in public schools. First, the statute of the subject of religion was analyzed, following what is established in the Agreement with the Holy See and its Development Agreement with the Croatian Conference of Bishops. Some challenges to this peculiar model of cooperation were revised, mainly the ones regarding the enrollment and the co-responsibility of both ecclesiastical and state authorities in the approval and control of programs and contents. Second, the status of religion teachers was also evaluated. The same ecclesiastical and state authorities also have competence over the teaching staff, from their training to the control of their work, and must confront inconvenient situations related to the suitability of these professionals. In the study of each section and its corresponding rules and practices, it was possible to outline singular aspects, in some cases recognized—or rejected—judicially as discriminatory. This approximation to the right to religious education intends to examine the practice observed by the respective authorities in applying such provisions. The obtained findings and proposals about the singular Croatian model provide a useful contribution for comparative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From its foundation in 1622, the Congregation de Propaganda Fide held supreme jurisdiction over all missionary activities of the Catholic Church at the global level, with authority coming directly from the pope. Its main goals were the expansion of the Catholic faith, the reaffirmation of papal spiritual primacy, and the promotion of Indigenous clergy throughout the world, which put Propaganda Fide in direct competition with secular rulers who also wanted to control missionary activities in their overseas territories. This article will examine one such conflict, namely that regarding Portugal and its royal patronage system in China. The Historical Archive of Propaganda Fide in the Vatican City holds extensive material concerning Portuguese patronage and China, which has remained relatively unknown and understudied. Through an examination of several of the most significant documents, such as the formal terms sent by the Portuguese court to the Holy See, the response of Propaganda Fide, and the final declaration of the Holy See, which would become the cornerstone for all future decisions over the patronage system, it is suggested that these negotiations about China are in fact central to a wider shift in global Catholic policy and politics in the field of missionary activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1622, a counter-reformist concept of the mission led to the foundation of Propaganda Fide, a congregation to which the Supreme Pontiffs entrusted various tasks at the global level, including the reassertion of the pope's authority over missionary activities, which had previously been dominated by European secular powers using the patronage system. In carrying out its mandate, the new Congregation also charged apostolic nuncios, almost entirely Italian, with collecting information from and establishing direct contacts with the states of Catholic Christianity and of missionary territories beyond. These nuncios not only performed activities of a religious nature but also served as diplomats and representatives of the pope, endowed with particular powers and faculties. This article introduces the role of apostolic nuncios and analyzes the results of the first of these sent by the Propaganda Fide to China, Charles Thomas Maillard de Tournon. It will show that, as the first papal legate to China, he was not entirely successful in his objectives, but his mission can be seen as a turning point in the history of relations between the Holy See and China and as an important episode which helps us to understand not only early Sino–papal relations but also the development of the new global vision of the Catholic Church as it was formulated by the Propaganda Fide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Leo XIII's publication of Aeterni Patris (1879) was a major factor in the great revival of Thomistic thought in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. Among the authors that took up the challenge implicit in the Pope's document of bringing Aquinas and his thought into the intellectual debates of the times we find two interesting proposals. The first is that of Juan González Arintero, a Spanish Dominican, and the second one is that of Josef Donat, a Jesuit born and raised in the Austrian Empire. Arintero is mostly known in Catholic circles for his influential works on mysticism, but in fact he devoted much of his early work to the subject of evolution, and how it could interact with the Catholic faith in general, and with Thomism in particular. Donat is the author of a Summa Philosophiae Christianae, a collection that was widely read in Catholic seminaries well into the 20th century. In this paper we will focus on the differing ways in which these authors tackled the problems and questions presented by Darwinian evolutionism to the post-Aeterni Patris Thomism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text explores the educational activities of French Roman Catholic missions in the nineteenth century, as they evolved from serving local Catholic needs to becoming crucial assets in advancing France's religious–cultural influences and the Holy See's efforts to unify Eastern Christian Churches under Rome. Focused on the Mission d'Orient, initiated during Pius IX's papacy, this study delves into the Assumptionists' educational activities in the Ottoman Empire (1863–1914), which aimed to inculturate the Christian communities of the Ottoman Empire, achieve union with Rome, and build a bridge of knowledge between the Ottoman Orient and Europe. Employing a transnational historical approach, this research utilizes primary sources from the Holy See and the Assumptionist Order, examining religious and educational interactions with Ottoman millets. This article argues that Assumptionist institutions succeeded in inculturation and acted as bridges for cultural exchange. The context includes the French protectorate of the Ottoman Empire, the protégé system, and the Capitulations of 1740, demonstrating the Holy See's use of political and religious alliances. The Assumptionists, influential in advancing the Holy See's interests, are studied regarding their engagement in France and the Orient. Despite valuable insights from existing research, this article seeks to fill gaps by using Assumptionists as a case study, exploring the specific impacts of their education on various religious groups within the context of France's religious–cultural imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research overviews of and historiography on the attitude of the Catholic Church and theologians towards athletes with intellectual and physical disabilities assume that the Church and theologians have only very recently begun to interest themselves in this subject. Starting from John Paul II's contribution to this field, and above all from his integral anthropological vision, this article assesses his position by comparing it with that of his two successors Benedict XVI and Francis. Especially the latter's addresses and interviews and the official documents on sport issued by the Holy See during his pontificate are testimony to his special commitment to athletes with disabilities. The article also examines the history of the Holy See and studies its attention to athletes with a disability. The results of this inquiry are that papal interest in this field is not limited to, nor did it start with the pontificate of John Paul II. Instead, it dates from the very beginning of the modern phenomenon of sport, with Pope Pius X at the beginning of the 20th century, continued by Pius XII and John XXIII. The latter's speech to the participants of the first Paralympic Games in 1960 is the strongest indication of a pre-John Paul II affirmation of disabled sport. This points to the importance of taking a more nuanced position in the current debate, although it is clear that Pope Francis must be considered the champion of the Holy See's commitment to the inclusion of athletes with a disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papacy's authority and standing in the sixteenth century were harmed by the Martin Luther Reformation and the sacking of Rome. In order to uphold the legitimacy of the papal theocracy and to restore the papacy's cultural and intellectual authority, Pope Paul III brought back carnival celebrations in Rome. Paul III, a reformer, maintained an image of the pope as a spiritual leader who was "merciful" and "peaceful" using clever imagery; for instance, staging a "mask" procession which unites people while minimising ethnic and national disparities, thereby fostering a sense of community within the Catholic community. Reinforcing himself as a religious leader, Paul III was careful with the image of the papal monarchy in order to preserve the unity and independence of the Papal States. In the carnival floats, the pope introduced elements of pagan mythology, comparing himself to the consuls of ancient Rome to strengthen the pope's ties with society. He adopted Janus (the double-faced god) and Apollo (the sun god) to create a secular image of the pope as the patron saint of Rome. On the one hand, the spiritual image of Pope Paul III as a religious leader was prominent in the carnival celebrations, and on the other hand, the secular image of the pope helped to consolidate the authority of the pope and external defendant of the Papal States. The dual spiritual and secular image of the pope underwent constant changes during the celebrations, a process of tension that helped him to overcome, in part, the political and religious challenges of the early modern period and reflected the transitional and dual nature of the Catholic Church at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1082, at the council of Charroux convened by the papal legate Amatus of Oloron, astonished witnesses observed the Holy Prepuce, a rare body relic of Christ himself, to be miraculously spotted with fresh blood. This spectacular miracle holds implications for our understanding of charismatic strategies of religious reform in France in the era of Pope Gregory VII. Gregory's use of standing legates with regional mandates, such as Amatus, was a novelty in papal administration, but the legates, though empowered as proxies of the pope, were often weak lieutenants. When they could not induce or coerce cooperation, they frequently confronted the impotence of their legal–canonical mandates. The miracle at Charroux, I will show, exemplifies an alternative charismatic strategy, harnessing liturgical art and spectacle to magnify the legate's stature as an authority in the context of the Eucharistic controversy and religious reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the translation history of late imperial China, the Jesuit enterprise played a significant role in translating Western scientific knowledge, a role they performed in tandem with proselytization. The Jesuit Figurists' re-interpreting and re-writing of the ancient Chinese classics pivoted on symbols, figures, and Chinese characters. The father at the helm of this journey, Joachim Bouvet (1656–1730), embarked on his own Figurist path, navigating by the symbols, figures, and Chinese characters from the Yijing. His followers Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare (1666–1736) and Jean François Foucquet (1665–1741) continued on this track, each further developing his own interpretation of the Dao. Here I will present and explore Foucquet's journey of the Dao and his presentation of the Christian God and Jesus Christ as Daoist sages by investigating his Chinese, French, and Latin manuscripts that discuss his reinterpretation of the Dao in the Chinese classics, especially the Yijing and Daodejing. In these manuscripts, Foucquet adopted typological exegesis and exhibited his inheritance of the Confucian-Christian-Dao synthesis from his senior Bouvet; he also identified the Dao as Deus and the Oneness of the Dao as the unity of the Holy Trinity. This micro-historical case study of Foucquet's interpretation of the Dao shows how his navigating the strait between the Scylla and Charybdis of the emperor and the Holy See factored into his trajectory of interpreting the Dao; it also demonstrates that in response to being challenged by his own brothers in the Catholic Church, he cleaved to typological exegesis and Confucian-Christian-Dao synthesis. The significance of this paper lies in that the early understanding of the Dao was manipulated, especially among the Figurists, both as a tool for proselytization and as a bridge to link the East with the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historiography of the crusade and reconquest in the Iberian Peninsula, and Portugal in particular, dates from the beginning of the twentieth century. Since the 1920s, it has been assumed that the reconquest was an output of the crusade in the Iberian West due to the so-called "Bull of Crusade" given to Portugal. The "idea of the Crusade" in Portugal was enhanced by Carl Erdmann in the 1930s and 1940s. This interpretation has been endorsed by the very context in which the Kingdom of Portugal emerged and developed throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From the 1980s onwards, the launching of systematic research on the military orders also reinforced this perspective. The deep affinity between the military orders and the crusades in the context of the reconquest is reflected in this historiography. These concepts—military orders, crusade, reconquest—have been studied without distinction being made between them, adding to the complexity of this analysis. Considering the historiographical achievements regarding the crusade, it is pertinent to rethink the associations between reconquest, crusade and military orders. Reading certain historical narratives is crucial for this analysis, although the written records do not fully deplete the subject. To reinforce the relevance of this approach, we will also consider royal and pontifical diplomas. Tracing the terminology used in these documents and identifying how these historical realities were referred to are the two main goals of this paper. For that purpose, three key moments of the Portuguese reconquest have been chosen: the conquests of Lisbon (1147), Silves (1189), and Alcácer do Sal (1217). These have one feature in common: the presence of crusaders travelling to the Holy Land, which supports the terminological analysis of those discourses. Different perspectives are embodied in these conquest narratives when compared with royal and papal diplomas on the same issue and of a similar chronology. Historiography on Reconquest, crusade, and the military orders is often conditioned by ideology, occasionally revealing a tendency to repeat ideas without debating them. This paper's analysis is based on the aforementioned written records and is undertaken in order to verify when the word crusade/crusader appeared in Portugal, to assess to what extent the war of conquest in Portuguese territory followed the example of the holy war and to evaluate the commitment of the crown and the Holy See in this complex process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When reflecting on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the modern world in the second half of the 20th century, it is impossible to overlook the radical shift brought about by John Paul II. As Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde points out, the saintly Pope opened a "new dimension of the Church's influence on the world". The essence of this novelty was John Paul II's perception of the Church's task as being defined "centrally and exclusively from the perspective of its salvation mission". The above thesis seems proven regarding Holy See diplomacy. The most prominent example of a "new approach" was the decision taken by John Paul II to put aside Ostpolitik, dominant since the t ime of John XXIII. Nonetheless, the question arises regarding a change in the social teaching of the Church under St. John Paul II, for ultimately, political praxis is always rooted in some theory. In the case of the Church, the theoretical foundation of the Church's socio-political activity and its relation to modern world is Catholic social doctrine. The presented article examines the meaning of the teaching of St. John Paul II for the nature, method, and goals of the social teaching of the Church. If Böckenförde is right when writing about the political novelty of the Polish Pope's pontificate, also in this field, despite numerous references to his predecessors, the position of John Paul II should be associated with a significant novum. The article is devoted to discussing this thesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Istoria della spedizione del Cardinale Carlo Tommaso Maillard de' Tournon is a collection of manuscripts produced for and circulated within the Roman Curia in the early 18th century. It contains letters and reports from Maillard de Tournon, the first papal legate to China, and records his mission and the early efforts of the Holy See to establish direct contact with the Qing court, bypassing the patronage system and locally entrenched religious orders (the Jesuits in particular). For various reasons, these manuscripts were never fully published and, in spite of their interest, remain relatively unknown to scholars. This article introduces these manuscripts, edited by Giovanni Giacomo Fatinelli, procurator of Maillard de Tournon in Rome, and demonstrates their value in allowing a greater understanding of the relationship between the Holy See and China, as well as the general relationship between the Holy See and Catholic missionaries throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering communication as an analytical category provides new insights into crusading history. This paper investigates two main aspects, namely, (1) Papal propaganda campaigns, and (2) the communication challenges inherent in the development of the crusades and the Latin East. Both fields combined offer additional perspectives of the crusades while hinting at a twofold failure: vis-à-vis the European audiences, who throughout the thirteenth century were no longer receptive to the traditional papal message. Second, the almost complete lack of communication initiatives that could have facilitated a more fluent interchange across the Mediterranean and perhaps also retard if not obstruct the collapse of the Latin settlements Outremer. From a communication perspective, therefore, the papal policy encapsulated not only a propaganda fiasco but possibly also a communication blackout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eventually Pope Francis excommunicated McCarrick from the Church, while the whistleblower in this case called for Francis' resignation. As for victims, Pope Francis claimed that the Church had the duty to provide them with support and encouraged state authorities to apply every measure possible to contain websites that threaten human dignity, the dignity of women, and particularly the dignity of children. This Special Issue of I Religions i examines the transitions that are occurring in Catholic Church-State relations, a phenomenon that is beginning to accelerate in a negative way. Without accepting any major papal responsibility for clerical sexual abuse or giving an official Church apology for it, Francis suggested, instead, that protecting children with "impeccable seriousness" was the Church's means to deal with predatory behavior. [Extracted from the article]

This essay analyzes Pope Francis' social teaching on relationality within his 2020 encyclical letter Fratelli tutti [Brothers all]. The relationship between the Church and modern nation-states is an important macro-level social dynamic, and Francis explains it by placing Church–State relations into a broader spiritual context of human communication and interaction. He articulates norms of fraternal contact growing from the bottom-up, that is, from interpersonal encounters through groups and movements on to countries and the United Nations. After a focused research question and discussion of critical method, this article offers a rhetorical critique of Fratelli tutti. To provide context, it explains the genres of Judeo-Christian and papal communication, Francis' biography, and the immediate global context of his encyclical. Working within the text, this study details the Biblical foundations of his argument for "fraternity and social friendship" and shows how they are applied to global social media dystopia and accelerating migration/border crises. Conclusions include the utility of Francis' contact terms in analyzing complex religio-political dynamics and their value in advancing peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Holy See has been accused of violating its human rights obligations because of acts of sex abuse by the Catholic clergy. Such accusations are based, in various ways, on the authority of the Holy See over the clergy. The Holy See is often referred to as a state and its obligations as state obligations. UN treaty bodies understand that the human rights obligations of the Holy See, as a treaty party, are of a legal––not moral––nature and apply extraterritorially, i.e., beyond the territory of the Vatican City State. The notion of state jurisdiction is, therefore, applied to the Holy See in the same way as to any other state. UN treaty bodies implicitly conclude that, for the purpose of human rights responsibility, the crimes of the clergy must be attributed to the Holy See and that anyone under the religious authority of the Holy See is under its state jurisdiction. However, a closer examination of the nature of the Holy See and its authority under international law, church doctrine, and church law paints a more complex and nuanced picture, where it is hard to describe the clergy as state organs or religious authority as state jurisdiction. Still, there are reasons to understand that certain acts and omissions of the Holy See in the context of the sex abuse crisis can be characterized as violations of its positive obligations of conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis' leadership has stimulated several debates within the Catholic Church and even in larger segments of the public. One of the most prominently debated issues is the one concerning the relationship with people of different religions and, more specifically, with the world of Islam. Since 2013, the Argentinean pontiff appeared to be unambiguously committed to finding an alternative pathway to the much-publicized category of 'clash of civilisations', which, in the last few decades, has been the reference paradigm in Christian–Muslim relationships. Papal initiatives, gestures and journeys have consistently aimed at a 'culture of dialogue and encounter'. Nevertheless, the present pope's open attitude has encountered severe criticism even inside certain circles of the Catholic world, which have accused him of compromising on theological issues. However, Pope Francis is highly appreciated by leaders of other traditions, including Muslims. In the face of such debate, Bergoglio has often recalled that all his statements and actions are deeply rooted in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. The present article wishes to show how Bergoglio's engagement to establish constructive dialogical rapports with Muslims is an effective way towards the real implementation of the Council while opening avenues for what could be defined as 'interreligious synodality'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the interest aroused by royal funerals at the end of the Middle Ages, this paper analyses the obsequies held in the Eternal City on the occasion of the death of Isabella the Catholic (1474–1504)—Queen of Castile and Aragon—in a context of international tension and succession unrest. The papal diaries, diplomatic documentation and Ludovico Bruno's sermo funebris allow us to reconstruct the liturgical, scenographic and rhetorical display of a ceremony that seduced with its solemnity and elegance, the fruit of a hybridism that combined Spanish and Italian funerary traditions in the Rome of Julius II. The creativity of the Spanish community is thus evident in its ability to convert the Isabelline funeral ceremony into an expression of dynastic power in the context of Spanish–French competition and incipient tensions between the Habsburg and Fernandine courts over the Castilian succession. Only by starting from this intertwining of the political and the liturgical will we be able to understand the transformations undergone by the funeral ceremonial in its passage—still little explored—from late medieval customs to modern scenographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering communication as an analytical category provides new insights into crusading history. This paper investigates two main aspects, namely, (1) Papal propaganda campaigns, and (2) the communication challenges inherent in the development of the crusades and the Latin East. Both fields combined offer additional perspectives of the crusades while hinting at a twofold failure: vis-à-vis the European audiences, who throughout the thirteenth century were no longer receptive to the traditional papal message. Second, the almost complete lack of communication initiatives that could have facilitated a more fluent interchange across the Mediterranean and perhaps also retard if not obstruct the collapse of the Latin settlements Outremer. From a communication perspective, therefore, the papal policy encapsulated not only a propaganda fiasco but possibly also a communication blackout.

Based on the interest aroused by royal funerals at the end of the Middle Ages, this paper analyses the obsequies held in the Eternal City on the occasion of the death of Isabella the Catholic (1474–1504)—Queen of Castile and Aragon—in a context of international tension and succession unrest. The papal diaries, diplomatic documentation and Ludovico Bruno’s sermo funebris allow us to reconstruct the liturgical, scenographic and rhetorical display of a ceremony that seduced with its solemnity and elegance, the fruit of a hybridism that combined Spanish and Italian funerary traditions in the Rome of Julius II. The creativity of the Spanish community is thus evident in its ability to convert the Isabelline funeral ceremony into an expression of dynastic power in the context of Spanish–French competition and incipient tensions between the Habsburg and Fernandine courts over the Castilian succession. Only by starting from this intertwining of the political and the liturgical will we be able to understand the transformations undergone by the funeral ceremonial in its passage—still little explored—from late medieval customs to modern scenographies.

Marian apparitions attract modern masses since the 19th century. The radical message of the apparition asking for penitence and the return of public and politics to God resonated well within major parts of Catholicism. While popes kept promoting Marian pilgrimages in order to secure their public and political standing throughout the 20th and 21st century, they tried to control the masses and to attenuate the messages. Particularly since the Second Vatican Council, the popes tamed mobilization. Instead of stirring up the masses, popes kept modest at Marian apparitions sites. A quantitative analysis of the papal documents issued during papal journeys to Fatima, the most political apparition of the 20th century, shows that a modest religious discourse about God and world had been presented instead of promoting the critical messages of the apparition. Following the methodological ideal of parsimony, the analysis concentrates on the most uttered words during the journeys and compares the four pontificates since Paul VI. Instead of stressing the radical message of Fatima, which is introduced in the discussion of the findings, the pontificates share a modest Catholic discourse.

The objective of this article is to analyse Mexican national pilgrimages to Rome that took place during the pontificate of Leo XIII (1878–1903). These pilgrimages occurred in the context of a global Catholic mobilisation in support of the papacy, during the so-called Roman Question. This paper’s analysis of these pilgrimages draws from historiography about national pilgrimages, as well as studies on Catholic mobilisation in support of the pope in the second half of the nineteenth century. It is fundamentally based on primary sources of an official nature, such as reports and other printed documents produced on the occasion of the pilgrimage. The study’s primary conclusion is that national pilgrimages to Rome had a polysemic character since they brought together various religious and national identities. The pilgrimages contributed simultaneously to reinforcing the link between Catholicism and Mexican national identity and the global dimension of Catholicism and allegiance to the Holy See.

In Fellini-Roma (1972), the film director Federico Fellini includes a sequence about an imaginary ecclesiastical fashion show, a display of ever more outlandish clerical clothing designs. Fellini brought together various elements that, in conventional cultural coding, do not seem to fit together: secular fashion design and catwalks, and Catholic practice and ceremonial. The sequence juxtaposes and intermingles these apparent incompatibles. Surprisingly little scholarly attention has been paid to the nature and significance of this sequence. Yet it is complex, being simultaneously satirical and empathetic, as well as camp and carnivalesque. The paper reaches back in time, reviewing the history of Catholic vestments, to show that the sequence also dramatizes the fact that sartorial fashion and Church garb have overlapped and informed each other historically. The appeal of the sequence for various types of audience has been enhanced in the internet age, and the paper considers how it has become an increasingly ubiquitous reference-point for the fashion industry, bloggers, and cultural critics, especially when the latter want to thematize controversies about male homosexuality in the Church today. Fellini’s presentation of catwalk Catholicism is both a rich object of scholarship, and a multivalent vehicle used by actors for various contemporary purposes.

This article surveys images depicted on the reverses of papal annual medals in the seventeenth century, beginning in 1605 under Paul V (r. 1605–21) with the first confirmed annual medal, and ending in 1700 at the conclusion of the papacy of Innocent XII (r. 1691–1700), a reign that marked a distinct change in papal politics in advance of the eighteenth century. The article mines a wealth of numismatics images and places it within a narrative of seventeenth-century papal politics. In the ninety-six years under consideration, ten popes issued ninety-four annual medals (sede vacante produced generic annual medals in 1667 and 1691). Annual medals are a unique iteration of papal commemorative medals and they celebrate an important papal achievement from the preceding year. The production of annual medals was an exercise in identity creation, undertaken to advance the image of the pope as an aristocratic prince in three specific roles: as builder, warrior, and impresario. The timeliness of the medals makes them valuable sources to gauge the perceived success of the papacy on an annual basis and to chart the political course plotted by popes through the seventeenth century.

Marian apparitions attract modern masses since the 19th century. The radical message of the apparition asking for penitence and the return of public and politics to God resonated well within major parts of Catholicism. While popes kept promoting Marian pilgrimages in order to secure their public and political standing throughout the 20th and 21st century, they tried to control the masses and to attenuate the messages. Particularly since the Second Vatican Council, the popes tamed mobilization. Instead of stirring up the masses, popes kept modest at Marian apparitions sites. A quantitative analysis of the papal documents issued during papal journeys to Fatima, the most political apparition of the 20th century, shows that a modest religious discourse about God and world had been presented instead of promoting the critical messages of the apparition. Following the methodological ideal of parsimony, the analysis concentrates on the most uttered words during the journeys and compares the four pontificates since Paul VI. Instead of stressing the radical message of Fatima, which is introduced in the discussion of the findings, the pontificates share a modest Catholic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the Bohemian reform movements of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and the events associated with the traditionally-nominated Reformations of the sixteenth century has been a much understudied topic amongst historians and theologians. There are a number of points of entry for comparison and analysis. One overlooked text is Pavel Bydžovský's "Several Stories of English Martyrs (with Whom God Deigned to Decorate His Church Just Like the Heaven with Stars)" that was published in 1554. Bydžovský's treatise, which has not been examined in modern times, offers a remarkable opportunity as an illustration of the little studied or understood Utraquist theological and ecclesiological position. This is displayed by Bydžovský's sponsorship (especially that of Jan III, Popel z Lobkovic), his relationship to Catholicism and Lutheranism, and by his use of sources (especially, Venerable Bede, Reginald Pole, the Guildhall Report). Thus, the Bydžovský text is useful for the elaboration of the religious relationships that existed between Bohemia and England in the sixteenth century. The text further contributes an important witness to the theological and ecclesiastical via media represented by the Utraquist tradition between Rome on one hand and Wittenberg and Geneva on the other. This is most graphically displayed in what can only be characterized as a highly qualified allegiance to the papacy. This contribution to expanding knowledge around the definition and understanding of Reformation presents a full translation of Pavel Bydžovský's treatise on the English Martyrs and this is preceded by a contextual commentary that endeavors to more meaningfully bring a forgotten text into the cutting edge of scholatship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Fellini-Roma (1972), the film director Federico Fellini includes a sequence about an imaginary ecclesiastical fashion show, a display of ever more outlandish clerical clothing designs. Fellini brought together various elements that, in conventional cultural coding, do not seem to fit together: secular fashion design and catwalks, and Catholic practice and ceremonial. The sequence juxtaposes and intermingles these apparent incompatibles. Surprisingly little scholarly attention has been paid to the nature and significance of this sequence. Yet it is complex, being simultaneously satirical and empathetic, as well as camp and carnivalesque. The paper reaches back in time, reviewing the history of Catholic vestments, to show that the sequence also dramatizes the fact that sartorial fashion and Church garb have overlapped and informed each other historically. The appeal of the sequence for various types of audience has been enhanced in the internet age, and the paper considers how it has become an increasingly ubiquitous reference-point for the fashion industry, bloggers, and cultural critics, especially when the latter want to thematize controversies about male homosexuality in the Church today. Fellini's presentation of catwalk Catholicism is both a rich object of scholarship, and a multivalent vehicle used by actors for various contemporary purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]