Search

Two national surveys six years apart asked U.S. bishops to write in open-ended responses identifying what in the U.S. Church gives them most hope, what they see as the U.S. Church's greatest challenges, and what steps need to be taken to improve priests' trust in their bishops. This paper examines how the perceptions of bishops have changed over the past six years and how the bishops' self-identification of their theological orientation (between the very traditional/moderately traditional U.S. Catholic bishops and the moderate/moderately progressive bishops) is related to their responses to those three questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Council of Nicaea (325) has already been copiously discussed, the document of the Council of Alexandria (370) still offers a fresh insight into the interpretation of the former Council's teaching and into its reception. This article is a theological analysis of the conciliar document, written by Athanasius of Alexandria: Letter to the African Bishops against the Arians. The document draws attention to the concept of substance (ousia), which was rejected by the Arians as not biblical. The Council disagreed with the Arians' claim, presented the biblical foundation of this term and used the formula: "the Son is of the substance of God," which means that the Son is consubstantial (homoousios) with the Father. Ultimately, the Council of Alexandria agreed on the Homoiousian formula of the Son's resemblance "in substance" to the Father (kat' ousian). A revision of the conciliar teaching allows us to discover in God the permanent basis (substance) of life and the Greatest Good (hyparxis), incomparable with other goods (Jer 9:9 and Heb 10:34). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following rhetorical theorist Michael McGee, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter and Michael J. McCallion contend that the term "new evangelization" may be understood as an "ideograph," a symbolic reference point that galvanizes Catholics with different ideological sensibilities. This paper explores the "political" struggle to fix the meaning of this ideograph after the Second Vatican Council by distinguishing between two broad trends. The roots of the new evangelization as a nodal point in the post-conciliar era lie in the Latin American church's appropriation of Vatican II, beginning with the Conference of Latin American Bishops' meeting at Medellin in 1968. This first strand of interpretation views justice as a constitutive dimension of the church's mission and tends to view evangelization in light of "liberation." As articulated by Pope John Paul II, a second more mainstream or official strand views evangelization in principally spiritual terms and focuses on developing "new methods" for communicating doctrine and on fostering personal conversion to Christ within the secularized West. This approach tends to emphasize humankind's vertical relationship to God—as well as the uniqueness of Christ—and to view the poor as recipients of charitable work rather than as agents of transformation. Although Pope Francis' program of ecclesial reform seeks to retrieve elements of the first strand, some proponents of the second strand have responded by rejecting Francis outright or by sanitizing his vision for their own purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the conservative characteristic of rural environments and mountain communities represented one of the main worries of the Larian Church, which, despite the work of reform of religious customs undertaken by the order of preachers in the late Middle Ages (not unrelated to the genesis of the accusation of diabolic witchcraft), it found itself confronted with the shortcomings (from the interference of the laity in religious life to suspicious devotions via the mixture of the sacred and magical animistic legacies) originating from decades of neglect in the management of valley parishes and the laxity of the secular clergy. This concern had to be reconciled, from the first decades of the sixteenth century onward, with the need to counter the Protestant presence. The "singular" way in which diocesan ordinaries sought in the aftermath of the Tridentine Council to re-establish orthopraxy in the only diocese in the peninsula subject to secular authorities of the Reformed faith, and in which an Italophone Protestant community was permanently present for several decades, represents an important case study for understanding the anomaly of the local bishop's courts (and the inquisition) transformed during this time from bitter enemies of the secta strigiarum into "witch lawyers", and for illuminating the deeper reasons for the limits of the fight against superstitions in the entire peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lambeth Palace Library's new purpose‐built premises were opened in 2021, uniting the collections previously held in the historic buildings at Lambeth (including the manuscript collection, papers of the archbishops of Canterbury, and holdings of early and modern printed books), and the extensive archives of other central Church bodies (including records of the Ecclesiastical/Church Commissioners) formerly held at the Church of England Record Centre. Together the collections encompass a wealth of information from the medieval to the modern period, which continue to develop as more material is added to the Library's holdings. The collections document the history of the central Church of England, but also support research into a multitude of other topics alongside this. The building will enable better preservation of the collections and provides expansion space for their development. It also presents greater opportunities to enhance access than was possible in the historic premises, via its Reading Room, exhibition area, and other spaces for public events, building on the Library's purpose originated at its foundation in 1610. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to identify the anonymous Franciscan bishop who, according to the Lanercost Chronicle, participated at the Battle of Neville's Cross, Durham, against the invading Scots, on 17 October 1346. The Franciscan 'Matthew episcopus Manchensis', previously suggested to be the bishop in question, is shown to derive from a scribal error, but even the corrected Matthew bishop Organchensis was probably not the prelate in question. Rather, it is argued, another Durham suffragan, frater Richard bishop of Bisaccia, may have been in the man at Neville's Cross. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joel D. Anderson's book "Reimagining Christendom: Writing Iceland's Bishops into the Roman Church 1200–1350" explores the significance of medieval Icelandic bishops' sagas in bridging the gap between local Icelandic church governance and European ecclesiastical context. Anderson argues that these sagas reveal a malleable hierarchy within the Western Church, allowing local bishops to shape papal dictates to suit their needs. By examining the manipulation of papal authority in these sagas, Anderson sheds light on the complex relationship between local and centralized Church governance in medieval Christendom. The book offers valuable insights for readers interested in Old Norse-Icelandic history, Church governance, and medieval literature. [Extracted from the article]

This paper explores Pope Francis’ vision of synodality, fundamentally underpinned by his commitment to mercy through discernment, to underscore certain grounds for the pastoral inclusion of the gay community, in particular same-sex couples, within the Catholic Church. This paper identifies the bases of Church tradition on the subject and identifies questions that have surfaced, both prior and during, the XVI Ordinary Synod of Bishops. This paper focuses on Francis’ treatment of synodality, through an exploration of the methods of his discernment and his gospel driven propensity toward mercy to those on the margins of society. These elements contribute to a vision of a validity of a kind which, when understood in light of Amoris laetitia, holds the potential for gay inclusion. The Synod of Bishops is further held as the platform of synodality regarding controversial issues, due to its reflection of the wider, universal Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the liturgical tradition of celebrating Christmas on 25 December travelled from the Latin West to the Greek East at the behest of Theodosius I upon his arrival in Constantinople in AD 380. From there it made its way to Cappadocia, Pontus and Syrian Antioch by means of travelling clerics who belonged to a pro-Nicene network. The essay also makes the larger methodological point that in late antiquity liturgical traditions did not travel of their own accord; rather, they were often carried by networks of travelling bishops and 'radiated out' from major sees to minor ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a commentary by Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the central committee of the World Council of Churches, on the study document, The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut Unum Sint, presented by Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity on June 13, 2024. Topics include the Vatican papacy, tasks and significance of the papal ministry and summary of the study document.

Texts recounting the careers of saints were foundational to Christian worship and historical construction in medieval Europe. They were also fluid, living works that evolved over time as individual saints' stories were revised, adapted, and retold. These texts changed in response to changing contexts in which they were used and understood. This article undertakes a case study to see how the evolution of one urban saint's legend reflects the history of that saint's city. Specifically, it analyzes the numerous Latin and vernacular texts produced between the mid-fifth and late twelfth centuries that recount the deeds of Saint Trophimus, first bishop of Arles. It argues that shifts in the saint's story reflect broad changes in the political, religious, and social life of Arles. It also demonstrates that the number of parties recounting the legend multiplied over time, and that dissonances within the story arose as these groups adapted the tale to their own interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Historica. Historia Medieval is the property of Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Vox Patrum is the property of Wydzial Teologii KUL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Europe, for many centuries, the church was an institution that paid more attention to the spiritual affairs of Christians and interfered less in their political affairs. But with the beginning of the Crusades, Pope Urban II and other bishops as the leaders of the Christians sent them to the East to fight with the Muslims, and thereby ignited the fire of the Crusades. The present study, using the descriptive-analytical method, tries to answer the question of what was the position of Christian priests and Pope Urban II in Europe and what role did they play in the occurrence of these wars? The purpose of this research is to analyze the actions of this Pope and other bishops of the church in the formation of these wars and how Christians were influenced by their words and actions. The findings of the research indicate that Pope Urban II and his contemporary bishops raised the power of the church to its highest level at that time and used this position to incite Christian Europeans against Muslims. It seems that this issue was the most important factor in igniting the fire of the crusades. These priests started wars on various pretexts, including the appeal of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Komnen to the Pope, the mistreatment of Muslims with the Christian pilgrims of Jerusalem, and reminding the danger posed by Muslims to Christians. By continuing their propaganda, they started a religious conflict against Muslims, the flames of which raged for about two centuries and engulfed many people from both sides. Whether we consider the goal of the Crusades to be the domination of the Western or the Catholic Church over the Eastern or the Orthodox Church, the conquest of Jerusalem for religious motives or the acquisition of the material goods of the East by European Christians, in any case, the Christian clergy played a decisive role in the initiation and continuation of these wars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose is to cover the activity of the leadership of the Chernihiv diocese. The collective social portrait of the Chernihiv ruling archbishops and vicarian bishops of the Chernihiv diocese of 19th -- began 20th centuries is presented in the article. Their social and ethnic origin is considered. Their level of education and administrative experience are studied. The scientific and preaching activity of the Chernihiv archbishops and bishops, obtaining their scientific degrees, are covered. The activities of the Chernihiv hierarchs in reorganizing the system of spiritual government, contributing to the development of the Chernihiv diocese, the relations with the local clergy, and the local church traditions are considered. At the same time, the changes in the ethnic composition of the leadership of the Chernihiv diocese of the 19th century were traced compared with those in the 18th century. A short description is given to every bishop. Materials of legislative acts, business documentation, diaries, memoirs, and letters are used in the article. The methodological basis of the research is the principle of historical method, objectivity. Applied methods are problem-chronologic, genetic, prosopography, religious anthropology. A scientific novelty lies in the creation of the collective portrait of leaders of the Chernihiv diocese based on their social and ethnic origin, level of education and scientific work, career advancement, and role at the Chernihiv department. The main results. Analysis of the collective portrait of the Chernihiv bishops exposed the intentional imperial church politics, oriented to russification, centralization, and unitization of Ukrainian lands annexed at the end of 18th century in particular, Chernihiv-Sivershchyna, the heart of the Ukrainian Cossack state. Chernihiv bishops performed the pastor's duties properly and were the agents of imperial public and church policy. Vicarian bishops were the cohorts of ruling bishops performing second-rate duties. For many this was a step in a career advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Amazzonia" highlights the importance of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which took place in the Vatican in October 2019. The book edited by Cardinal Mario Grech compiles the contents discussed in said Special Assembly, which focused on finding new paths for the Church and integral ecology in the Amazon. The vulnerability of the region due to the excessive exploitation of natural resources is emphasized, and the need for a common project to protect the land and its inhabitants, especially indigenous peoples, is emphasized. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses Pope Francis's insights from the 2007 Conference of Bishops in Aparecida regarding the collective faith of the laity and its significance in the Church. Topics include the concept of "infallibilitas in credendo," or infallibility in believing; the call for creativity in reconciling Church teachings with the lived experience of faith among believers; and the role of each individual in the Church's mission of salvation.

The medieval Church did its best to discourage both the involvement of clerics in violence and violence against clerics. The murder of a bishop, in particular, was a relatively rare event in this period. Thus the death of Thomas Becket was the exception, and certainly not the rule. Yet there was one kingdom where despite canonical prohibition prelates did frequently die through violence during the central Middle Ages. Between c.900 and c.1300 some thirty German bishops were either murdered or died in battle, and a number of other prelates suffered violence and were often lucky to escape with their lives. This paper seeks to explain why this should have been the case, examining the various different reasons why so many bishops perished in Germany, and looks at a number of particular cases in detail. Why did such killings became a regular feature of political life in the Reich at this period? How did contemporaries react to such events? The article also asks what this phenomenon—and also the prevalence of political assassinations among laymen—may tell us about medieval German society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1573, the Spanish Crown presented Friar Dionisio de Sanctis to occupy the episcopal see of Cartagena. Very early on, the prelate realized that it was not he who had the patronage of the San Sebastian Hospital, but the secular chapter. Thus, he filed a lawsuit against the municipal institution to recover the government of the hospital. Using the case file, the details of the lawsuit are presented and the speech of the response given by the city’s attorney general to the prelate’s demand is analyzed. In doing so, we seek to explain the role played by the bishops in the foundation and government of the colonial hospitals and some aspects of the functioning of the local justice system. It is hypothesized that with the appeal filed, the bishop sought to have the patronage of the hospital returned to him, just as his predecessors had held it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and its functions. The CDF was founded in 1542 and its main mission is to combat heresy and promote the doctrine of the Catholic Church. It is structured with a Cardinal Prefect at the head and has members who are Cardinals, Bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and laypeople. The CDF issues general decrees and its doctrinal documents are part of the pontifical magisterium. Additionally, the article mentions the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was instituted by Pope Francis and has the task of protecting minors and vulnerable people from sexual abuse. [Extracted from the article]

The image of 'the people' has occupied a central place in the discourse of the contemporary Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for many years. However, the ROC's ecclesiastical 'populism' has not been systematically analyzed. The study at hand aims to fill this gap by examining the representations of 'the people' articulated at the Bishops' Council of the ROC in the last three decades. Following and modifying Ernesto Laclau and his followers' approach to studying populism, the analysis of the Council's documents shows that the official Church plays a dual language game, simultaneously constructing a hegemonic order in Russia and its alleged 'civilizational space' and promoting a seemingly counter-hegemonic project in global politics. However, the role of 'the people' in this setting is far from Laclau's conception of radical popular agency. Instead, the Bishops' Council calls for the preservation of traditional identities and local hierarchies in order to ensure Russia's continuity and greatness. Thus, the official Church has been contributing to the elitist, statist, and great-power nationalist hegemony in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tiempos Modernos is the property of Tiempos Modernos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sixty years after the end of the Council, the reception of Vatican II, a long and complex process, is still ongoing. Summed up in the notion of the "People of God", enthusiastically embraced by the faithful since it marked the end of the marginalization of the laity, conciliar ecclesiology has had to be deepened. While the 1985 Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops may seem to mark a step backwards, it did force a demanding deepening, a deepening that has led to a resurgence during the pontificate of Francis, who takes up the Council's teaching on the people of God, collegiality, the active participation of all in the mission and the sensus fidei that belongs to all the faithful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronations in Great Britain previously offered an occasion for national civic and spiritual renewal. However, the recent crowning of Charles III threw a spotlight on some of the deepening dissonance, diversity and divisions within British society. This paper is an 'in principle' argument for change and development. As the clamour for constitutional reform in the United Kingdom continues, and the awkwardness of Church of England bishops sitting in the House of Lords becomes more apparent, the time is ripe to reconsider disestablishment. In particular, the power and privilege of one denomination over all others is interrogated in relation to a kenotic ecclesiology, and which may now require the intentional divesting of kingly power: not clinging to status any longer, but self-emptying and embracing equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work analyses the macroscopic definition of Bishop's χ function for double porosity soils by imposing the thermodynamic consistency of the constitutive stress derived from that function. The analysis presented demonstrates that, under the assumption of equilibrium between macrostructural and microstructural water, χ should be understood, from a thermodynamic perspective, as a correction of the macrostructural suction that enables an accurate definition of the increase in Helmholtz free energy in the soil when using the constitutive stress to compute the strain work. For the low salinity conditions assumed, the proposed functional structure establishes a broad model framework that can accommodate developments tailored to different materials and test conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to nuance the traditional interpretation of Bishop Adalbero of Laon's satirical Carmen ad Rotbertum regem as a rebuttal of Cluniac reform and its disruptive effect on early eleventh‐century society. Study of the text's literary antecedents reveals that its criticism was rooted in a tradition of commentaries on the conduct and attitudes of a much larger monastic cohort. Furthermore, comparison of its argument with evidence about the context and with a number of polemical statements regarding the relations between bishops and monastic leaders since the 990s indicates that the author's focus was on cautioning against abbots' hypocrisy rather than against a programmatic reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text reports on the results of research on a topic rarely addressed in the historiography of the relations between the Church and the Mexican State in the 19th century: the actions of the Catholic hierarchy to counteract the effects of the loss of material goods due to of the reformist laws promoted by the liberal governments after the triumph of the Ayutla revolution in 1855. In the following lines we will analyze the spirit and objective of these measures, the actions undertaken by the bishops of Veracruz, in the indicated period, in order to recover part of those expropriated assets and resources and some of the cases that could be analyzed, temporarily located in the era of the restored republic and the Porfiriato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyril of Alexandria's Festal Letters are an underutilised source of his theology. Through them one can trace the development of his thought throughout the tumultuous years of his episcopacy. In this article, I draw attention to Cyril's 'unitive' Christology and the way he explains the incarnation to those under his pastoral care. Cyril employs key strategies informed by strong theological convictions to describe Christ as one subject who is fully divine and human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

John Lydgate's Life of Our Lady (1416–1421), a digressive devotional poem centred on a biography of Mary and a liturgical cycle from Christmas to Candlemas, challenges recent critical opinions on the limited direct impact of Archbishop Thomas Arundel's Constitutions of 1409. The poem both shapes and is shaped by the spirit of the age; it was likely intended for Henry V himself, survives in 50 manuscripts and was printed by William Caxton. In Life of Our Lady , Lydgate neither breaks the rules of Arundel's Constitutions nor seeks reform. He experiences the rules as stimulation, not censorship. He will not straightforwardly apply Latinate authority to the vernacular. He draws attention to his authority as a writer, rather than to the language he uses, in order to create official ways to write an original, authoritative text for private use without Church intervention. He shows that neither compilation—as passive assembly of texts—nor translation—as a means of doing this in the vernacular—properly addressed the problems that Arundel had identified. Life of Our Lady purports to be an exercise in 'dullness' in the fifteenth century—self-effacement as the compiler and translator of authoritative sources—precisely because Lydgate uses the strictures of compilation and translation so cleverly to create his own vernacular authority. He uses this vernacular authority for original composition and to help readers in their private devotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a detailed account of the founding and development of Catholic Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. The college was established in response to the Second Vatican Council's call for the renewal of priestly training and aimed to offer theological resources collaboratively across dioceses and religious orders. It provided quality theological education to both clergy and laity and promoted ecumenism through its affiliation with the Melbourne College of Divinity. The article discusses the planning, design, and curriculum of the college, as well as the key individuals involved in its establishment. It also highlights the significant contributions the college has made to theological scholarship in Australia and pays tribute to the vision of Archbishop Knox. [Extracted from the article]

Most of the dams registered on the National Information System on Dam Safety (SNISB of Brazil) do not have enough information to assess whether they fit into the National Dam Safety Policy (PNSB), or to assess their safety conditions. According to the National Agency of Waters (ANA, 2021b), there are currently 122 dams with some important structural problems indicated by their inspectors in 23 states. Therefore, this article proposes a methodology for identifying faults in dam safety activities. The method applies to all types of existing dams. The proposed methodology comprises ten stages that, according to the progress of the steps, are defined by three levels of completeness of the information. Tables were developed with the objective of being a verification guide for these ten stages. This research applied the proposed methodology to two dams in Paraná, Brazil. The first is the Iraí dam, located in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, and the second is the Jordan River Derivation dam, located in Reserva do Iguaçu. The example of the Iraí dam could complete all stages of the proposed methodology. For the Jordan River Derivation dam, stages 1 to 5 of the proposed methodology were carried out. The application of the proposed methodology intends to become a useful tool, especially for inspectors, aiming at a more effective registration process, accelerating the completion of the SNISB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can religious leaders who oppose state violence reduce its use? Communal elites, such as religious leaders, may oppose human rights violations. This article argues that these leaders, part of institutions embedded in local communities and with influence based on traditional power, reduce repression when they oppose dictatorships. The argument's main implication is tested in Argentina during the Dirty War of its 1976-1983 military dictatorship, using original archival data on the country's Catholic bishops. Opposed bishops are associated with reduced disappearances and killings. A variety of evidence is consistent with opposed bishops taking two types of actions to resist repression: assisting likeminded local agents and participating in human rights advocacy campaigns. The findings point to the importance of influential civil society actors in reducing state violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]