Religion Commons^™

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Inculturation Of Liturgical Music In The Roman Catholic Church Of Igbo Land: A Compositional Study, Benedict Nwabugwu Agbo

Journal of Global Catholicism

A study of inculturation, composition and music among Catholics in Igboland, Nigeria. The article insects with contemporary discussions of inculturation/enculturation after Vatican II and the recommendation of St. John Paul II in his Ecclesia in Africa.

Massingale's Prescriptive For Racism In The U.S. Catholic Church, Jessie Bazan

Obsculta

Nearly every social issue plaguing the United States is impacted by racial bias, most often, against black Americans. Rev. Bryan Massingale, an internationally-recognized black Catholic theologian, has committed much of his ministerial work to advocating for racial justice and educating others about the urgent need for racial reconciliation within the Church. This paper uses Massingale’s holistic approach to explain how the USCCB could strengthen its understanding of racism, its support of black leadership, and its passion for opposing racisim both inside and outside the Church.

To Set The World Right: Religious Pluralism And The Progressive Era, Lance Sorenson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The contention of this thesis is that religion played a vital and sometimes overlooked role in the promotion and success of progressive reform. Religious leaders often provided primary leadership for reform. But even when their role was not so direct, they and the institutions they represented helped cloak reform efforts in moral and religious institutional authority in order to garner support for change. The process of spreading reform was directly related to the process of articulating reform in language with which people would be comfortable.

Just as reform efforts inevitably faced traditionalist resistance, they often succeed when cast in traditional …

Framing Racism Post Vatican Ii: Critical Race Theory And The Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Amanda Moras

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Over the past century, the Catholic Church as an institutional entity has had a complex, and often contentious, relationship to racial politics. Given its history in colonialism, role in domestic slavery and the widely publicized complicity during the Holocaust, racism is something that has deep seated roots within the Church hierarchy.

That said, over the past fifty years, the Catholic Church, both internationally and in the U.S., has begun to confront racism as a moral issue.

A New Paradigm: Brazilian Catholic Eco-Justice Activism In The Neoliberal Age, Lena R. Connor

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

This paper analyzes how traditional liberation theology in Brazil has been adapted in the neoliberal age to encompass ecological goals and rhetoric. In this research report, I first examine the work of prominent Brazilian ecotheologians, Ivone Gebara and Leonardo Boff. I then look into the applications of such ecological liberation theology in Catholic activism in Brazil, focusing on the role of religious advocacy in dam controversies, land reform, and mining.

Shu’S Michael Higgins Examines The Clerical Sex Abuse Scandal In New Book, Michael W. Higgins

Michael W. Higgins

Suffer the Children Unto Me is, as the authors describe, “an exploration of the modern sexual abuse scandal from a number of perspectives.”

The Sacred And The Mundane: Images Of Deity In Ordinary Objects In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Monica Delgado Van Wagenen

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis focuses on "iconotheophanies" or images of deity in ordinary objects. It further looks at the people who recognize and believe in iconotheophanies, specifically those of Mexican descent. This study hypothesizes that the Virgin of Guadalupe narrative, which emphasizes the appearance of images on objects, sets a pattern for Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to recognize the sacred in their own lives. Juan Diego, as the main character in the story, demonstrates a theoretical profile of five characteristics of individuals most likely to recognize iconotheophanies. These characteristics are: low level of acculturation, low socioeconomic status, male gender, older age, and increased …

Women-Church And Egalitarianism: Revisioning "In Christ There Are No More Distinctions Between Male And Female", Susan A. Farrell

Publications and Research

This chapter from The Power of Gender in Religion (eds G.A. Weatherby and S.A. Farrell) illustrates how women in the Roman Catholic Church are expanding the roles of women and challenging the patriarchal and hierarchical Roman Catholic Church practices. They are accomplishing this through an umbrella organization of feminist groups which maintain their catholic identty while critiquing the church from within.

"It's Our Church, Too!": Women's Position In The Roman Catholic Church Today, Susan A. Farrell

Publications and Research

This chapter from The Social Construction of Gender (eds J. Lorber and S. Farrell) explores the ways in which gender, particular women's roles are inscribed in the bureaucracy and institutional practices of the Roman Catholic Church.