This book traces the history of the Catholic Church in China since the country opened up to the world in December 1978. It comprehensively studies the Chinese Catholic Church on various levels, including an analysis of Sino-Vatican relations, the control over the Catholic Church by the Beijing government, the supervision of local Church activities, and the consecration of government-approved bishops, the formation of priests, and the everyday lives of Chinese Catholics.

This volume explores the historical, theological, sociological, and ethical dimensions of the current issues threatening the two thousand-year-old Roman Catholic Church. The interdisciplinary analysis contained within the volume exposes the destructive convictions and actions of the Roman Catholic clergy that has produced the current institutional crisis while suggesting options for moving forward. Documenting the cases that constitute the many crises currently surrounding Catholicism, the volume aims to provide clarity and conscience. At the same time, with a constructive vision of an ethics and religious practice rooted in integrity and transparency, the authors offer a path towards holistic and holy reformation by and for Catholics.

There are few instances of a contemporary Western European society more firmly welded to religion than Ireland is to Catholicism. For much of the twentieth century, to be considered a good Irish citizen was to be seen as a good and observant Catholic. Today, the opposite may increasingly be the case. The Irish Catholic Church, once a spiritual institution beyond question, is not only losing influence and relevance; in the eyes of many, it has become something utterly desacralized. In this book, Hugh Turpin offers an innovative and in-depth account of the nature and emergence of "ex-Catholicism"-a new model of the good, and secular, Irish person that is being rapidly adopted in Irish society. Using rich quantitative and qualitative research methods, Turpin explains the emergence and character of religious rejection in the Republic. He examines how numerous factors-including economic growth, social liberalization, attenuated domestic religious socialization, the institutional scandals and moral collapse of the Church, and the Church's lingering influence in social institutions and laws-have interacted to produce a rapid growth in ex-Catholicism. By tracing the frictions within and between practicing Catholics, cultural Catholics, and ex-Catholics in a period of profound cultural change and moral reckoning, Turpin shows how deeply the meanings of being religious or non-religious have changed in the country once described as "Holy Catholic Ireland."

An Anthology of Writings from 1483 to 1999
Firmly I Believe and Truly celebrates the depth and breadth of the spiritual, literary, and intellectual heritage of the Post-Reformation English Roman Catholic tradition in an anthology of writings that span a five hundred year period between William Caxton and Cardinal Hume. Intended as a rich resource for all with an interest in Roman Catholicism, the writings have been carefully selected and edited by a team of scholars with historical, theological, and literary expertise. Each author is introduced to provide context for the included extracts and the chronological arrangement of the anthology makes the volume easy to use whilst creating a fascinating overview of the modern era in English Catholic thought. The extracts comprise a wide variety writing genres; sermons, prayers, poetry, diaries, novels, theology, apologetics, works of controversy, devotional literature, biographies, drama, and essays. Includes writings by:
John Colet, John Fisher, Thomas More, Robert Southwell, Philip Howard, Edmund Campion, John Gother, John Dryden, Mary Barker, Alexander Pope, Richard Challoner, Alban Butler, John Milner, Elizabeth Inchbald, Nicholas Wiseman, Margaret Mary Hallahan, A. W. N. Pugin, John Henry Newman, Henry Edward Manning, Frederick William Faber, Bertrand Wilberforce, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Vincent McNabb, Hilaire Belloc, Maurice Baring, G. K. Chesterton, R. A. Knox, J. R. R. Tolkien, Caryll Houselander, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, John Bradburne, Cardinal Hume

As a young child of twelve, Lou Ann Soontiens saw school as a place of refuge. When the school's resident priest, Father Charles Sylvestre, took an interest in her, she felt honoured and privileged. She put her complete faith and trust in this charismatic man of God and it resulted in years of sexual abuse, humiliation, and an unwanted pregnancy.

This misplaced devotion would lead her to forty years of confusion, guilt, and pain and, ultimately, to her being awarded, by the Diocese of London, Ontario, the largest settlement ( 1.75 million Canadian dollars) ever given to an individual by the Catholic Church in Canadian history.

It was not until Lou Ann reached middle-age that she found out that she was not alone in her pain and guilt; at least forty-six other women had experienced the same degradation at the hands of Father Charles Sylvestre. Much to her shock, she discovered that the Catholic Church had known about Father Sylvestre's abusive nature, and, as with hundreds of other priests with the same problem, chose to ignore the dangerous situation and quietly move the offending priest to a new parish where the abuse of young children would once again commence.

The Two Babylons was an anti-Catholic religious pamphlet produced initially by the Scottish theologian and Protestant Presbyterian Alexander Hislop in 1853. It was later expanded in 1858 and finally published as a book in 1919. Its central theme is its allegation that the Roman Catholic Church is a veiled continuation of the pagan religion of Babylon, the veiled paganism being the product of a millennia old conspiracy.

In recent years, the Catholic Church has suffered a deluge of accusations, bad press, and tragedies. Now is the time for the priesthood to recapture the faithfulness which led them to their calling, and to inspire their laity as never before.

A timely, urgent handbook for Catholics of every nation, Th e Catholic Priesthood offers a wake-up call not only to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, but to all Christians everywhere. Rev. Fr. Anthony O. Ezeoke's firm grasp of Catholic teaching, the Church's history, and the priesthood vocation off er an enlightening criticism of how the Church needs to return to the fundamental teachings of its beginning.

Through short, easy-to-digest chapters, Rev. Father Ezeoke reviews the role of priests in the Old and New Testaments, Jesus as the High Priest, and the apostles' calling to continue Jesus's ministry. He addresses specific questions related to some of the issues currently plaguing the Church today and offers hope and inspiration for change. Above all, he issues an encouraging plea for every member of the Catholic Church to reawaken the Gospel within their hearts.

"The Catholic Priesthood" is the first step toward reviving hope within the Catholic Church and her flock.

This book investigates the often-fragmented nature of Ulster Nationalist / Republican / Roman Catholic politics, culture and identity. It offers a companion publication to The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants (2015). Historically the Catholic community of Ulster are regarded as a unified and coherent group, sharing cultural and political aspirations. However, the volume explores communities of many variants and strands, belying the notion of an easy, homogenous bloc in terms of identity, political aspirations, voting preferences and cultural identity. These include historical differences within constitutional nationalism and Republicanism, gender politics, partition, perceptions of this community from The Republic of Ireland, and more. The book will appeal to students and scholars across the fields of Politics, Cultural Studies, Sociology, Irish Studies and Peace Studies.

This book is about ecumenism, from a Catholic point of view. The first part, chapters 1 and 2, describe the history of divisions within the Church, as well as of the efforts to bring about Christian unity. The second part examines Ecumenism from a systematic theological perspective. This first part takes into account the different factors that led to definitive ruptures within the Church, which usually are not only theological. The text gives useful information about what happened after the respective divisions as well as about the various attempts to restore unity, the development of the Ecumenical Movement in the 20th Century, and the current situation of ecumenical dialogue within the Catholic Church. While offering insight into the sad history that has led to the present disunity, this work also highlights the way Christians have sought to bring to fulfill the petition of Christ that his disciples might be one, as He and the Father are one. The second part?chapters three, four and five?offers a systematic theological analysis of unity in the Church, from the point of view of dogmatic theology. We find here an explanation of the Catholic concept of ecumenism, of how Catholic theology understands the unity of the Church, and, finally, of the Catholic principles which sustain the efforts for regaining unity in the Church. The Second Vatican Council, and particularly the Constitution Lumen gentium and the Decree Unitatis redintegratio, are at the foundation of these reflections. At the same time, since the theology of the Church and the life of the Church are intimately connected, there is a profound link between this dogmatic section and the earlier historical section. The last chapter, about the practice of ecumenism, is also written from a theological perspective, but with more links with life and spirituality. The chapter recalls that ecumenism can never simply remain a set of theological principles, but rather inspires an attitude and action in charity which are essential to the Christian life.

*Winner of the James S. Donnelly, Sr. Prize 2022* In Ireland, 2018, a constitutional ban that equated the life of a woman to the life of a fertilised embryo was overturned and abortion was finally legalised. This victory for the Irish Repeal movement set the country alight with euphoria. But, for some, the celebrations were short-lived - the new legislation turned out to be one of the most conservative in Europe. People still travel overseas for abortions and services are not yet fully commissioned in Northern Ireland. This book traces the history of the origins of the Eighth Amendment, which was drawn up in fear of a tide of liberal reforms across Europe. It draws out the lessons learned from the groundbreaking campaign in 2018, which was the culmination of a 35-year-long reproductive rights movement and an inspiring example of modern grassroots activism. It tells the story of the 'Repeal' campaign through the lens of the activists who are still fighting in a movement that is only just beginning.

It has long been a cornerstone of Catholic belief that Christians can be intelligent and creative thinkers-inquisitive seekers after truth-as well as men and women of ardent faith. Catholics are entirely committed, then, to the claim that human rationality and religious faith are complementary realities since they are equally gifts of God. But understanding precisely how faith and reason cohere has not always been a smooth path. At times, theology has allowed philosophy to become the leading (and baleful) partner in the faith-reason relationship, thereby lapsing into rationalism or relativism. At other times, theology has been tempted by fideism, with philosophy now regarded as little more than a pernicious intruder corrupting Christian faith, life and thought. The essays in this volume display how Catholicism understands the proper confluence between philosophy and theology, between human rationality and Christian faith, between the natural order and supernatural grace. To illustrate these points, the book draws on a long line of Christian thinkers: Origen, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas and, in our own day, Fides et Ratio of John Paul II and the Regensburg Address of Benedict XVI. How is theology always a "Jewgreek" enterprise-to borrow a term from Jacques Derrida-always a combination of the biblical (Hebraic) and philosophical (Hellenic) traditions? Why is one particular element of philosophy, metaphysics, essential for the intelligibility and clarity of Catholic theology? Why is this so much the case that John Paul II could state emphatically: "a philosophy which shuns metaphysics would be radically unsuited to the task of mediation in the understanding of Revelation"? But theology cannot simply be about dialogue with philosophers of yesteryear. Theology must constantly incorporate fresh thinking and remain in lively conversation with an extensive variety of contemporary perspectives. This book displays how reciprocity and absorption has been characteristic of theology's past and must represent its future as well.