Cardinal James Gibbons' famous and eloquent defense of Catholicism stands as one of the finest religious documents of his era, employing the Bible and devotional wisdom much more than arcane or complex theology. Writing in the 19th century, Cardinal Gibbons was moved to author this book after working for years in the priesthood. Seeking to remind readers of the vitality and merits of Catholicism, Gibbons attempts to both clarify the principles of the faith and spurn unjust criticisms. Religious concepts such as The Holy Trinity, and the important relationship the Bible has to the life of the church is investigated. The festivals and ritual sacraments that Catholics undertake, such as the taking of bread and wine to symbolize the flesh and the blood of Christ, are described in detail for their founding principles. Other traits of Catholicism, such as celibacy among the priesthood and the customs of matrimony, are explained.

In Sexuality in the Confessional: A Sacrament Profaned, Stephen Haliczer places the current debate on sex, celibacy, and the Catholic Church in a historical context by drawing upon a wealth of actual case studies and trial evidence to document how, from 1530 to 1819, sexual transgression attended the heightened significance of the Sacrament of Penance. Attempting to reassert its moral and social control over the faithful, the Counter-Reformation Church underscored the importance of communion and confession. Priests were asked to be both exemplars of celibacy and "doctors of souls", and the Spanish Inquisition was there to punish transgressors. Haliczer relates the stories of these priests as well as their penitents, using the evidence left by Inquisition trials to vividly depict sexual misconduct during and after confession, and the punishments wayward priests were forced to undergo. In the process, he sheds new light on the Church of the period, the repressed lives of priests, and the lives of their congregations; coming to a conclusion as startling as it is timely. Both Inquisition and the Church, he finds, must shoulder much of the blame for eroticizing the confessional. The increased scrutiny of clerical celibacy and the disciplinary and consolatory function of the Sacrament, created and intensified sexual tensions, anxiety, and guilt for both priests and penitents, sexually charging the confessional and laying the groundwork for the Sacrament to be profaned. Based on an exhaustive investigation of Inquisition cases involving soliciting confessors as well as numerous confessors' manuals and other works, Sexuality in the Confessional makes a significant contribution to the history ofsexuality, women's history, and the sociology of religion.

Twice Neokoros is a case study of the Cult of the Sebastoi that was established in the city of Ephesus by the province of Asia during the late first century C.E. Epigraphic and numismatic data indicate that the Cult of the Sebastoi was dedicated in 89/90 to the Flavian imperial family. The architecture, sculpture, municipal titles, and urban setting of the cult all reflect Asian religious traditions. The image of Ephesus was significantly altered by the use of these traditions in the institutions related to the Cult of the Sebastoi. Within the context of the history of provincial cults in the Roman Empire, the Cult of the Sebastoi became a turning point in the rhetoric of social order. Thus, the Cult of the Sebastoi served as a prototypical manifestation of socio-religious developments during the late first and early second century in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms contains more than 800 moral terms, offering concise definitions, historical context, and illustrations of how these terms are used in the Catholic tradition, including Church teaching and documents. James T. Bretzke, SJ, places Catholic tradition in a contemporary context in order to illuminate the continuities as well as discontinuities of Church teaching and key directions of Catholic thought. The author also provides extensive cross-referencing and bibliographic suggestions for further research. Designed to serve as a vital reference work for libraries, students and scholars of theology, priests and pastoral ministers, as well as all adults interested in theological enrichment or continuing education, the Handbook of Roman Catholic Moral Terms is the most comprehensive post--Vatican II work of its kind available in English.

Nigel Zimmermann presents critical reflections from leading Catholic prelates and scholars on the significance of the Second Vatican Council fifty years after it began. These include two senior Cardinals, one of whom is the head of the Congregation of Bishops and the other a member of Pope Francis' new advisory body on reforming the Roman Curia, as well as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy. Together with thinkers from North America, the UK, Rome and Australia, they take up key themes from the Conciliar documents and assess the reception of the Council half a century on from its inception. In doing so, they open up new avenues for thinking through the authentic witness and teaching of the most important ecclesiastical event of the twentieth century. These avenues include discussion of themes such as the liturgy, communio, the Council in its historical context, the role of the laity, communicating the Council in a social media world, and the task of mission in the future. This volume marks a turning point in the Council's reception in the wider Church.

This work provides a comprehensive guide to the holdings of the Vatican Archives. Organized into related agency groups, Vatican Archives includes approximately 500 entries that describe the purpose and workings of each administrative agency of the Vatican, followed by a listing of the official records it produced; it is these administrative records that now constitute the archives. The work will serve as a research tool that provides a systematic and heretofore unavailable overview of the archives, enhancing and expediting access by scholars in a broad range of disciplines. _

What does it mean to be a Catholic woman with feminist commitments today, and what insights can be garnered from that context? In this first attempt in a generation at a collective framework for Catholic feminist theology, a group of theologians formulate a new contextual approach to and criteria for systematic theology and apply those insights as they tackle three key topics: Theological Anthropology, Christology, and Ecclesiology.Key to their endeavor is specific focus on contemporary discipleship, a special cricitcal methodology and relationship to the Catholic Christian tradition, and a specific sensitivity to academic and ecclesial hegemonies. The result in each case is an honest exploration of the tradition, a contextualization of the locus in the lives of women today, and an attempt at a constructive vision with which to move forward.Contributors: Susan Abraham, Rosemary Carbine, Teresa Delgado, Elizabeth Groppe, Jeanine Hill-Fletcher, Elena Procario-Foley, Michele Saracino, and Laura Taylor.

This previously unpublished 1931 dissertation by Gaines Post covers the interaction of the papacy with multiple universities from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and makes his research and observations available on a range of topics, such as papal intervention and influence in the areas of licensing to teach, scholarly privileges, financial support, and dispensations for study.

Taking stock of the present moment and the challenges of the future, a host of leading spiritual writers reflect on the most pressing spiritual questions of our time. Whether the focus is on nurturing consciousness, building community, or transforming global structures, the answers provide a road map for personal, ecclesial, and social change.

Compiled in honor of Benedictine writer Joan Chittister, the volume concludes with a moving autobiographical reflection by Chittister herself, "The Power of Questions to Propel".

The first nation to consecrate itself to the Sacred Heart, however, was Ecuador. The Archbishop of Quito, His Grace Jose Ignacio Checa y Barba, and President Gabriel Garcia Moreno jointly and solemnly consecrated Ecuador to the Sacred Heart on March 25, 1874. The importance of this national consecration can be surmised as it was foretold by Our Lady of Good Success two hundred seventy four years in advance when she said, "A truly Catholic president will come in the nineteenth century, a man of character, to whom Our Lord God will give the palm of martyrdom in the plaza where this convent of mine is. He will consecrate the republic to the Divine Heart of my Blessed Son. This consecration will uphold the Catholic religion in subsequent years, which will be tragic for the Church."3 Both President Garcia Moreno and Archbishop Checa y Barba later sealed their covenant with God by shedding their own blood as martyrs in the same Cathedral where the consecration was made. The assassins were hired by Freemasonry, which felt threatened by this noble act of publicly restoring the Kingship of Christ in one small nation.. Formerly, Christ's reign had universally flourished in Europe as the cornerstone of Christendom.