In Envoys of A Human God Andreu Martinez offers a comprehensive study of the religious mission led by the Society of Jesus in Christian Ethiopia. The mission to Ethiopia was one of the most challenging undertakings carried out by the Catholic Church in early modern times. The book examines the period of early Portuguese contacts with the Ethiopian monarchy, the mission's main developments and its aftermath, with the expulsion of the Jesuit missionaries. The study profits from both an intense reading of the historical record and the fruits of recent archaeological research. Long-held historiographical assumptions are challenged and the importance of cultural and socio-political factors in the attraction and ultimate estrangement between European Catholics and Ethiopian Christians is highlighted.

"Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" is the first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary - predominately a literary and historical criticism - is based on and includes a new translation, and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.

A monk who has striven to live according to the Rule of Benedict for thirty-five years, Father Kardong relates it to modern monastic life while examining the sources (Cassian, Augustine, and Basil) Benedict used to establish his Rule. Overviews - summaries of notes, source criticism, or structural criticism - follow some chapters, and a large bibliography of the current scholarship and source references are also included. "Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" also includes the Latin text of the "Regula Benedicti."This reference work is invaluable to libraries and to those who are called to interpret the Rule. It will be opened again and again. Indexed.

Despite all the hoopla about Pope John Paul II, some believe he has been an unparalleled disaster in the history of the papacy and of the Church. In "Crossing the Threshold of Confusion, " author Andrew J. McCauley examines the record of this pope and discusses the harm he has done or has allowed to have happened not only to the Church but to Western civilization. McCauley uncovers countless faults many Catholic leaders have overlooked, including: Pope John Paul II's failure to enforce discipline in the Church, especially against widespread sexual abuse by priests; his statements alleging and implying universal salvation; the destabilization of marriage caused by his theology of the body; the conflicting messages that confuse the Church's position on capital punishment; his stance on the nature of the Church as a result of Vatican II.This exploration of recent Catholic history studies the ideas, writings, and policies of Pope John Paul II, from his life a young priest to his final days as pope, and examines their compatibility with traditional Catholic doctrine and practice. "Crossing the Threshold of Confusion" presents a case against the canonization of Pope John Paul II and demonstrates how his record warrants condemnation.

In this book Dr Ludlow compares and assesses two advocates of the belief that in the end God will save all people. It asks whether this idea of 'universal salvation' is a truly Christian concept. If it is a 'second tradition' in Christian theology, how has that tradition developed? What difficulties with the idea still remain?

The book that can help you reconcile being both gay and Catholic Sons of the Church: The Witnessing of Gay Catholic Men spotlights testimonials from over thirty gay Catholic men to answer the question, How can you be gay and Catholic? Dr. Thomas B. Stevenson, who received degrees from the University of Notre Dame, Boston College, and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, explores this question, using various interviews to thoroughly analyze the many dimensions of being gay and Catholic while providing a powerful and convincing criticism of Church teaching on homosexuality. This thoughtful, surprisingly reverent book is the answer for those gay readers who long for a religious connection, as well as for Catholic readers and those in pastoral positions who want and need to hear the stories of gay people firsthand. Sons of the Church: The Witnessing of Gay Catholic Men tells one storythe story of what it is like to be gay and Catholicthrough the various stories of over thirty gay Catholic men. Each chapter is arranged thematically, beginning with experiences of being homosexual and Catholic during childhood and youth. Subsequent chapters delve into the ways these men each finally accepted themselves and integrated their sexuality, related to others who did or did not understand, dealt with homosexual promiscuity, found intimate relationships, became a part of a community, and ultimately came to terms with the Catholic Church and their faith. Throughout, these 'witnesses' explain how their faith in God guides them through the various experiences and issues they face. The positive aspects of Catholic Christianity are respectfully explored at the same time as the present Church teaching on homosexuality is challenged. Sons of the Church uses interviews to explore: Catholics coming to terms with their homosexuality the experiences of young men recognizing their sexuality suffering and oppression by society and the Church acceptance of self integration of goodness and lovability of homosexuality moral issues of promiscuity among gay men gay relationships and the Catholic dimensions of commitment criticisms of gay culture the Catholic Church teachings on homosexuality the answer to the question, How can you be gay and Catholic? Sons of the Church: The Witnessing of Gay Catholic Men is enlightening reading essential for educators, students, counselors, priests, nuns, psychologists, and theologians. Catholic people, gay people, and every educated reader will find that the interviews and ideas here stimulate thought and create a greater understanding of the issue of homosexuality and faith.

Oxford Scholarly Classics is a new series that makes available again great academic works from the archives of Oxford University Press. Reissued in uniform series design, the reissues will enable libraries, scholars, and students to gain fresh access to some of the finest scholarship of the last century.

Could a Pope ever consent to be the subject of a political power? Owen Chadwick presents an analysis of the causes and consquences of the end of the historic Papal State, and the psychological pressures upon old Rome as it came under attack from the Italian Risorgimento and liberal movements in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Tsarist Russia.

Catholics in Independent Indonesia: 1945-2010 concludes Steenbrink's three volume historical account of Catholicism in Indonesia with a detailed report of the survival and growth of this minority religion in Muslim Indonesia since its independence in 1945. Colonial Catholicism survived in the independent Republic of Indonesia during the nationalist Sukarno regime (1945-1965) and regained a new dynamic during the general religious revival that was part of the New Order of Soeharto after 1965. From a Dutch-inspired institution it became a fully Indonesian steered community with a modern and international character. The second half of the book will deal with the different regional developments in this vast country.

The Oratorian priest Antonio Gallonio (1556-1605) devoted his life to writing about saints. The thread running through his hagiographical oeuvre was renunciation of this world: humility, subservience and endurance. Yet he engaged with the expertise of lay people, jurists, physicians and engineers, so as to appeal to their interests and convert them. In order to emphasize how saints endured torture, healed disease and exercised piety rather than ingenuity, Gallonio ventured into those secular disciplines, even if he did not endorse them. This book surveys Gallonio's published and unpublished works and his position in Roman society, to expose the tensions between a theocratic clergy and the self-assertion of skilled and scholarly professionals in the Italian Counter-Reformation.