'Time and again she pierces the veil of complacency and brings the reader face to face with the deepest levels of existence.' - Church Times

'At the twilight of a century whose accelerated history has led to the rise and fall of so many idols, this book increasingly appears like a message from eternity.' - Gustave Thibon

'One of the most profound religious thinkers of modern times.' - The Twentieth Century, 1961

'We must simply expose ourselves to the personality of a woman of genius, of a kind of genius akin to that of the saints.' - T. S. Eliot

'The light Simone shines makes everything seem, at once, reasurringly recognizable and so luminous as to be heavenly.' - Malcom Muggeridge

'In France she is ranked with Pascal by some, condemned as a dangerous heretic by others, and recognized as a genius by all.' - New York Times Book Review

'The best spiritual writer of this century ... she said it was her vocation to stand at the intersection of Christians and non-Christians. She thus becomes the patron saint of all "outsiders".' - André Gide

This volume explores the critical reactions and dissenting activism generated in the summer of 1968 when Pope Paul VI promulgated his much-anticipated and hugely divisive encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which banned the use of 'artificial contraception' by Catholics. Through comparative case studies of fourteen different European countries, it offers a wealth of new data about the lived religious beliefs and practices of ordinary people - as well as theologians interrogating 'traditional teachings' - in areas relating to love, marriage, family life, gender roles and marital intimacy. Key themes include the role of medical experts, the media, the strategies of progressive Catholic clergy and laity, and the critical part played by hugely differing Church-State relations. In demonstrating the Catholic Church's important (and overlooked) contribution to the refashioning of the sexual landscape of post-war Europe, it makes a critical intervention into a growing historiography exploring the 1960s and offers a close interrogation of one strand of religious change in this tumultuous decade.

Born on the small Greek island of Melos, Joseph Georgirenes became a monk on Mount Athos and was consecrated as Archbishop of Samos in 1666. Five years later he left his diocese and travelled to Europe, visiting Rome, Paris, London and Oxford. Scholars such as Antoine Galland in Paris and Thomas Smith in Oxford invited this Greek Orthodox priest to take part in their theological discussions. Until now, Georgirenes has been best known for having established the first Greek Orthodox church in London in Soho, and for publishing a detailed account of the condition and practices of the Orthodox church living under Ottoman rule. This booklet - A Description of the Present State of Samos, Nicaria, Patmos and Mount Athos - was published in London in 1677 and is republished here for the first time in England. Caught up in the Popish Plot, Georgirenes left England in 1682 and it was not known what happened to him. For the first time, however, this biography reveals the extraordinary further adventures of this much-travelled priest.

Women, Reform, and Resistance documents the challenges faced by Irish women from 1850 to 1950 and their complex reactions. By investigating prisons, and hospitals; interrogating court records and memoirs; and exploring the 'imaginative resistance' women expressed through folk tales; authors illuminate previously obscured experiences of Irish women.

A volume in Research on Religion and Education Series Editors Stephen J. Denig, Niagara University and Lyndon G. Furst, Andrews University Two major real-world problems prompted this study: maintaining the Catholic identity of the Catholic schools, and increasing interest in character education. Traditionally, Catholic schools in the United States were staffed exclusively by priests, sisters, and brothers. Today, they are predominately staffed by laypersons. This change has influenced the essential religious character and culture of Catholic schools. While Religious filter their teachings through their own religious training and emphasize the mission and charisma of Catholic education, lay staff often lack the same intensely religious experiences to bring to the teaching/learning environment. This qualitative interview study explored the influence that a series of spirituality and virtue seminars had on lay teachers' perceptions of the Catholic school and character education

The Latin American Church is extremely significant in global Catholicism, accounting for a substantial percentage of the World s total Catholic population. Demonstrating remarkable vitality, the Latin American Church has played a major role in local political and social arenas, particularly during the transitions from military to democratic rule in Chile and Peru.

However, recent changes imposed by the Vatican may come to redefine the Chilean and Peruvian Church's involvement in politics and social issues. Professors Michael Fleet and Brian H. Smith argue that throughout the 1980s, the Vatican has been moving to restrict the Chilean and Peruvian Church's social and political activities, reimposing more hierarchical control on the local Church through the appointment of conservative bishops.

As all Catholics work to understand the Church within the context of the global community, The Catholic Church and Democracy in Chile and Peru deserves the attention of thinking Catholics throughout the world.

Deliverance from pornography is possible and these true stories prove it.

The pious man whose fairytale marriage was almost destroyed by his fierce addiction

The young woman who escaped a broken and abusive childhood only to become ensnared in porn's seamy underworld

The couple who tried everything to beat the pain and shame of porn in their home

The female musician who thought porn was a guy thing until she got hooked herself

and five other inspiring tales of liberation from the ravages of pornography.

Delivered is proof that no one is beyond the reach of God's healing grace.

This book explores the political dimension of Pope Francis' theology from a variety of perspectives and makes a unique contribution to the ongoing historiography of his pontificate. It defines the concept of political theology when applied to Pope Francis' discourse and reflects on the portrayal of him as the voice of Latin America, a great reformer and a revolutionary. The chapters offer a thorough investigation of core texts and key moments in Pope Francis' papacy (2013-), focusing in particular on their relation to canon theory, liberation theology, the rise of populism, and gender issues. As well as documenting some of the continuities between the ideas of Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, the author asks what the Argentinian pontiff has brought from Latin America and considers the Latin American dimension to what has become known as the 'Francis effect'. Overall, the book demonstrates how the Pope's words and actions constitute a powerful political theology disseminated from a unique religious and institutional position. It will be of interest to scholars of theology, religion, and politics, particularly those with a focus on world Catholicism, political theology, and church history.

Widely recognized as one of the dominant figures in Western intellectual tradition, Thomas Aquinas has influenced a variety of fields of thought for centuries. This new anthology of his writings, translated from the original Latin by Hood, contains selections from a broad range of his topics and ideas. It includes works of systemic theology, commentaries on the Bible, Aristotle, and other texts of the classical tradition. Divided into eight chapters, the book offers substantial selections from each of Aquinas' areas of interest: Metaphysics, Natural Science, Human Nature, Law and Ethics, Catholic Theology, the Study of the Bible, Art and Beauty, and the Social World. In vivid translations and enlightening introductions to the selections, Hood provides readers with a rich overview of the important work of this unique thinker.

Without violating the integrity of the original texts, Hood provides his own translations of Aquinas's work and introduces readers to his work in all its diversity. Selections present Aquinas' views on a variety of topics of profound contemporary as well as medieval significance, including politics, economic exchange, war theory, sexual morality, and the role and status of women and religious minorities. Thus, without neglecting subjects such as metaphysics, epistemology, and natural law, which are the focus of other anthologies, Hood offers a broader portrait of Aquinas, his thoughts, and the diversity and richness of the culture that gave rise to both.

The Catholic Reformation provides a comprehensive history of the 'Counter Reformation in early modern Europe. Starting from the middle ages, Michael Mullett clearly traces the continuous transformation of the Catholic religion in its structures, bodies and doctrine. He discusses the gain in momentum of Catholic renewal from the time of the Council of Trent, and considers the profound effect of the Protestant Reformation in accelerating its renovation.
This book explores how and why the Catholic Reformation occurred, stressing that moves towards restoration were underway well before the Protestant Reformation. Michael Mullett also shows the huge impact it had not only on the papacy, Church leaders and religious ritual and practice, but also on the lives of ordinary people - their culture, arts, attitudes and relationships.
Ranging across the continent, The Catholic Reformation is an indispensable new survey which provides a wide-ranging overview of the religious, political and cultural history of the time.

The Catholic Church still takes an ambivalent stance toward homosexuality, declaring that homosexuals should be respected and not discriminated against while morally condemning their intimate relationships. This volume presents exegetical, theological, and ethical arguments as well as evidence from the human sciences to advocate for the recognition of homosexuality as a natural variant of the human capacities to love and to form relationships.

Adding significantly to our understanding of Southern and American Catholicism, this book provides a detailed history of the Mississippi Church's development in modern times. It focuses on the three bishops of the period--John Gunn, Richard Gerow, and Joseph Brunini--but also considers how the clergy and religious, especially the Irish clergy, facilitated the Church's growth, and how the laity worked to foster the Church in Mississippi's Protestant environment. Examining all facets of Catholic life, particularly the evangelizing roles of Catholic education, Catholic charities, and Catholic hospitals, the author places the Mississippi Church in the context of both its Protestant environment and Southern Catholicism generally. He concludes that the Mississippi Church is in the mainstream of Southern Catholicism, which is distinct from Northern, Midwestern, or Western Catholicism.

Emphasizing the Church's evangelizing activities, he shows that the Mississippi Church has been and remains missionary, that it has a continuing impact on its surroundings, particularly at the local level, and that it is symptomatic of Southern Catholicism. The work is the first scholarly study of the Church in Mississippi in the 20th century. It makes extensive use of primary sources and adds significantly to the growing body of knowledge on Southern and American Catholicism.

This is one of the major works of Anglo-Saxon prose, written by one of the foremost scholars of the time and the acknowledged master of prose style. The text is based on the Royal manuscript, which represents the earliest version of the text, and has corrections and annotation in Aelfric's own hand. All the early alterations to the Royal manuscript (amounting to more than a thousand) and all substantive readings from other manuscripts, many of which reflect Aelfric's own revision, are recorded in the apparatus. A lengthy introduction describes all the manuscripts and analyses in detail Aelfric's development of the text, the nature of his revision, and the distribution and copying of the text over the subsequent two centuries. A subsequent volume, currently in preparation by M.R. Godden, will provide commentary and glossary for this text and for the Second Series which was edited by Professor Godden and published by the Early English Text Society (Supplementary Series, 5) in 1979.

*A detailed account of the crusades launched by the popes against their political opponents in the west. Housley takes an objective stance and places these crusades within their wider context.