This book introduces Catholic doctrine through the crucible of the women mystics' reception of the gospel. The work of the great women theologians of the Church's second millennium has too often been neglected (or relegated to the category of 'mysticism') in textbooks on Catholic doctrine. This is a shame, because their work shows the interior conjunction of liturgical experience (broadly understood), scriptural exegesis, philosophical reflection, and doctrinal/creedal formulation. Drawing on their work, this book presents the tenets of Catholic faith in a clear and accessible manner, useful for introductory courses as well as for students and scholars interested in the contributions of women to Catholic theology. Women theologians in this book include Catherine of Siena, Theresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Simone Weil and others.

This book examines the economy of contemporary Catholic monasticism from a sociological perspective, considering the ways in which monasteries engage with the capitalist world economy via a model which aims less at 'performance' per se, than at the fulfilment of human and religious values. Based on fieldwork across several countries in Europe, Africa and South America, it explores not only the daily work and economy in monastic communities in their tensions with religious life, but also the new interest from society in monastic products or monastic management. With attention to present trends in monastic economy, including the growth of ecology and the role of monasteries in the social and economic development of their localities, the author demonstrates that monastic economy consists not solely in the subsistence of religious communities outside the world, but in economic activity that has a real impact on its local or even more global environment, in part through transnational networks of monasteries. As such, Contemporary Monastic Economy: A Sociological Perspective will appeal to scholars of religious studies and sociology with interests in contemporary monasticism.

This book is the first cultural history of papal authority in late antiquity. While most traditional histories posit a 'rise of the papacy' and examine popes as politicians, theologians and civic leaders, Kristina Sessa focuses on the late Roman household and its critical role in the development of the Roman church from c.350-600. She argues that Rome's bishops adopted the ancient elite household as a model of good government for leading the church. Central to this phenomenon was the classical and biblical figure of the steward, the householder's appointed agent who oversaw his property and people. As stewards of God, Roman bishops endeavored to exercise moral and material influence within both the pope's own administration and the households of Italy's clergy and lay elites. This original and nuanced study charts their manifold interactions with late Roman households and shows how bishops used domestic knowledge as the basis for establishing their authority as Italy's singular religious leaders.

Investigating Vatican II is a collection of Fr. Jared Wicks' recent articles on Vatican II, and presents the Second Vatican Council as an event to which theologians contributed in major ways and from which Catholic theology can gain enormous insights. Taken as a whole, the articles take the reader into the theological dynamics of Vatican II at key moments in the Council's historical unfolding. Wicks promotes a contemporary re-reception of Vatican II's theologically profound documents, especially as they featured God's incarnate and saving Word, laid down principles of Catholic ecumenical engagement, and articulated the church's turn to the modern world with a new "face" of respect and dedication to service. From the original motivations of Pope John XXIII in convoking the Council, Investigating Vatican II goes on to highlight the profound insights offered by theologians who served behind the scenes as Council experts. In its chapters, the book moves through the Council's working periods, drawing on the published and non-published records, with attention to the Council's dramas, crises, and breakthroughs. It brings to light the bases of Pope Francis's call for synodality in a listening church, while highlighting Vatican II's mandate to all of prayerful biblical reading, for fostering a vibrant "joy in the Gospel."

This study offers a theological response to the problem of anxiety from the point of view of Hans Urs von Balthasar. It is a systematic presentation, analysis and development of Balthasar's original theology of anxiety found in his only work on the subject, Der Christ und die Angst. The study takes a thematic approach based upon the four types of analysis found in Der Christ und die Angst phenomenological, anthropological, theological and ecclesial. These four approaches to the topic correspond to the phenomenon, origins, redemption and transformation of anxiety.

Through this thematic approach, Balthasar's thought is examined in relation to some of the important figures on anxiety. The phenomenon of anxiety is presented in relation to modern psychiatry. The examination of anxiety's origins places him in dialogue with Kierkegaard on anxiety from discursive reasoning and Freud on anxiety from ego-consciousness. The redemption of anxiety places Balthasar in relation to Aquinas in order to clarify Balthasar's interpretation and to show its significance in the theological tradition. The transformation of anxiety places our author in dialogue with Luther on the shape of anxiety in the Christian life. The final chapter begins to unravel the construct of anxiety, with a brief exploration of how it is transformed in the Church according to Balthasar, something he had never explicitly developed. The influence of Bernanos on Balthasar's thought is felt throughout the study. The entire study is framed by the two Gardens wherein transpire the most significant events concerning anxiety for Balthasar: the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane.

Edition of the register of a late-medieval bishop's register sheds fascinating light on life at the time. Edward Story, fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and later master of Michaelhouse, was also, in two terms as chancellor, a university administrator. But it was as a royal servant that he rose to eminence from about 1460 to servesucceeding monarchs with the impartial efficiency of a career civil servant. Bishop of Carlisle from 1468, he was translated in 1478 to Chichester, which, although conterminous with the county of Sussex, contained several exempt jurisdictions, notably the archbishop of Canterbury's deanery of South Malling. The register begins with Story's primary visitation of his diocese.The full record reveals both the shortcomings of the cathedral chapter and of those religious houses subject to episcopal jurisdiction. Besides purely diocesan matters such as ordinations, collations and institutions, clerical indiscipline and the exercise of his judicial authority, the extraordinary actionsrequired of the bishop are reflected not only in reports of local suspicions of heresy, but also in matters of national importance such as summonses to convocation, clerical taxation, natural disasters such as plague, and external threats to the kingdom. The documents are presented here in translation with full notes and introduction. Janet Stevenson, formerly an assistant editor of the Victoria History of Wiltshire, has edited The Edington Cartulary (Wiltshire Record Society, 42, 1987) and The Durford Cartulary (Sussex Record Society, 90, 2006).

THE FREEHOF INSTITUTE OF PROGRESSIVE HALAKHAH The Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah is a creative research center devoted to studying and defining the progressive character of the halakhah in accordance with the principles and theology of Reform Judaism. It seeks to establish the ideological basis of Progressive halakhah, and its application to daily life. The Institute fosters serious studies, and helps scholars in various portions of the world to work together for a common cause. It provides an ongoing forum through symposia, and publications including the quarterly newsletter, HalakhaH, published under the editorship of Walter Jacob, in the United States. The foremost halakhic scholars in the Reform, Liberal, and Progressive rabbinate along with some Conservative and Orthodox colleagues as well as university professors serve on our Academic Council.

This book examines the life of Catholic religious teaching brothers across the English-speaking world, especially during the religious order heyday period of 1891-1965. Its central theme is that the commitment of teaching brothers was first and foremost to their religious life and that teaching was always in accord with, and where necessary took second place to, that religious life. Related themes are also examined: how teaching brothers were constructed by the Catholic Church as being different from lay people; recruitment to the life; the socialization process; the process of education in brothers' schools; the influence of the Second Vatican Council; child abuse; and what the future holds.

The birth of the Second Spanish Republic in April 1931 ushered in a period of possible secularisation to Spain. Liberals welcomed legal changes, while conservatives feared the special 'privileges' they enjoyed would end. The Catholic Church remained a central focus of left-wing antagonism and right-wing allegiances, and conflicts surrounding the future of religion grew severe. While members of the Spanish Catholic hierarchy had clearly supported the right and disdained the left, the actions and opinions of the Vatican and its hierarchy stationed in Spain were much more nuanced. Similarly, when conservative military action plunged Spain into a Civil War in July 1936, the majority of the Spanish Catholic hierarchy openly supported their victory, but the highest levels of the Vatican remained silent. This book explores the unique position and specialised reactions of the Vatican concerning the Second Republic and Civil War. For the Holy See, the conflict in Spain was not an isolated event at the edge of the continent, but part of a larger narrative of ideological and political tension swirling across Europe. Any public statement by the Vatican concerning the Spanish Republic or Civil War could be misconstrued as support for one side or another, and threaten the Church. True, the Vatican often remained silent -- and some have suggested this supports the conclusion that the Church worked for Franco -- but by accessing previously unavailable sources directly from the Vatican, this book can help to clarify the difficult options that awaited the Holy See during this disastrous period. Similarly, this book works to highlight the fact that the Catholic Church was not some monolithic entity, but men like Pope Pius XI and Secretary of State Pacelli had their own understandings of spirituality and politics.

Since the first scandals broke in the mid-1980s, the sexual misconducts of priests have cost the Catholic Church in America more than $4 billion in compensation settlements and incalculable damage to its reputation. Although their crimes have attracted far less attention, predatory nuns have also caused harm. The depredations of these nuns took place in convent novitiates, orphanages, boarding schools for Native Americans, and in Catholic schools, both elementary and secondary. Their victims, male and female, ranged in age from six-year-olds to young adults. This book focuses on the criminal behavior of North American nuns and the responses from church leadership. Mothers superior were outspoken in their refusal to accept responsibility for the crimes committed under their watch, and their inclination was to close ranks and protect the predators, endangering many children and young people in the process. The complainants, on the other hand, were considered nuisances to be pushed aside with the least amount of exposure and expense possible. Straightforward and informative, this text begins by exploring the nuns' vow of chastity and its relationship with human sexuality, followed by dozens of case studies detailing the sexual abuse that nuns committed in various settings.

Our home, our duties and routines, our relationships, and the way we use our time, are the monasteries of our lives. It is through these practices that we build our relationship with God, that we find opportunities for contemplation, and deserts for reflection. In this beautiful little book Ronald Rolheiser turns on its head the idea that religious life is the preserve of monks and nuns. Our cloisters are the walls of our home and our work, the streets we walk, and the people with whom we share our lives. The domestic is the monastic. Chapters include: Monasticism and Family Life; The Domestic Monastery; Real Friendship; Lessons from the Monastic Cell; Ritual for Sustaining Prayer; Tensions within Spirituality; A Spirituality of Parenting; Spirituality and the Seasons of Our Lives; The Sacredness of Time; Life's Key Question.

Account of an important Catholic family in early modern East Anglia, demonstrating their influence upon their wider community. For almost 250 years the Gages of Hengrave Hall, near Bury St Edmunds, were the leading Roman Catholic family in Suffolk, and the sponsors and protectors of most Catholic missionary endeavours in the western half of the county. This book traces their rise from an offshoot of a Sussex recusant family, to the extinction of the senior line in 1767, when the Gages became the Rookwood Gages. Drawing for the first time on the extensive records of the Gage familyin Cambridge University Library, the book considers the Gages as part of the wider Catholic community of Bury St Edmunds and west Suffolk, and includes transcriptions of selected family letters as well as the surviving eighteenth-century Benedictine and Jesuit mission registers for Bury St Edmunds. Although the Gages were the wealthiest and most influential Catholics in the region, the gradual separation and independent growth of the urban Catholic community in Bury St Edmunds challenges the idea that eighteenth-century Catholicism in the south of England was moribund and "seigneurial". The author argues that in the end, the Gages' achievement was to create a Catholic community that could eventually survive without their patronage. Francis Young gained his doctorate from the University of Cambridge.

This book focuses on the intersections between Catholic schools and public education reforms.