Designed as a reference resource for history studies of the 12th and early 13th centuries, these two volumes are now available in paperback for the wider use of medieval historians. The output of the archbishops' chanceries reveals that the underlying principles of ecclesiastical government were changed not by the turbulent events of the period, but by a gradual evolution of offices, institutions and customs in Latin Christendom. This collection of official acts reflects the unprecedented activity of English prelates of this period in the management of their dioceses, in the transfer of parochial patronage from laymen to religious houses, and in correspondence with the court of Rome.

This critical study of Karl Barth's Christian theological ethics discusses Barth's controversial and characteristically misunderstood ethics of divine command. The surprising relation of his 'divine command ethics' to contemporary 'narrative theology' and 'virtue ethics' and specific moral themes concerning bonds between parents and children, the nature of truth telling, and the meaning of Christian love of God and neighbor are all discussed. This book reveals Barth's richness, depth, and insight, and places his work in constructive connection with salient themes in both Catholic and Protestant ethics. Attentive to the fullness of Barth's Christological vision and to the purposes and limits of his reflections on the Christian life in pursuit of the good, William Werpehowski also advances conversations in Christian ethics about the nature of practical deliberation and decision, the orientation and dispositions that embody moral faithfulness, and the question and features of 'natural morality.'

"The Japanese and the Jesuits" examines the attempt by sixteenth-century Jesuits to convert Japan to Christianity. Directing the Jesuits was the Italian Alessandro Valignano, whose own magisterial writings, many of them not previously translated or published, are the principal source material for this account of one of the most remarkable of all meetings between East and West.
Valignano arrived in Japan in 1579. In promoting Christianity, he always sought the support of the ruling classes. He taught the missionaries to adapt themselves thoroughly to Japanese customs, etiquette, and culture, and insisted that they master the Japanese language. He brought a European printing press to Japan, turning out grammars and dictionaries of Japanese for the missionaries, as well as works of instruction and devotion for the Japanese Christians.
Following Valignano's death, Christianity was proscribed and missionaries banished from Japan. This does not detract from his remarkable achievements, however. He understood perfectly well that foreign missionaries by themselves were not capable of converting Japan to Christianity. One of his principal concerns was the training of Japanese Jesuits and priests, and breaking down the barriers between them and the Europeans. Few people have been more acutely aware of the tensions or grappled more determinedly with the problems in Japanese-Western relationships than Valignano.

One of the most popular Saints in the Church for centuries, St. Rita is known as the \"Saint of the Impossible\" because of her amazing answers to prayers, as well as the remarkable events of her own life. Desirous of being a nun, she instead obeyed her parents and married. Her husband was cruel, and caused her much suffering, to which she responded with love and prayers and eventually converted him. After the death of her husband and two sons, Rita was able to enter a convent, where she devoted herself to prayer and penance. She abandoned herself totally to God, diminishing herself as He increased in her. An inspiring story of a soul completely resigned to God\'s will. 132 pgs, PB

Shows how St. Thomas was big, quiet and slow to speak, thus being called the \"Dumb Ox\" by fellow students. Shows for children 10 and up how this \"Dumb Ox\" became the greatest teacher in the history of the Church. Impr. 81 pgs 16 Illus, PB

The perfect how-to for easy, quick Scripture reference and comprehension

Using straightforward, accessible language, Scripture expert Scott Hahn explains the "nuts and bolts" of the Bible -- how it came to be, the types of literature found within it, and the thrust of each book -- in a handy, yet thorough, way that demystifies the Bible and simplifies understanding.

This book, based on extensive original research, examines the nature of Catholicism in the contemporary Philippines. It shows how Catholicism is apparently flourishing, with good attendance at Sunday Masses, impressive religious processions and flourishing charismatic groups, and with interventions by the Catholic hierarchy in national and local politics. However, focusing in particular on the beliefs and practices of young people, the book shows that young people are often adopting a different, more individualised approach to Catholicism, which is frequently out of step with the official position. It considers the features of this: a more personal and experiential relationship with God; a new approach to morality, in which right living is seen as more important than right believing; and a critical view of what is seen as the Catholic hierarchy's misguidedness. The book argues that this reinterpreting of religion by young people has the potential to alter fundamentally the nature of Catholicism in the Philippines, but that, nevertheless, young people's new approach involves a solid, enduring commitment and a strong view of their own Catholic, religious identity.

Absolve your sins from the comfort of your office with the Desktop Confessional, a charming mini replica of the classic confessional booth that is always here to say "You are forgiven!"

This kit includes:

• 3" miniature confessional, with light-up priest screen and pressure-activated kneeler that says "You are forgiven."
• 48-page illustrated mini book.

This classic text outlines the development of the Papacy as an institution in the Middle Ages. With profound knowledge, insight and sophistication, Walter Ullmann traces the course of papal history from the late Roman Empire to its eventual decline in the Renaissance. The focus of this survey is on the institution and the idea of papacy rather than individual figures, recognizing the shaping power of the popes' roles that made them outstanding personalities. The transpersonal idea, Ullmann argues, sprang from Christianity itself and led to the Papacy as an institution sui generis.

The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church captured headlines and mobilized public outrage in January 2002. But much of the commentary that immediately followed was reductionistic, focusing on single "causes" of clerical abuse such as mandatory celibacy, homosexuality, sexual repressiveness or sexual permissiveness, anti-Catholicism, and a decadent secular culture. Predatory Priests, Silenced Victims: The Sexual Abuse Crisis and the Catholic Church, a collection of groundbreaking articles edited by Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea and Virginia Goldner, eschews such one-size-fits-all theorizing. In its place, the abuse situation is explored in all its troubling complexity, as contributors take into account the experiences, respectively, of the victim/survivor, the abuser/perpetrator, and the bystander (whether family member, professional/clergy, or the community at large). Setting polemics to the side, Predatory Priests, Silenced Victims provides a sober and sobering analysis of the interlacing historical, doctrinal, and psychological issues that came together in the sexual abuse scandal. It is mandatory reading for all who seek thoughtful, informed commentary on a crisis long in the making and yet to be resolved.

By any reckoning, the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI was extraordinary, with moments of high drama. Not the least of these was his resignation from office in February 2013, the first papal resignation in 500 years. But who is Joseph Ratzinger? In this definitive biography, based on meticulous historical research and many hours of taped interviews with his subject, Peter Seewald shows the exceptional circumstances in which the exceptionally talented son of a Bavarian policeman became the first German pope for 950 years. In this first volume, covering the years 1927-1965, we witness Joseph Ratzinger's early days, living above his father's police station. Ratzinger came to adulthood through the years of National Socialism. Though hostile to the rise of Hitler, his family knew well about Dachau and Ratzinger himself was conscripted into the Hitler Youth. Joseph Ratzinger proved to be a man of exceptional intellectual gifts and by the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) he was already noted as one of the outstanding intellects present and was nominated a 'peritus' or theological expert. This was also the time of the start of his friendship with the Swiss theologian Hans Kung who was to become his nemesis. Of his predecessor, Pope Francis has said: 'Pope Benedict was a great Pope, great for the penetration of his intelligence, great for his important contribution to theology, great for his love of the Church and human beings, great for his virtues and faith'. Even in this first volume, we begin to understand how this came to be true.

This book analyzes the function and structure of a system that exerts real power in an area of existence vital to human service, happiness, and productivity: sexuality as it is understood by the celibate/sexual teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.

This book restores the poet to his full intellectual and literary context as a Victorian convert to Catholicism.

Through his prolific and highly regarded writing, Thomas Howard's name is familiar to Protestants and Catholics alike, but many have never heard the story of his conversion to Catholicism. With grace, charm, and wit, Dr. Howard describes his journey from Evangelicalism to Anglicanism, and finally, to the Church of Rome. In a world saturated with fashionable unbelief, Howard's testimony inspires and informs. Fr. Richard Neuhaus calls it "a marvelously engaging remembrance."

The spiritual diaries of Pope St John Paul II - published for the first time ever in English. The most intimate insight into the longest-serving pontiff of our time. Ten years after his death, the popularity and devotion towards John Paul II, the pope who helped bring down communism in his native Poland, the great statesman, and the most-travelled pope in history, remains as strong as ever. Since his early years as a priest in the 1960s, up until 2003, two years before his death, the pope kept a spiritual diary, recording his reflections on God, life, spirituality, the problems facing the church - and his own struggles. Never intended for publication, these diaries were entrusted before his death to his personal secretary, who saw fit to have them published as they represent an unprecedented and important testament to the spirituality of this Christian leader, adored to this day by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

This book arose from commissioned research by the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) on the alignment and effectiveness of 'A Framework for Formation for Mission in Catholic Education' (NCEC, 2017). It articulates contemporary best practice, and traces the experience of the Catholic Church in pursuing formation as integral to mission. This book also reviews and reports on formation within the context of the Catholic school. Its research validates 'The Framework' in Catholic education, and provides a complementary narrative for enhancing formation alignment and effectiveness, specifically with a focus on the Catholic school, but also with implications for formation in the wider context of ministry applications. This book is developed based on three questions, which also serve as thematic chapters that structure the narrative: what is the context and culture in which formation occurs; how is formation presented and enacted within the Australian context; and how can the understanding and practice of formation be advanced beyond its context and culture, policy, programs and 'The Framework' principles.

Au siecle des Lumieres, le roman de nature edifiante emprunte de nouvelles avenues, embrassant la forme didactique et le parti antiphilosophique. Au contact des idees et des valeurs que defendent Encyclopedistes et philosophes, les romanciers et les romancieres sont amenes a s'interroger sur la religion dans ses rapports sociaux et moraux avec la societe et a assortir les acquis philosophiques aux dogmes chretiens a l'aide d'un discours alliant foi et raison. En mobilisant la sensibilite, ils proposent un expedient pieux selon lequel la religion serait mise au service de l'ordre etabli et de la cohesion sociale. Le discours optimiste que donnent a lire les romans des Lumieres catholiques renoue avec l'idee de perfectibilite humaine et de progres social, devoilant un espace de chevauchement qui brouille les frontieres entre philosophie et antiphilosophie et qui temoigne de leur porosite. Cet ouvrage collectif a pour objectifs d'explorer les entreprises de mise en roman des Lumieres catholiques dans leurs dimensions narrative, rhetorique, topique et philosophique afin d'en souligner l'originalite et la complexite, d'exposer leur apport aux debats qui marquent le XVIIIe siecle et de les rehabiliter dans la constellation litteraire des Lumieres. --- In the eighteenth century, edifying novels explored new strategies, embracing the didactic form and the antiphilosophic party. Confronted with the ideas and values that the Encyclopaedists and philosophers defended, Catholic novelists were led to consider religion in its moral and social relationships to society and to reconcile philosophical findings and Christian doctrines by producing discourses on the union of faith and reason. By mobilizing sensibility, they propose a pious expedient whereby religion would serve the established order and maintain social cohesion. The optimistic discourse found in the novels of the Catholic Enlightenment is characterised by its belief in human perfectibility and social progress, which reveals an in-between space where the line separating philosophy from anti-philosophy is blurred and shown to be quite porous. This edited collection aims to study the novelistic experiments of the Catholic Enlightenment in their narrative, rhetorical, topical, and philosophical dimensions in order to show their originality and complexity, to reveal their contributions in the great debates of the eighteenth century, and to give them back their due place in the literary constellation of the Enlightenment.