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Books > Christianity > Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church
Jan Karski's Story of a Secret State stands as one of the most
poignant and inspiring memoirs of World War II and the Holocaust.
With elements of a spy thriller, documenting his experiences in the
Polish Underground, and as one of the first accounts of the
systematic slaughter of the Jews by the German Nazis, this volume
is a remarkable testimony of one man's courage and a nation's
struggle for resistance against overwhelming oppression. Karski was
a brilliant young diplomat when war broke out in 1939 with Hitler's
invasion of Poland. Taken prisoner by the Soviet Red Army, which
had simultaneously invaded from the East, Karski narrowly escaped
the subsequent Katyn Forest Massacre. He became a member of the
Polish Underground, the most significant resistance movement in
occupied Europe, acting as a liaison and courier between the
Underground and the Polish government-in-exile. He was twice
smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto, and entered the Nazi's Izbica
transit camp disguised as a guard, witnessing first-hand the
horrors of the Holocaust. Karski's courage and testimony, conveyed
in a breathtaking manner in Story of a Secret State, offer the
narrative of one of the world's greatest eyewitnesses and an
inspiration for all of humanity, emboldening each of us to rise to
the challenge of standing up against evil and for human rights.
This definitive edition-which includes a foreword by Madeleine
Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an
afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos,
notes, further reading, and a glossary-is an apt legacy for this
hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in
modern history.
Which events created the mindset and prepared the policy of the
later-to-be Pope Pius XII? This study takes into account the
recently declassified documents in the Vatican Archives dealing
with the Catholic Church's policy regarding Germany in the 1920s
and 1930s, strongly defined by Nuncio in Germany and, then,
Cardinal State Secretary Eugenio Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius
XII). It broadens its view to cover also the Vatican's stance
towards other European dictatorships of that time, such as Fascist
Italy, Franquist Spain, Salazar's Portugal, and the Dollfuss regime
in Austria.
Barnett traces the Christian critique of the Church and its history
in Protestant (English) and Catholic (Italian) thought from the
Reformation to the Enlightenment. More than 150 years of bitter
polemic between the two great confessions and their religious
dissidents produced an unprecedented, comparative historical and
sociological anticlericalism. In the last decades of the 17th
century, English dissenting thought was pregnant with a critique of
the Church, which came to be termed the "Deist" view of Church
history: by 1700 the cornerstone of high "Enlightenment
anticlerical thought" was in ascent. This work is intended for
departments of history (courses in early modern European history,
intellectual history), religious studies and philosophy.
One of the principal buzzwords of the Second Vatican Council
(1963-65), along with collegiality, co-responsibility, full
participation, and aggiornamento, was dialogue. This is a history
of how the practices of dialogue have actually worked or failed to
work at every level of the church over the past forty years.
Beginning at the most basic level, that of the parish, the book
moves up the ecclesiastical ladder from parish councils, to
diocesan synods, to the (Roman) synod of bishops. The book moves
laterally as well to include ecumenical and interreligious
dialogues. A chapter is devoted to the fractious Call to Action
Conference, initiated by the U.S. bishops in 1976; another to the
new inclusive style of drafting pastoral letters by the U.S.
bishops - "The Challenge of Peace" (1983), "Economic Justice for
All" (1986), and the never approved pastoral on women ("Partners in
the Mystery of Redemption"). A further chapter is devoted to
Cardinal Bernardin's Catholic Common Ground Initiative, which is
still going on, though it was initially publicly attacked by four
U.S. cardinals. Finally, there is a chapter on what was perhaps the
most radical and far-reaching exercise of dialogue of all, namely,
the dialogical and democratic processes by which women religious
revised their constitutions. This is a cautionary tale, filled with
thick description of advances and retreats. In a curious way, the
book is a sequel to the multi-volume "History of the Second Vatican
Council", edited by Giuseppe Alberigo and Joseph Komonchak If those
volumes tell us what transpired at the council, Hinze's volume
tells us what happened when the council fathers went home and all
the good ideas of the council were either put into effect or left
to gather dust in the dead-letter bin. Vatican Council II is an
ongoing experiment, and "Practices of Dialogue" is a series of
reports from the labs.
Good spiritual directors can be difficult to come by; this book
offers Pope Francis to be yours. Ever wonder what advice the Pope
would give you to help you grow in holiness, deepen your prayer
life, know God's will? In Practical Holiness you'll find the keys
to discovering the answers to those questions. With anecdotes about
people and stories about saints, this exploration of Pope Francis's
apostolic exhortation, Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness
in Today's World, reminds you that there is no cookie-cutter
approach to holiness and encourages you to rediscover your unique
way of living out the Beatitudes and Jesus's two-fold command of
love. You'll navigate through the "five great expressions of love
of God and neighbor" - essential for any Christian in our
self-absorbed, digital culture. Reflection questions at the end of
each chapter, as well as forty personal questions at the end of the
book, make this ideal for reflection, adult faith formation, book
clubs, spiritual directors and their directees, and further
catechesis during the RCIA's Mystogogia period between Easter and
Pentecost.
Canon Sheehan's writings provide valuable insight into Ireland's
difficult process of cultural reconstruction after independence.
This astute observer of Irish society was pessimistic about the
future of religion. Though himself a man of European culture, he
made a case for the isolationism to become reality under the Free
State. It is a case which today is easily scorned - but his works
allow us to understand why it could command such support, and to
appreciate its relative historical justification.
The Vatican's foreign relations, particularly their Middle Eastern
aspects, are generally little known. This book attempts to clear up
the misunderstandings and misconceptions in regard to the Vatican's
Middle Eastern relations. For more than a thousand years, the Holy
See has been inextricably involved in the Middle East; indeed, the
very roots of the Roman Catholic Church originate there. Yet
despite the religious overtones of the Holy Land issue, Kreutz
argues that the Vatican's Middle Eastern policy is much more than
an expression of its religious and secular ideology, it is a
reflection of the social, political, and economic climate. The
study begins with background on the Roman Catholic Church and its
links to the Third World, especially the Middle East. The balance
of the book provides a chronological historical analysis of the
Vatican's involvement in the Palestinian problem beginning around
1900 through 1988. Kreutz examines its relations in regard to the
beginning of Zionist settlement in Palestine, the Holocaust, the
1947-1948 partition plan and the creation of Israel and the Arab
refugee problem. He focuses on the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli
Six Day War in 1967 including the growth of the Palestinian
national movement, and the present day attitude of the Vatican
under Pope John Paul II.
This new volume of essays examines the relationship between
Catholicism and homosexuality. Why did so many literary Modernists
embrace Catholicism? What is their relationship between historical
homophobia and contemporary struggles between the Church and the
homosexual? Moving from the Gothic to the late Twentieth-century,
from Britain to America and France, "Catholic Figures, Queer
Narratives" interrogates what is queer about Catholicism and what
is modern about homosexuality. The result is a radical revision of
the sacred - in life and art, the body and devotion.
The purpose of this book is to provide student affairs
professionals who work at Catholic colleges and universities a tool
for reflection and dialogue on difficult issues they face on their
campuses. It is intended to be used in staff development sessions,
in training sessions with student leaders and resident assistants,
and in master's level student affairs preparation programs at
Catholic colleges and universities. This book is the next step in a
series of projects that began in the early 1990s after the
publication by the Vatican of the apostolic constitution Ex Corde
Ecclesiae. This book is a collection of case studies that focus on
particular issues related to Catholic identity that are faced by
student affairs professionals who work at Catholic colleges and
universities. By its very nature, the focus on the difficult issues
we face is a limitation. The editors in no way wish to imply that
Catholic identity is only about problems. Previous research and
experience clearly indicates those who work at Catholic
institutions understand and embrace the opportunities that this
environment provides for them. But as Schaller and Boyle (2006)
indicated, there is a need for dialogue around the difficult issues
that we face. The editors believe that a book of case studies is
particularly helpful because it allows a staff to discuss problems
at fictionalized universities and then ask themselves, "What would
we do here?" The editors solicited cases using a mailing list
provided by the Association for Student Affairs at Catholic
Colleges and Universities (ASACCU); thus, the cases included in
this book represent the real concerns of those practicing in the
field. Some of the cases that are included are true stories of
situations that actually happened, some are fictional, and some are
hybrid stories based on actual events but changed to illustrate an
issue. To protect the privacy of those who were kind enough to
share their difficult issues with their colleagues, the names of
case contributors are listed at the beginning of the book in
alphabetical order, rather than being listed with the cases they
contributed.
This work explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Reform. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca, it explores how the reformers came to value and employ law as as means of achieving desired ends in a time of social upheaval and revolution.
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Revelation
(Paperback)
Peter S. Williamson, Peter Williamson, Mary Healy
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R606
R539
Discovery Miles 5 390
Save R67 (11%)
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In this addition to the well-received Catholic Commentary on Sacred
Scripture (CCSS), seasoned New Testament scholar and popular
speaker Peter Williamson interprets Revelation from within the
living tradition of the Church for pastoral ministers, lay readers,
and students alike. The seventeen-volume CCSS series, which will
cover the entire New Testament, relates Scripture to Christian life
today, is faithfully Catholic, and is supplemented by features
designed to help readers understand the Bible more deeply and use
it more effectively in teaching, preaching, evangelization, and
other forms of ministry. Drawn from the best of contemporary
scholarship, series volumes are keyed to the liturgical year and
include an index of pastoral subjects.
Japan on the Jesuit Stage offers a comprehensive overview of the
representations of Japan in early modern European Neo-Latin school
theater. The chapters in the volume catalog and analyze
representative plays which were produced in the hundreds all over
Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to present-day Croatia and
Poland. Taking full account of existing scholarship, but also
introducing a large amount of previously unknown primary material,
the contributions by European and Japanese researchers
significantly expand the horizon of investigation on early modern
European theatrical reception of East Asian elements and will be of
particular interest to students of global history, Neo-Latin, and
theater studies.
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.
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