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 Crossings and Dwellings, Kyle Roberts and Stephen Schloesser, S.J., bring together essays by eighteen scholars in one of the first volumes to explore the work and experiences of Jesuits and their women religious collaborators in North America over two centuries following the Jesuit Restoration. Long dismissed as anti-liberal, anti-nationalist, and ultramontanist, restored Jesuits and their women religious collaborators are revealed to provide a useful prism for looking at some of the most important topics in modern history: immigration, nativism, urbanization, imperialism, secularization, anti-modernization, racism, feminism, and sexual reproduction. Approaching this broad range of topics from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, this volume provides a valuable contribution to an understudied period.

The polarization in the Church today can be traced back to a more fundamental crisis in theology, one which has failed to connect our mundane experiences and the mysteries of the Christian faith with the person of Jesus Christ. Ecclesial discourse on the so-called 'hot- button issues' of the day too often take place without considering the foundation and goal of the Church. And this is unfortunately due to a similar tendency in the academic theology that informs that ecclesial discourse. In short, much of post-conciliar Catholic theology is adrift, floating aimlessly away from the center of the Christian faith, who is Christ. The Center is Jesus Christ Himself is a collection of essays which anchor theological reflection in Jesus Christ. These diverse essays share a unified focal point, but engage with a variety of theological subdisciplines (e.g., dogmatic, moral, Biblical, etc.), areas (e.g., Christology, Pneumatology, missiology, etc.), and periods (e.g., patristic, medieval, and modern). Given the different combinations of sub-disciplines, areas, and periods, theology is susceptible to fragmentation when it is not held together by some principle of unity. A theology in which the person of Jesus Christ serves as that principle of unity is a Christocentric theology. Together, the essays illustrate not only what Christocentric theology looks like, but also what the consequences are when Christ is dislodged from the center, whether by a conspicuous silence on, or by a relativization of, his unique salvific mission. The volume is published in honor of Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology at Boston College, Rev. Dr. Robert P. Imbelli, who dedicated his teaching and writing to bringing Christ back to the center of Catholic theological discourse.

The Catholic Church through the Ages, now in its second edition, is a one-volume survey of the history of the Catholic Church from its beginning until (and including) the pontificate of Pope Francis. The book explains the Church's progress by using Christopher Dawson's division of the Church's history into six distinct "ages," or 350-400 year periods of time, each cycle beginning with great enthusiasm and advancement and ending in decline and loss. Writing with the experience of thirty years of teaching, the author has fashioned an ideal text that combines substance with readability. Undergraduates, graduates, and interested lay people have given the author an idea of what topics should be emphasized. As a result, he has emphasized such areas monasticism, the Crusades, medieval theology, the Inquisition, Reformation, French Revolution, the nineteenth century, and the Church in the United States. And he has added material on the Oxford Movement, John Henry Newman's contributions to the Oxford Movement and to the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the Catholic literary revival that took place in several countries in the early twentieth century, as well as on the last three popes. As a supplement to each chapter, the author has included an updated the recommended readings and bibliography, as well as the audio-visual materials.

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.

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?

I have traveled far and wide, far beyond the simple parish I envisioned as a young man. My obligation of service has led me into diverse yet interrelated roles: college teacher, theologian, president of a great university, counselor to four popes and six presidents. Excuse the list, but once called to public service, I have held fourteen presidential appointments over the years, dealing with the social issues of our times, including civil rights, peaceful uses of atomic energy, campus unrest, amnesty for Vietnam offenders, Third World development, and immigration reform. But deep beneath it all, wherever I have been, whatever I have done, I have always and everywhere considered myself essentially a priest. -from the Preface

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.

A distinctive and modern telling of the history of the Society of Jesus in America The history of America cannot be told without the history of religion, the history of American religion cannot be told without the history of Catholicism, and the history of Catholicism in America cannot be told without the history of Jesuits in America. Jesuits in the United States offers a panoramic overview of the Jesuit order in the United States from the colonial era to the present. David J. Collins, SJ, describes the development of the Jesuit order in the US against the background of American religious, cultural, and social history. He investigates the relationship of Jesuit activities in America to those in Europe and, by the twentieth century, to those around the world as US Jesuits are increasingly assigned to “foreign missions” and the political and religious connections between the US and the world, especially Latin America, grow. He covers the papacy’s suppression of the order and its restoration period. He also reflects on the future of the order in light of its past. Readers familiar with the Jesuit tradition and those who are new to it will learn from this book’s distinctive and modern perspective—using twenty-first century scholarship and opinions on Jesuit slaveholding, the sexual abuse crisis, and other contemporary issues—on 500 years of Jesuit history in the United States.

This previously unpublished 1931 dissertation by Gaines Post covers the interaction of the papacy with multiple universities from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and makes his research and observations available on a range of topics, such as papal intervention and influence in the areas of licensing to teach, scholarly privileges, financial support, and dispensations for study.