Catholic Church

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• SOURCE: Commonweal
  1/4/2023
  

  The Complex Legacy of Benedict XVI

  by Massimo Faggioli

  As Pope, Benedict led a movement to limit the reformist impulses from Vatican II and encouraged Catholic traditionalism, but took the first steps away from John Paul II's denial of sexual abuse by priests and introduced the concept of a papacy ending before a Pope's death. 

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• SOURCE: Nursing Clio
  8/11/2022
  

  "Phantom Catholic Threats" Haunt Ireland's National Maternity Hospital

  by Máiréad Enright

  Secular Irish health advocates fear that a partnership between the state and religious charities to operate the national maternity hospital will impose limits on care, including abortion access. Is this justified or a case of finding "nuns under the bed"? 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  8/4/2022
  

  How Hitler's Favorite Passion Play Lost its Anti-Semitism

  The Oberammergau Passionspiele in the 1930s garnered praise from Hitler for its vilification of Jews for the death of Christ. Today, the village production reflects Germany's efforts to eradicate antisemitism from many of its traditional cultural products, though that process is slow and contentious. 

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• SOURCE: Religion News Service
  8/1/2022
  

  Is the Lack of Leadership for Women Harming the Church's Standing Among Catholics?

  by Phyllis Zagano

  An initiative by Pope Francis to take the pulse of the faithful is delivering insights: many of Europe's Catholics distrust the power of the bishops and lament the exclusion of women from leadership. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  7/24/2022
  

  A Brief History of the Vatican and Western Canadian Missions

  by Roberto Perin

  "Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the fallacious doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church."

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• SOURCE: Axios
  7/26/2022
  

  Pope Francis Seeks Forgiveness from Indigenous Canadians over Residential School Abuses

  "I am deeply sorry, sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples," Francis said.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  5/31/2022
  

  The Back Channel Between Pius XII and Hitler

  by David I. Kertzer

  The Vatican has only just now released documents about secret and sensitive negotiations between the Nazi leader and the Holy See, in which the Vatican agreed to temper criticisms of Nazism's pagan elements in exchange for ceasing investigation of sex crimes by priests.

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• SOURCE: America
  5/2/2022
  

  "Subversive Habits" Tells Overlooked Story of Black Catholic Nuns

  Shannen Dee Williams offers a history of Black nuns at a time when the American church is grappling with its history of discrimination and exclusion. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  4/8/2022
  

  What Does Pope Francis's Apology Mean to Indigenous Americans?

  by Annie Selak

  "Pope Francis apologized on April 1, 2022, to First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations, acknowledging the harm done by residential schools in Canada and marking a crucial step in the church admitting its role in the abuse of Indigenous communities and children."

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  3/28/2022
  

  Ireland, We Hardly Knew Ye: Fintan O'Toole's Story of Modernization

  by Jack Sheehan

  Fintan O'Toole's acclaimed popular history of modern Ireland delivers a sharp indictment of child abuse by Catholic priests and the operators of reform schools and institutions, but substitutes national-level psychoanalysis for research in other areas, a historian argues.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  3/11/2022
  

  Why Does St. Brigid Get So Much Less Attention than Patrick?

  by Lisa Bitel

  "This year on March 17, when you’re wearing the green and singing “Dirty Ol’ Town,” take a moment to whisper thanks to St. Brigid, the compassionate, sensible, native-born patron saint of Ireland, and ask if Ireland’s premier patron saint should be a woman."

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  1/26/2022
  

  Don't Make Dorothy Day a Saint

  by Garry Wills

  As an admirer of the left-wing activist Dorothy Day, Garry Wills argues that the process of canonization would "miniaturize" her work and associations to fit within the narrow confines of sainthood, making her an object of prayer instead of a model for action. 

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  12/14/2021
  

  France Approves Controversial Notre-Dame Renovations; Conservatives Call it "Politically Correct"

  Father Gilles Drouin argues that “the cathedral has always been open to art from the contemporary period."

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/16/2021
  

  In the Land of Godfathers, the Church Pushes the Tradition Aside

  Church authorities in Sicily have grown concerned that the naming of baptismal godparents has been subordinated to secular concerns of social networking, in extreme cases tied to organized crime. 

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• SOURCE: History.com
  9/27/2021
  

  The Renaissance's Challenges to Church Authority and Influence on the Reformation

  Stefania Tutino, a history professor at UCLA and intellectual and cultural historian of post-Reformation Catholicism, says the Reformation and Renaissance were two parallel but intertwined movements.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/24/2021
  

  He Blew the Whistle on Catholic Church Abuse in 1985. Why Didn't Anyone Listen?

  by Ben Proudfoot

  Reporter Jason Berry reflects on the difficulties of exposing abuse and the Catholic hierarchy's coverup in the 1980s. 

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• SOURCE: Religion Dispatches
  8/10/2021
  

  Douthat's Criticism of Papal Restriction on Latin Mass: Fascinating, but Familiar and Ahistorical

  by Massimo Faggioli

  Recent criticisms of Pope Francis's Church reforms have drawn from a rhetorical script established by conservative Catholics since Vatican II, but repeat their historical misunderstandings.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  7/30/2021
  

  ‘Outing’ of Priest Shows Power and Partisanship of Catholic Media

  by Peter Cajka

  Reporting on a scandal involving a priest's use of a gay hookup app highlights the growing ideological divisions in the American church and the nation's Catholic media. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  7/26/2021
  

  The Catholic Church has a Long History of Trying to Discipline Catholic Politicians (But Little Success)

  by Christine Adams

  From Henry VIII to Louis XIV, the Catholic Church has seen efforts to coerce political leaders to hew to doctrine backfire. Will the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' steps toward potentially denying communion to Joe Biden over abortion politics meet a similar fate?

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  3/15/2021
  

  Catholic Order Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Slave Labor and Sales

  "The move by the leaders of the Jesuit conference of priests represents the largest effort by the Roman Catholic Church to make amends for the buying, selling and enslavement of Black people, church officials and historians said."