A New Era For Catholicism?

Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction written by Gerald O’Collins is a short read that gives an insight to the Catholic church without getting confusing to the reader. It touches on the basics of Catholicism such as the history, practices, and core beliefs. Through each chapter Gerald O’Collins a research professor in the field of Theology at St. Mary’s University College and Twickenham, as well as formally Dean in Gregorian University for the faculty of Theology, shares his knowledge on the Catholic religion one question at a time.

Homosexuality is one of the most debated issues among Christians today, regardless of the denomination of their church. Some churches view homosexuality as a sin and have no tolerance for it, while other denominations are more accepting and consider it a non-sin. Even though some denominations have taken a stand on homosexuality, there seems to much discord within the governing bodies of the churches regarding this issue. It has moved from a topic rarely discussed and considered very personal and private, to a mainstream topic of conversation.

In the past ten years, the nonstop discussion and stress has been over the question of homosexuality. Are homosexuals to be excluded from the community of faith? Article writers, Richard B. Hays and Walter Wink explain their perspective and answer the ongoing talk.

Pope Francis did away with ornate and rigid traditions of previous popes. He restructured core Vatican institutions such as the clerical hierarchy and the banking system, in order to drive out corruption. His messages of simplicity and mercy were engrained in unselfish gestures, such as the washing of offenders feet, (something) , and (something), that helped bring Catholics back into the fold. Yet, for some Catholics, like Maureen Dowd, Pope Francis’ efforts have not changed the church enough.

In the United States, there has often been debate over whether the U.S. Constitution is a “living constitution.” A “living constitution” is the idea that the interpretation of constitutional phrases should take into account the contemporaneous society. In other words, practices and traditions of the government have the ability to change and transform over time in accordance with the changes in society. Similarly, there has often been debate in the religious community as to whether the practices and traditions of the church have the ability to change and transform in order to better suit the needs of its constituents. Two Popes in the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis and Pope Pius IX, have published documents with opposing viewpoints about the church’s ability to change and transform over time. The aforementioned documents also highlight other issues commonly debated within the church. Ultimately, Pope Francis favors a more progressive church, that is opento change, while Pope Pius IX favors a church with more rigid guidelines that follow traditional practices.

He further explained that “the faithful ought not to think that just because priests preside over Mass that they are more important than the people who make up the church itself” (USA Today). Pope Francis is pushing for these reforms in the church because he believes that some of the old traditions in the church are incorrect and immoral and that something needs to change for the better.

In the book “The Unexpected Christian Century,” the author Scott Sunquist believes that the twentieth century is the most recent one in the Christian history. During the time of the geometric era, it was believed that the importance of gravity moved from the Christian nations of Europe and North America to the “Global South,” where Christians were done wrong minority. Simply in the third and the sixteenth centuries was when Christianity had experienced a change of comparable greatness.

Throughout history many events have contributed in shaping our theology. Many would argue the rank of importance of each event. Obviously Jesus death, burial, and resurrection would top the list of most Christians. Many would place the Reformation next in line of importance, but what next? Has there been an event since the Reformation that would rise to the level of a Second Reformation? Could any event ever rival the salvific implications of the Reformation? And what criteria could one ascertain from the Reformation and could these same criteria be applied to a Second Reformation? These are the questions that beg to be answered.

Despite the age of these systems, the Catholic Church continues to operate close to them, similar to when they were adopted. The misunderstanding and prejudice towards these systems cause many people to adopt anti-Catholic beliefs for contemporary issues in America. The democratic political system in America clashes with the hierarchical lineage that the Catholic Church possesses. The problem arises when anti-Catholics claim that Catholics are un-American because they follow a hierarchy, rather than the “American” system of democracy. The democratic system allows the people to vote for their leader to govern them, however, the Catholic leader, the Pope, is not chosen by the people of the Catholic Church. Un-American criticism continues with the debates and movements on Sexism and Feminism. As women’s roles are changed, the Catholic Church is keeping true to its origins by keeping the governing body, the priesthood, bishops, Cardinals, and the Pope, a completely male role. The Church is criticized by many as being sexist and by that, un-American, for not allowing ordination for women. “Many Americans / view the church’s ban on women’s ordination largely in terms of democratic principles, or ‘rights’ and representation’” (Martin). Anti-Catholics throw up these accusations of sexism without contemplating the true role of women in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said in an interview “’Look, in the Church women are more important than men, because the church is a woman / The Church is the bride of Jesus Christ. And the Madonna is more important that popes and bishops and priests’” (Ruiz). This governing structure, as well as other beliefs of the Catholic Church, seem confusing or silly to post-enlightenment ideas. As human philosophy has developed after the Enlightenment, the Church has kept the doctrine the same. This has not caused the anti-Catholic community to criticize

Deck’s theological works are often based on very practical matters, which is very common amongst Hispanic-American theologians and their works. He does not skirt around the facts in his works, instead he bluntly states them and uses them to form this works. He often notes that Latinos/Hispanics are quickly becoming the largest demographic amongst the Catholic Church in the United States; citing changing demographics in states such as Iowa, Alaska and North Carolina to show that the presence of Latinos is no longer a purely regional matter (A Latino practical theology: Mapping the road ahead, 274-275). With these observations in mind, Deck has identified several realities, issues and potential solutions relating to Hispanics throughout the Catholic Church in the United States. As touched on earlier, he has argued that the church leadership needs to add more Hispanic priests to its ranks to better tend to the unique cultural needs of its increasingly Hispanic membership. Fr. Deck also warns that, perhaps as a symptom of the previous issue, the clergy is turning its back on, or even actively shunning, popular religion while becoming overly professional and less close to the members of their respective parishes. Deck has expressed concern that these practices are directly harming and belittling the beliefs of Hispanics, who have always had popular religion popular religion play a central role in their religious lives, that by doing so the church may be alienating a large

The church has changed significantly across the years. Different pope’s and era’s of the church and its history show how far it has advanced since its beginnings. These changes has helped it become more open to all kinds of people and cultures. I believe this gives hope to the catholic church’s faithful as the history of the pope’s and the church show that it’s willing to be more open to the people that follow the religion that goes with it.

Although DeBernardo admits that the church still opposes same-sex marriage, he believes the pope's effort to integrate gay people into the church more fully is an important first step in repairing the historically tense relations between the Catholic Church and the gay community.” The quote DeBernardo used is from Pope Francis, one of the most iconic leaders of Catholicism, leads his people to acceptance of the LGBTQ+ for her understands what differences they bring to the churches. Regardless, people are making effort to welcome non cis/heterosexaul people into their lives and churches. Even strict religions are becoming more aware of the fact that humans are being denied basic rights and the ability to live their lives, knowing this they are conforming to support the gay

The public does not always agree with the stances of Catholics on controversial topics like the few listed above. Instead of

Who are we to dictate who someone loves? The definition of love is the action that two people share. The definition does not say love only occurs between a man and a woman. The article, “Gay marriage proposals destructive to society, Vatican official says,” is an argument against gay marriage. The author, John Thavis, claims that homosexuals are just struggling to find themselves and that same-sex marriage disrupts the normal sexuality and fertility of a couple. In “Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties”, Kristin Kenneavy discusses how religious outlooks influence a family’s beliefs on same sex marriage. The two articles show the different views on gay marriage by

Throughout the semester, we examined many different topics that are important to know and which are beneficial to the priestly ministry. One of these is the church’s Magisterium which is held as the authoritative teaching office of those who teach the community in the name of Christ. It serves its role to safeguard the truth of God by faithfully interpreting and applying God’s revelation. It seems that, in our current society, many people don’t know what to believe anymore. This crisis of people not knowing what to believe has affected the Catholic Church even moreso because of the whole sex scandal in recent years. Because of incidents like this, Catholics no longer trust nor do they know what to believe when it comes to morality, faith, and