Religion Essay

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

The approach of the church to various challenges such as the reformation and the worldwide refugee crisis has resulted in change to many aspects of the Catholic church. In response to such challenges, new traditions were introduced, as well as a command in effort required from different christians to tackle such challenges. Furthermore, it has also made the church more relevant to

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

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

Mary Jo Weaver writes about American Catholics in the Twentieth Century. According to Weaver, Catholics on the 20th Century faced a tough challenge adapting to the new changes after Second Vatican Council. Catholics were a close circle and were forced to accept the new changes such as democracy and pluralism. The dialogue with other religions such as Jews and Protestants were more acceptable. Mary Jo Weaver concludes that the Second Vatican Council was to address pastoral problems, which was a big deal with the Catholic Church. Catholicism needed a new attitude towards their beliefs. The ghettos were no longer a closed circle for Catholics; they began to become more integrated in society. The hierarchal authority also changed, power move to

On the New York Times opinion page Room for Debate, a question was pondered “How Radical is Pope Francis?” The debate centers on the issue of whether or not Pope Francis is focused on spreading Catholic beliefs or on dispersing a liberal point of view. A full version of the text written on September 17, 2015 can be found at the following link http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/09/17/how-radical-is-pope-francis. The issue is debated by two scholars, Megan J. Clark and Randy Boyagoda and a journalist Michael Brendan Dougherty. Clark is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University. Boyagoda is a Professor and University Director at Ryerson University. Additionally, both Clark and Boyagoda are published

At the end of the fifteen century, the Church was in serious need of reformation. The need was due to war, intrigue, bribery, and licentiousness, these popes sought to restore and even to outdo the glorious ancient Rome. As results, while most people still believed in the supreme authority of the Roman, many founded it difficult to reconcile their faith in the papacy

Since its establishment, the Catholic Church has had complex relationships with political powers. In the context of this paper, the relationship between religion and civil society will be studied. In the last half of the twentieth century, the Catholic Church was one of the catalysts for the independence of many Latin American countries as well as the collapse of Soviet Communism (Chu 2011). In Cuba, Catholicism was imposed by Spain in the fifteenth century and until the island’s independence in 1899 the church maintained close ties with the Spanish crown (Chu 2011). The church’s role with the crown prompted the rise of anti-clericalism in the island. Additionally, once the independence movement arose, many related the Catholic

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

With the rise of the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church faced the issue of Modernity. As a result of this, the stability of the Catholic Christian Tradition was threatened due to the church’s message of faith being not as relevant to the rapidly

In conclusion, the results proved the first part of my hypothesis and disproved the second part. Pope Francis’s approval ratings have little to do with how much a nation’s Catholics agree with the Pope on “domestic issues”. I suggest this may be a result of the less religious aspects of the modern Pope. The Pope is a world leader and has a large foreign policy presence that transcends basic church theology and scripture. Pope Francis, like Pope John Paul II, is a man who can influence the world in ways that most secular leaders cannot. Pope Francis’s calls to end wars, promote the environment, and defend human rights have won him the praise of the world. Fortunately for church, sometimes negative perceptions of the church have not bogged down the approval of Pope Francis. Unfortunately for the church, the popularity for the Pope has not caused Catholics worldwide to adopt all the Church’s positions. One could argue that Pope Francis’s popularity is a result of his perceived progressivism compared to other Catholic leaders. However, Pope Francis unquestionably still stands politically to the right of average Catholic worldwide on social issues, despite his perceived liberal streak. Nonetheless, as the data showed, Pope Francis approval rating did not correlate with how socially conservative or liberal a country is.

I argue that the papal coronations of Pippin and Charlemagne begin the papacy’s relationship with political rulers and how it transitions from a weak structure to a bureaucracy that envisions a transnational state that can motivate an entire continent to embark on a crusade. I include the Cluniac Reforms and Gregorian Reforms as examples of how the Catholic Church grows into a more powerful entity and no longer depends on rulers like Pippin to defend them.

Although it has been over 60 years since the Second Council of Vatican closed, there are still confusions as to the perception of the Church among the faithful. Some argue extremely that the Church has been divided and devastated because of Vatican II. Also, the misunderstanding is rampant, such as that the Second Vatican Council has changed the doctrine on the Church. In this essay, one of the ecclesial images Lumen gentium provides, the mystery of the Church, shall be discussed in further detail.

Pope Francis’ ongoing journey as the head of the Roman Catholic Church has been unforeseen. In this time of significant change in social standards, the Catholic Church has also progressed forward as seen by the decision in electing its most recent head, Pope Francis. Pope Francis’ unique background, approach, and positions on issues has renewed the standards and redundancies of his title and thus distinguishes him from past popes.

Convened on October 11, 1962, the Second Vatican Council addressed many different facets of the Catholic Church and faith. Tasked with aggiornamento, or the updating and renewal of the Church, Vatican II sought to reform many of the Church’s ideas and views in response to an increasingly modern world (270). The Council’s influence extended to the topic of ecclesiology, of course, but its scope and breadth of discussion stretched well beyond a singular topic; some other notable concerns of the Council included religious freedom, ecumenism, and dialogue with