Download or read book Ecclesia in Europa written by Pope John Paul II and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Cube and the Cathedral written by George Weigel and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do Europeans and Americans see the world so differently? Why do Europeans and Americans have such different understandings of democracy and its discontents in the twenty-first century? Contrasting the civilization that produced the starkly modernist "cube" of the Great Arch of La Defense in Paris with the civilization that produced the "cathedral" of Notre-Dame, George Weigel argues that Europe's embrace of a narrow secularism has led to a crisis of morale that is eroding Europe's soul and threatening its future -- with dire lessons for the rest of the democratic world. Weigel traces the origins of "Europe's problem" to the atheistic humanism of the nineteenth-century European intellectual life, which set in motion a historical process that produced two world wars, three totalitarian systems, the Gulag, Auschwitz, the Cold War -- and, most ominously, the Continent's de-population, which is worse today than during the Black Death. And yet, many Europeans still insist -- most recently, during the debate over a new EU constitution -- that only a public square shorn of religiously-informed moral argument is safe for human rights and democracy. Precisely the opposite, Weigel suggests, is true: the people of the "cathedral" can give a compelling account of their commitment to everyone's freedom; the people of the "cube" cannot. Can there be any true "politics" -- any true deliberation about the common good, and any robust defense of freedom -- without God? George Weigel makes a powerful case that the answer is "No," because, in the final analysis, societies are only as great as their spiritual aspirations.
Download or read book A Turning Point for Europe written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cardinal Ratzinger addresses the challenges and responsibilities that both the Church and society in Europe face after the collapse of Marxism. Both liberalism and Marxism have denied religion the right to have any influence on public affairs and the common future of humanity. Since there is also a great spiritual emptiness growing in the West with the increased secularization, consumerism and hedonism, Ratzinger's comments apply as much, if not more, to the United States as well. With the downfall of Marxism, religion has been discovered anew as an ineradicable force for both the individual and society. While there is renewed interest in religion, the dangers also exist to lay hold of religion as an instrument to serve various political ideas. Ratzinger, whose theological work has often dealt with the "reasons for our faith:' reflects upon the various problems facing humanity at this turning point of our history and offers genuine hope based upon a deep Christian faith. He also addressed the critical role that the Church has in relationship to the world and the essential task of bringing Christ back into our culture. "In the present situation it is an absolute obligation for the theologian and for the pastor of the Church to enter the disputation about the correct understanding of the present time, and to both clarify faith's own proper sphere and to do justice to the share of responsibility that lies on him at this hour.-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Download or read book The European Union and the Catholic Church written by P. Kratochvíl and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-06 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the first comprehensive monograph on the relations between the Catholic Church and the European Union, this book contains both a detailed historical overview of the political ties between the two complex institutions and a theoretical analysis of their normative orders and mutual interactions.
Download or read book Christian Churches in European Integration written by Sergei A. Mudrov and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All too often religion is largely ignored as a driver of identity formation in the European context, whereas in reality Christian Churches are central players in European identity formation at the national and continental level. Christian Churches in European Integration challenges this tendency, highlighting the position of churches as important identity formers and actors in civil society. Analysing the role of Churches in engaging with two specific EU issues – that of EU treaty reform and ongoing debates about immigration and asylum policy – the author argues that Churches are unique participants in European integration. Establishing a comprehensive view of Christian Churches as having a vital role to play in European integration, this book offers a substantial and provocative contribution both to our understanding of the European Union and the broader question of how religious and state institutions interact with one another.
Download or read book The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church written by Gerard Mannion and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-12-12 with total page 994 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nature and story of the Christian church is immensely important to theology students and scholars alike. Written by an international team of distinguished scholars, this comprehensive book introduces students to the fundamental historical, systematic, moral and ecclesiological aspects of the study of the church, as well as serving as a resource for scholars engaging in ecclesiological debates on a wide variety of issues. It divides into six parts: the church in its historical context the different denominational traditions global perspectives methods and debates in ecclesiology key concepts and themes ecclesiology and other disciplines: social sciences, philosophy, literature and film. Authoritative, accessible and easily navigable, this book is indispensable for everyone interested in the nature and history of the Christian Church.
Download or read book The Catholic Church and the Nation State written by Paul Christopher Manuel and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2006-08-16 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting case studies from sixteen countries on five continents, The Catholic Church and the Nation-State paints a rich portrait of a complex and paradoxical institution whose political role has varied historically and geographically. In this integrated and synthetic collection of essays, outstanding scholars from the United States and abroad examine religious, diplomatic, and political actions—both admirable and regrettable—that shape our world. Kenneth R. Himes sets the context of the book by brilliantly describing the political influence of the church in the post-Vatican II era. There are many recent instances, the contributors assert, where the Church has acted as both a moral authority and a self-interested institution: in the United States it maintained unpopular moral positions on issues such as contraception and sexuality, yet at the same time it sought to cover up its own abuses; it was complicit in genocide in Rwanda but played an important role in ending the horrific civil war in Angola; and it has alternately embraced and suppressed nationalism by acting as the voice of resistance against communism in Poland, whereas in Chile it once supported opposition to Pinochet but now aligns with rightist parties. With an in-depth exploration of the five primary challenges facing the Church—theology and politics, secularization, the transition from serving as a nationalist voice of opposition, questions of justice, and accommodation to sometimes hostile civil authorities—this book will be of interest to scholars and students in religion and politics as well as Catholic Church clergy and laity. By demonstrating how national churches vary considerably in the emphasis of their teachings and in the scope and nature of their political involvement, the analyses presented in this volume engender a deeper understanding of the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the world.
Download or read book The Church in the Face of Crises and Challenges over the Centuries written by Marcin Nabożny and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2023-06-12 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenges, crises and difficult experiences are an integral part of our lives and an inherent element of every human being's existence, in addition to being ingrained in the functioning of organisations, institutions and nations. On many occasions humankind has failed to confront them, resulting in the real dramas that we witness on the pages of history. Fortunately, challenges, crises and difficult situations have often been lessons, from which appropriate conclusions have been drawn, thanks to which it was possible to create a better future. In the history of the Church from its very beginning, challenges have been an integral part of working towards a better tomorrow, a better version of oneself and the reality around us and the Church herself. Paradoxically, what was intended to weaken or even destroy the faith became an impulse for its spread. Crisis became the cause of consolidation and development. And so, over the centuries, the Church has faced crises caused by schisms, divisions, unsuitable people in ecclesiastical offices, as well as challenges posed by the surrounding world, political systems and conflicts of human origin. Owing to this publication, the reader will be able to learn about various types of crises and challenges in order to draw conclusions from them, to appreciate the history of the Church through a better knowledge thereof, and all this in order to create a better future. The subject of the book concerns crises and challenges during various periods in the history of the Church up until modern times, including the crisis caused by the Second World War or communism in Central and Eastern Europe.
Download or read book Religion and the Struggle for European Union written by Brent F. Nelsen and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Religion and the Struggle for European Union, Brent F. Nelsen and James L. Guth delve into the powerful role of religion in shaping European attitudes on politics, political integration, and the national and continental identities of its leaders and citizens. Nelsen and Guth contend that for centuries Catholicism promoted the universality of the Church and the essential unity of Christendom. Protestantism, by contrast, esteemed particularity and feared Catholic dominance. These differing visions of Europe have influenced the process of postwar integration in profound ways. Nelsen and Guth compare the Catholic view of Europe as a single cultural entity best governed as a unified polity against traditional Protestant estrangement from continental culture and its preference for pragmatic cooperation over the sacrifice of sovereignty. As the authors show, this deep cultural divide, rooted in the struggles of the Reformation, resists the ongoing secularization of the continent. Unless addressed, it threatens decades of hard-won gains in security and prosperity. Farsighted and rich with data, Religion and the Struggle for European Union offers a pragmatic way forward in the EU's attempts to solve its social, economic, and political crises.
Download or read book Europe and the Gospel written by Evert Van de Poll and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining human interest stories with thought provoking analyses, Dr Evert Van de Poll paints the socio-cultural and religious picture of this exceptional continent: its population and cultural variety; past and present idea of ‘we Europeans’; immigration, multiculturalism and the issue of (Muslim) integration; the construction of the EU and the concerns it raises; and the quest for the ‘soul’ of Europe. Special attention is paid to Christian and other roots of Europe; the mixed historical record of Christianity; vestiges of its past dominance; its place and influence in today’s societies that are rapidly de-Christianising; and secularization as a European phenomenon. The author indicates specific challenges for Church development, mission and social service. In so doing, he outlines the contours of a contextualised communication of the Gospel.
Download or read book Religion in an Expanding Europe written by Timothy A. Byrnes and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-03-23 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With political controversies raging over issues such as the wearing of headscarves in schools and the mention of Christianity in the European Constitution, religious issues are of growing importance in European politics. In this volume, Byrnes and Katzenstein analyze the effect that enlargement to countries with different and stronger religious traditions may have on the EU as a whole, and in particular on its homogeneity and assumed secular nature. Looking through the lens of the transnational religious communities of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam, they argue that religious factors are stumbling blocks rather than stepping stones toward the further integration of Europe. All three religious traditions are advancing notions of European identity and European union that differ substantially from how the European integration process is generally understood by political leaders and scholars. This volume makes an important addition to the fields of European politics, political sociology, and the sociology of religion.
Download or read book The Church in the Modern World written by Erin Brigham and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-12-31 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Church in the Modern World: Fifty Years after Gaudium et Spes commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Featuring scholars from the Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought, this book offers a future-orientated analysis by highlighting contemporary social issues through the lens of Gaudium et Spes. In part I, authors examine the historical, political, and social significance of the document. Part II presents interdisciplinary perspectives on current social issues in light of Gaudium et Spes and contemporary Catholic social thought. The book covers such topics as immigration, women in the Church, environmental ethics, human rights, economic justice, the Church in Africa, and liberation theology.
Download or read book The End and the Beginning written by George Weigel and published by Image. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “As March gave way to April in the spring of 2005 and the world kept vigil outside the apostolic palace in Rome, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, then drawing to a poignant end, was already being described as one of the most consequential in two millennia of Christian history.” With these words, world-renowned author and NBC Vatican analyst George Weigel begins his long-awaited sequel to the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. More than ten years in the making, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy tells the dramatic story of the Pope’s battle with communism in light of new and recently disclosed information and brings to a close Weigel’s landmark portrait of a man who not only left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church, but also changed the course of world history. When he was elected pope in the fall of 1978, few people had ever heard of the charismatic Karol Wojty³a. But in a very short time he would ignite a revolution of conscience in his native Poland that would ultimately lead to the collapse of European communism and death of the Soviet Union. What even fewer people knew was that the KGB, the Polish Secret Police, and the East German Stasi had been waging a dangerous, decades-long war against Wojty³a and the Vatican itself. Weigel, with unprecedented access to many Soviet-era documents, chronicles John Paul’s struggle against the dark forces of communism. Moreover, Weigel recounts the tumultuous last years of John Paul’s life as he dealt with a crippling illness as well as the “new world disorder” and revelations about corruption within the Catholic Church. Weigel’s thought-provoking biography of John Paul II concludes with a probing and passionate assessment of a man who lived his life as a witness to hope in service to the Christian ideals he embraced.
Download or read book Umstrittene Katholizit t Von der zwiesp ltigen Beziehung zwischen Vielfalt und Einheit Catholicity under Pressure The Ambiguous Relationship between Diversity and Unity written by Dagmar Heller and published by Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. This book was released on 2016-04-02 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Das Attribut "katholisch" wird in vielen Kontexten als Konfessionsbezeichnung einer bestimmten Kirche missverstanden. Die in diesem Band vorgelegten Vorträge der 18. Wissenschaftlichen Konsultation der Societas Oecumenica beleuchten die ökumenische Bedeutung der "Katholizität" die alle Kirchen im Glaubenbekenntnis bekennen. Dabei werden auch die Spannungen zwischen Einheit und Viefalt sowie die Herausforderungen durch neuere Entwicklungen in der weltweiten Christenheit in den Blick genommen. In many contexts the attribute "catholic" is misunderstood as a confessional term describing one specific church. The papers of the 18th Academic Consultation of Societas Oecumenica presented in this book give insights to the ecumenical significance of the "catholicity", which all churches confess in the Creed. They also take into consideration the tensions between unity and diversity as well as the challenges by new developments in worldwide Christianity.
Download or read book Representing Religion in the European Union written by Lucian Leuştean and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining religious representation at the state, transnational and institutional levels, this volume demonstrates that religion is becoming an increasingly important element of the decision-making process. It provides a comprehensive analysis of religious representation in the European Union that will be of great interest to students and scholars of European politics, sociology of religion and international relations.
Download or read book Religion Politics and Law in the European Union written by Lucian N. Leustean and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: EU enlargement - to countries in Central and Eastern Europe in 2004, the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and increasing debates on Turkey’s membership - has dramatically transformed the European Union into a multi-religious space. Religious communities are not only shaping identities but are also influential factors in political discourse. This edited volume examines the activities of religious actors in the context of supranational European institutions and the ways in which they have responded to the idea of Europe at local and international levels. By bringing together scholars working in political science, history, law and sociology, this volume analyses key religious factors in contemporary EU architecture, such as the transformation of religious identities, the role of political and religious leaders, EU legislation on religion, and, the activities of religious lobbies. This book was published as a special issue of Religion, State and Society.
Download or read book Europe Today and Tomorrow written by Pope Benedict XVI and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written in late 2004, Ratzinger raises serious questions about the issues facing Europe amidst the new European Union and forming of a European Constitution. Some of the main issues he raises include: How did Europe originate and what are its boundaries? Who has the right to call himself European and be admitted into the new Eurpoe? What about the spiritual roots of Europe and the moral foundation she is founded on? Ratzinger sees the lack of focus on these fundamental questions in the forming of a new Europe as a very serious dilemma for the furture of Europe, and the world.
