In the modern world, the Catholic Church has been forced to confront a number of problems related to tradition, culture and the changing face of world society. For example, some of these problems are linked to the on-going debate over birth control and the role of women in the church, especially related to priesthood; also, the church now finds itself having to confront many of the problems linked to the 21st century, such as "globalization, terrorism, poverty, American dominance and the clash of Christianity with Islam" (Caldwell, "The Future of the Church," Internet)
When land was acquired in the South and West, "large numbers of Spanish Catholics and European immigrants, most being from Ireland, settled down and created the most important dimension in American Catholicism," being the overall impact of Catholicism on U.S. society, politics and culture (Thompson, 78)
The death penalty has in the past also found the full backing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which at first supported the said penalty based on its ability to offer retributive justice (Feinberg, 2010). For instance, the very first edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church reaffirmed not only the duty but also the right of the state to punish as well as execute felons by pointing out that "the right and duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, the death penalty" (Dinn, 2000, p
It was Aquinas' teachings on violence and capital punishment that continued to inform the position of the Church on capital punishment up until the 20th century. The death penalty has in the past also found the full backing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which at first supported the said penalty based on its ability to offer retributive justice (Feinberg, 2010)
According to Hodgkinson and Schabas (2004), the Encyclical Letter that Pope John XXIII issued in the year 1963 contained a list of human rights that significantly resembled those outlined in the Universal Declaration. In the words of the authors, "this linkage provides a partial explanation as to why the Catholic Church today stands so opposed to the death penalty, in quite striking contrast to its stance in earlier centuries" (Hodgkinson and Schabas, 2004, p
In so doing, I will amongst other things highlight how the position of the Church with regard to the death penalty has changed over time. The Death Penalty: A Concise Definition The death penalty is a form of punishment in which case a wrongdoer incurs "a more severe loss, that of life itself" (Pojman and Reiman, 1998, p
The largest generational difference on this question is between the three older generations (54 to 61% of whom approve of stiffer enforcement) and Millennials (only 41% of whom approve)." (Davidson, 2005, p
.probably reflects what most older Catholics were taught regarding the Church's view of the death penalty: "The infliction of capital punishment is not contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and the power of the State to visit upon culprits the penalty of death derives much authority from revelation and from the writings of theologians" (Fleming, 2008, p
While there have been recent developments in position statements in the Church, they are also not without their disagreements and differences of interpretation, as well as underlying values. " (Norko, 2008, p
John Gumpel, for example [Gumpel is a German Jesuit historian who has taken up the cause of beatification of Pius XII, which would make Pius XII a saint; Gumpel is a former official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints] said that Cornwell's book has painted "a nasty caricature of a noble and saintly man." In fact Gumpel has fired back at those Jews who praise Cornwell's book as "massive accomplices in the destruction of the Catholic Church" (Allen, 1998)
Coppa has reviewed all Catholic popes for the encyclopedia Brittanica's online references to the papacy.] Prior to Pope Pius XII coming into power as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Pius XI had spent substantial energy and research putting together an encyclical "denouncing racism and anti-Semitism" (Coppa, p
Recently Cornwell has served as Director of the Science and Human Dimension Project at Jesus College, Cambridge.] Pacelli was "not inclined to protest officially" during the Nazi "roundup and deportation of Rome's Jews" (Cornwell, p
It may come as a shock to many of the estimated one billion members of the Roman Catholic Church -- and others who follow religious denominations and religious history -- that Eugenio Pacelli, later known as Pope Pius XII, actually cooperated with Adolf Hitler in ways that allowed Nazism to gain power and credibility. Moreover, as the Vatican Secretary of State prior to his ascension to the Papal throne, Pacelli orchestrated an agreement with Hitler that basically removed the German Catholic bishops' previous censures of Nazism (Steinfels, 1999) and in effect offered Hitler the blessing of the Catholic Church
religious denominations for over a century. The nature of those conflicts, however, has changed over time in very substantial ways (Chaves, 1997)
Hunt believes that there are three interlocking dimensions to the situation. First, mounting evidence that the Roman Catholic church would have to ordain women in the next century in order to maintain its sacramental character; secondly, the feminist case for doing so as a matter of justice and pastoral integrity; and thirdly, the feminist case for insisting on substantive structural changes in kyriarchy as part of the process (Hunt, 1997)
The church of past ages would not even have given serious thought to posing the question. Committed as they were to the position that women were by nature in a state of subjection, it would hardly have occurred to them even to ask: Can a woman be ordained to the priesthood? (Ingebretsen, 1999), stated that there are parallels between men's and women's roles cease and the complications, particularly and painfully gendered increase
First, mounting evidence that the Roman Catholic church would have to ordain women in the next century in order to maintain its sacramental character; secondly, the feminist case for doing so as a matter of justice and pastoral integrity; and thirdly, the feminist case for insisting on substantive structural changes in kyriarchy as part of the process (Hunt, 1997). (Malcolm, 1997) reported that the Vatican presented its most comprehensive case to date in Jan 24 on why it believes that Roman Catholic Church will never ordain women
At the end of the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Leo Josef Suenens raised the issue that the elimination of psychological fears and historical barriers was necessary to acknowledge the fitness of women in all ministries (American [A], 1986). (Roberts, 2004) reported that in the middle of the summer, on the last day of July2004, the Vatican released a letter to the world's Roman Catholic bishops " on the collaboration of men and women in the church and the world
W (1996) Reported that the Roman Catholics and Orthodox, continued to ban priestesses as they have for almost 2,000 years, the fate of many evangelical congregations continue to shift back and forth. "Scripture does not support the ordination of women, God created men and women [morally] equal but with different roles" (W, 1996)
In all of these issues, the question is what arrangement would best serve the mission of the church. (Williams, 1996) documented that in document of Oct