Author: Maureen K. Day Publisher: NYU Press ISBN: 1479886262 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
Uncovers why Catholic organizations fail to foster civic activism The American Catholic Church boasts a long history of teaching and activism on issues of social justice. In the face of declining religious and community involvement in the twenty-first century, many modern-day Catholic groups aspire to revive the faith as well as their connections to the larger world. Yet while thousands attend weekly meetings designed to instill religiosity and a commitment to civic engagement, these programs often fail to achieve their more large-scale goals. In Catholic Activism Today, Maureen K. Day sheds light on the impediments to successfully enacting social change. She argues that popular organizations such as JustFaith Ministries have embraced an approach to civic engagement that focuses on mobilizing Catholics as individuals rather than as collectives. There is reason to think this approach is effective—these organizations experience robust participation in their programs and garner reports of having had a transformative effect on their participants’ lives. Yet, Day shows that this approach encourages participants to make personal lifestyle changes rather than contend with structural social inequalities, thus failing to make real inroads in the pursuit of social justice. Moreover, the focus on the individual serves to undermine the institutional authority of the Catholic Church itself, shifting American Catholics’ perceptions of the Church from a hierarchy that controls the laity to one that simply influences it as they pursue their individual paths. Drawing on three years of interview, survey, and participant observation data, Catholic Activism Today offers a compelling new take on contemporary dynamics of Catholic civic engagement and its potential effect on the Church at large.
Author: Sharon Erickson Nepstad Publisher: NYU Press ISBN: 1479853607 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 293
Book Description
A history of Catholic social thought Many Americans assume that the Catholic Church is inherently conservative, based on its stances on abortion, contraception, and divorce. Yet there is a longstanding tradition of progressive Catholic movements in the United States that have addressed a variety of issues from labor, war, immigration, and environmental protection, to human rights, women’s rights, exploitive development practices, and bellicose foreign policies. These Catholic social movements have helped to shift the Church from an institution that had historically supported incumbent governments and political elites to a Church that has increasingly sided with the vulnerable and oppressed. This book provides a concise history of progressively oriented Catholic Social Thought, which conveys the Catholic Church’s position on a variety of social justice concerns. Sharon Erickson Nepstad introduces key papal encyclicals and other church documents, showing how lay Catholics in the United States have put these ideas into practice through a creative and sometimes provocative political engagement. Nepstad also explores how these progressive movements have pressured the religious hierarchy to respond to pressing social issues, such as women’s ordination, conscription, and the morality of nuclear deterrence policies. Catholic Social Activism vividly depicts how these progressive movements have helped to shape the religious landscape of the United States, and how they have provoked controversy and debate among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
Author: Maureen K. Day Publisher: NYU Press ISBN: 1479851337 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
Uncovers why Catholic organizations fail to foster civic activism The American Catholic Church boasts a long history of teaching and activism on issues of social justice. In the face of declining religious and community involvement in the twenty-first century, many modern-day Catholic groups aspire to revive the faith as well as their connections to the larger world. Yet while thousands attend weekly meetings designed to instill religiosity and a commitment to civic engagement, these programs often fail to achieve their more large-scale goals. In Catholic Activism Today, Maureen K. Day sheds light on the impediments to successfully enacting social change. She argues that popular organizations such as JustFaith Ministries have embraced an approach to civic engagement that focuses on mobilizing Catholics as individuals rather than as collectives. There is reason to think this approach is effective—these organizations experience robust participation in their programs and garner reports of having had a transformative effect on their participants’ lives. Yet, Day shows that this approach encourages participants to make personal lifestyle changes rather than contend with structural social inequalities, thus failing to make real inroads in the pursuit of social justice. Moreover, the focus on the individual serves to undermine the institutional authority of the Catholic Church itself, shifting American Catholics’ perceptions of the Church from a hierarchy that controls the laity to one that simply influences it as they pursue their individual paths. Drawing on three years of interview, survey, and participant observation data, Catholic Activism Today offers a compelling new take on contemporary dynamics of Catholic civic engagement and its potential effect on the Church at large.
Author: Michael Gallagher Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN: 1725239345 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
In this remarkable book about religion and politics today, Commonweal writer Michael Gallagher asks the question, How does one adhere to an essentially simple faith in a complex society that lacks moral leadership not only in its government, but also in its religious institutions? Laws of Heaven answers by exploring the lives of twelve extraordinary men and women whose controversial beliefs have led them to challenge their church and government as well as to frequently place their lives on the line. Here you will meet some of contemporary America's bravest and most unusual citizens: Marietta Jaegar, whose young daughter was brutally murdered by a serial killer, and who has become a dedicated anti-death penalty and peace activist; Charlie Liteky, who, relinquishing the Medal of Honor and the pension that accompanies it, fasted regularly in order to protest U.S. support of the Contras in Nicaragua; Elizabeth McAlister, who, like her husband, Philip Berrigan, repeatedly took part in acts of civil disobedience to protest American reliance on nuclear weapons; William P. Ford, a Wall Street attorney whose life was turned upside down when his sister was killed in El Salvador. Laws of Heaven is a challenging and provocative contribution to our understanding of the world in which we live. The lives of its twelve subjects force us to confront our own values and to ask how far we would be willing to go for what we believe in.
Author: D. L. Mayfield Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers ISBN: 1506473598 Category : Languages : en Pages : 273
Book Description
In 1933, in the shadow of the Great Depression, Dorothy Day launched the Catholic Worker Movement, a worldwide crusade for equality. In Unruly Saint, D. L. Mayfield illuminates the ways in which Day found the love of God in, and expressed it for, her neighbors during a time of great upheaval.
Author: Christopher D. Denny Publisher: Fordham Univ Press ISBN: 0823254011 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 408
Book Description
The early 1960s were a heady time for Catholic laypeople. Pope Pius XII’s assurance “You do not belong to the Church. You are the Church” emboldened the laity to challenge Church authority in ways previously considered unthinkable. Empowering the People of God offers a fresh look at the Catholic laity and its relationship with the hierarchy in the period immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council and in the turbulent era that followed. This collection of essays explores a diverse assortment of manifestations of Catholic action, ranging from genteel reform to radical activism, and an equally wide variety of locales, apostolates, and movements.
Author: Sharon Erickson Nepstad Publisher: NYU Press ISBN: 1479885487 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 219
Book Description
A history of Catholic social thought Many Americans assume that the Catholic Church is inherently conservative, based on its stances on abortion, contraception, and divorce. Yet there is a longstanding tradition of progressive Catholic movements in the United States that have addressed a variety of issues from labor, war, immigration, and environmental protection, to human rights, women’s rights, exploitive development practices, and bellicose foreign policies. These Catholic social movements have helped to shift the Church from an institution that had historically supported incumbent governments and political elites to a Church that has increasingly sided with the vulnerable and oppressed. This book provides a concise history of progressively oriented Catholic Social Thought, which conveys the Catholic Church’s position on a variety of social justice concerns. Sharon Erickson Nepstad introduces key papal encyclicals and other church documents, showing how lay Catholics in the United States have put these ideas into practice through a creative and sometimes provocative political engagement. Nepstad also explores how these progressive movements have pressured the religious hierarchy to respond to pressing social issues, such as women’s ordination, conscription, and the morality of nuclear deterrence policies. Catholic Social Activism vividly depicts how these progressive movements have helped to shape the religious landscape of the United States, and how they have provoked controversy and debate among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
Author: Segura, Olga M. Publisher: Orbis Books ISBN: 1608338835 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 138
Book Description
"Birth of a Movement tells the story of the Black Lives Matter movement through a Christian lens. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the movement and why it can help the church, and the country, move closer to racial equality. Readers will understand why Black Lives Matter is a truly "Christ-like movement.""--
Author: Christian Büschges Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield ISBN: 1793633649 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 327
Book Description
Looking beyond prominent figures or major ecclesial events, Liberation Theology and the Others offers a fresh historical perspective on Latin American liberation theology. Thirteen case studies, from Mexico to Uruguay, depict a vivid picture of religious and lay activism that shaped the profile of the Latin American Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century. Stressing the transnational character of Catholic activism and its intersections with prevalent discourses of citizenship, ethnicity or development, scholars from Latin America, the US, and Europe, analyze how pastoral renewal was debated and embraced in multiple local and culturally diverse contexts. Contributors explore the connections between Latin American liberation theology and anthropology in Peru, armed revolutionaries in highland Guatemala, and the implementation of neoliberalism in Bolivia. They identify conceptions of the popular church, indigenous religiosity, women’s leadership, and student activism that circulated among Latin American religious and lay activists between the 1960s and the 1980s. By revisiting the multifaceted and oftentimes contingent nature of church reforms, this edited volume provides fascinating new insights into one of the most controversial religious movements of the 20th century.
Author: Michele Dillon Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190693002 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 225
Book Description
Postsecular Catholicism examines how secular realities and doctrinal ideas intersect in the lives of American Catholics in the Pope Francis era, and in the Church's articulation of its teachings on sexual and family morality, gender, and economic and social inclusion.
Author: Maureen K. Day
Author: Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Author: Maureen K. Day
Author: Michael Gallagher
Author: D. L. Mayfield
Author: Christopher D. Denny
Author: Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Author: Segura, Olga M.
Author: Christian Büschges
Author: Michele Dillon