Displaying: 1-20 of 34 documents

0.133 sec

1. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
Meghan J. Clark Voting under the Sign of the Cross Putting Our Focus on the Margins
2. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
Daniel O’Dea Bradley Social Justice and Liturgical Practice: Engaging the Earth/ Cultivating Solidarity
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
In North America, across the political spectrum, we have a strong tendency to reduce religion to nothing more than a tool to promote our own socio-political views. This is a natural consequence of our hyper-polarized culture and our impoverished view of “religion.” It is also, however, a problem—particularly for those inspired by the call to renewal through an integration of the quest for social justice and the pursuit of the spiritual life. By focusing on the value of participating in religious liturgy, I show how a renewed respect for religion can help the proponents of social justice fulfil some of the foundational desires of the original movement and, thereby, to bring to fruition some of its dormant promise. This includes, in particular, the desire for social harmony and the desire to pay greater attention to our concrete reality.
3. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
Dennis Feltwell Taking a Page from the Popes: Recent Encyclicals and the Future of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
After three years of political turmoil, the USCCB decided to reissue its 2015 statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The document lacks theological clarity and reduces all considerations to a narrow set of moral issues. This essay argues that the bishops have an understated framework for robust participation. By analyzing the papal sources cited in Faithful Citizenship and considering the recent insights from contemporary scholars, the author urges the bishops to remain engaged, include the faithful, maintain social teaching, and, at the very least, describe their theological rationale. Above all, the risks remain too great to continue repeating the current iteration of Faithful Citizenship, as they have done for the past three election cycles. The nation’s divisions, injustices, and crises make the bishops’ future work an urgent responsibility.
4. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
John Sniegocki The U.S. Catholic Church, Elections, and a Holistic Ethic of Life
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
This paper explores the reasons that led many Catholics to support the candidacy of Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in the United States and the role played by the leadership of the U.S. Catholic bishops in the electoral process. Also explored are the outlines of an alternative approach, shaped by the more holistic “consistent ethic of life” contained in the teachings of Pope Francis. Attention is given to how this Francis-inspired alternative could provide a model for more constructive and prophetic engagement of the U.S. Catholic Church in the political arena. Brief profiles are presented of several U.S. Catholic bishops modeling this more holistic approach.
5. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
Nickolas Becker The Right to Public Worship, John Courtney Murray, and the Common Good
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has disrupted many sectors of normal life, including the communal worship of religious bodies. This essay first looks at the recent case of the Minnesota Catholic bishops and the Governor of Minnesota which came close to civil disobedience. Then the essay will consider the thought of John Courtney Murray on when it is legitimate for the coercive powers of the state to be used to limit religious freedom, including the right to worship. Finally, those standards are applied to the Minnesota case, arguing that the initial actions of the Governor failed to meet Murray’s test, while the revised executive order succeeded in meeting Murray’s standards.
6. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 3
Mary Sweetland Laver Bootcamp for our Consciences around Race: Reflections for my Sister/Brother White Catholics
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
In 2020, it is clear that racism must be a moral priority for white American Catholics, as for all white Americans. To face racism maturely, our consciences need more robust formation than we received as children preparing for First Reconciliation—or as adolescents at Confirmation, when we were instructed that we must be prepared to act boldly to defend our commitment to Christ. One way to build a racially-mature conscience is to seek feedback from anti-racism accountability partners, as the author did. Another is to explore the distinction in Catholic moral theology between invincible and vincible ignorance—what we can know and what we cannot—in order to discern whether an action or inaction is moral. Much of what liberal whites claim we can’t know without input from Blacks is readily available if we have ears to hear.
7. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Teresa Pitt Green A Survivor’s Perspective
8. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Joanna Bowen See What You Believe, Become What You See
9. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Celia Ashton, Kevin DePrinzio Freeing Celibacy: Embracing the Call in a Time of Crisis
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
This article explores issues surrounding celibacy that have been amplified by the exposure of the sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, which, for some, has called such a lifestyle into question. Taking the view that celibacy can be healthy and life-giving, provided that it is discerned well, the authors consider the ways in which an unintegrated celibate life can and does cause harm and has contributed to the scandal, though not the cause of it in and of itself. Moreover, when celibacy is a gift of the Spirit, it can help to bring about a renewed, deepened understanding of sexuality needed for the Church and the world.
10. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Timothy M. Brunk Liturgical Abuse?
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
I offer examples of what Catholic liturgical law regards as liturgical abuses. I provide examples of practices that are not formal abuses but raise questions of clericalism, noting that clericalism has contributed to the Catholic sex abuse crisis. I discuss (a) recourse to the tabernacle for distribution of Communion at Mass; (b) reserving one chalice at Mass for the exclusive use of the presider; (c) the installation Mass of Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia; and (d) a Mass in Buffalo in the wake of the resignation of then-Bishop Richard Malone. The paper concludes with reflections on what it means to offer worship to God that is necessarily imperfect.
11. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Mark Graham The Sexual Abuse Crisis, Virtuous Practices, and Catholic Universities
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
While the Catholic Church has taken a number of steps to create a safe environment for children, its largely procedural approach to the sexual abuse crisis leaves a lot to be desired. If the Catholic Church wants to identify and counteract the elements that precipitated this crisis, it needs to enlist Catholic universities and parents, as universities possess the intellectual resources to understand the crisis in its full depth and breadth and parents are the most capable protectors of children in the Catholic Church. Empowering these two constituencies and relying on them to lead child protection efforts represent the best chance to overcome a legacy of pain and distrust and to create a Church that is nurturing and safe for its children.
12. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Sally J. Scholz Orcid-ID The Sexual Abuse Scandal in the Church: Social Morality after Social Sin
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
Although blame for systemic sexual abuse in the Catholic church primarily rests with the perpetrators and institutional actors who engaged in cover-up, regular people also failed in their duties, both their secular or civil duties and their moral and religious duties. Using the language of social sin, this article examines responsibility for social sin and the structures of sin that contributed to the abuse of children within the church community. Using the tools of Catholic social teaching—especially the framework of “conversion, communion, and solidarity”—the article articulates some tenets of social morality in the wake of sexual abuse and cover-up. A conversion experience is needed to see how ordinary actions unintentionally contribute to injustice and social sin, and how structures of sin lead to intentional decisions that would not otherwise be pursued. Catholic social teaching helps to provide a framework for thinking through some of the obligations of ordinary folks in the aftermath of the collective failure to protect children from abuse and the structural injustices that encouraged it to continue.
13. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 4
Massimo Faggioli Orcid-ID Theological Conversion As a Response to the Abuse Crisis In The Catholic Church
14. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 2 > Issue: 2
Sally J. Scholz Orcid-ID Solidarity and the Sexual Abuse Scandal in the Church
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
Solidarity is one of the primary principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Pope Francis invoked it and called for prayer and fasting in his August 20, 2018 letter addressing the sexual abuse scandal and attendant cover-up in the church. Offering some thoughts regarding what the duty of solidarity requires in light of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up, this article suggests a number of concrete things that lay Catholics can do in claiming our place as church.
15. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 2 > Issue: 2
Kenneth W. Schmidt How Do I Forgive Myself?
16. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 2 > Issue: 2
Daniel Lowery From Grief to Healing: A Pastoral Response to a Sexual Abuse Scandal in a Roman Catholic Parish
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
A pastoral response to challenges faced by lay leaders in a Catholic parish that has experienced an allegation of sexual abuse and the subsequent removal of a priest is described. Organized around a theological reflection, the four-part program draws on the Book of Lamentations and a contemporary understanding of the grieving process mediated by Jewish mourning practices.
17. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 1 > Issue: 1
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire Scaling the Walls of Injustice
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
There are many obstacles to the right relationships which must exist wherever people gather and interconnect if justice is to prevail. One such barrier pertains to the naming of evil or a lesser good as a good to be achieved. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola speak of “evil presented under the guise of good.” Another such obstacle is the closure of one’s mind in a self-referential way. There is little or no humble openness to search for the truth of what is good for people and for the earth. A third wall is the breakdown of genuine dialogue. A tribal mentality views others as the enemy with nothing significant to offer. As a Church and as individual members we are challenged to overcome and remove any barrier by building right relationships. With God we can break through any barrier; with God we can scale any wall (Ps.18:30).
18. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 1 > Issue: 1
Sister Simone Campbell, SSS Catholic Social Justice and NETWORK’s Political Ministry
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
After more than forty-five years educating, organizing, and lobbying on Capitol Hill, NETWORK has come to know that the fullest understanding of Catholic Social Justice is in the contemplative moment of reflecting on lived experience and the stories of those around us. Catholic Social Justice is grounded in understanding of the scripture, the documents of Catholic Social Teaching, the teachings of popes and bishops on social issues, and the reality of lived experience. In effect, Catholic Social Justice allows a person to live out a “political ministry”—to be attentive to the needs of people who are suffering and have their voices heard by people in power, as well as minister to those in power who are frequently more lonely and burdened by their position than it would appear. With Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, at the helm, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice has grounded their Catholic Social Justice ministry in faith teaching, in contemplation, and in concern for the needs of all, from people at the margins of society to those in power.
19. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 1 > Issue: 1
Dr. Kim Lamberty Preferential Option for the Poor Reconsidered
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
This article contends that churches in the United States have in large measure inter­preted the principle of preferential option for the poor in a way that bestows more benefits on the wealthy than on the poor. In support of that contention, the author examines the original meaning of the option for the poor principle, which has its roots in the reflections of theologians working in poverty-stricken contexts. She briefly surveys the work of Gustavo Gutierrez and Jon Sobrino—two theologians who have led Church thinking on poverty—and then suggests a revised praxis of preferential option for the poor for Catholics in the United States.
20. Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice: Volume > 1 > Issue: 1
Giulia McPherson Defending the Rights of Refugees: A Catholic Cause
abstract | view |  rights & permissions
Globally, the number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution has reached a record high of more than 65 million. Catholic Social Teaching presents a framework through which this critical issue of our time can be addressed. A close examination of the Gospel, Papal teachings, and the example of Pope Francis himself, demonstrate that we are called to welcome the stranger in whatever form that may take. Whether through direct service and advocacy by organizations like Jesuit Refugee Service, or through personal reflection, each of us is called to take action.