Examining religious life from a multidisciplinary perspective. Reflection on the social functioning of the annulment of marriage in the example of research conducted in Poland

In 1979 I wrote a preliminary report about my experiences concerning religious life in Taiwan.1 Now, 15 years later, having spent another six-seven months in Taiwan,2 I am able to reevaluate the continuity of religious practices and the transformations that have taken place. My first stay in Taiwan (1959-66), though far in the recesses of my memory, provides a basis for a comparison with the truly stunning changes in the political, economic, social, cultural, and religious realities.

Reviewed by: God in Gotham: The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan by Jon Butler Mark Granquist God in Gotham: The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan. By Jon Butler. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2020. 308 pp. It is a sign of a very good book that it delivers more than it promises, and this is a very good book. It describes the religious life of New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, between [End Page 113] 1880 and 1960. It is a deeply researched volume with a wealth of detail and description. But the book is really about much more than this. It is a case study about religious life in a modern American city, perhaps the modern American city, and an examination of the common assumptions and theories about religious life in the modern urban West. Despite the oft-repeated claims of secularization theorists (and many church leaders) that such modern cities are deeply secular and irreligious places, Butler convincingly demonstrates that, in the case of Manhattan, such claims are simply wrong. Butler lays out a rich narrative of the vibrancy, multiplicity, and ingenuity of religious life in Manhattan. Far from being irreligious, Manhattan was awash with both traditional and new religious organizations and was a leader in American religious life in the period when it was the leading city in the United States and one of the leading cities in the world. European secularization theorists at the beginning of the twentieth century saw the migration of people into the cities as the engine of modernism and the beginning of the end for traditional theism. In an unlikely pairing, they were joined in this assessment by conservative Protestant groups who saw cities like New York as hotbeds of irreligiosity. But as religious sociologists Roger Finke and Rodney Stark have demonstrated, this view of urban irreligion in America is really a myth, and rates of religious adherence in America have been higher in urban areas than in rural territories. Cities like New York give inhabitants far more choices of religious groups; in cities, conventional religion was in hot competition with newly developed groups. Butler vividly demonstrates this phenomenon in Manhattan, where mainline Protestants contended with all sorts of New Thought and self-empowerment groups, established Black churches vied with self-anointed store-front preachers, and a whole range of Jewish groups sought to define that community. Perhaps in that competitive market were the roots of a great degree of religious adherence. The first chapter deals with the sources of the idea of urban irreligiosity within American religion, primarily from mainline Protestant leaders who felt that growing religious pluralism threated their hegemony. In the second chapter these same groups are seen [End Page 114] aggressively organizing to bring traditional religion to Manhattan, not only by building scores of impressive churches but also by adapting themselves to the new challenges and opportunities of urban America. In this they were joined by Roman Catholics and Jews, whose ranks were swelled by millions of new immigrants who came to America before the First World War. The third chapter demonstrates how these religious leaders, besides establishing new congregations and synagogues, also set out to sacralize the fabric of Manhattan and put their stamp on urban culture. The fourth chapter examines how these same dynamics were at play in Manhattan's swelling African American communities; though they were greatly constrained by urban discrimination and segregation, they paralleled the other religious groups in energy and approach. A fifth chapter looks at Manhattan as the seedbed of theological thought in the twentieth-century United States, due to the presence of prominent religious leaders such as Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, Jacques Maritain, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joseph Dov Solveitchik, and Dorothy Day, among others. Perhaps most intriguing is the conclusion, in which Butler examines religious life and organizations in the suburbs of New York City that mushroomed after 1945. Rather than viewing suburban religious life as an antithesis to or escape from urban religion (or irreligiosity), Butler claims that these suburban religious organizations were actually an extension of the religious life of urban Manhattan. This fruitful line of inquiry begs for further investigation. No book can do...

The Disciples' Call: Theologies of Vocation from Scripture the Present Day. Edited by Christopher Jamison osb. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014. viii + 247 pp. $24.95 (paper).While almost all mainline churches in North America and Western Europe have in recent decades experienced declining numbers of people expressing a vocation the priesthood or the religious life, the Roman Catholic Church in England has suffered than most, with a precipitous fall in entrants English seminaries, from approximately one hundred and fifty entrants a year in 1980 twenty-two in 2001. Yet there is little hint in this set of essays (formed mainly of English Catholic voices, though also receiving North American and European contributions) of the trauma or soulsearching with regard the idea of vocation that this decline has induced in certain other contexts. Instead, the volume confidently gives a historicallyinformed, theologically-nuanced, and attractive articulation of a broader notion of vocation as lying at the heart of the mission of all the people of God, and explores how this may find contemporary expression.Historical understandings of vocation are explored by a number of essays in the first half of the volume. John Hemers survey of some of the most well-known biblical narratives of Gods call individuals contains a number of reflections or comparisons which would enrich sermons or short reflections on the passages. Richard Price argues that the monastic writers of the early church did not hold an understanding of a vocation the religious life, but simply saw monasticism as the opportunity respond more fully and effectively than is possible in the world Christ's call all people to repent and follow the Gospel (p. 40). Working in constructive mode, Gemma Simmonds ably demonstrates how Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises may fruitfully serve as a model for the path of call, desire, response, confusion, and eventual clarity that may be the experience of many Christians discerning their particular vocation.The essays in the second half of the volume focus on the narrow conception of vocation the priesthood and the religious life. Cathy Jones's essay may helpfully remind readers in Anglican contexts of the vast range of expressions of religious life-and accordingly of ecclesial vocations-that exist in the Catholic Church. Yet she also highlights the immense challenges in attracting new members faced by many forms of non-clerical religious life with identities that are less distinct from secular consecration. This is hardly surprising, she suggests: while personal encounter with a religious community is one of the most important pathways into helping individuals recognize a vocation live according the charism of a particular religious community, those communities with a strong expression of the distinctive nature of religious life are likely flourish in future. …

Nearer, My God, to Thee

In every ethnic life, there are various ways in which humans can express their faith. The symbols contained in the customs help humans to concrete their faith. For the Batak people, ulos is a symbol that expresses who they believe in, while the mangulosi event is a sign of giving blessings, blessings, and prayers. Therefore, between Catholic culture and faith there are theological similarities and relationships, especially regarding blessings. The purpose of this paper is, that the author wants to explore the meaning of ulos as a symbol of blessing in the Toba Batak marriage and its relevance in the Catholic faith. Also, it provides an understanding of the use of ulos in marriage as one of the Batak ancestral heritages that are maintained and lived by the Toba Batak people until now. The type of research used by the author is qualitative research. While the research method used in this study is the phenomenological method. The result obtained is that ulos become a means of blessing that is used by Allah to bless his fellows. Therefore, ulos is very relevant to be used both in community life and in religious life

In the Roman Catholic Church, the terms monastic and nun are familiar. Because indeed when talking about nuns Asti is related to the Catholic Church. But in the general public, many do not understand or even know about religious life. Monasticism is a long process that a person goes through to produce qualified monks and nuns. The number of community members who do not understand and understand about religious life encourages the author to write about religious life. This paper will explain the meaning of monasticism. It will also look at the stages that a person goes through to become a nun. The author will also explain the vows that nuns will go through and have. This paper will also present the view and basis of the Bible towards someone who becomes a monk and nun. It will also look at the stages that a person goes through to become a nun. The author will also explain the vows that nuns will go through and have. This paper will also present the view and basis of the Bible towards someone who becomes a monk and nun. It will also present the history of the emergence and establishment of monasteries and the pioneers of monasticism. The author will also present the Church's view on religious life.

Beyond its entertainment value, every piece of creative literature has something more to say which reading between the lines often has a way of revealing. This is true of the novel Purple Hibiscus by the award-winning Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. While his novel says something about the family, politics, post-colonial history and religious realities such as priesthood, mission, Mary, and the Eucharist, this paper looks at what it can tell us about liturgical inculturation and its implications for the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria. It is hoped that the paper would help to continue, in the spirit of interdisciplinarity, the conversation on the nexus between Ecclesiology and Creative Literature.

There are many ethical challenges when mental health professionals work clinically with Roman Catholic seminarians as well as with men and women in religious formation. This article highlights several of the most prominent ethical issues and challenges confronted by mental health professionals working with these clients. These topics include issues of competence in evaluating, treating, and consulting with seminarians, those in religious life, or those applying to enter religious life. Issues of informed consent must also be considered so that seminarians, religious life clients, applicants, and their religious superiors have clarity about the limits of confidentiality and who maintains the privilege of accessing client information. In addition, professional conflicts can arise when Church expectations may seem challenging to satisfy for professionals trained in a predominantly secular environment. Cultural understanding and appreciation are needed to work with clients from different ethnic and racial groups as well as different religious orders and branches within the Catholic Church. Finally, the role of mental health professionals in the determination of acceptance or rejection into religious life and for ordination is discussed.

Global religious institutions shape the transnational migration experience while migrants chip away at and recreate global religions by making them local and starting the process anew. Migrants’ religious institutions are also sites where globally diffused models of social organization and individuals’ local responses converge to produce new mixes of religious beliefs and practices. Transnational institutional connections transformed immigrant community religious life and the political and religious life of the home country and enabled immigrant religious communities to exert power within their global religious systems. Global culture and institutions also clearly shape migrants’ transnational religious practices. From the mid 1800s to the present, the Catholic Church has worked diligently to create and reinforce its role as a transnational, publicly influential institution. The institutional connections that migration engenders, and that reinforces and is reinforced by already-global aspects of religious life, transform religion into a powerful, underexplored site of transnational belonging.

The Sudden Angel Affrighted Me

Multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious Kaunas was one of the biggest towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In Early Modern period, various religious communities such as the Catholic, the Orthodox, the Lutheran and the Jewish coexisted in this town. Relations between the different groups of society were regulated by the Lithuanian Statutes which underwent three redactions in 1529, 1566, and 1588. The last redaction operated till 1842. The Magdeburg law was also adopted in Lithuanian towns. Although the role of women in Lithuanian towns of the sixteenth century determined by the legislation traditions has been investigated, the role of the Catholic women in the religious and social life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has not been researched so far.The aim of this article is to describe the three ways in which Kaunas’ Catholic women realized themselves in the religious and social life of the town. In the masculinized society of the Early Modern epoch, the women of Kaunas acted as founders of Catholic churches, convents and altars, as pious women who took care of the veneration of supposedly miraculous images, and as nuns. There were two nunneries in the town – the Bernardine and the Benedictine. Although living under the conditions of strict religious enclosure, Kaunas nuns participated in the judicial processes, defended their material issues, supported other Catholics women in their difficult life situations, and contributed to strengthening the position of the Catholic Church in Kaunas. These examples highlight the previously unnoticed deeds of the Kaunas women and emphasize their role in the Early Modern society outside the private lives.

Ukrainian immigration has played a significant role in the economic development of Canada as well as in the formation of religious diversity in the country. Most Ukrainians who came to Canada during the first wave of immigration (1891-1914) belonged to the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia, and their interactions with the Roman Catholic clergy were not straightforward, primarily due to differences in their languages and rites. In the article the competition in the mission territories in Western Canada among the Roman Catholic Franco- and Anglo-Canadian clergy formed a phenomenon of rivalry between them and aggravated the religious situation has been ascertained. The issues of jurisdiction of the bishop of the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia over immigrants, the presence of married clergy, and the ownership of acquired church property became decisive in the religious life of Ukrainian immigrants during the first wave has been proved. The unwillingness of the Roman Catholic hierarchy to understand the needs of Greek Catholics led to their transition to other denominations. The article shows that in order to stop the conversion of Greek Catholics to other denominations, the Commission of Oriental Rites in 1909 recognized the expediency of appointing a Ukrainian bishop to Canada. The establishment of the Ruthenian Ordinariate in Canada in 1912 and the granting of full jurisdiction to Bishop N. Budka in the management of communities hastened their unification into a single ecclesiastical institution and helped resolve conflicts at the first stage of the religious life of Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Canada. The peculiarity of the relationship between Ukrainian Greek Catholics and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church was: 1) the Roman Catholic Church was superconservative and in making decisions guided by the rules of law, not the requirements of the time; 2) Ukrainian Greek Catholic immigrants grew from a “small problem” to a “big opportunity” for Roman Catholic Church in the renewal of religious life as opposed to Protestants; 3) the experience of this relationship contributed to the further establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in other countries.

BOOK REVIEWS General Church and Revolution: Catholics in the Strugglefor Democracy and Social Justice. By Thomas Bokenkotter. [Image Books.] (New York: Doubleday. 1998. Pp. xii, 580. $15.95 paperback.) How did the Catholic Church become a staunch defender of human rights in the late twentieth-century world, after having spent the nineteenth century in emphatic denunciations of the French Revolution and its "rights of man"? A seasoned historian proposes to cast light on this question chiefly by presenting a series of biographical portraits that illustrate his subtitle. "Lives and times" are what the reader finds here, presented with great care for factual accuracy and balanced judgment. Though highly selective, it is not a gallery only of heroes and champions of human dignity: alongside of Daniel O'Connell, Frédéric Ozanam, Luigi Sturzo, and Dorothy Day one finds Monsignor Umberto Benigni (1862-1934), whose campaigns for the social ideals of Leo XIII, as he understood them, and against political democracy, led him eventually to adopt a clerico-fascist stance. The temporal and geographical range of the figures treated is broad. The sixteen chapters go from Lamennais and companions in the first generation of Liberal Catholics to Oscar Romero's martyrdom in 1980 and Lech Walesa's contemporary "revolution." France (Albert de Mun,Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier) and Ireland (O'Connell, Michael Collins, and Eamon de Valera) are prominent. Italy has its pair as noted, while England is represented by Cardinal Manning; Germany (only) by (Karl Marx and) Konrad Adenauer. The need to sketch the appropriate context for each life excluded any attempt at blanket coverage of all the interesting and significant Catholics prominent in the human rights struggles. Performing feats of condensation, the author vividly and not uncritically portrays the predicaments of his protagonists. In the chapter on Adenauer, for instance, he makes excellent use of Noel D. Cary's Path to Christian Democracy (1996) and provides enough of the history of Germany and the Center Party to put Adenauer's accomplishments in context. The popes of the era do not appear on center stage, either; Leo XIII and Pius X are accurately if briefly described in the chapter on Benigni; as is Pius XI in 261 262BOOK REVIEWS connection with Don Sturzo. The contributions of Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno, the Second Vatican Council, and John Paul II are recognized, but the plan of the work is not to deal with "the Catholic Church" (often equated with the hierarchy, as on p. 569), but with some striking figures of social and political "Catholicism." Such limits make sense; a good deal of material, relatively speaking, is available on the modern papacy. The book is a particularly welcome addition to Catholic studies for instructional purposes. Though lacking a bibliography or "suggestions for further reading ," it has a good, if less than exhaustive index; its footnotes are well placed (at the bottom of the page) and adequate, while kept to a useful miriirnum. Its limpid style and modest price should help assure it broad use. Paul Misner Marquette University Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione. Edited by Guerrino Pelliccia and Giancarlo Rocca. Vol. LX: "Spiritualità-Vézelay." (Rome: Edizioni Paoline. 1997. Pp. xxvi, 1,960; 17 colored plates.) These truly monumental volumes, undertaken in the wake ofVatican Council II in 1968, ambition covering all monasticism, religious Orders, and analogous movements, not excluding non-Catholic and Asian analogues, from the Early Church to the present day, from a largely historical perspective, including themes, mentalities, theologies, and movements, in comprehensive scope. Its riches are so varied and sometimes unexpected under their Italian indicators that we Anglophones must hope for ample multilingual indexes at the end. Major themes can amount to small books, as with Historiography of religious life (77 columns), the role of Study including libraries (85 columns), Third Orders both regular and secular (81 columns), or Virginity (56 columns). Generous space is also accorded Theater, monastic Taxes, Trent on religious life, Theology, and concepts such as Spouse of Christ, State of Perfection, Tonsure, and the process and history of Leaving (Uscita). Some entries are particularly contemporary: the problem of an aging population in Orders (Terza Eta), the pros and cons of the Third Way as...

The involvement of politics and colonization is a key element in Irish literature, and James Joyce’s Dubliners is no exception. In his literary works, James Joyce blames British Empire and Roman Catholic Church as the main factors for Dublin’s backwardness and inferiority (Bulson, 2006). This was the main reason that Joyce was frustrated and decided to write his short stories collection “Dubliners”. Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories written by James Joyce and published in 1914. Joyce believed that these literary works would make the Irish society reflect more about themselves. The entire collection of the stories revolves around the everyday lives of ordinary people in Dublin. In this collection, throughout each story, Joyce expresses disappointment, darkness and paralysis. Therefore, it reflects an intellectual paralysis of the modern society that came as a result of oppression, religion and politics. Joyce’s goal was to present different class types from the lower-middle class to upper-class or blue-collar Dubliners. Joyce meant Dubliners to be read as a novel that creates an image of a city where its inhabitants grow from innocence to experience. He claims that this short stories collection can be seen as a moral history of Ireland and especially Dublin that is portrayed as a city in decline. In this collection, Joyce criticizes the Irish provinciality, the Catholic Church and the Irish politics of the time. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to make a close analysis of the themes and characters in James Joyce’s unique collection of short stories Dubliners . One of the most important themes that will be discussed in this study is paralysis, whose centre is Dublin. All the characters in Dubliners are portrayed as weak and fearful people who can be considered as slaves of cultural, political and religious life. They are portrayed as narrow-minded people oppressed mostly by the Catholic Church and politics of the time. Other important themes that come as a result of paralysis in Dubliners are poverty and corruption and the desire to escape and adventure in other countries. However, death is also a very important theme that will be discussed in this study. Therefore, by paralysis, corruption and death, Joyce portrays a dark picture of his hometown and its inhabitants through symbolism and imagery.The aim of this study is to make a close and detailed analysis of the themes and the characters in short stories collection Dubliners . It will addresses issues such as: What are the most important themes in the collection? How does paralysis influence the characters in Dubliners ? Why don’t they leave Dublin? How can this dark state change? What are the messages that Joyce is trying to express through his stories? Which characters symbolize paralysis? How does Joyce portray Dublin inhabitants through his characters? It will also intend to demonstrate the importance of Dubliners as a literary work. It will provide information about the author, the Irish society, and in particular a close and detailed analytic analysis of each story in collection. Keywords: James Joyce, Dubliners, selected stories, themes, characters, Catholic church, Ireland, characters, etc.

In recent years Italy has become an important destination for migrants— about five million of them—originating from different countries About one million are Catholic. The Catholic Church supports them in several ways: it acts in the political game, claiming more rights for immigrants. Furthermore, Catholic institutions provide many services to immigrants, and especially to the weakest part of immigrant population. The Catholic Church in Italy also gives churches or spaces to national groups of Catholic immigrants. On the other hand, these ‘ethnic churches’ are not integrated into the normal life of Catholic parishes. Immigrants are rarely included in local councils, Italian Catholic associations or representative bodies of lay people in the Catholic Church. Their religious life is separate from the religious life of the Italian majority. Also the provision of services to immigrants is usually separate from the normal life of parishes and religious communities.