Spirituality is widely recognized to play an important role in the experience of terminally ill cancer patients, and several studies have shown that spiritual dimensions in their care can significantly enhance their quality of life and emotional well-being. The FICA© Spiritual History Tool, developed by Dr. Christina Puchalski, provides clinicians with a framework for addressing patients' spiritual histories. The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and apply the FICA© Spiritual History Tool in a sample of Italian end-of-life cancer patients and to identify the spirituality-related themes that emerge. The cultural adaptation process included forward-backward translations of the FICA© Spiritual History Tool, followed by its application through in-person conversations. Of the 95 eligible participants, 80 terminally ill cancer patients (84%) were included. A thematic analysis of the responses was conducted. Findings indicated that spirituality can provide a source of support for many Italian patients coping with terminal cancer. Spirituality was most frequently reflected with the Catholic faith. Some participants reported not belonging to any specific religious community; instead, they primarily relied on the support received from family and friends. The Italian version of the FICA© Spiritual History Tool is clear, understandable and focused on exploring spirituality and its relevance in end-of-life conversations. Healthcare providers (HCPs) should be informed about and encouraged to use this tool to gather essential information about their patients' spiritual history and perspectives, supporting personalized care beyond their physical illness.

ABSTRACT Owing to historical legacy, the Catholic church is the largest provider of primary education in the Republic of Ireland. Governance of primary schools, including responsibility for upholding school ethos, falls under the legal remit of the largely volunteer school Board of Management (Board of Governors/School Board). This article examines Board of Management oversight of ethos responsibilities and practices within Catholic primary schools in Ireland. Drawing on findings from the GRACE (Ireland) research project entitled Identity and Ethos in Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Ireland, Exploring the Attitudes and Behaviours of Stakeholders, it investigates the effectiveness of existing Board of Management structures in upholding the Catholic ethos. The analysis reveals significant challenges in the communication and training of Board of Management members, and accountability systems. Furthermore, a noticeable disconnect exists between the stated vision for Catholic education and its lived reality in many schools as illustrated by the provision for Religious Education. The article concludes by highlighting the need for increased investment in systemic supports for Boards of Management, more robust engagement between patrons and the Department of Education, and a re-evaluation of current oversight mechanisms to ensure the enduring vitality of Catholic education in a changing societal landscape.

ABSTRACT The General Education Law in Chile states in its second article the encouragement of spiritual development in schooled population. However, it does not state what encompasses this kind of development, nor its content or strategies. It is known that the concept of spirituality has been tackled in philosophy and theology traditions, several of which nurture various aspects of the national curriculum. This study examines critically how this mandate of the Law is tackled by the subjects of Catholic Religion and Philosophy during the last 2 years of secondary education. For this purpose, a documentary review of the Curricular Bases is carried out, the ones responsible for the programs of those subjects. In addition, the narratives of teachers, collected through interviews, are examined. The analysis of data offers different and similar outlooks on what spiritual development is and entails for the schooled population and expresses how the concept of spirituality constitutes a reality that favours and, potentially, supports the teaching of religion and philosophy in Chilean public schools, suggesting a greater interrelation between these two educational disciplines.

Dom Antônio de Castro Mayer was an outstanding figure in the hierarchy of 20th century Roman Catholicism. Therefore, this article, which is a historical documentary research, aims to explain the process of the anti-Council in the diocese of Campos, as a legacy left by the diocesan bishop, who practiced Catholicism from a conservative perspective, aligned with popes who took a stand against communism, liberalism and modernism. An adherent of an uncompromising doctrinal stance, Castro Mayer published several pastoral letters and newspaper articles, consolidating his reputation as an active Brazilian bishop who was anti-communist, Marian and critical of the secularization process. The prelate led one of the most notable resistances to the implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, connecting himself to conservative movements such as the TFP and the FSSPX, led by Archbishop Lefebvre, due to his opposition to the project of updates advocated by John XXIII and sponsored by the Council. The bishop's modus operandi created an unparalleled reality in the Church in the constituent cities of the diocese of Campos, which will be presented in this article, demonstrating the traditionalist role in the particular Church of Campos.

Climate change is the single largest health threat facing the world today. The purpose of the current article is to help nurses of faith more deeply explore a Catholic Christian response to climate change. Christian moral justice teachings from the Catholic Church's extensive social teaching efforts, including the far-reaching papal encyclicals Laudato Si and Laudato Deum by Pope Francis, and now championed by Pope Leo XIV, are explored.

The article deals with the structural ecclesiastical-institutional and socio-historical factors of (sexualized) violence against minors during the period of the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ)/German Democratic Republic (GDR), i.e. 1946-1989, based on the former East German region of Mecklenburg. Semi-structured, problem-centered interviews with 13 survivor and 11 Church representatives as well as 1503 files from Catholic Church and State Security Authority archives were analyzed by qualitatively content analysis. The criminological approach of routine activity according to Lawrence. E. Cohen and Marcus Felson, which states that three factors must be present simultaneously for deviant behavior, was used to explain the factors that promoted violence. The study showed that (sexualized) violence within the Catholic Church was also a predominantly structural/cultural problem in the GDR and was tabooed by both the State and the Church. We identified 40 minors who were abused by 19 priests. The abuse was enabled by the interplay of clergy as motivated perpetrators, children from precarious living conditions as suitable victims of abuse, a lack of protection of children and intervention due to the desire to protect the Catholic Church as an institution in the diaspora, and the aim of the dictatorial State to preserve its socialist ideology. Consequently, specific interactions of factors encouraged the acts of violence. The situational conditions were particularly important in determining whether criminal behavior had taken place or not within the Catholic Church in the SOZ/GDR (Mecklenburg region) in the period 1946 to 1989.

The Roman Catholic Church in Indonesia has played a significant role in the nation's history and social development. However, the legal status and governance of its religious bodies remain complex issues. This study aims to analyze the legality and governance of the Roman Catholic Church’s religious bodies in Indonesia, focusing on their legal recognition and the process of asset management, including its legal validity. The findings indicate that, while the Roman Catholic Church in Indonesia possesses a clear legal status recognized by the government, several challenges persist in the implementation of its governance. This research recommends enhancing transparency and accountability in the management of religious assets and activities, developing human resources, fostering greater cooperation with the government and other institutions, and improving religious infrastructure. The primary regulations examined are the Regulation of the Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Number 13 of 2025 concerning Catholic Religious Legal Entities and the Decree of the Director General of Catholic Community Guidance of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 of 2024 concerning the Governance of Religious Bodies of the Roman Catholic Church in Indonesia.

Research examining the interaction between prayer and religious identity and its effect on prosocial behavior is limited. Drawing data from 1602 single Roman Catholics ages 12–39, this study examined the relationship among public prayer, private prayer, religious identity, and prosocial behaviors, emphasizing the moderating role of religious identity. Analyses revealed a positive association between public and private religious practices, religious identity, and prosocial behavior. Public prayer significantly predicted prosocial behavior, while private prayer and religious identity did not exhibit direct effects. Crucially, religious identity moderated the relationship between public prayer and prosocial behavior, as the positive influence of public prayer on prosocial behaviors was significant only at average to high levels of religious identity. No moderating effect was found for the interaction between private prayer and religious identity. These findings underscore the importance of private and public prayer and strong religious identity in fostering prosocial tendencies among Filipino Catholic youth.

The rationale for this article lies, on one hand, in the need to address the perennial organisational problems of companies. On the other hand, the rationale of this article lies in the fact that the Catholic Church has not yet explicitly dealt with aspects related to the function, structure, and management of companies (Kennedy, 2002), despite having an extensive doctrine applicable to this field. All the published evidence to date shows that Catholic doctrine contains more than sufficient judgment elements to tackle the complex problems of the business world. This article proposes an approach to Catholic doctrine in formulating the common good within the company, considering its different dimensions (economic, social, cultural) and various forms of unity: origin, organisation, and action. This must be applied in a way that helps strengthen it as a human institution, given its prominent role in contemporary societies. At the same time, this article has also been written with the purpose of finding alternative principles, procedures, and attitudes that contribute to the survival, balance, and improvement of businesses in their social role. This should always be from the perspective of the Church’s social doctrine and from a justified conception of the company as a political community belonging to larger communities.

This study examines Marian devotion in the Catholic Church as a form of veneration (dulia) rather than worship (latria), addressing persistent misconceptions that equate Catholic devotional practices with idolatry. The research aims to identify the forms of Marian devotion practiced by Catholics in Indonesia and to analyze the challenges encountered in living out these practices. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) guided by the PRISMA framework. Two hundred articles were initially identified through Google Scholar and screened according to relevance, recency, geographical context, and methodological criteria, resulting in four eligible studies for analysis. The findings reveal four principal forms of devotion: the use of statues as aids to prayer, pilgrimages to Marian sites, Montfort-style Marian consecration, and the rosary emphasizing praise, imitation, and prayer with Mary. These practices deepen faith and lead the faithful closer to Christ without replacing divine worship. Challenges include external religious intolerance toward devotional symbols and limited theological understanding among believers. Therefore, sound catechesis grounded in Scripture and Church Tradition is essential to ensure authentic and balanced Marian devotion.

The phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism across the African continent in the late 20th and early 21st centuries represents one of the most significant religious shifts in modern history. This expansion, however, has often been built upon a foundation of charismatic authority and less formalized governance structures, contrasting sharply with the historic, institutional models of mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. While this flexibility has been a key driver of growth, allowing for rapid adaptation and local responsiveness, it has also created significant challenges. This article argues that the pervasive lack of formalized governance structures within many African Pentecostal churches poses a critical threat to their long-term accountability, financial integrity, and overall sustainability. Through an examination of the theological, historical, and sociological factors that privilege informality, and an analysis of the resultant issues—including financial scandals, leadership crises, and communal fragmentation—this paper contends that the future vitality of African Pentecostalism is contingent upon a deliberate move towards more robust, transparent, and participatory governance models that can honor its charismatic roots while ensuring institutional resilience.

Female education in the nineteenth century was a multifaceted issue, related to social stratification, gender roles, and middle-class construction. In unified Italy, a country with a very high level of illiteracy, the experience of female schools is peculiar because of their cultural, historical, and post-Resurgence values and educational methods. This article, inspired by Foucault's approach to disciplinary institutions, is based on many primary and secondary sources. The role played by accounting in supporting the education process of a female school in Florence is shown in a detailed manner. The pupils, coming from the Italian middle and upper class, were educated not only in Italian, history, geography, drawing, calligraphy and maths, but also in foreign language, music, singing, dance, good manners and catechism of the Catholic Church together with household accounting, all what was necessary to build the ‘perfect’ woman and mother. To do this, the Florentine school distributed space and managed time, adopted tools related to admission policy, uniforms, and diet and applied examination rituals supported by punishment and rewards. The article adds its results to the literature about accounting and discipline in educational institutions.

Since the early twentieth century, historical accounts of belief in the devil have tended to see the period from the Enlightenment onwards as the nadir of belief in a personified devil, particularly in secularising Europe. While this is demonstrably the case in some regards, more recent scholarship has complicated this picture, and this is particularly salient with reference to sectors of the Roman Catholic Church. This article examines the specific case of the survival of Roman Catholic demonology in the period from the late nineteenth century through to the eve of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). By surveying a series of discursive fields usually treated separately, this article highlights that far from being abandoned, demonological discourse remained a feature of various sectors of the Church during the period between around 1850 through to 1960 and can be evidenced in a variety of intellectual domains ranging from the developing discipline of Biblical Studies to the historiography of witchcraft and touching on areas extending from the Roman Catholic response to Spiritualism through to the modernist controversy and popular literature.

Abstract To uphold classical liberal values in the 21st century, it is crucial to recognize that the classical liberal tradition itself emerged as a profound response to the crisis of pluralism triggered by the breakdown - during the Protestant Reformation- of a unified and coherent worldview centered around the Catholic Church. Any attempt to address contemporary challenges by drawing on the lessons, insights, and intellectual tools of the liberal tradition must begin with a thorough examination of this foundational reality. Specifically, we must revisit the issues of deep social heterogeneity, incommensurability, and the pluralism of worldviews, values, and beliefs among individuals, communities, and societies. This paper will first identify and explore these aspects before shifting the discussion to the governance structures necessary for managing such complexities. The analysis will emphasize three key principles or features of a governance system designed to address the challenges of pluralism, heterogeneity of views, values, and lifestyles, and the resulting tensions and trade-offs: polycentricity (E. and V. Ostrom), catallaxy (F. A. Hayek), and modus vivendi (B. Williams).

Abstract Since 2007, the Spanish State's contribution to funding the Catholic Church comes from what is known as the ‘tax allocation’ ( asignación tributaria ). It is a pure system of percentage tax designation consisting of 0.7% of the tax liability of taxpayers who decide to tick the relevant box on their personal income tax form. From this system, taxpayers may also choose instead, or additionally, to allocate the same percentage to other activities considered of social interest or may choose not to tick either box. In this last case, they waive the option of contributing part of their tax liability directly to religious or social entities. Based on a database published by the Spanish Tax Agency, and applying ordinary least squares techniques, the present paper obtains the profile of taxpayers who opt for each of these alternatives. The results suggest the existence of two clearly delimited and opposing profiles of taxpayers: On the one hand, those who do not tick any tax allocation box or tick both; on the other hand, those who tick only one box, either the one for the Catholic Church or the one for other purposes of social interest.

Abstract This paper investigates the long-term relationship between the Catholic Church and science in Italy. It uses historical data from the twelfth to the mid-twentieth century at the local level, with the number of scientists and inventors as a proxy for the development of science. The results show that more scientists and inventors were born in provinces with a strong presence of the Catholic Church and high religious tolerance. The opposite happened in provinces where religious tolerance was low. Provinces characterized by a strong presence of the Catholic Church, high religious tolerance, and higher education infrastructure were also more likely to attract scientists and inventors from elsewhere. These results suggest that the Catholic Church supported the development of science when its behavior was mainly driven by tolerance. However, when the Catholic Church was characterized by intolerance, it hampered the spread of new ideas and scientific discoveries.

Specifical articles in the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Rite Catholic Church govern Catholic Confraternities, associations of lay people who, through common action, carry out works of charity and piety, hospitality, assistance and evangelical education. The Code itself establishes Confraternities must have a headquarters (Art. 304). Widespread in Europe since the Middles Ages, with a significant role in the early modern age, the Confraternities should be considered the set where Christian spirituality intertwines with the concrete actions of their brothers. In architecture, their churches, chapels and oratories reflect the results of a long processes of negotiations and agreement that, from within the associations to the outside, begins a broader dialogue between many powers. A significant topic, still largely unexplored in architecture, can be analysed considering the buildings and the technicians who work for the secular associations. Their engineers, their architects, their craftsmen play a significant role because of they are the figures who build the dialogue between the central authorities—the state or the court—and the local ones, sometimes the municipalities or other institutions. Outcome of the interchange is the area chosen to build the church or the assistance buildings, as well as the drawing of the buildings. Sometimes, the technicians are even members of the same associations. Hence, it derives not only the technical context, but the society too in which the technicians throughout the brotherhoods’ buildings write the identity of a portion of a city. The article intentionally aims only to open and critically present a broad theme, drawing on selected references from the modern period Savoy Piedmont as a case study, introduce here only, to provide insights that may become an interpretative tool for further research.

The number of poor people in Indonesia is reaching 194,6 million people out of approximately a population of 300 million, and this issue is crucial to solve. The church needs to share the existential goodness to those who are in poverty. With such a great task the church must stand as one body, but the unity of the Protestant and Catholic church is still undermined by non-unity. The care for those in poverty tends to be compartmentalized in each denomination for protestant churches while the Catholics tend to be active in their regions. The 2025 year of Jubilee with the main theme of hope is relevant for the condition of church unity and support those living in poverty in Indonesia. In the context of this extremely concerning poverty, this article aims to initiate the unity of the Protestant and Catholic churches as one body of Christ in giving hope through existential goodness to the poor in Indonesia. The biblical Jubilee in Leviticus 25 will be examined briefly, followed by the examination of ontological goodness rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ as the foundation for existential goodness. This article will also demonstrate hope in the Holy Bible and the 2025 year of Jubilee as an initiation for the unity of Protestant and Catholic Churches in Indonesia within the context of presenting existential goodness which is grounded in care for those in poverty. The conclusion is that hope in 2025 year of Jubilee should be proclaimed to the church in Indonesia.

Abstract The issue of Christianization is one of the major issues that interferes with interfaith encounters in Indonesia. Relationships across religious identities are hindered by the generalization that all activities involving interfaith encounters initiated by Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, aim to Christianize others. This research intends to show the influence of such issues in the social humanitarian work of the Catholic Church, represented by Karitas Indonesia of the Archdiocese of Semarang (KARINAKAS), and the Christian Church, represented by Emergency Unit of Christian Foundation for Public Health (YAKKUM Emergency Unit/YEU). Both organizations work in disaster response. Using a qualitative approach, the researchers collected data through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with official staff and volunteers from both organizations. Drawing on Christopher Falzon’s Social Dialogue Beyond Fragmentation Theory, this research identifies opportunities for building interfaith relations. This research found that the issue of Christianization limits social relations within the community and at the same time it also encourages people to continue exploring possibilities for cross-identity encounters. The volunteers’ engagement generates new awareness that challenges the dominant narrative of Christianization as the sole framework for understanding intereligious encounters in Indonesia. At the grassroots levels, interreligious relations are not defined by rigid binary oppositions. Shared experiences in responding to human suffering create common ground that enables collaborative action for others’ well-being.

This article addresses cultural competence issues for mental health practitioners working with conservative Christian families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, or other minoritized sexual and gender (LGBTQIA+) youth. We compare and contrast non-affirming ideologies about LGBTQIA+ issues across the four statistically largest conservative Christian movements in the United States: the Black Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelicals, and the Latter-Day Saints. We explore the premise that non-affirming ideologies surrounding LGBTQIA+ issues are integral to these movements’ broader efforts to address specific conditions of oppression and privilege faced by their adherents. We argue that this perspective may support anti-oppressive practice by helping practitioners understand why conservative Christian families might remain committed to beliefs that secular mental health fields associate with harm toward LGBTQIA+ children. We propose that this understanding may help practitioners address these beliefs in a nuanced way while applying techniques we describe toward the end.