Catholic Congregations Research Articles

Who is inspired to follow Bishop Barron? Applying psychological type and psychological temperament theory among lay Catholic participants at an event sponsored in London by the Word on Fire Institute

ABSTRACT The present study draws on psychological type theory and psychological temperament theory to test the extent to which Bishop Barron’s ministry shaped by the Word on Fire Institute is reaching people less effectively reached by Catholic congregations. Data provided by 168 male and 292 female participants attending Bishop Barron’s day conference in central London during February 2023, who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales, demonstrated that this event attracted significantly higher proportions of intuitive types and of thinking types, compared with Catholic churchgoers. However, like Catholic congregations, extraverts and perceiving types remained under-represented among the followers of Bishop Barron. The implications of these findings are discussed for the ongoing nurture of those attracted to Bishop Barron alongside inherited congregations.

The Property Rights of the Church in the Roman Empire

The present paper deals with the legal capacity and especially the property rights of the growing Christian communities and church institutions within the Roman Empire from the beginning to the Justinianic era. In the beginning, the believers’ charitable donations became the property of the bishops. Later, when the local Christian communities became legal persons, the property of the bishops was separated from the property of the congregations. The local churches could already own real estate before 313. After 313, the legal capacity of the Catholic congregations was confirmed. Later, following the example of local churches, monasteries and finally charitable institutions also became legal entities. Charitable houses were also personal associations and not foundations; independent foundations – similarly to the rules of classical Roman law – did not exist in Justinianic law. The edicts of the Christian emperors greatly facilitated the acquisition of property by local churches, monasteries and charitable institutions. Furthermore, a number of legal rules were made for the special protection of ecclesiastical property.

‘No Friend for Sorrow but Memory’: Commemorating Children in Early Post-Plantation Ulster, Ireland

ABSTRACT This paper explores the social visibility of children from Gaelic Irish and settler families during the 17th and 18th centuries given the very significant economic and cultural changes which followed the Plantation of Ulster. Predominantly Protestant settlers from Britain ousted native Catholic congregations from traditional places of worship, which became Protestant churches, and graveyards were now shared with Planter families. Using information from the south and west of the province of Ulster, it examines how children’s memorials may signify the religious, social and/or ethnic identity their families wished to express. It explores how distinctive familial plots were perhaps one means of maintaining complex Gaelic Irish kin relationships in danger of erosion and may have helped settlers replace or strengthen social networks from their original homes. High status interments which included children in prestigious native burial grounds may also have been a means of control and a powerful symbol of subjugation.

Streamable Services: Affinities for Streaming in Pre-Pandemic Congregational Worship

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, many congregational leaders had to scramble to set up streaming or recording systems in order to continue their worship services without putting congregants at risk, but some congregations had already set up such systems in the years leading up to the pandemic. Previous research has found that these capabilities were not evenly distributed throughout the population of congregations, but this work has primarily focused on how technological divides are the result of a lack of economic resources. However, economic resources were not the only factor associated with whether congregations had streaming options or not. Using Wave 4 of the National Congregations Study (NCS) conducted in 2018–2019, I find that, prior to the pandemic, Catholic congregations and Protestant congregations with more enthusiastic worship services were more likely to have streaming or recording systems even after controlling for economic resources, technological knowledge, and other organizational features. The elective affinities between certain worship practices and online streaming meant that some congregations were in a better position to meet the unexpected challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. These findings highlight the important role congregations’ cultural beliefs and practices can play in shaping their activities.

Deseret Hospital, Women, and the Perils of Modernization

Deseret Hospital, Women, and the Perils of Modernization

The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. in Computer Science

Profiles Mary Kenneth Keller who received the first Ph.D in Computer Science (1965, University of Wisconsin). Born Evelyn Marie Keller, she entered the Catholic congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVMs) and was given the name Sister Mary Kenneth. In her publications, she used the name Sister Mary K. Keller, Sister Mary Kenneth, Mary K. Keller, and (her complete name) Sister Mary Kenneth Keller. Presents a biography of her early life, family, education, and professional career.

Children’s agency and cultural appropriation through the lens of South American anthropology: Mapuche and Toba/Qom children facing Catholic education

ABSTRACT As experienced researchers from Argentina, we set out to draw attention to the diversity and inequalities within the childhoods of the so-called ‘Global South’ that the ‘Global North’ uniformly addresses as ‘other childhood.’ Based on our long-standing ethnographic research with indigenous children in Argentina, we will present a conceptual discussion on children’s agency and cultural appropriation, through a comparative study of Catholic education and appropriation processes that Toba/Qom and Mapuche children have experienced in different regions of the country. After a brief historical reconstruction, we analyse comparatively contemporary projects of different Catholic congregations towards Mapuche and Toba/Qom children, exploring simultaneously how children themselves receive such proposals. Considering these processes are not homogenous nor linear, we will argue for an approach that contextualises children’s agency and cultural appropriation in sociohistorical and cultural terms, within different power relationships.

Religious Congregations’ Technological and Financial Capacities on the Eve of the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic dramatically upended religious life and placed significant strain on religious congregations. However, the effects of the pandemic were likely not felt evenly across the religious landscape.PurposeWe used data from the fourth wave of the National Congregations Study, gathered on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic in 2018–19, to identify the kinds of congregations that may have been especially vulnerable to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsUsing bivariate and multiple regression analysis, we examined two aspects of congregations' preparedness for the pandemic: technological infrastructure and financial stability.ResultsWe found that, while many congregations were technologically and financially equipped for a time of social distancing and economic recession, there were stark inequalities in levels of preparedness among congregations on the basis of race, class, size, urban/rural location, religious tradition, and the age of congregations' parishioners. In particular, Catholic congregations and congregations with older attendees tended to lack streaming or online communication capacities, and both rural and small congregations had more limited technological infrastructure and less financial cushion. Somewhat surprisingly, predominantly Black congregations were more likely to have worship streaming systems set up prior to the pandemic, though these congregations were more likely to lack other kinds of technological and financial infrastructure.Conclusions and ImplicationsThough COVID-19’s full impact on congregations will not be known for several years, these results highlight variations in congregations’ readiness for the pandemic’s challenges, and they show that COVID-19’s impact likely has not been felt equally across the religious landscape.

Dignity for Whom? How 4-Year Catholic Institutions Display Commitments to Diversity on Institutional Websites

This article presents the findings of a content analysis study that examined how Catholic institutional websites displayed commitments to diversity through their publicly available websites. This research project used a conceptual framework exploring the phenomenon of organizational impression management, which is concerned with how institutions shape their image to various audiences. The literature on non-performative diversity language in higher education is reviewed, illustrating how colleges and universities may profess a commitment to diversity in the abstract without engaging in meaningful change. Using a sample of 54 institutions representing 22 of the 25 Catholic congregations (i.e., religious orders), we surveyed their websites to understand how and where they discussed topics of diversity. This process involved examining what specific language each institution used to articulate its commitments (e.g., diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice) and who was associated with diversity work. Findings revealed that a majority of institutional websites included references to diversity-related terms, but failed to define the meaning of the words being used. Additionally, findings indicated that Catholic higher education institutions widely varied in the positioning of diversity-related content on their websites. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are then offered for religiously affiliated institutions of higher education.

Exhibiting Faith against an Imperial Background: Angola and the Spiritans at the Vatican Missionary Exhibition (1925)

Abstract In 1925 the Vatican Missionary Exhibition took place, presenting thousands of objects sent by Catholic missions around the world. Resulting from substantial efforts by the Church, the exhibition had a significant public impact, with an estimated one million visitors. It marked a critical moment in the international affirmation of the Church, as well as the reformulation and expansion of its missionary policy in the aftermath of the Great War. Catholic missions and congregations in the Portuguese colonial empire participated in the exhibition. This article focuses on the Angolan case, where the Congregation of the Holy Spirit was the main protagonist of Catholic missionisation. I examine the organisation process, the circulation of norms and objects across imperial borders, and their exhibition at the Vatican. I discuss the tensions between the pontifical message and Portuguese missionary politics, as well as the intermediary position that the Spiritans occupied.

Freiheit heißt Leben

Liberty means to live. That is what Christian Jasper is convinced about regarding the understanding of liberty in German law and Christian faith. The author introduces the reader in the letter Samaritanus bonus on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life which the roman catholic Congregation for the doctrine of the faith published on 14th July 2020. Therefore, the author compares theological and legal understandings of the idea of liberty. Whereas the German Constitutional Court puts much emphasis on the defence of autonomy the author highlights that human dignity implies more than the individual right to act arbitrarily. Modern societies require individuals who behave moral. The challenge is to avoid misunderstandings between the different faculties and to find wise compromises between moral expectations and legal rules in a liberal society. The lecture of Samaritanus bonus may help to improve the public discussion.

White and Black Women under the Same Roof? The Early History of Montebello’s Black Sisterhood (1922–1939)

In 1922 four young Zulu women expressed the desire to join the Oakford Dominican Sisters, a congregation of mostly German Catholic religious women based in Natal. They were accepted to the novitiate in 1926 and subsequently took vows. This raised the issue of whether they should be fully part of the Oakford congregation or form a separate congregation for black sisters only under the guidance, at least for a while, of white sisters. In other words, should the Oakford congregation follow the segregation model in use in other Catholic religious congregations and most Protestant churches in southern Africa? The paper describes the battle that opposed, on this issue, the black sisters and their novice mistress, Sr Euphemia Ruf, on one side, and Archbishop Jordan Gijlswijk, the envoy from Rome, who wanted to maintain the unity of the congregation, on the other side. In the end, the argument that Zulu people were ‘too different’ from white people to live with them prevailed and a separate congregation of diocesan right, based in Montebello, where the black novitiate for black sisters had been established, was created in 1939.

Faith Community and Campus Engagement in Immigrant Integration

Immigration is one of the most contentious topics in contemporary American politics. This study presents the planning, implementation and evaluation of a program of faith community dialogues on immigration developed in partnership between a public university, a faith-based group of volunteers, and Catholic congregations. Based on data from dialogue transcriptions, exit questionnaires completed by participants, observation notes, and reflections shared by students and faith community leaders, the study shows the outcomes of the program for the congregations, the volunteer group, the students, and the faculty leader. The volunteer group was able to launch a new program that helped immigrant and US-born members of faith communities develop feelings of mutual understanding and collaboration. Students had the opportunity to learn research skills and better understand people’s perspectives on immigration and race. The faculty leader produced community-based scholarship that otherwise would not have been possible. The study concludes that cumulative collaborative learning, the inclusion of a religious dimension, and support from faith leaders are key for the success of partnerships between university and faith-based actors.

The Alliance to “Civilize” the East Indies Government and Catholic Missionaries in Manggarai-Flores

The present paper deals with the reestablishment of Catholic missionary activity in the Dutch East Indies during the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth. It pays particular attention to the arrival of missionaries in western Flores in the twentieth century, when conversion to Catholicism saw a spectacular growth in the Manggarai region. It delves into the complex interaction of government officials, missionaries and local leaders and how particular social practices and economic modes of production were advanced. It aims to understand how the particular set of civilizing discourses that the missionaries upheld at the time dovetailed with the objectives of the Dutch colonial government. It relies on Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the contents of the article The Scientific Role of the Missionary, by Monseigneur Alexander Le Roy, superior general of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which appeared in prominent publications of the main Catholic congregation working in Flores during the twentieth century, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). However, it demonstrates that the ideologues of Catholic missiology of the time, such as Monseigneur Le Roy, went beyond the civilizing discourses on development. Furthermore, it argues that many of the progressive stances that characterize the church in Flores today can be traced back to the ideas espoused by their missionary forefathers.

Where is the Church in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: Preferring the Poor via G. Gutierrez’ “Liberation” and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching in the Philippine Setting

In a world where everything seems to be measured in reference to money and economic progress, the problem of poverty becomes an increasingly urgent concern. The experience of poverty is even becoming problematic when the world seemed to be unprepared for times of pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the suffering of the poor more than just a health risk, especially in the Philippine setting. In such a situation, people wonder, where is the church? Most critics of the Catholic Church in the Philippines utilized the social media platform in crying out their denunciation to Catholic Church leaders. It is in this context that the paper explores the ‘Liberation Theology’ of Gustavo Gutiérrez in relation to the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching, whether the experience of poverty and crisis is part of the socio-spiritual responsibility of the church. To do this, the paper utilized the exploratory method of textual analysis. Through examining the text of extant literature on Gustavo Gutiérrez’s Liberation Theology and the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church, the paper constructed a holistic understanding of “Preferential Option for the Poor.” The arguments presented in this paper could serve as the basis for current praxis of the different catholic congregations in the Philippines in mitigating the experience of crisis among Filipino poor amid COVID-19 pandemic.

TRABALHO PARA DEUS: PERCEPÇÕES DE PRAZER E SOFRIMENTO DAS FREIRAS LÍDERES RELIGIOSAS

Este estudo teve por objetivo analisar e descrever as vivências de prazer e sofrimento das freiras que exercem cargo de liderança em uma Congregação Católica localizada no estado de Minas Gerais. Metodologicamente, foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva de abordagem qualitativa, por meio de estudo de caso, com a utilização de entrevistas como estratégia de coleta de dados. Foram entrevistadas nove freiras líderes religiosas com atuação na instituição pesquisada. Para análise dos dados utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo, estabelecendo a priori as categorias de análise: contexto do trabalho, custo humano do trabalho, vivências de prazer, vivências de sofrimento, danos relacionados ao trabalho e estratégias de regulação para lidar com o sofrimento. Concluiu-se que para o grupo pesquisado, as vivências de prazer estão relacionadas diretamente a religiosidade que é a função norteadora da instituição para promover apoio social à comunidade, enquanto que o sofrimento provém de atividades, responsabilidades e exigências administrativas institucionais. Como estratégias de regulação utilizadas pelas freiras para lidar com o sofrimento, destaca-se as práticas religiosas, o apoio das colegas, a música, o cinema, o entretenimento social e as atividades físicas, que contribuem para minimizar os conflitos emocionais de cunho individual.

Visualizing the Transfers of Abusers in the 2009 Ryan Report

Visualizing the Transfers of Abusers in the 2009 Ryan Report Emilie Pine (bio), Susan Leavy (bio), and Mark T. Keane (bio) The 2009 publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Ryan report) marked the conclusion of a nine-year, state-funded, licensed investigation into residential care for Irish children at institutions managed by the Catholic church.1 It comprises five volumes, totaling more than 2,600 pages, including testimony from 1,712 witnesses. As Mary Raftery put it, the Ryan report "painstakingly charted the vast scale of abuse of tens of thousands of children within institutions." It established once and for all the systemic nature of abuse in Irish institutions, "giv[ing] us a compelling vision of the hell to which so many children were consigned."2 The presentation of these conditions includes analysis of the Catholic congregations' repeated response to allegations of abuse. For example, the report states in regard to the Christian Brothers, "The records of the congregation show that on a number of occasions individuals who were accused of sexual abuse were transferred to other [End Page 247] residential or day schools."3 Transferring an abuser became one way to protect the reputation of the institution and the order by minimizing conflict and the potential for public awareness and scandal: In some cases brothers who had been sexually abusing children were, in their later careers, appointed to senior positions within the province. When asked at the phase I hearing for Letterfrack how this had happened, Br. Gibson explained that because the leadership in the congregation changed every twelve years, there was no memory within the organisation of offences committed before that. He acknowledged that there was a personal file for each brother and concluded that these files were not consulted in making appointments.4 Gibson blamed an amnesiac system for the promotion of abusers; the cause, however, was not amnesia. As Marie Keenan argues, "an unusually consistent pattern has emerged in the handling of abuse complaints by Catholic church leaders."5 This pattern includes denial, cover-up, and in the case of staff employed at residential institutions, the transfer of abusers from one institution to another in the wake of allegations of abuse. The congregational response to abuse—to transfer, to pretend to forget, to avoid public knowledge—was not limited to a few occasions or solely to the Christian Brothers. The report notes the repeated transfer of one priest, Father Santino of the Rosminian Order: With the knowledge that the order possessed about his past history and attitudes, they must have been aware of the likelihood that he would sexually abuse boys in this institution. It follows that the order was prepared to put boys at risk in order to find a place for somebody who might cause public scandal if he were to be located elsewhere.6 Again, the report contends that "transferring abusers to other institutions where they would be in contact with children put those children [End Page 248] at risk."7 It also notes the transfer of problematic nuns in and out of the Sisters of Mercy institution at Cappoquin. The Ryan report's authors conclude, "When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities was to transfer the offender to another location where in many instances he was free to abuse again…. The safety of children in general was not a consideration."8 Despite this evidence, no consistent analysis of transfers as a system-wide pattern of response to abuse is offered, for the Ryan report is structured as an in-depth narrative focusing on one institution at a time. This organization generates a thorough story about each institution and certain individuals singled out for analysis; however, it also means that if readers seek to understand systemic congregational responses to allegations of abuse in more than one institution at a time, they must be familiar with the entirety of the document. Missing in the report is a section that specifically analyses the series of events that lead to and follow the transfer of staff between institutions. Such an analysis of organizational responses to abuse would not only indicate how congregations...

Changing Patterns of Religious Practice and Belief among Church-attending Catholic Women in Australia

In Australia, women currently outnumber men in both Catholic congregations and the Catholic workforce. However, for complex reasons, the Mass attendance rates of women are declining. In opposition to this general shift away from church participation, a small yet significant group of Catholic women are still engaging in parish life. Using quantitative analysis to examine data collected in the 2006, 2011 and 2016 National Church Life Survey (NCLS), this article will explore the private and public practices, orthodoxy, and religious salience of Catholic church-attending women in Australia. It will consider reasons for an overall reduction in these measures of religiosity in successive generations and investigate apparent anomalies that find younger Catholic church-attending women possessing measures of religious practice that contest the notion of a uniform generational decline in Catholic women's religiosity.

Desafiando la sutileza de los donatistas: los cánones litúrgicos de Agustín y Aurelio en el Concilio de Hipona

My article investigates Catholic councils of the North African Church during the 390s, when it was struggling against its formidable rival, Donatism. I shall demonstrate that the delegates’ concern over the Donatist Church’s strength played a larger role in the formulation of canons during that decade than scholars have previously suspected. I shall argue that despite Augustine ‘s rudimentary grasp of Donatist theology ca. 391- 395, he recognized the significant threat posed by the dissident church and successfully maneuvered behind the scenes (together with Aurelius, primate of Carthage), crafting several canons that are not overtly anti-Donatist but in essence are directed against Donatist encroachment upon Catholic hearts and minds. My article will commence with a brief overview of the Council of 390, presided over by Genethlius, primate of Carthage. Historians have dismissed Genethlius as ineffective against the Donatists, but I shall argue that several canons enacted in 390 paved the way for Augustine’s and Aurelius’ reforms. I shall then examine canons from the Council of Hippo (393 CE), Augustine’s and Aurelíus’ inaugural conclave that ushered in their ambitious programme to rejuvenate the Catholic Church in Africa. Liturgical canons will receive special attention. I believe that they provide clues to heterodox behavior by Donatists during their celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Though the council fathers targeted Arianism as well in 393, Donatist practices spurred them lo promulgate canons forfending against questionable rites that might be adopted unwittingly by Catholic congregations.

Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City, 1783–1860

Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City, 1783–1860