Catholicism In The 17th Century

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When people hear the word Catholicism, I think that many things come to mind but the one that sticks out most is religion. According to study.com Catholic means “universal” by its practice, faith, and people. However, what about when people hear the word nationalism and identity? According to Merriam-Webster nationalism is “loyalty and devotion to a nation; placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational group” (Merriam-Webster). Identity then is being oneself and not like any other, staying true to oneself. With Catholicism being one of the biggest religious denominations it definitely has drawn in many people from all around the world. To many, when one hears about Catholicism …show more content…

For a very long time, there was always a debate between Catholicism and Protestantism. In the beginning, Protestants came to life by protesting the church. Martin Luther wanted to reform some of the Roman Catholics “doctrines and practices” (PowerPoint). With this reform, many changes happened and Protestantism was slowly coming to power. Many Catholics started losing their land and “by the 1630’s more than a quarter of land in Ireland was owned by Protestants” (PP). Cromwell wanted revenge on the Catholics so he was giving land to anyone even his soldiers. During the 17th century when the protestant religion was in control the penal laws were enacted and directed towards Catholics. These laws prohibited many things for the Irish like schools, politics, and land …show more content…

One article in particular that stood out was Tom Inglis article “Catholic Identity in Contemporary Ireland: Belief and Belonging to Tradition”. Back then Catholics were about 78% of the population and were mainly farmers and servants. “Since 2002 almost 90% of Ireland’s population identify themselves as catholic, however, there are many changes” (Page 2). The vast majority of Irish children attend Irish school where they complete all their sacraments and learn about the church and its teachings. To them, this is a “catholic sense of self” which is a way of behaving in the world. In the article “Catholic Identity in Contemporary Ireland: Belief and Belonging to Tradition” by Tom Inglis he shows that in these days children are “Socially and personally identifying with Catholicism but their involvement in the church is fading” (Page 2). Church attendance is high and they pray a lot. However, he explains that to this day Ireland is still a very Catholic country “especially to the elderly”. (Page 7) He goes on to explain a conversation he had with a lady named Louise and how she described herself. She stated, “‘well I suppose I would class myself as very Irish and my religion means everything to me.” From the article being an Irish catholic” (page 7). To many people, looking in and researching Ireland one would believe that

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