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Catholicism and Protestantism in Ireland
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The Catholic Church had a great influence on Social policy in Ireland which began in the 19th Century. They worked from two broad headings; the teaching influence and the practical influence.
As the practical influence was the more important of the two, the Catholic Church developed an extremely large practical role in the social services before it evolved. Today this order is being reversed. The church’s role as a service provider was deteriorating mainly because falling vocations left the church without suitable persons to sustain their roles. The reputation of the Catholic Church has also been stained by the found information of the shocking abuses committed by members of the Catholic Clergy on vulnerable people, particularly children, whom had been placed in their care. Despite the effects of these scandals, the new means of influencing social policy debate has a substantial effectiveness and may well offer a means by which the church can play an important role in the development of social policy in the future (Socialjustice.com. 2014).
In the 19th Century, the Catholic Church’s survival depended, in part, on its success in developing a powerful role as a social provider. Catholic schools, hospitals, orphanages and other similar services increased and multiplied in the course of the 19th century. Overall, the Catholic Church’s role as a service provider was an extraordinary organisational achievement and exceeded anything that had been provided by any other non-state organisation.
According to the Socialjustice.com (2014) website, a further feature of the Catholic provision, which affected the impact on social policy, was the overpowering character and the lack of the intellectual and theoretical base. Catholic religious co...
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...Catholic Church authorities had known about the many abuse cases, but sought to deal with the many problems they presented by moving the
Priests from post to post in the hope that they would discontinue the activities they were involved in. The failure of bishops to act on unfavourable reports was inexplicable, and represented a wholly inappropriate and inadequate response.
The Catholic Church’s roles as a provider of many services all over Ireland provided for many families. The church was involved in the running of many institutions such as schools and hospitals. However, today it is indisputable that the status of what it once held has deteriorated because of the many falling vocations and the many abuse cases that have come to light in the past few years. What was once a strong community has been left betrayed by what was once seen as the pillar of society.
To begin with, it must be remembered that Catholic culture and Catholic faith, while mutually supportive and symbiotic, are not the same thing. Mr. Walker Percy, in his Lost in the Cosmos, explored the difference, and pointed out that, culturally, Catholics in Cleveland are much more Protestant than Presbyterians in say, Taos, New Orleans, or the South of France. Erik, Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, points out that the effects of this dichotomy upon politics, attributing the multi-party system in Catholic countries to the Catholic adherence to absolutes; he further ascribes the two-party system to the Protestant willingness to compromise. However this may be, it does point up a constant element in Catholic thought---the pursuit of the absolute.
Elected in 1958 as a ‘caretaker Pope’, Pope John XXIII implemented the greatest reforms in the Church’s history. His involvement within the Church had played a significant contribution to the reforming of social, political and liturgical Christian traditions. During the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church still held the century old conservative beliefs and traditions as they continued to separate the Church from the secular world, therefore, disadvantaging the Church to a world that was modernising. In addition to this, the Church restricted modernist thoughts due to the belief that new theologies would threaten the power and authority of the Church, but ...
"The Church was in poor shape as well. The popes resided at Avignon, not at Rome, to the scandal of many.
Exploring the Disadvantages Catholics Faced in Northern Ireland in the Mid 60’s In Northern Ireland during the 60’s Catholics faced a lot of disadvantages, in areas of Employment, Education, Housing, and Politics; there is evidence that even the Police Force was biased in favor of the Protestant community. Employment was a major area in which Catholics faced discrimination. Protestants held most of the civil service, government and local government posts in Northern Ireland and even if a catholic did get employment, many would simply feel too uncomfortable in the midst of all the Protestants. The main companies were privately owned and although anti-catholic prejudice was often suspected among foremen or personal managers, it was a hard thing to prove.
From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”
Sexual abuse is a growing concern in society today. So many people are hurt by the actions of other people when they abuse them, especially in a sexual manner. The Catholic Church is also now being targeted for sexual offenders. Priests have been charged with sexually abusing young boys that are involved with the church. The church has been looking the other way on this issue for many years. The children as well as their family are being hurt and its time something was done to prevent the further exploitation of young boys in the Catholic Church.
The most criticized abuse of the Roman Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences by the pope. Indulgences permitted people to buy release from time in purgatory for both themselves and their deceased loved ones. They were papers sold in order to bring remission of punishment due to sins. Another common abuse that existed in the Church was simony. Simony is the act of selling of Church positions. The Church had permitted important ecclesiastical posts to be sold to the highest bidders and had left residency requirements in the religious community unenforced. A last abuse of the Church is nepotism. Nepotism is the act of giving jobs to family members instead of giving it to more qualified workers. This was a common problem where a well-trained and dedicated worker was needed and not just anyone.
for its congregation and the general population alike. The church began to place a larger emphasis on its social mission; priests and other Theologians readily
In this essay I will identify the issues which brought about this papal encyclical in 1891, specifically the social conditions of people, resulting from industrialisation and the church’s Christological role in declaring human dignity in terms of God’s plan for mankind. I will set out the historical position in Britain in this late Victorian era within the context of European radical political upheaval, as part of the need for reform and a response from the Church. These issues will be compared with the encyclical one hundred years later, to analyse the development of policy in1891 and 1991 in terms of the church’s teaching, within the context of the wider social and political movements of the late twentieth century. I will determine that whilst John Paul II used the centenary in 1991 to publish Centesimus Annus and see it as a ‘re-wording’ of the original, it ultimately failed to take forward the radical change envisaged in Rerum Novarum, with limited exceptions.
As Morgan underlines, gender differences in social policies are explained by women’s movements, by the pressures generated by social structural changes on the welfare state and by ideologies. Given that organized religion is an important source of ideology, we can then say that religion has had a fundamental role in the shaping of the relationship between state, family and gender. In fact organized religions “have sought to maintain their position as the dominant arbiters of community values and morality with giving a great attention over child and family affairs.” An example of religious influence on public welfare policies is the maintenance of the status quo perpetuated by the Christian democracy’s party.
... of stories Dubliners, James Joyce leads the reader to the conclusion that the Catholic Church took the role of a governing body, and that modernist movement was inhibited by the outdated ideas of the Catholic Church. The story “The Boarding House” provides the reader with excellent examples of a priest who overextended his role in society, and it has been shown that such an occurrence has negative effects of the society as a whole. The Catholic church as a burdensome entity is very well shown in Joyce’s’ the “The sisters”. The story also provides us with a good explanation of the social connotations of religion within the modernist movement. In the stories of Dubliners the legal system is replaced by the institute of religion, and it is the presence and social context of the Catholic Church which prevents the Irish community from advancement.
Since the genesis of the Catholic Church it has been arguably the most powerful and feared organization in human history, withstanding any that opposed it. After 2,000 years of history it has become one of the most dominant religions on Earth, leading the western world. After the time of Martin Luther, the Catholic Church never thought that it would see another era of opposition until the Boston Globe’s investigative Spotlight Team uncovered one of the churches greatest scandals, bringing it into the light of the world. The uncovering of this scandal will become one the landmarks of modern journalism, after a group of reporters took on one of the strongest organizations known to man without fear of reprisal from this great titan.
Education from the Church has initiated structural learning which brought a gradual end to the barbaric era (Dark Ages). The Church’s legacy gained them the medieval reputation of society and this has influenced the reputation of the Church today.
Mr. Houston fellow students, “What were the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in America since 1945”, this has been the topic of my research for the previous three terms. The previous analogy, although being far fetched, if you put it into perspective outlines my opinion on the development of Catholicism since 1945 to the present day. That initially we followed the Catholic Church unquestionably and devoutly, mass on Sundays, fish on Fridays (etc). But as society modernized and became increasingly secular in education, the media and politics, people began to question some of the church teachings and the church authorities. Though the church, lead by conservatives initially would not change. As Catholics began to move away, the church realizing the situation reassessed their position at Vatican 2, which resulted in the modernized Catholic Church. Consequently from here catholic membership began to increase, however the nature of Catholicism changed.
Tovey, H and Share, P. (2002). Sociology of Ireland. 2nd ed. Dublin: Gill & Macmillen.