Church History: The Roman Catholic Tradition

Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Phayer has written a singularly important book on the role of the Catholic Church in both the Holocaust and its aftermath, up to and including Vatican II.

"This book establishes three aspects of the mystery of the Church: that the Church is (1) the people of God, chosen for the salvation of the world in Christ; (2) the virginal Bride who becomes one Body and one Spirit by Christ; and (3) the Mother through the Holy Spirit of all believers. The author first traces the history of relevant teachings from the Old Testament up to the present, and then provides a systematic ecclesiology"-- Provided by publisher

Liberation Theology and the Others features thirteen case studies, from Mexico to Uruguay, that depict a vivid picture of religious and lay activism that shaped the profile of the Latin American Catholic Church in the second half of the 20th century.

Nowhere has the relationship between state and church been more volatile in recent decades than in Latin America. Anthony Gill's controversial book not only explains why Catholic leaders in some countries came to oppose dictatorial rule but, equally important, why many did not.

Many years after his death in 1980, the world is still absorbing the witness of Óscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, martyred for his commitment to the poor and social justice. Michael E. Lee draws on Romero's Life, his homilies, and other writings, to consider how Romero's witness challenges us to reimagine a robust Christian spirituality that is at once a mystical encounter with God and a prophetic engagement in the struggle for justice. In light of Romero's beatification and pending canonization, he reflects on the implications of his recognition as a martyr and on the model of holiness he offers the wider church today.

This book is openly available in digital formats thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. While some Catholics and even non-Catholics today are asking if priests are necessary, especially given the ongoing sex-abuse scandal, The Roman Catholic Womanpriests (RCWP) looks to reframe and reform Roman Catholic priesthood, starting with ordained women. Womanpriest is the first academic study of the RCWP movement. As an ethnography, Womanpriest analyzes the womenpriests' actions and lived theologies in order to explore ongoing tensions in Roman Catholicism around gender and sexuality, priestly authority, and religious change. In order to understand how womenpriests navigate tradition and transgression, this study situates RCWP within post-Vatican II Catholicism, apostolic succession, sacraments, ministerial action, and questions of embodiment. Womanpriest reveals RCWP to be a discrete religious movement in a distinct religious moment, with a small group of tenacious women defying the Catholic patriarchy, taking on the priestly role, and demanding reconsideration of Roman Catholic tradition. Doing so, the women inhabit and re-create the central tensions in Catholicism today.

Offers a compelling portrait of religious Catholic women throughout American history.

Provides a concise yet comprehensive guide to understanding the complexity and diversity of the American Catholic experience.

This Companion will assist the reader in apprehending a coherent and synthetic interpretation of the teaching of Vatican II.

In the final volume of his trilogy of works exploring Catholic social teachings, John Perry proposes an examination of Catholic responses to slavery. Perry takes us through the difficult story of slavery in the Christian experience, from its biblical treatment, to colonial history in the 17th and 18th centuries, to the insidious practices of forced labor and human trafficking today.
This is a provocative and challenging book, filled with theological interpretation and examples of accommodation of a practice that has never fully disappeared, even though international laws and ethical certitudes prevail.

In The Divine Dance, Fr. Richard Rohr (with Mike Morrell) points readers to an unlikely opening beyond this divinity impasse: the at-times forgotten, ancient mystery of the Trinity--God as utterly one, yet three. Drawing from Scripture, theology, and the deepest insights of mystics, philosophers, and sages throughout history, Fr. Rohr presents a compelling alternative to aloof and fairytale versions of God:

This book is to help us pray better and see life differently. Using parables, koans, and personal experiences, he leads us beyond the techniques of prayer to a place where we can receive the gift of contemplation.

One of a dozen books that every Catholic should read.