Catholic Cults and Devotions


Book Description

Imagine a heart which has been ripped from a man's body, wrapped with thorns, pierced with a knife, and then placed on the man's chest; or a group of people who believe that wearing a small rectangle of wool next to their skin ensures that they will go to heaven - as long as it is brown wool and worn continuously. Although psychoanalysts have long investigated similar ideas and beliefs, they have ignored popular Catholicism, even though behaviour such as this occurs over and over again in the history of Catholic cults and devotions.




Catholic Cults and Devotions


Book Description

Michael Carroll is the first to bring psychoanalytic theory to bear on a range of Catholic cults and devotions, including the Rosary, the Angelus, the Stations of the Cross, the Blood Miracles of Naples, the Stigmata, the Forty Hours, the Brown Scapular, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Carroll assembles a great deal of historical information that until now has been widely scattered in obscure publications. He suggests why such devotions are absent from the Protestant tradition and argues for a new and more subtle appreciation of the role that Italian Catholicism played in shaping Catholicism generally.




Spiritual Blackmail


Book Description

"Spiritual Blackmail" is a timely story in the wake of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II and the recent dual canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. While the changes brought about by Vatican II were welcomed by many Catholics, they caused a great deal of consternation for others, including Sherri's parents. Their well-meaning choice to escape from what they believed was the "corruption" of their beloved Church and to join a renegade traditionalist group and its charismatic, abusive leader had significant, long-term effects on Sherri - effects that she continues to deal with as a Catholic in the 21st Century. "Spiritual Blackmail" testifies to the triumph of the human spirit in the face of spiritual turmoil, but also to the powerful truth that it is possible to find the good and a reason for gratitude even amid seeming abandonment and betrayal by those most trusted.




Opus Dei


Book Description

The first serious journalistic investigation of the highly secretive, controversial organization Opus Dei provides unique insight about the wild rumors surrounding it and discloses its significant influence in the Vatican and on the politics of the Catholic Church. Opus Dei (literally "the work of God") is an international association of Catholics often labeled as conservative who seek personal Christian perfection and strive to implement Christian ideals in their jobs and in society as a whole. It has been accused of promoting a right-wing political agenda and of cultlike practices. Its notoriety escalated with the publication of the runaway bestseller The Da Vinci Code (Opus Dei plays an important and sinister role in the novel). With the expert eye of a longtime observer of the Vatican and the skill of an investigative reporter intent on uncovering closely guarded secrets, John Allen finally separates the myths from the facts.--From publisher description.




40 Questions About Roman Catholicism


Book Description

Straightforward answers about Roman Catholicism for a Protestant audience The Roman Catholic faith is one of the world's most widespread religious traditions, yet the unique aspects of Roman Catholicism elicit perennial questions from adherents and outsiders alike. Such questions tend to fall into three major categories: historical backgrounds, theological matters, and personal relationships. Using Catholic Church documents and the writings of Catholic scholars, Baptist systematic theologian Gregg R. Allison distills the teachings of Catholicism around forty common questions about Catholic foundations, beliefs, and practices. The accessible question-and-answer format guides readers to the areas of interest, including: Where do Roman Catholic and Protestant beliefs differ? What happens during a Roman Catholic Mass? How does Roman Catholicism understand the biblical teaching about Mary? Who are the saints and what is their role? How can my Roman Catholic loved ones and I talk about the gospel? 40 Questions About Roman Catholicism explores theology and practice, doctrine and liturgy, sacraments and Mariology, contributions and scandals, and many other things, clarifying both real and perceived differences and similarities with other Christian traditions.




How Latin America Saved the Soul of the Catholic Church


Book Description

Tells the remarkable story of the transformation of the Latin American church on every level, from professional theologians to the individual in the remotest Latin American village.




The Visual Culture of Catholic Enlightenment


Book Description

Investigates the response of the Roman Catholic Church to European Enlightenment critiques of revealed religion and clerical governance through the lens of its art, architecture, urbanism, and material culture.




The Way of the Rose


Book Description

What happens when a former Zen Buddhist monk and his feminist wife experience an apparition of the Virgin Mary? “This book could not have come at a more auspicious time, and the message is mystical perfection, not to mention a courageous one. I adore this book.”—Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit Before a vision of a mysterious “Lady” invited Clark Strand and Perdita Finn to pray the rosary, they were not only uninterested in becoming Catholic but finished with institutional religion altogether. Their main spiritual concerns were the fate of the planet and the future of their children and grandchildren in an age of ecological collapse. But this Lady barely even referred to the Church and its proscriptions. Instead, she spoke of the miraculous power of the rosary to transform lives and heal the planet, and revealed the secrets she had hidden within the rosary’s prayers and mysteries—secrets of a past age when forests were the only cathedrals and people wove rose garlands for a Mother whose loving presence was as close as the ground beneath their feet. She told Strand and Finn: The rosary is My body, and My body is the body of the world. Your body is one with that body. What cause could there be for fear? Weaving together their own remarkable story of how they came to the rosary, their discoveries about the eco-feminist wisdom at the heart of this ancient devotion, and the life-changing revelations of the Lady herself, the authors reveal an ancestral path—available to everyone, religious or not—that returns us to the powerful healing rhythms of the natural world.




The End of Religion


Book Description

In The End of Religion, Bruxy Cavey shares that relationship has no room for religion. Believers and seekers alike will discover anew the wondrous promise found in our savior. And Christ’s eternal call to walk in love and freedom will resonate with readers of all ages and denominations.




Habits of Devotion


Book Description

"For generations, American Catholics... lived out their faith through countless unremarkable routines. Deep questions of theology usually meant little to them, but parishioners clung to deeply ingrained habits of devotion, both public and private. Particular devotions changed over time, waxing or waning in popularity, but the habits endured: going to mass on Sunday, saying prayers privately and teaching their children to do the same, filling their homes with crucifixes and other religious images, participating in special services, blending the church's calendar of feast and fast days with the secular cycles of work and citizenship, negotiating their conformity (or not) to the church's demands regarding sexual behavior and even diet.... It was religious practice, carried out in daily and weekly observance, that embodied their faith, more than any abstract set of dogmas."—from the Introduction In Habits of Devotion, four senior scholars take the measure of the central religious practices and devotions that by the middle of the twentieth century defined the "ordinary, week-to-week religion" of the majority of American Catholics. Their essays investigate prayer, devotion to Mary, confession, and the Eucharist as practiced by Catholics in the United States before and shortly after the Second Vatican Council.