tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/vatican-6430/articlesVatican – The Conversation2024-03-12T12:36:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254912024-03-12T12:36:06Z2024-03-12T12:36:06ZUkraine war: Pope Francis should learn from his WWII predecessor’s mistakes in appeasing fascism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581248/original/file-20240312-30-1hong4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1497%2C835&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Appeasement: Adolph Hitler meeting Cesare Orsenigo, the papal nuncio to Germany, in 1935</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">US Holocaust Museum/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis has provoked fury by suggesting in a television interview that Ukraine should find “the courage to raise the white flag”. Speaking to the Italian-language Swiss public broadcaster RSI, he added: “When you see that you are defeated … you need to have the courage to negotiate.”</p>
<p>This injudicious comment reminded me instantly of the man once described as <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2000-03-01/hitlers-pope-secret-history-pius-xii">Hitler’s Pope</a>. As Pope Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli led the Catholic Church throughout the second world war. However, while Hitler’s determination to eliminate the Jewish people was brought to his attention, he did not publicly condemn it. Freedom of practice for German Catholics mattered more.</p>
<p>As historian Richard J. Evans reminded us in his essay <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n20/richard-j.-evans/why-did-he-not-speak-out">Why did he not speak out?</a>, when German forces occupied Rome in September 1943, Heinrich Himmler ordered that: “All Jews without regard to nationality, age, sex or condition, must be transferred to Germany and liquidated there.” The roundup took place within sight of the Vatican and Pius XII could not ignore it entirely. He summoned the German ambassador, Ernst von Weizsäcker, to a private meeting and made it plain that he was shocked. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Pope says Ukraine should ‘raise white flag’ and end war with Russia.</span></figcaption>
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<p>To placate His Holiness, the SS released a few Jews who had converted to Catholicism and some who had married Catholics. Of the 1,259 Italian Jews incarcerated in a military college pending deportation, 1,007 were sent to Auschwitz. Pope Pius did not protest. Gratified by his diplomatic silence, Weizsäcker <a href="https://www.davidkertzer.com/books/pope-war">told his masters in Berlin</a> that the leader of Catholicism had “refrained from making any ostentatious remarks on the deportation of the Jews from Rome”. </p>
<p>Though he admired the authoritarian regimes of Franco in Spain and Salazar in Portugal, Pius XII was not pro Nazi. However, he had served as a Papal Nuncio in Germany between 1917 and 1929 and took an interest in the country. He considered National Socialism to be anti Christian and, in 1935, <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pope-pius-xii-and-the-holocaust">described the Nazis</a> as “miserable plagiarists who dress up old errors with new tinsel”. </p>
<h2>‘Catholics will be loyal’</h2>
<p>Nevertheless, at his first meeting with Hitler in May 1939, Pope Pius demonstrated that his real ambition was to protect the Catholic church in Germany. He told the German chancellor: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am certain that if peace between Church and state is restored, everyone will be pleased. The German people are united in their love for the Fatherland. Once we have peace, the Catholics will be loyal. More than anyone else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Protecting Catholicism would remain Pius XII’s priority when Germany went to war. Historian David Kertzer <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/05/31/hitlers-pope-struck-dirty-deal-nazi-prince-stay-silent-persecution/">explains that</a> : “Hitler never intended to restore the prerogatives of the Church in Germany, but he knew how to dangle various enticements.” Nazi diplomats did not have to work too hard to <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pope-pius-xii-and-the-holocaust">keep the Pope silent</a> on topics that might embarrass Hitler.</p>
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<img alt="Pope Pius XII appears on the balcony at St Peters after his election on March 2 1939." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581249/original/file-20240312-16-3rbt6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Pope Pius XII appears on the balcony at St Peters after his election on March 2 1939.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Correio da Manhã Fund, Arquivo Nacional</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In October 1941, Harold Tittman, an American diplomat at the Vatican, urged the Pope to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/18/archives/documents-explain-piussview-of-nazis.html">condemn Nazi atrocities</a>. Pius XII remained silent. He feared that criticism of Hitler’s regime would provoke harm to German Catholics. In August 1942 Pius XII received a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/vatican-archive-letter-shows-ukrainian-priest-tried-to-save-jews-in-holocaust/">letter from Andrej Septyckj</a>, a Ukrainian Cleric, bearing news of the massacre of 200,000 Jews in Ukraine. He invited Septyckj to “bear adversity with serene patience”. </p>
<p>Pius XII flirted with public criticism of Nazi inhumanity in his 1942 <a href="http://catholictradition.org/Encyclicals/1942.htm">Christmas Eve broadcast</a>. In this, he expressed concern for “thousands of persons who, without fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or to a slow decline”. He did not identify the victims as Jews. His support for Jewish people was limited to discreet diplomacy. </p>
<h2>Evil then and now</h2>
<p>Documents in the Vatican archives show that Pius XII received information about the systematic murder of Jews in Poland in September 1942. As I discovered while researching my book, <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/reporting-the-second-world-war-9781350149489/">Reporting the Second World War - The Press and the People 1939-1945</a>, he could have learned as much by reading British newspapers. In autumn 1942, titles including The Times and Daily Mail reported the World Jewish Congress’s belief that a million Jews had already died. The Manchester Guardian reported the existence of “a vast system of organised traffic in human beings” in which “the fit may survive for as long as they are useful: the aged and unfit may perish at will”. </p>
<p>Pius XII’s enthusiasm for fascist regimes was motivated by fear of communism. He recognised that national socialism was substantially more brutal. Indeed, he knew that it was murderously antisemitic on an colossal scale. When he could do so without compromising Catholic interests, he sometimes helped Jews. But Pius XII always prioritised defence of Church assets and prerogatives. </p>
<p>Today, his successor might contemplate the damage inflicted on his wartime predecessor’s reputation by his meek collusion with the wrong side. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba <a href="https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1766819132878553269">responded caustically</a> to Pope Francis’s crass comments with: “Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags”.</p>
<p>In risking the impression that he considers Russia the likely winner of war in Ukraine, the pope might take care not to promote peace at the expense of justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Luckhurst has received funding from News UK and Ireland Ltd. He is a member of the Free Speech Union and the Society of Editors</span></em></p>Between 1939 and 1945, Pope Pius XII put the interests of the Catholic Church in Germany before the fate of European Jews.Tim Luckhurst, Principal of South College, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236992024-03-06T13:34:26Z2024-03-06T13:34:26ZTattooing has held a long tradition in Christianity − dating back to Jesus’ crucifixion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579668/original/file-20240304-24-ukodpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C32%2C5316%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Christian Palestinian tattoo artist Walid Ayash draws a tattoo on the arm of a Coptic Egyptian pilgrim on April 28, 2016, at his studio in Bethlehem.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/christian-palestinian-tattoo-artist-walid-ayash-draws-a-news-photo/525904928?adppopup=true">Thomas Coex /AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Holy Week and Easter are perhaps the most important days in the Christian calendar. Many associate those celebrations with church services, processions, candles, incense, fasting and penances. </p>
<p>However, there is another tradition that many Christians follow – that of tattooing. Historically, Easter was an <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">important time for tattoos</a> among some Christian groups. Today, Christian tattooing happens in many parts of the world and all year around. Some Christians visiting Jerusalem around Easter will get a tattoo of a cross, or a lamb, usually on their forearms.</p>
<p>As a sociologist of religion and a Jesuit Catholic priest, I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768620962367">long studied tattoos</a> as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070517">religious practices</a>. I have interviewed tattoo artists in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Loreto in Italy who have been continuing and recreating the tradition of Christian tattooing. Evidence is clear the practice started shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion and spread across Europe in later centuries. </p>
<h2>The first Christian tattoos</h2>
<p>The Romans, like the Greeks, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">tattooed slaves</a> and prisoners, usually with letters or words on their foreheads that indicated their crime. Soon after Jesus’ death, around the year 30 C.E., they started enslaving and tattooing Christians with the marks “AM” – meaning “ad metalla,” or condemned to work in the mines, a punishment that often resulted in death. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">Almost at the same time, Christians</a> who were not enslaved <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">got tattoos</a> of the early Christian signs such as fish or lambs in solidarity and to show that they identified with Jesus.</p>
<p>There were <a href="https://bc.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1410461075">no specific words in Latin or Greek for tattooing</a>, so the words “stizo,” “signum” and “stigma” were used. The word <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">stigma</a> also referred to the marks of nails on Jesus’ hands and foot, as a result of his crucifixion. Christians often got their own “stigmas”: a sign – usually a cross – in Jerusalem to honor Christ’s martyrdom. </p>
<h2>The beginning of a tradition</h2>
<p>There are several documented accounts of the tradition.</p>
<p>One from the third century mentions <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">Christians in present-day Egypt and Syria</a> getting tattoos of fish and crosses.</p>
<p>Another tells about the commentary that Procopius of Gaza, a theologian who lived between 475 and 538 C.E., wrote on the <a href="https://catenabible.com/com/5e88f313b1c7280cb341d0d2">Book of Isaiah</a> after he found that many Christians living in the Holy Land had a cross tattooed on their wrists. “Still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and will take the name Israel,” he noted. </p>
<p>When a plague hit the Scythians, nomadic people living around the Black Sea, in 600 C.E., tattoos were believed to provide protection from the deadly disease. <a href="https://archive.org/details/theophylact-simocatta-whitby-1986/Theophylact_Simocatta_Whitby_1986/page/n9/mode/2up">Theophylact Simocatta</a>, one of the last historians of late antiquity, mentioned that missionaries among them recommended that “the foreheads of the young be tattooed with this very sign” – meaning that of a cross.</p>
<p>Many testimonies mentioned <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A64495.0001.001/1:11.1.48?rgn=div3;view=fulltext">Crusaders and pilgrims</a> returning from the Holy Land with a tattoo during the Middle Ages – a tradition that continued <a href="https://archive.org/details/fynesmorysons04moryuoft">in early modern times</a>, between the 16th and 18th centuries.</p>
<h2>Christian tattoos in Great Britain</h2>
<p>Other cultures used tattoos in different ways. When Romans came in contact with the Celts tribes that inhabited the British Isles in 400 C.E., they <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.5973126.8">called them Picts</a> because they were covered in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">body art</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white illustration showing a man and woman covered in body art, holding spears in their hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The word Picts is derived from the name given to them by the Romans because of their painted bodies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-300-bc-male-and-female-picts-covered-in-body-paint-news-photo/51240502?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Pope Gregory the Great sent envoys to convert the Celts to Christianity, followed by a visit from another Vatican delegation. While missionaries were against “pagan tattooing,” both delegations agreed that tattoos done for the Christian god were fine. The members of the second delegation in the late 700s even said, “If anyone were to undergo this injury of staining for the sake of God, he would receive a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">great reward for it</a>.”</p>
<p>Similar was the conclusion of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">Northumbria Council</a>, a church gathering in Northern England in 787: Tattoos done for the right god were acceptable. At that time, the Anglo-Saxon elite also had tattoos; the bishop of York, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">Saint Wilfrid</a>, for example, got a tattoo of a cross. </p>
<h2>Tattoos in Italy</h2>
<p>Around the 1300s, as the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land were losing control with the coming of the Ottomans, there appeared in Italy shrines called “Sacri Monti.” These shrines were placed on “holy mountains” where devotees could pilgrimage safely, instead of risking their lives going to Jerusalem, which by then was under the control of the Ottomans.</p>
<p>These shrines were established in cities such as Naples, Varallo and Loreto. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5944/etfvii.6.2018.22922">Pilgrims could get tattoos</a> in some of these shrines. One place was Loreto’s sanctuary, established in the early 1300s. A relic from the “Holy House,” which, according to the Christian tradition, is the house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have received the news that she will bear God’s son, was brought to Loreto’s sanctuary. </p>
<p>Tattooing in Loreto’s sanctuary was a communal activity, done by carpenters, shoemakers and artisans, who <a href="https://archive.org/details/ilbelpaeseconver00stopuoft/page/486/mode/2up">brought their stalls and tools to the main square</a>
during the days of celebrations and tattooed whoever wanted to get a mark of their devotion. These tattoos typically used wood planks for transferring the design on the body, like a stamp. However, the city of Loreto banned tattooing for hygienic reasons in 1871, according to <a href="https://archive.org/details/costumiesupersti00pigo">Caterina Pigorini Beri</a>, an anthropologist, who was one of the first to document the practice. </p>
<p>But people kept getting them. A shoemaker, <a href="https://youtu.be/P_fNN880GGw?feature=shared">Leonardo Conditti</a>, was among those who kept doing tattoos in hiding during the 1940s. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The history of tattooing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Present but unseen</h2>
<p>From the 1200s to the 1700s, the custom of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.4">Christian tattooing</a> was prevalent in Europe among peasants, seafarers, soldiers and artisans as much as among nuns and monks. They were getting crosses, images of the Virgin Mary, the name of Jesus, and some sentences from the Bible.</p>
<p>Following the Renaissance, however, European culture came to associate tattoos <a href="https://theconversation.com/tattoos-have-a-long-history-going-back-to-the-ancient-world-and-also-to-colonialism-165584">with those considered “uncivilized</a>,” such as peoples in the colonies, criminals and poorer Catholics. Many European intellectuals <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyoftattooi0000hamb">viewed Catholicism as a superstition</a> more than a real religion.</p>
<p>The word “tattoo” came to the Western languages after the French admiral and explorer Louis de Bougainville and British explorer James Cook returned from their trips to the South Pacific at the end of the 1700s. There, they saw local people getting marks on their bodies and using the word “tatau” to name those drawings. However, it does not mean that tattoos came back at that time. They had never left.</p>
<h2>The practice today</h2>
<p>These days, some churches in the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.11">Middle East</a>, such as some <a href="https://archive.org/details/twothousandyears0000mein/page/n5/mode/2up">Coptic Christian</a> churches in Egypt, incorporate the practice of getting a tattoo into the baptismal rituals. </p>
<p>Indeed, Holy Land tattooing has never stopped. <a href="https://razzouktattoo.com">Wassim Razzouk</a>, whom I interviewed in 2022, is a 27th-generation tattooist – his family has been <a href="https://archive.org/details/coptictattoodesi0000cars/page/n7/mode/2up">marking pilgrims in Jerusalem since 1300</a>. Razzouk claims to have some of the 500-year-old wood planks his family used for tattooing. </p>
<p>Another tattoo artist whom I interviewed, Walid Ayash, does pilgrimage tattoos for those who visit the Nativity church in Bethlehem – a beloved custom among Arab Christians. He said that tattooing happens all year around, as long as there are pilgrims visiting the Nativity church. Although this year, as a result of the war in Gaza, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/27/easter-in-jerusalem-no-access-for-gazas-christians">Israeli authorities have restricted access</a> to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.</p>
<p>In Italy, <a href="https://youtu.be/mtkc-TJSBdA?feature=shared">artist Jonatal Carducci</a> is working on recovering the tradition of religious tattooing in Loreto. In a 2023 interview with me, he explained how he has painstakingly replicated the designs of the wood planks, which are both in the Museum of the Holy House and the Folkloric Museum of Rome. In 2019, he opened a parlor where Leonardo Conditti used to work. Visitors to the parlor can choose among more than 60 designs for their tattoos, including the Virgin Mary of Loreto, crosses and representations of Jesus’ heart.</p>
<p>This Easter, as some Christians get tattoos, this history might serve as a reminder of tattooing as a legitimate Christian practice, one that has been in use since the beginnings of the Common Era.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gustavo Morello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Historically, many Christians got tattoos around Holy Week − usually a cross − to honor Christ’s martyrdom.Gustavo Morello, Professor of Sociology, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210762024-01-18T13:27:58Z2024-01-18T13:27:58ZNicaragua released imprisoned priests, but repression is unlikely to relent – and the Catholic Church remains a target<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569921/original/file-20240117-20-1jrits.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C1017%2C656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A priest and Catholic worshippers pray in front of an image of 'Sangre de Cristo,' burned in a fire on July 2020, at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/priest-and-catholic-faithful-pray-in-front-of-an-image-of-news-photo/1242786617?adppopup=true">Oswaldo Rivas/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bad news has been the norm for Catholics in Nicaragua, where clergy and church groups have been frequent targets of a wide-ranging crackdown for years. But on Jan. 14, 2024, they received a happy surprise: The government unexpectedly released two bishops, 15 priests and two seminary students from prison and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/14/nicaragua-bishop-rolando-alvarez/">expelled them</a> to the Vatican.</p>
<p>Those released included <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-database/rolando-alvarez">Bishop Rolando Álvarez</a>, a high-profile political prisoner who was detained in 2022 for criticizing the government and then sentenced to 26 years in prison for <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/nicaraguan-bishop-rolando-alvarez-receives-26-year-sentence/">alleged treason</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/dictatorship-banishes-monsignor-rolando-alvarez-and-18-other-religious-political-prisoners-to-the-vatican/">They also included</a> priests <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-arrests-four-more-priests-intensifies-crackdown-catholic-church-2023-12-30/">detained by</a> President Daniel Ortega’s government in late December 2023 <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-01/priest-arrested-in-nicaragua-following-mass-on-new-year-s-eve.html">for expressing solidarity</a> with Álvarez and other political prisoners. Days later, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/world/europe/nicaragua-pope-francis-church.html">criticized the regime</a> in his New Year’s message and then <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/pope-francis-reiterates-concerns-about-crisis-in-nicaragua/">called for</a> “respectful diplomatic dialogue.”</p>
<p>Nearly six years after <a href="https://infobuero-nicaragua.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PUBLICADO-200908.-FUNIDES.-Nicaragua-en-movimiento-2016-2020-SEI_2020_01-2.pdf">mass protests erupted</a> against Ortega and then were brutally repressed, these prisoner releases offer some hope to Nicaragua’s opposition. As <a href="https://www.global.ucsb.edu/people/kai-m-thaler">my research</a> <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003197614-16/nicaragua-rachel-schwartz-kai-thaler">has shown</a>, however, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IICx95ZZzKjfHqiU-oVEityK70vwBv5f/view?usp=sharing">the Ortega regime is unrelenting</a> in trying to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2022.0023">retain power</a>, which suggests this is not necessarily a turning point. In fact, the government reportedly <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/dictadura-secuestra-al-sacerdote-ezequiel-buenfil-tras-el-destierro-de-19-religiosos/">took yet another priest into custody</a> on Jan. 16.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several rows of people seated in church pews, all looking ahead." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569652/original/file-20240116-25-c9w6ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicaraguans attend mass in San Juan de Oriente on June 24, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-attend-a-mass-during-celebrations-in-honour-of-san-news-photo/1259026822?adppopup=true">Stringer/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why target the church?</h2>
<p>Ortega first led Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after his left-wing revolutionary organization, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN, spearheaded the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In the 1980s, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.16993/ibero.38">FSLN clashed with the Vatican</a> and church hierarchy over the group’s socialist politics, even as many <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3712105">poorer Nicaraguan Catholics embraced them</a>.</p>
<p>When Ortega took office again in 2007, however, he did so <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20788575">with the blessing of Christian leaders</a>. During the 2006 elections, he had turned to <a href="https://doi.org/10.16993/ibero.38">alliances with Catholic</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-017-0005-6">Protestant elites</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2017.0032">return to power</a> in exchange for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X08326020">adopting</a> conservative social policies like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61545-2">banning abortion</a>.</p>
<p>Over the next decade, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5129/001041522X16281740895086">Ortega remained popular</a>, presiding over economic growth in collaboration <a href="https://doi.org/10.15517/aeca.v43i0.31556">with business leaders</a> and developing new public infrastructure and services.</p>
<p>Yet he and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2010.00099.x">FSLN party he controlled</a> were also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/lap.2019.64">consolidating power</a> and <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/regimen-de-ortega-una-nueva-dictadura-familiar-en-el-continente/oclc/967515148">governing in an increasingly authoritarian</a> manner. Ortega won <a href="https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/americas/nicaragua_2011_report_post.pdf">reelection in 2011</a> and then retained power in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2017.0032">fraudulent elections</a> in 2016. Opposition candidates were disqualified, and Ortega’s running mate was his wife, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/world/americas/nicaragua-daniel-ortega-rosario-murillo-house-of-cards.html">Rosario Murillo</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3917/pal.112.0083">Unexpectedly</a>, Ortega’s popularity and his relationship with the church came crashing down in April 2018, when the government announced cutbacks in social security benefits for retirees. Nicaraguans from <a href="https://doi.org/10.5129/001041522X16281740895086">all backgrounds</a> <a href="https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7549585">took to the streets</a>, and Ortega and Murillo responded with a <a href="https://gieinicaragua.org/#section04">furious crackdown</a>, unleashing police and pro-government paramilitaries <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr43/9213/2018/en/">armed with military-grade weapons</a>.</p>
<p>Cathedrals and churches <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/bishops-journalists-attacked-church-nicaragua">tried to</a> <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/41597a7a2b9356e668ff2b579dc7cb1d/1">offer refuge</a> to protesters, but <a href="https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/preleases/2021/302.asp">over 300 people were killed</a>. Church leaders facilitated a national dialogue between the government and an opposition coalition, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/nicaraguan-bishops-end-role-mediators-national-dialogue">but withdrew</a> as <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/nicaragua-aumenta-la-violencia-y-la-represion-estatal-a-pesar-de-los-multiples-esfuerzos-de-dialogo/">repression continued</a>.</p>
<p>When popular Catholic leaders <a href="http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/38768/">criticized violence</a> against protesters, the regime began viewing the church <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/22/world/americas/nicaragua-protests-catholic-church.html">as a rival</a> threatening Ortega’s waning legitimacy. Police, paramilitaries and FSLN supporters started <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-12-23/exiles-arrests-and-740-attacks-nicaragua-redoubles-its-persecution-of-the-catholic-church.html">harassing and attacking</a> clergy and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-religion-arson-rosario-murillo-latin-america-82bb721aa3ec25e4af34a26e75568599">Catholic institutions</a>.</p>
<p>In 2019, the pope <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-9016f14a1a9b476ab5cb1d61397fc273">recalled Silvio Báez</a>, the auxiliary bishop of Managua and a prominent critic of Ortega, from Nicaragua. Yet other bishops and priests still found themselves <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/nicaraguan-president-daniel-ortega-goes-catholic-church-latest-effort-rcna44618">in the regime’s crosshairs</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people in baseball hats hold posters with pictures of a man in clerical robes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569647/original/file-20240116-15-mbn4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicaraguan citizens in Costa Rica demonstrate in front of the Nicaraguan Embassy in August 2022 to protest the detention of Bishop Rolando Alvarez.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nicaraguan-citizens-hold-a-demonstration-in-front-of-the-news-photo/1242597067?adppopup=true">Oscar Navarrete/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nicaragua-catholic-priests-exile-ortega-f5ae508a4295f7ae5b359f96064eea46">fled into exile</a> or were blocked <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/sacerdote-desterrado-silencio-de-los-obispos-no-ha-detenido-la-persecucion/">from entering</a> Nicaragua if they traveled abroad. Others who stayed were kept under surveillance. Priests who expressed support for political prisoners or continued to criticize the regime, even in vague terms, could be <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/catholic-clergy-report-surveillance-beatings-amid-nicaraguas-crackdown-2023-07-07/">arrested or beaten</a>. </p>
<p>The government expelled 12 formerly detained priests to the Vatican <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-sends-catholic-priests-rome-after-talks-with-vatican-2023-10-19/">in October 2023</a> after what the regime called “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-sends-catholic-priests-rome-after-talks-with-vatican-2023-10-19/">fruitful conversations</a>.” But Álvarez, the highest-profile political prisoner, was still held by the government and was stripped of his citizenship after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-caribbean-daniel-ortega-rosario-murillo-c7930c6340472867148ca7e79e09f1eb">refusing to go into exile</a> in February 2023.</p>
<h2>Broader patterns of repression</h2>
<p>Attacks on the church <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/10/nicaragua-crackdown-religious-actors-further-imperils-return-democracy">are a symptom</a> of the Ortega regime’s absolute intolerance for dissent.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/nicaragua">over 3,000 nongovernmental organizations</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/nicaragua-has-kicked-out-hundreds-of-ngos-even-cracking-down-on-catholic-groups-like-nuns-from-mother-teresas-order-190222">shut down</a> since 2018, the church has become Nicaragua’s only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/23/world/americas/nicaragua-catholic-church-daniel-ortega.html">major nonstate institution</a> with nationwide reach. </p>
<p>In a country where <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/Nicaragua/#report-toc__section-1">over 40% of the people</a> identify as Catholic, many normally turn to the church in times <a href="https://popolna.org/realidades-municipales-presentadas-en-informe-de-red-local/">of need</a>. Suppressing Catholic institutions means Nicaraguans must turn to the state for aid, which <a href="https://www.divergentes.com/nicaragua-un-espia-en-cada-esquina/">monitors citizens</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/pol.2013.10">has been accused of denying</a> services for perceived disloyalty.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/universidad-de-jesuitas-en-nicaragua-suspende-operaciones-tras-ser-acusada-de-ser-un-centro-de-terrorismo-/7227873.html">At least 27</a> Catholic and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/group-experts-nicaragua-finds-escalating-persecution-against-dissent-and-crackdown?sub-site=HRC">secular universities</a> have also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/17/nicaragua-seizes-catholic-university-accused-of-being-centre-of-terrorism">been closed or seized</a> by the government, as have <a href="https://latamjournalismreview.org/news/daniel-ortegas-war-against-journalism-54-media-outlets-have-been-shut-down/">more than 50</a> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-shuts-catholic-radio-stations-led-by-bishop-critical-regime-2022-08-02/">media outlets</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="T-shirts with pictures of a man in a blue jacket making a 'V' sign with his fingers, and shirts that say 'FSLN,' hang on display outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569651/original/file-20240116-22672-62jpa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">T-shirts depicting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for sale in Managua in July 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/shirts-depicting-nicaraguan-president-daniel-ortega-are-news-photo/1539099812?adppopup=true">Oswaldo Rivas/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The government’s decision to expel clergy on Jan. 14 is also in line with its tendency to either <a href="https://www.articulo66.com/2022/09/29/estos-son-los-nicaraguenses-desterrados-por-el-regimen-ortega-murillo-en-lo-que-va-de-2022/">block opponents’ reentry</a> into Nicaragua or force them <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/husband-and-son-of-former-miss-nicaragua-director-expelled-and-banished/">into exile</a>. In many cases, Nicaragua has then revoked critics’ citizenship, as when it expelled 222 political prisoners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/09/nicaragua-frees-222-political-prisoners-flies-to-us">in February 2023</a> to the United States.</p>
<p>When imprisonment or threats have not shaken critics’ resolve, Ortega and Murillo appear to have decided that <a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/nicaraguas-political-repression-will-continue-despite-prisoner-release">keeping them abroad is best</a>. Not only does this reduce the risks of anti-regime action in Nicaragua, but it may diminish international scrutiny of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/10/government-critics-languish-nicaraguan-prisons">political prisoners’ mistreatment</a>.</p>
<h2>Cautious criticism</h2>
<p>Since 2018, repression in Nicaragua has come in waves, with the brutal violence that repressed the protests shifting toward <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/nicaragua">an environment</a> of <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/five-years-of-police-state-in-nicaragua-ban-on-assembly-protests-free-speech-and-elections/">constant surveillance</a>, legal actions against independent institutions and opponents, and periodic arrests. Moments of seeming calm, however, have often been followed by <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr43/4631/2021/en/">harsh crackdowns</a>, such as <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/20/nicaragua-trumped-charges-against-critics">a slew of arrests</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2022.0023">ahead of the 2021 elections</a>.</p>
<p>Even as repression has mounted, the Vatican has <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/pope-worried-about-nicaraguan-bishop-s-prison-sentence-/6959873.html">been cautious</a> about criticizing Ortega and Murillo, and some Nicaraguans and <a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/why-is-pope-francis-quiet-about-nicaragua">Catholics abroad</a> <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2022/08/nicaraguan-ngos-urge-pope-francis-to-speak-out-on-oppression">have urged the pope to do more</a>. Yet the Vatican’s restraint has not appeared to decrease <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/ortega-represses-151-priests-and-nuns-imprisonment-banishment-and-exile/">threats against clergy</a> or limits on activities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-police-ban-catholic-procession-church-crackdown-2022-08-12/">like religious processions</a>.</p>
<p>In January 2024, however, Francis pointedly <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/pope-francis-reiterates-concerns-about-crisis-in-nicaragua/">called attention to the crisis</a> during two speeches, days after <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-arrests-four-more-priests-intensifies-crackdown-catholic-church-2023-12-30/">a dozen priests</a> were arrested. One week later came the release of Álvarez and his colleagues – free to leave Nicaragua, but not to come back. </p>
<p>Catholic leaders remain Nicaragua’s <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/obispos-alvarez-brenes-y-baez-con-mas-alta-opinion-favorable-en-nicaragua/">most popular figures</a>, according to independent polling. This makes them a continued threat to Ortega and Murillo’s quest for <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/ortega-a-nicas-en-redes-sociales-si-publican-contra-mi-van-presos/">total control</a>. Ezequiel Buenfil Batún, the priest detained Jan. 16, belonged to a religious order <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/dictadura-secuestra-al-sacerdote-ezequiel-buenfil-tras-el-destierro-de-19-religiosos/">whose legal status was revoked</a> that same day, along with several other nongovernment organizations.</p>
<p>As many Nicaraguans <a href="https://confidencial.digital/english/luis-haug-nicaraguans-feel-they-are-hitting-rock-bottom/">lose hope</a> of conditions improving and dozens of political prisoners <a href="https://confidencial.digital/nacion/dictadura-mantiene-tortura-a-presos-politicos-que-realizaron-huelga-de-hambre-en-la-modelo/">remain jailed</a>, any positive news like the priests’ release is welcome. But it holds no guarantees of broader change ahead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kai M. Thaler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When President Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2006, church figures supported him. Violent repression after the 2018 protests has soured the relationship and made clergy targets for intimidation.Kai M. Thaler, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136342023-10-24T12:22:43Z2023-10-24T12:22:43ZHot-button topics may get public attention at the Vatican synod, but a more fundamental issue for the Catholic Church is at the heart of debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553561/original/file-20231012-23-kmieb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1024%2C680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Delegates attend the opening of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Oct. 4, 2023, at the Vatican. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/delegates-attend-the-opening-of-the-xvi-ordinary-general-news-photo/1717279413?adppopup=true">Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>High-ranking Catholics from across the globe have converged on the Vatican, where a landmark initiative is underway that will shape the future of the Catholic Church.</p>
<p>Cardinals, bishops, priests and lay Catholics, both men and women, are meeting Oct. 4-29, 2023, as part of <a href="https://www.synod.va/en.html">the Synod on Synodality</a>: an effort Pope Francis launched in 2021 to generate dialogue among Catholics.</p>
<p>More than two weeks into the synod’s first global assembly, participants are largely keeping quiet. Opening the synod, Francis called for <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/10/11/synod-on-synodality-finds-its-voice-after-pope-francis-enforces-silence/">a “fasting of the public word</a>,” encouraging delegates to focus inward and treat discussions as private.</p>
<p>The goal of the three-year synod process is to consult with everyday Catholics worldwide about their concerns and experiences, guiding leaders’ decision-making as the church enters its third millennium amid new challenges.</p>
<p>Controversial issues such as <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/07/25/synod-raises-hopes-for-long-sought-recognition-of-women-in-the-catholic-church/">women’s roles in ministry</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-lgbtq-synod-pope-4ab34cbc37d16b036bc190efceaf52c8">LGBTQ+ people’s place in the church</a> dominate synod-related headlines, and are presumably being discussed. Often overlooked, however, is an even more fundamental issue: what power and authority should look like in the church.</p>
<h2>Far-reaching process</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worldwide-consultations-for-the-global-synod-reflect-pope-francis-efforts-toward-building-a-more-inclusive-catholic-church-213129">The synod</a> began with listening sessions at parishes, Catholic universities and other Catholic settings across the globe. All dioceses – the geographic regions into which the Catholic Church divides its ministry – were urged to hold such sessions.</p>
<p>In theory, these discussions offered an opportunity for all Catholics to have their voices heard at the highest levels of the church. Key themes were passed up to local bishops, then synthesized into documents that informed consultations by a national-level assembly, and, in turn, the global assembly.</p>
<p>In some places, however, local leaders have not promoted the synod or <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/firebrand-texas-bishop-strickland-says-rome-synod-will-reveal-true-schismatics">have explicitly criticized it</a>.</p>
<h2>Clericalism vs. dialogue</h2>
<p>Several topics on the table have garnered public attention, such as some Catholics’ hopes <a href="https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/married-priests-newsy-question-is-a-fixture-at-synods-past-and-present">to allow married priests</a> or <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/07/25/synod-raises-hopes-for-long-sought-recognition-of-women-in-the-catholic-church/">women deacons</a>. Arguably the most important issue, however, is authority.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a black clerical robe with a pink sash and another man in all black, both wearing name tags, smile as they leave a building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553567/original/file-20231012-29-elxazq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Synod delegates at the Vatican leave the first meeting of the General Assembly on Oct. 5, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/delegates-leave-the-paul-vi-hall-at-the-end-of-the-first-news-photo/1718797861?adppopup=true">Franco Origlia/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Conservative factions yearn for “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/03/world/europe/pope-francis-synod-conservatives.html">clear teaching” on doctrine</a> and strong centralized authority – even as, ironically, they <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-heresy/conservatives-want-catholic-bishops-to-denounce-pope-as-heretic-idUSKCN1S73KE">resist the authority of the current pope</a>, whom they criticize as an undisciplined leader or as too liberal. </p>
<p>Progressive factions, on the other hand, often seem to yearn for more democratic decision-making, akin to the independent authority local congregations have in some Protestant denominations.</p>
<p>In fact, as a scholar of <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/staff/">the public role of the Catholic Church</a>, I suspect both groups are likely to be disappointed. </p>
<p>The church <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html">strongly supports democracy</a> in the secular world. Internally, however, Catholicism preserves a deep tradition of governance rooted in apostolic succession: the teaching that bishops’ authority descends directly <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_1973_successione-apostolica_en.html">from the Apostles of Jesus Christ</a>. In other words, the legitimacy of their leadership stems from this lineage, rather than a democratic process.</p>
<p>The synod process aims to move toward a more dialogue-based model for how the authority of priests and bishops should work, within this apostolic understanding of Catholic authority.</p>
<h2>Francis v. ‘clericalism’</h2>
<p>Catholics and many non-Catholics tend to understand the church as a kind of vertically integrated corporation, where unquestioned authority flows from the top. </p>
<p>Waves of clergy sex abuse scandals, in particular, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/clericalism-cited-root-sex-abuse-crisis">have discredited this model</a> in many people’s eyes, and Francis appears to be moving Catholicism away from this style of leadership. He has repeatedly criticized “clericalism”: the tendency to center the faith on priests and obedience to their authority. </p>
<p>“To say "no” to abuse is to say an emphatic “no” to all forms of clericalism,“ he wrote <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180820_lettera-popolo-didio.html">in a 2018 letter</a> addressed to "the people of God.” Five years later, <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-08/pope-to-priest-of-rome-i-am-on-the-journey-with-you.html">in a note to priests in Rome</a>, he described clericalism as “a sickness” that leads to authority “without humility but with detached and haughty attitudes.”</p>
<p>Instead, Francis is advancing a model in which bishops exercise their authority through continuous dialogue with the faithful, the Catholic intellectual tradition and the wider world. This model views the church as constantly evolving, even as it forever affirms core truths. </p>
<p>Sociologists call these types of models “participative hierarchy.” One aspect of this more responsive and dynamic model of authority has been prominently on display during the general assembly: Nuns and laypeople, both men and women, <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-appoints-hundreds-attend-synod-bishops-synodality#:%7E:text=Pope%20Francis%20made%20significant%20changes,as%20members%20also%20is%2054.">are full participants</a>, with voice and vote in all matters coming before the synod.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three women, one of whom wears a headcovering, chat at a round table as three men look at laptops and phones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553568/original/file-20231012-29-i4qxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Delegates attend the synod’s first meeting, which includes religious sisters, on Oct. 5, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/delegates-attend-the-first-meeting-of-the-xvi-ordinary-news-photo/1718794559?adppopup=true">Franco Origlia/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>While this sounds moderate, it challenges the core understanding of authority among clericalist Catholics, who argue that such reforms would go against tradition. However, Catholicism has used <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20180302_sinodalita_en.html">both models of authority</a> in different periods. </p>
<h2>Politics and the pope</h2>
<p>The controversy surrounding the synod also reflects a simple fact: The Catholic Church in the U.S. is as polarized as secular American society. </p>
<p>A decade ago, at the very start of Francis’ papacy, he was seen as a moderate conservative. But he quickly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/world/europe/in-weddings-pope-francis-looks-past-tradition.html?searchResultPosition=2">signaled openness to the modern world</a>, in part by criticizing two qualities as anathema to Catholic teachings. First, clericalism, with its tendency to treat clergy <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/world/europe/pope-francis-in-christmas-speech-has-stern-rebuke-for-vatican-bureaucracy.html">as elite or above accountability</a>. Second, a backward-looking nostalgia for some earlier time when a perfect Catholicism supposedly existed – a stance that Francis sees as undercutting Catholicism here and now.</p>
<p>As of 2021, about 4 in 5 U.S. Catholics <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/25/americans-including-catholics-continue-to-have-favorable-views-of-pope-francis/">had a positive opinion of Francis</a>. Among clergy and Catholic leaders, however, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/us/pope-vatican-catholic-church-texas-bishop.html">he has some vocal detractors</a>.</p>
<p>While Francis has embraced constructive debate, he has pointedly <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-removes-cardinal-burke-vatican-post">removed from authority</a> some clergy, including Americans, whom he sees as actively undermining his direction for the church. More recently, he accused U.S. conservatives of “backwardness” and of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-vatican-conservatives-abortion-us-bbfc346c117bd9ae68a1963478bea6b3">replacing spirituality with ideology</a>.</p>
<p>For now, the synod moves forward despite the divides. There will be another synod assembly in Rome <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-10/pope-francis-synod-bishops-extension-2023-2024.html">in October 2024</a>, after which final recommendations will be made and the pope will decide what to put into action. </p>
<p>Beyond whatever particular changes this synod assembly may or may not recommend, its deeper impact will lie in how Francis’ vision of Catholic authority fares. In the long term, I would argue, this is where the Catholic future will be most shaped. The world’s <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/2022/04/30/global-christianity/">1.4 billion Catholics</a> will be watching.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Wood is president of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Wood serves (pro bono) on the national governing Board of Faith in Action, a non-profit network that engages in training leaders in non-partisan faith-based community organizing. He consults for The Fetzer Institute, a non-profit foundation that provides grants to advance spiritually-informed work. Neither organization is positioned to benefit directly from this article, but work on distantly related terrain.</span></em></p>Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality is attempting to move the church toward a more dialogue-based model of authority, a scholar of Catholicism explains.Richard Wood, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149892023-10-10T14:53:40Z2023-10-10T14:53:40ZCatholic synod: the voices of church leaders in Africa are not being heard – 3 reasons why<p>The Catholic church today is <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-11/pope-polarization-is-not-catholic-dialogue-is-the-only-way.html">deeply polarised</a>. This has created doctrinal fissures that are seemingly unbridgeable. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/polarization-in-the-church-how-can-it-be-overcome">many rumbling contestations</a> on questions of identity, mission, faith and morality. Other questions touch on pastoral life, the nature of marriage and family life, denial of holy communion to divorced and remarried Catholics, clerical celibacy, authority in the church and reproductive rights. </p>
<p>There is also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-is-increasingly-diverse-and-so-are-its-controversies-189038">serious erosion of religious authority</a>. Many church leaders have lost their credibility because of what Pope Francis calls the “<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/13/pope-francis-says2ofcatholicclergyarepaedophiles.html">leprosy of clerical sexual abuse</a>” and <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-04/pope-papal-foundation-scandals-damage-church-charity-work.html">financial scandals</a>. </p>
<p>The church in Africa hasn’t been spared these issues. In parts of the continent, the <a href="https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/bishop-who-was-victim-of-tribalism-is-to-be-nigerias-next-cardinal/16161#:%7E:text=The%2059%2Dyear%2Dold%20bishop,him%20to%20assume%20his%20office.">challenges</a> of ethnocentrism, abuse of religious authority and internal division are hurting the church’s credibility and effectiveness. And some national churches seem silent on rising crises of democracy and leadership across Africa.</p>
<p>There have always been divisions in the church, but its effectiveness and credibility <a href="https://concilium-vatican2.org/en/original/ilo/">in Africa</a> have been affected by clannish divisions and internal fights over money, power and position. This raises the question: how can the church be <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Health-African-Christian-Religion/dp/1498561276">the conscience of the continent</a> if it’s ravaged by the same internal problems found in political institutions? </p>
<p>Most of the controversies that faced the church in its first 500 years were resolved through basic synodal principles – the word synod means “walking together”. These principles were developed by African scholars and church leaders like Cyprian, Athanasius, Aurelius and Augustine.</p>
<p>In 2021, Pope Francis convened a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-synod-of-bishops-a-catholic-priest-and-theologian-explains-168937">worldwide consultation on the future of the Catholic church</a>. This synod will conclude in 2024. Decisions made this year and next will define the future of modern Catholicism for many years to come. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-the-first-post-colonial-papacy-to-deliver-messages-that-resonate-with-africans-201638">Pope Francis: the first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans</a>
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<p>Sadly, in the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231004-pope-opens-church-meeting-amid-tensions-with-conservatives">process</a> so far, there seems to be no clear African agenda articulated through African Catholic church leaders. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://www.logos.com/product/209729/faith-in-action-volume-1-reform-mission-and-pastoral-renewal-in-african-catholicism-since-vatican-ii">observed</a> the preparations of Africa for this synod. I’m afraid that the mistakes made by the continent’s church leaders in previous synods – including two held specially to address Africa’s challenges in <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_14091995_ecclesia-in-africa.html">1994</a> and <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20091023_elenco-prop-finali_en.html#top">2010</a> – are being repeated. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://addisababa.synod2023.org/#:%7E:text=AFRICA%20SYNODAL%20CONTINENTAL%20ASSEMBLY%20Final,to%206th%20of%20March">African continental meeting</a> that took place in Ethiopia in March 2023 didn’t come up with a clear agenda to address the challenges facing African Catholics.</p>
<p>African delegates are faced with three major challenges going into the current consultations. First, they are simply responding to what is tabled in the <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/highlights/working-document-for-the-continental-stage.html">working document for the synod</a> rather than setting their own agenda. Second, they are treating the continent like a homogeneous entity. Third, they’re failing to demonstrate the changes that African Catholic leaders wish to make in their leadership styles, and pastoral and social ministries in local dioceses and religious congregations, without constantly looking up to Rome for instructions and directions.</p>
<h2>Drowned voices</h2>
<p>The latest synodal process began in 2021 with grassroots consultations, and national and continental assemblies. It has now entered the most decisive moment. </p>
<p>This is why it is important that African voices are heard. As a <a href="https://works.bepress.com/stanchuilo/">theologian</a> who has studied the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009182961204000303?journalCode=misb">development of the synodal process in Africa</a>, I worry that African Catholic voices may instead be drowned.</p>
<p>First, African delegates at the synod are not formulating their own agenda. During the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20151026_relazione-finale-xiv-assemblea_en.html">two consultations on the family in 2014 and 2015</a>, Africans framed their responses to the synod’s working document as a rejection of a western agenda for change to the traditional family. They pushed back against a perceived attempt to impose on the rest of the church a new understanding of marriage that includes the blessing of same-sex relations. </p>
<p>African delegates have failed to present their position on how to deal with issues of marriage, polygamy, denial of communion to polygamists, childlessness, burial rites and widowhood practices. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">Pope Francis' visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church</a>
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<p>Second, the problems that face Africa are often localised. They require contextualised solutions. Yet, African delegates often treat the continent as homogeneous, with similar social, economic and political challenges. In the 2015 synod, Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea appealed to the delegates from Africa to <a href="https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2015/09/30/news/synod-africans-are-singing-from-different-songsheets-1.35228596/">speak with one voice</a>, as if Africa had one voice. </p>
<p>There is a need to present Africa in its diversity and richness. The churches of Europe, for instance, have always presented their issues in a more localised, national and specific sense – the German Catholic Church is implementing its <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/catholic-church-germanys-controversial-synodal-path/a-64971479#:%7E:text=In%20Germany%2C%20the%20Synodal%20Path,or%20remarry%20after%20a%20divorce.">own synodal path</a>. African delegates must resist the continued colonial structure, racialised thinking and mentality that sees Africa as one country rather than a continent of diversity and dynamic pluralism. </p>
<p>Finally, African delegates must move away from constantly asking Rome and the pope to help solve the issues within the church in Africa. The delegates must focus attention on the current situation of the church and society in Africa, and how African Catholics can solve their own problems by courageously confronting the internal challenges facing the church in the continent. </p>
<p>The Catholic church is witnessing its fastest growth in Africa (<a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/2022/04/30/global-christianity/#:%7E:text=April%2030%2C%202022&text=Following%20recent%20trends%2C%20the%20Catholic,growth%20in%20Europe%20(0.3%25)">2.1%</a> between 2019 and 2020). Out of a global population of <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250362/number-of-catholics-in-asia-and-africa-continues-to-rise">1.36 billion Catholics, 236 million are African</a> (20% of the total). This growth is happening alongside a rise in poverty, social unrest, coups, wars and illiberal democracy.</p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>African delegates must demonstrate a deeper understanding of the continent’s social and religious challenges. They must capture the hopes and dreams of their congregants, and articulate how the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-popes-new-letter-isnt-just-an-exhortation-on-the-environment-for-francis-everything-is-connected-which-is-a-source-of-wonder-213135">Catholic church can support social transformation</a> through authentic and credible religious experiences and practices.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Merciful-Church-Illuminative-Ecclesiology/dp/1626982651">Pope Francis</a> has said the future of the church and the world will be determined by how those who <a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">inhabit the peripheries of life are lifted up</a>. African delegates need to speak up for the millions of Africans who are poor and marginalised. </p>
<p>The Catholic church in Africa must become a champion for human rights, good governance and women’s empowerment. It needs to model the image of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worldwide-consultations-for-the-global-synod-reflect-pope-francis-efforts-toward-building-a-more-inclusive-catholic-church-213129">inclusive church</a> in its structures and priorities. It needs to nurture a new generation of Africans who understand the diverse challenges facing the continent and seek African solutions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stan Chu Ilo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Divisions and tensions in the global church are affecting the church in Africa.Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131292023-10-04T12:32:39Z2023-10-04T12:32:39ZThe worldwide consultations for the global synod reflect Pope Francis’ efforts toward building a more inclusive Catholic Church<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551819/original/file-20231003-25-d0sesg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C1024%2C679&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis leads a prayer vigil at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Sept. 30, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-leads-together-ecumenical-prayer-vigil-for-the-news-photo/1698698850?adppopup=true">Antonio Masiello/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 16th Synod of Bishops, the <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/news/new-dates-for-the-synod-on-synodality.html">first part of which will take place in Rome on Oct. 4-29, 2023</a>, and the second in 2024, will be the culmination of a two-year, worldwide conversation in the Catholic Church. </p>
<p>The term “synod” usually refers to a local or regional meeting of church leaders. The Synod of Bishops was <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19650915_apostolica-sollicitudo.html">established by Pope Paul VI in 1965</a> as a permanent body in the Catholic Church, although its members do not meet on a regular schedule. It specifically refers to a meeting of selected bishops from around the world to advise the pope on <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html#CHAPTER_II.">matters of governance</a>. </p>
<p>The Synod of Bishops was set up after the Second Vatican Council, which was held from 1962 to 1965, to bring reforms and updates to the church. The Second Vatican Council stated that the entire college of all Catholic bishops, under the authority of the pope, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html">also serve as the church’s highest authority</a>. Paul VI instituted the Synod of Bishops as a way for Catholic bishops to exercise this authority. The council also stated that lay Catholics have an active role to play in the church.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/religiousstudies/thompson_daniel.php">theologian who studies the Catholic Church</a>, with an emphasis on the period during and after Vatican II, I argue that this upcoming synod reflects Pope Francis’ efforts to advance the reform agenda of Vatican II. He wants all Catholics to take an active role in thinking about the future of their church and wants the bishops to exercise their authority by first listening to the people. </p>
<h2>A more open church?</h2>
<p>Typically, there are three types of meetings of the Synod of Bishops.</p>
<p>Ordinary general assemblies usually get together every three or four years. The pope can also call an extraordinary meeting to discuss a more pressing topic and problem. Finally, popes have called special meetings of bishops in a certain region. For example, Francis held a special <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20200202_querida-amazonia.html">Synod on the Amazon in 2019</a>. </p>
<p>The 16th Synod of Bishops is an ordinary general assembly. At the direction of Francis, its preparation, initiated <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/synodal-process/opening-of-the-synodal-process.html">at a celebration in Rome in 2021</a>, involved a worldwide conversation among Catholics about their church.</p>
<p>Catholics from around the world were invited to meet in their local dioceses, pray together and discuss questions about their church. Some <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/us-synod-report-finds-participants-share-common-hopes-lingering-pain">700,000 Catholics across the U.S.</a> took part in these conversations.</p>
<p>The local churches collected and summarized the results of these meetings. Leaders at the regional, national and, finally, continental levels drafted reports on these conversations. </p>
<p>On the basis of all these earlier documents, in May 2023 the Vatican released its working document called “<a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/06/20/230620e.html">Instrumentum Laboris</a>” for the upcoming synod. </p>
<p>This meeting is therefore significant because it pictures the Catholic Church not as a top-down hierarchy but rather as an open conversation. For the first time, its voting members will not only be bishops but other Catholics as well. The changes indicate Francis’ intention to give all Catholics a voice in the decision-making process of the church.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2021/october/documents/20211009-apertura-camminosinodale.html">As Francis himself puts it</a>, the synod offers an opportunity “of moving not occasionally but structurally towards a synodal church, an open square where all can feel at home and participate.”</p>
<h2>Working document</h2>
<p>Some <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/07/07/230707a.html">450 people are expected to be in Rome</a> for the first part of the synod. This number will include representatives of religious orders and other Catholic organizations, as well as theologians from Catholic universities. </p>
<p>The pope’s expanded list will include a number of lay men and women. Additionally, representatives from other Christian churches will also attend the synod – although they will not have voting rights. </p>
<p>Those gathered in Rome will meet in both large sessions known as “general congregations” and small working groups, divided by the synod’s official languages – Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Its official documents <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/09/21/synod-participant-list-chinese-bishops-246130#:%7E:text=There%20will%20be%20five%20official,French%20and%20one%20in%20Portuguese.">will be issued in Italian and English</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Rows of priests in green robes and pink skullcaps stand in a huge, ornate cathedral." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551822/original/file-20231003-21-4h0tv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass during the opening of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2021 at the Vatican.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-celebrates-holy-mass-on-the-occasion-of-the-news-photo/1345971127?adppopup=true">Vatican Pool Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The working document outlines four broad areas of discussion: synodality, communion, mission and participation. The first term refers to the idea that the church as a whole should incorporate the synod’s process of focused conversations, listening and dialogue into its structure. The next two – communion and mission – refer to how a global church can balance unity and diversity in pursuit of its aims. The final term, participation, refers to the ways in which Catholics, both clergy and lay people, can take part in the church. This topic also includes discussion about what institutions and structures the church would need to create to serve its mission. </p>
<p>When participants talk about these topics, they will discuss issues that have divided the church, such as the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, the role of women in the church, relations between the Catholic Church and other churches, and relations between the church and different cultures, among others.</p>
<h2>Francis’ leadership style</h2>
<p>This Synod of Bishops reflects Francis’ style of leadership and his vision of the Catholic Church for the future. In his address to the synod held on Oct. 9, 2021, the pope said the success of the mission of the church depends on the closeness of the church to its people and their <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2021/october/documents/20211009-apertura-camminosinodale.html">ability to listen to one another</a>. </p>
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<span class="caption">Participants arrive for a vigil prayer led by Pope Francis and other religious leaders before the 2023 Synod of Bishops assembly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participants-arrive-for-an-ecumenical-vigil-prayer-led-by-news-photo/1698848638?adppopup=true">Isabella Bonotto/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The internal enemy of the mission of the church, according to Francis, is “<a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-08/pope-to-priest-of-rome-i-am-on-the-journey-with-you.html">clericalism</a>,” the idea that clergy – priests and bishops – are somehow a spiritually superior class, separate from and above regular lay people. Francis himself has modeled a different version of the papal office by <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-live-vatican-guesthouse-not-papal-apartments">rejecting many customs that he associates with clericalism</a>. For example, he has continued to live in a modest apartment rather than in the Vatican palace. </p>
<p>Through the process of consultation and conversation, Francis intends to combat clericalism in the Catholic Church by offering a different model for how the church can work. As Austen Ivereigh, a British journalist and biographer of Francis, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250119391/woundedshepherd">has written</a>: “The opposite of clericalism [for Francis] is synodality, meaning a method and process of discussion and participation in which the whole people of God can listen to the Holy Spirit and take part in the life and mission of the Church.” </p>
<p>After an additional year of conversations with the wider church, participants <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/news/new-dates-for-the-synod-on-synodality.html">will gather in Rome again in 2024</a>, when they will continue the discussions and vote on recommendations to the bishops. The bishops will in turn make recommendations to the pope, who will have the final say.</p>
<p>If Francis’ model of the church is persuasive, this synod, I believe, will be the beginning of an ongoing process in the church, the first of many conversations to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Speed Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, a Catholic theologian explains the preparations that went into the consultative process and what it says about Pope Francis’ vision for the future church.Daniel Speed Thompson, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2104472023-08-21T12:25:33Z2023-08-21T12:25:33ZWhat the pope’s visit to Mongolia says about his priorities and how he is changing the Catholic Church<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542824/original/file-20230815-23-w5anbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C5343%2C3583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis' upcoming visit to meet the tiny Catholic community of Mongolia is drawing considerable interest.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-gestures-during-the-weekly-general-audience-on-news-photo/1586313499?adppopup=true"> Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Mongolia, which is home to fewer than 1,500 Catholics, has <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2023/07/missionaries-say-shock-of-papal-visit-to-mongolia-a-chance-to-introduce-the-faith">elicited curiosity</a> among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/31/map-which-countries-has-pope-francis-visited">This will be the pope’s 43rd</a> trip abroad since his election on March 13, 2013: He has visited 12 countries in the Americas, 11 in Asia and 10 in Africa. </p>
<p>What do these visits tell us about this pope’s mission and focus? </p>
<p>As a scholar of Roman Catholicism, I <a href="https://clas.uiowa.edu/religion/people/kristy-nabhan-warren">have studied Catholicism’s appeal</a> for immigrants and refugees, and I argue that the pontiff’s official travels since 2013 are part of his decadelong effort to rebrand the Roman Catholic Church as a religious institution that centers the poor.</p>
<h2>Prioritizing the poor</h2>
<p>While previous popes have included the poor in their speeches, what has distinguished this pope is that he has focused on the Global South and prioritized immigrants, refugees and the less privileged, from Bolivia to Myanmar to Mongolia.</p>
<p>At his July 2013 visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to commemorate migrants who had drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/10-years-later-pope-francis-lampedusa-cry-offers-renewed-call-welcome-migrants#:%7E:text=When%20Pope%20Francis%20visited%20Lampedusa,become%20synonymous%20with%20his%20papacy">Francis gave a blistering critique</a> of the world’s failure to care for the poor: “In this globalized world, we have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/08/pope-globalisation-of-indifference-lampedusa">fallen into globalized indifference</a>. We have become used to the suffering of others: it doesn’t affect me; it doesn’t concern me; it’s none of my business!” </p>
<p>Three years later, the pope flew 12 Syrian Muslim refugees from a Greek refugee camp to Rome. Francis is the first pope to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/05/world/pope-francis-greece-migrants#">relocate refugees and to work with groups</a> like The Community of St. Egidio charity in Rome that have successfully resettled thousands of refugees. </p>
<p>During my own interviews with Central American Catholic immigrants and refugees in central and eastern Iowa between 2013-2020 for my book, “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469663494/meatpacking-america/">Meatpacking America</a>,” I heard from women and men who fled violence and poverty in their home nations that they look up to this pope “because he cares about us,” as Fernando said. And Josefina told me back in 2017 that this pope is “the real deal” in terms of supporting immigrants and the poor. </p>
<h2>Francis and liberation theology</h2>
<p>His predecessors – Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict – specifically <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2007/5/8/20017359/benedict-to-confront-liberation-theology">condemned liberation theology</a>, a philosophy <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-50-years-liberation-theology-is-still-reshaping-catholicism-and-politics-but-what-is-it-186804">rooted in Catholic social teachings</a> that calls for a preferential option for the poor and an embrace of Marxist ideology. </p>
<p>According to Austen Ivereigh prior to his becoming pope, Francis — <a href="https://sojo.net/articles/pope-francis-liberation-theologian">then Jorge Mario Bergoglio – condemned liberation theology as well</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/11/vatican-new-chapter-liberation-theology-founder-gustavo-gutierrez">He would say</a> “that they were for the people but never with them,” wrote Ivereigh, in his biography of Pope Francis.</p>
<p>Since his election as pope, however, Francis has undertaken what I call “people-focused” liberationism. In one of his first official announcements in 2013, “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel,” the pope <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html">wrote about the essential inclusion</a> of the poor in society, arguing that “without the preferential option for the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications.” </p>
<p>In other words, the Gospel’s message that all Christians proclaim doesn’t mean a whole lot if the poor are not central to the goal of personal as well as collective salvation.</p>
<h2>Journeying to Mongolia</h2>
<p>How does the pope’s upcoming visit to Mongolia factor into this decade-spanning trajectory of his people-focused liberation?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Catholic nun handing out food to children seated on a rug in two rows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Food service for homeless children in a shantytown in Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/food-service-for-homeless-children-organised-by-fraternite-news-photo/524114802?adppopup=true">Michel Setboun/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Christianity has been present in Mongolia since the seventh century. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40463470">Nestorianism, an Eastern branch of Christianity</a> named after the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, who lived from 386 C.E. to 451 C.E., coexisted alongside an even older religious practice, shamanism, which emphasized the natural world and dates to the third century. Nestorians believe that Christ had two natures – one human and one divine. </p>
<p>While Mary was seen as important within Nestorian theology as Christ’s mother, she is not seen as divine. This is similar to Roman Catholic theology where Mary is deemed special because she is Christ’s mother and worthy of veneration.</p>
<p>According to historian <a href="https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/robert-merrihew-adams">Robert Merrihew Adams</a>, the missionary activity of Nestorian Christians in central Asia from the seventh to the 13th centuries was “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onab005">the most impressive Christian enterprise</a>” of the Middle Ages because of its rapid spread and influence. </p>
<p>Adams argues that Nestorianism’s spread was in part because of its belief that Christ was a two-natured individual – one divine and one human. These two natures in one body meshed well with preexisting shamanic beliefs, as shamanism sees individuals as able to harness the supernatural. </p>
<p>In addition to this branch of Eastern Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism came to Mongolia in the 13th century, as did Islam. Today, <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-religions-are-practiced-in-mongolia.html">Buddhism is the dominant religion of Mongolia</a>, while Islam and Christianity remain very small percentages at 3% and 2.5%. </p>
<p>Pope Francis has made it clear throughout his tenure that interfaith dialogue is an essential remedy to division. During his visit he will <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2023/07/18/pope-visits-mongolia-community-245698">preside over an interfaith gathering</a> and the opening of a Catholic charity house. </p>
<h2>A strategic visit</h2>
<p>The past decade has brought rapid urbanization and growth in major cities such as the capital of Ulaanbaatar, along with <a href="https://asiafoundation.org/2014/06/25/poverty-inequality-and-the-negative-effects-of-mongolias-economic-downturn/">high rates of unemployment and Covid-era</a> economic downturn. </p>
<p>And yet, according to the World Bank, the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mongolia/overview">economic forecast</a> for Mongolia remains “promising” because of its rich natural resources, such as gold, copper, coal and other minerals. </p>
<p>However, extraction of Mongolia’s resources is <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/mongolia-on-the-verge-of-a-mineral-miracle/">occurring at a rapid pace</a> – so much so that the country, according to the Harvard International Review, has been called “Minegolia.” The United States has <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/mongolia#:%7E:text=Mongolia%27s%20economy%2C%20traditionally%20based%20on,uranium%2C%20tin%2C%20and%20tungsten">made significant investment</a> in Mongolia’s mining industry, and China is a major importer of Mongolian coal. Two rail lines connecting Mongolia to China were installed in January 2022 and a third is being built. </p>
<p>In the past, Francis has made strong comments against corruption and environmental degradation, and it would not be surprising if he addressed the challenges of the mining industry during his trip. During his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pope-francis-visit-congo/">he critiqued the Global North</a> that contributed to “the poison of greed” that has “smeared its diamonds with blood.” In 2018, the pope spent a few hours in Madre de Dios, an area in the Peruvian Amazon, where <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/susan-egan-keane/popes-visit-highlights-gold-mining-problems-and-solutions">mining has led to</a> large-scale environmental degradation.</p>
<p>The pope’s visit will be bold given the challenges before Mongolia and its geographic location between Russia and China. A peace delegation on behalf of Pope Francis for the war in Ukraine, led by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, that visted Russia this summer is <a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2023/07/china-could-be-next-stop-for-popes-ukraine-peace-envoy">likely to head to China in the coming months</a>. </p>
<p>As Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, a missionary in Mongolia for two decades, has emphasized, Pope Francis’s visit to this country with a tiny minority of Catholics will “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-mongolia-cardinal-china-6812de8a1cd238b88d6226cd20c8f042">manifest the attention</a> that the (pope) has for every individual, every person who embarks in this journey of faith.”</p>
<p><em>This piece has been updated to correct the depiction of the Roman Catholic Church’s view on Mary’s divinity.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristy Nabhan-Warren does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of Roman Catholicism explains why Pope Francis’ visit to Mongolia, home to fewer than 1,500 Catholics, is significant.Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Associate Vice President of Research, University of IowaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2072942023-06-08T05:56:36Z2023-06-08T05:56:36ZPope Francis is recovering from hernia surgery. But what exactly is a hernia?<p>Pope Francis has had an operation this week to remove a hernia, which his <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-06/pope-francis-surgery-gemelli-hospital-surgeon-briefing.html">surgeon said</a> had been causing him increasingly frequent pain.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1666582472329506817"}"></div></p>
<p>This planned surgery was to remove a type of hernia caused by scarring from previous operations, known as an incisional hernia.</p>
<p>Hernias are common and there are many different types. Not all need surgery. But what actually is a hernia? And if you do need surgery, what can you expect?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-can-you-feel-groggy-days-after-an-operation-74989">Health Check: why can you feel groggy days after an operation?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>What is a hernia? Am I at risk?</h2>
<p>Your abdomen has a number of layers of muscle that help protect and wrap around your internal organs. A <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/hernia">hernia</a> occurs when tissues or organs bulge through a weak point in that muscular wall. </p>
<p>Hernias can be present at birth but can also arise later in life when the abdomen is under a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5586997/">lot of pressure</a>. </p>
<p>Pregnant women are prone to developing hernias, as are people who are overweight, those lifting heavy weights (either at work or in the gym), and people with chronic health conditions that increase abdominal pressure, such as constipation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-causes-constipation-114290">Health Check: what causes constipation?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Types of hernias</h2>
<p>There are different types of hernia.</p>
<p><strong>1. Inguinal hernias</strong></p>
<p>These occur when fatty tissue or a bit of the small bowel pokes through a weak area in the lower abdominal wall. They tend to develop on one side of the groin.</p>
<p>Inguinal hernias are the most common type of hernia and account for almost <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1258/shorts.2010.010071">three-quarters</a> of all abdominal wall hernias. </p>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/25/4/835/655815?login=true">Some</a> 27% men and 3% of women will develop an inguinal hernia at some point in their lives. The <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/165/10/1154/57933">risk</a> increases with age.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man holding groin" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530790/original/file-20230608-19-rgqeqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first sign of a hernia may be a painful or noticeable bulge in your groin on either side of the pubic bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pain-groin-bladder-concept-prostatitis-inflammation-2072288714">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Femoral hernias</strong> </p>
<p>Fatty tissue or a bit of the small bowel can also poke into two deeper passages in the groin called the femoral canals. Hernias through these passages are known as femoral hernias. They’re far less common than inguinal hernias and are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9414042/">much more common</a> in women than in men.</p>
<p><strong>3. Umbilical hernias</strong></p>
<p>These occur when fatty tissue or a bit of the small bowel bulges through the opening of the abdominal muscles close to the belly button.</p>
<p>They are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2537019/">most common</a> in newborns and infants younger than six months. They result from the abdominal opening that the umbilical cord passes through not sealing properly after birth. </p>
<p>The vast majority of these hernias don’t cause any issues and will disappear by the time the child is five years old. </p>
<p>Adults can get umbilical hernias too. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459312/">Risk factors</a> include being overweight and having a chronic condition that increases abdominal pressure, such as a chronic cough or fluid in the abdomen (called ascites) that often arises from liver disease.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic of woman's body and different types of hernia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530801/original/file-20230608-24-bm4n8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are different types of hernia, some more common than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/hernia-types-vector-illustration-cross-section-1072863614">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4. Hiatus hernias</strong></p>
<p>These occur when the upper part of the stomach bulges through the large muscle separating the abdomen and chest (the diaphragm). You’re <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21178776/">more likely</a> to develop these if you are older or overweight.</p>
<p>Many people with small hiatus hernias will have no symptoms. But in some people, large ones can be associated with reflux symptoms, such as heartburn and regurgitation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-gastric-reflux-18791">Explainer: what is gastric reflux?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>5. Incisional hernias</strong></p>
<p>These hernias can occur after surgery, which is what happened with Pope Francis.</p>
<p>These arise when there is a weakness in the abdominal wall located at the site of a cut made during a previous operation. Pope Francis’ incisional hernia was repaired because the loops of small bowel in that hernia were getting partially blocked and causing pain.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Surgeons performing an operation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530743/original/file-20230608-27-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surgery may be needed to remove a hernia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/surgeon-hands-on-sterile-gloves-performing-1535134103">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>6. Others</strong></p>
<p>There are several other types of hernias. These include <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910527/">muscle hernias</a> where part of the muscle can poke through surrounding tissue. These are most common in leg muscles after an injury.</p>
<h2>What to do about a hernia?</h2>
<p>The first sign of an inguinal or femoral hernia may be a painful or noticeable bulge in your groin. This bulge will generally become more noticeable when you stand up, cough or strain during a bowel movement. For umbilical or incisional hernias, you may notice a bulge on the abdomen.</p>
<p>You should seek urgent medical attention if you have a hernia and experience severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, difficulty in passing wind or if the hernia becomes very firm and tender. This could <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4245506/">signify</a> the blood supply to the bit of bowel inside the hernia is cut off or the bowel has become twisted and is fully blocked. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743919113000873">vast majority</a> <a href="https://bmcsurg.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12893-022-01873-9">of</a> abdominal hernias can be repaired with surgery. </p>
<p>In many cases, such as with Pope Francis, this surgery is carried out with the assistance of a surgical mesh. This is a medical device that supports damaged tissue around hernias as it heals. Mesh helps to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8675396/">reduce the risk</a> of a hernia returning. </p>
<p>Most people are able to go home the same day or the day after surgery, with a full recovery expected within a few weeks. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/surgery-rates-are-rising-in-over-85s-but-the-decision-to-operate-isnt-always-easy-116814">Surgery rates are rising in over-85s but the decision to operate isn't always easy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent Ho does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hernias are common. Not all need surgery. Here’s what we know about hernias, who’s most at risk, and how they’re treated.Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046112023-05-24T12:17:41Z2023-05-24T12:17:41ZVatican centralizes investigations on claims of Virgin Mary apparitions – but local Catholics have always had a say<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527303/original/file-20230519-22530-a54gyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C0%2C5988%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The shrine at Lourdes, France, where the Virgin Mary is venerated as 'Our Lady of Lourdes,' following several apparitions reported in 1858.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/our-lady-of-lourdes-royalty-free-image/505115655?phrase=virgin+mary+apparition&adppopup=true">LandFoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Vatican recently announced its plan to <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/papal-academy-launches-study-center-evaluate-marian-apparitions">set up an “observatory</a>” at one of its several academic institutions, the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, to investigate claims of apparitions and other mystical phenomena attributed to the Virgin Mary. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/history/people/faculty/ddelac.html">scholar of global Christianity</a> whose first book focused on <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo22053864.html">apparitions and miracles of Mary in the modern Philippines</a>, I’ve spent years studying the ins and outs of how the Catholic Church authenticates apparitions and the impact of these decisions on devotion to the Virgin Mary. I believe that the creation of this office signals a major shift in how apparitions of Mary have been evaluated and authenticated in modern times. </p>
<p>Contrary to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6559390/">depictions in popular media</a> that show the Vatican as the first and only arbiter in these matters, the actual process almost always takes place at the local level and only rarely reaches the Holy See.</p>
<h2>Official and unofficial judgment</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fifth-session.htm">Council of Trent</a>, held between 1545 to 1563, first gave bishops the authority to recognize new miracles or relics. In the 1970s, the Vatican’s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_pro_14071997_en.html">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith</a>, the office charged with defending and promulgating Catholic doctrine, established <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19780225_norme-apparizioni_en.html">a set of norms</a> prescribing how alleged apparitions should be judged at the local level. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/a/apparitions-statistics-modern.php">most apparition claims</a> don’t rise to the level of being investigated. Of the countless apparitions that have been reported throughout church history, only 25 have been <a href="https://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/bishop.html">approved by the local bishop</a>, and 16 of those have been <a href="https://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/vatican.html">recognized by the Vatican</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, throughout the Catholic world, <a href="http://mariandevotions.org/portal/most-popular-marian-shrines-in-the-world/">hundreds of shrines</a> commemorating a miraculous appearance of Mary enjoy devotional followings. What accounts for the difference between tacit and official church approval, and what is at stake when the church investigates an alleged sighting? </p>
<h2>When personal revelations become public</h2>
<p>Catholics the world over engage in deep <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691127767/between-heaven-and-earth">relationships with Mary and the saints</a> and take it for granted that their presence is real. In many places, furthermore, <a href="http://www.caysasay.com/Caysasay%20Home/storyOfCaysasay.html">Catholic beliefs blended with Indigenous cultures</a> and practices to produce apparition legends around which devotion has flourished for centuries. </p>
<p>Local priests and bishops navigate a fine line between popular religiosity and doctrinal orthodoxy. They readily accept <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-many-faces-of-mary">diversity in how believers venerate Mary</a>. But they also must remain <a href="https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/a/apparitions-approval-process.php">vigilant against phenomena and messages</a> that contradict the church’s teachings and threaten to undermine their authority. For many supernatural claims, the tipping point for investigation comes when a limited experience turns into a mass phenomenon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A statue of the Virgin Mary draped in a blue robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527304/original/file-20230519-21-4p33y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A statue of the Virgin Mary outside the Sariaya Church in Quezon Province, Philippines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-virgin-mary-with-an-old-church-behind-royalty-free-image/1219146141?phrase=virgin+mary+Philippines+apparition&adppopup=true">Mariano Sayno/Moment</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To take two examples from my research in the Philippines: In Quezon City, northeast of Manila, in the early 2000s, a neighborhood group that met weekly to <a href="https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary">pray the rosary</a> was led by a woman who, while in trance, claimed to channel the Virgin Mary. Although officials from the Archdiocese of Manila were aware of the group’s activities, <a href="https://anthropology.columbia.edu/content/all-his-instruments-mary-miracles-philippines">they left them alone</a>, since their devotional practice had little impact beyond their immediate circle, and the content of Mary’s messages gave no cause for concern. </p>
<p>By contrast, after tens of thousands of people journeyed to the small Philippine coastal town of Agoo, in the northwestern province of La Union, to witness <a href="https://apnews.com/article/be6062cf0ae3881362f3429dacf2e560">an appearance of Mary</a> foretold by the visionary Judiel Nieva in March 1993, the presiding bishop immediately formed an official commission to investigate. Two years later, the commission <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/06/Church-Philippine-miracle-a-hoax/5408810360000/">declared it a hoax</a>. </p>
<p>The difference between how local church authorities treated the two cases came down to the scale of the phenomenon, whether profit was made from people’s beliefs, and the content of the messages allegedly spoken by Mary. As with most apparitions found “not worthy of belief” – that is, not supernatural in origin – the Agoo phenomenon eventually died down. </p>
<h2>Who determines devotion?</h2>
<p>Occasionally, however, devotees remain steadfast in their belief that Mary appeared despite a negative judgment from the Catholic Church. For example, the devotional figure of Mary as the “<a href="https://theladyofallnations.info/en/">Lady of All Nations</a>,” a title associated with the visions of Dutch woman Ida Peerdeman, who claimed to have sighted the Virgin <a href="https://wrldrels.org/2016/10/08/lady-of-all-nations/">56 times</a> between 1945 and 1959, maintains a robust global following to this day. This is in spite of the fact that Dutch bishops and the Vatican’s doctrinal office have urged Catholics <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/47024/vaticans-doctrinal-office-dont-promote-alleged-apparitions-connected-to-lady-of-all-nations">not to promote the apparitions</a> associated with that particular title.</p>
<p>Likewise, in Lipa, the Philippines, there was in the 1990s a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfT_wfsO_Xk">revival of devotion</a> and belief that <a href="https://ourladymarymediatrixofallgrace.com/">Mary had appeared to a Filipino novice</a> of the religious order of the Carmelites in 1948. The devotion continued even though a commission of Filipino bishops <a href="https://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/statements/lipa_statement_1951.html">investigated the phenomenon and declared</a> that it “excluded any supernatural intervention” in 1951. </p>
<p>In both cases, popular support for the apparitions influenced <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/in-response-to-inquiries-concerning-the-lady-of-all-nations-apparitions-3828">sitting bishops to reconsider</a>, and even <a href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/721615/archbishop-declares-1948-lipa-mediatrix-apparitions-worthy-of-belief">overturn, a previously negative judgment</a>. </p>
<p>But the bishops’ approval didn’t last long. Asserting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Vatican’s doctrinal office stepped in to uphold the original rulings that the apparitions were not authentic. Even so, many devotees remain undeterred in their belief. </p>
<h2>Balancing act</h2>
<p>According to the proposed Vatican observatory’s president, the Rev. Stefano Cecchin, the new office will serve both <a href="https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/vatican-creates-observatory-to-study-possible-apparitions-of-virgin-mary-856">academic and pastoral purposes</a>, acting as a centralized task force for the systematic and multidisciplinary study of apparition claims worldwide. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen how precisely they will coordinate with local bishops who have until now enjoyed the authority to determine whether the “Mother of God,” as Mary is often called, appeared in their jurisdiction.</p>
<p>For those of us observing from the outside, the new observatory is an intriguing development in the long history of balancing the universal claims of the Catholic Church with the myriad expressions of local devotion and belief.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deirdre de la Cruz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.Deirdre de la Cruz, Associate Professor of History and Asian Languages and Culture, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040912023-04-21T12:41:27Z2023-04-21T12:41:27ZWhat’s going on when the Virgin Mary appears and statues weep? The answers aren’t just about science or the supernatural<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521749/original/file-20230419-24-eipspl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C2100%2C1412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mary is often depicted weeping, a reminder of the 'Seven Sorrows' the Bible recounts her suffering.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/god-bless-you-royalty-free-image/1306577159?phrase=statue%20mary&adppopup=true">pratan ounpitipong/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Claims of appearances of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been common in Catholicism. And now they’re going to get a closer look – but on a worldwide scale.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pami.info/copia-di-home-en">The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis</a>, or PAMI, recently announced an <a href="https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/vatican-creates-observatory-to-study-possible-apparitions-of-virgin-mary-856">“observatory”</a> to <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1758584/Weeping-Virgin-Mary-statues-Vatican-scientists-PAMI">investigate claims</a> of appearances of the Virgin Mary and reports of statues of her weeping oil and blood.</p>
<p>This announcement extends PAMI’s mission of promoting devotion to Mary and study of phenomena related to her. While still waiting for full Vatican approval, the observatory will train investigators to study mystical phenomena in cooperation with church authorities – for example, trying to determine the substance of reported tears.</p>
<p>Investigating the supernatural has always been a delicate task in the Catholic Church, which has to balance the faith of believers with the possibility of fraud.</p>
<h2>Marian apparitions</h2>
<p>Catholics believe Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, and the mother of God, who still makes her presence known. And the Catholic Church has officially recognized a number of sites where Mary has reportedly appeared around the globe.</p>
<p>The image of <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-12/our-lady-of-guadaloupe-feast-day-mexico-americas.html">Our Lady of Guadalupe</a> on a cloak in Mexico City has long been revered by Catholics as a miracle confirming Mary’s appearance to the peasant Juan Diego in 1531. In <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-europe-religion-prayer-communism-9df80314be754c4aa3de4403cd5ecced">Fatima, Portugal</a>, in 1917, <a href="https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/f/fatima-message.php">three children claimed</a> that the Virgin Mary had visited them <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/05/10/story-fatima-apparitions-miracles-and-journey-sainthood">several times</a>. Crowds drawn by the children’s prophecy that Mary would reappear and perform a miracle reported seeing the sun “<a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36019/miracle-of-the-sun-broke-darkness-of-portugals-atheist-regimes">dance in the sky</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photograph shows people standing and kneeling in a field, looking up to the sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521724/original/file-20230418-20-nho1md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of believers claimed to have seen a ‘Miracle of the Sun’ in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/thousands-of-believers-attending-the-miracle-of-the-sun-news-photo/1159595509?adppopup=true">Grzegorz Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most recent Marian apparition that a Catholic bishop has declared “<a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/33982/a-marian-apparition-has-been-approved-in-argentina-and-its-a-big-deal">worthy of belief</a>” was in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, in 2016. A local Catholic woman told her priest that visions had begun with <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-rosary-why-a-set-of-beads-and-prayers-are-central-to-catholic-faith-192485">rosary prayer beads</a> glowing in multiple homes and progressed to Mary warning her of humanity’s “<a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/its-official-major-apparitions-of-mary-are-approved">self-destruction</a>.”</p>
<h2>Mary’s tears</h2>
<p>There is also a long history of claims of weeping Mary statues. A well-known example is the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/45666/weeping-madonna-of-syracuse-commemorated-in-sicily">Madonna of Syracuse, Sicily</a> – a plaster statue that seemed to shed tears. Investigators appointed by the church said the liquid was <a href="https://catholicshrinebasilica.com/santuario-madonna-delle-lacrime-syracuse-sicily-italy/">chemically similar</a> to human tears. The shrine now housing the image is shaped like a <a href="https://blog.learnsicilian.com/miracle-of-tears-history-of-the-weeping-madonna-of-syracuse-madonna-delle-lacrime/">tear drop</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An unusual cathedral, shaped like an upside-down flower, seen from above." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521686/original/file-20230418-28-78j86w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The church in Syracuse, Sicily, that holds a small statue of Mary believed to weep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/sanctuary-of-the-mary-of-the-tears-royalty-free-image/899173404?phrase=madonna%20of%20syracuse&adppopup=true">Michele Ponzio/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, weeping statues have been reported in places as distant from each other as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEe1a0IxROI">Paszto, Hungary</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/07/18/a-virgin-mary-statue-has-been-weeping-olive-oil-church-leaders-cant-explain-it/?utm_term=.9c0d38087e0b">Hobbs, New Mexico</a>. It is, however, rare for the Catholic Church to say that an apparently weeping statue has a supernatural cause.</p>
<p>Mary’s tears have special significance for Catholics. She is often pictured as crying over the sins of the world and the pain she endured in her earthly life. <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mfenelon/what-are-the-seven-sorrows-of-mary">Mary’s earthly sorrows</a> are depicted by seven swords piercing her flaming heart.</p>
<p>Given Mary’s religious and symbolic significance, it is not surprising for a supposed apparition site or a weeping statue to become an object of devotion.</p>
<p>And when this happens, the local bishop sometimes <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/08/is-seeing-believing-how-the-church-faces-claims-of-marian-apparitions">decides to investigate</a>.</p>
<h2>The possibility of fraud</h2>
<p>In examining claims of the supernatural, bishops follow standards set by the Vatican’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19780225_norme-apparizioni_en.html">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith</a>, which oversees Catholic doctrine. Perhaps because they address controversial issues, the standards were only <a href="https://www.catholicsun.org/2012/05/24/vatican-publishes-rules-for-verifying-marian-apparitions/">made public in 2012</a> – nearly 35 years after they were first implemented. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four adults stand in a dark room around a statue of a woman in a white dress and blue cloak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522205/original/file-20230420-26-3kquvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christians pray in 2014 next to a statue of the Virgin Mary in northern Israel that residents said was weeping oil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Mideast%20Israel%20Weeping%20Statue/523aed5a7cc742bdbfc4ba56f23a7a2c?Query=statue%20mary%20tear%20weep&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Ariel Schalit</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bishop, or a committee appointed by him, evaluates the alleged supernatural phenomenon. This involves interviewing witnesses and, sometimes, scientific tests. Impact on the community is also considered. Positive aspects include reports of physical healings and religious conversions, or a general deepening of faith among Catholics. Negative aspects would include selling oil from a purportedly weeping statue or claiming a message from Mary that goes against Catholic doctrine.</p>
<p>A well-known case of an apparition that the Catholic Church rejected concerns the visions of Veronica Lueken, the Brooklyn “Bayside Seer,” who died in 1995. Lueken reported a number of messages from Mary that concerned church authorities. For example, Lueken claimed in 1972 that Mary had told her that the pope was, in fact, <a href="https://www.tldm.org/Directives/d50.htm">an imposter</a> made to look like the true pope, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en.html">Paul VI</a>, through plastic surgery. Although <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/nyregion/visions-of-doom-endure-in-queens-prophecy-and-a-rift-at-a-shrine.html">belief in the messages endures</a> among a small number of Catholics, the local bishop <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/declaration-concerning-the-bayside-movement-11313">deemed the apparitions not credible</a>. </p>
<p>When it comes to weeping statues, one of the primary questions is whether the event has been staged. For example, in two cases of statues that supposedly had wept blood – one in <a href="https://www.apnews.com/5bc729e1e9f2b843d2557ec63e5db6da">Canada</a> in 1986 and another in <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/church_custodian_on_trial_in_italy_for_weeping_statue_hoax">Italy</a> in 2006 – the blood turned out be that of the statue’s owner. </p>
<p>Liquids can also be injected into the porous material of statues and later seep out as “tears.” Oil that is mixed with fat can be applied to a statue’s eyes, which will “weep” when <a href="https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/the-mystery-of-mary-s-tears/article_38c3d91a-127a-5f7c-b0d2-c2bec26744a5.html">ambient temperatures</a> rise. </p>
<h2>Searching for meaning</h2>
<p>The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis seems to be searching for proof of supernatural signs, which certainly draw intellectual curiosity and media attention.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XuFPwjsAAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar of global Catholicism</a> who has written about claims of the supernatural, I think it’s also important to understand what brings people to an apparition site or weeping statue in the first place. </p>
<p>In my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, statues and pictures have appeared to weep oil and blood at the home of the <a href="http://www.telegram.com/article/20070416/NEWS/704160667/1116&Template=printart">late Audrey Santo</a>, who died in 2007 at the age of 23. As a child, “Little Audrey” was left mute and paralyzed after a swimming pool accident. In spite of her physical condition, pilgrims who came to see her believed that she was praying for them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl with her mouth open lies in a bed as an older woman bends over her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228664/original/file-20180720-142432-1phkf6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A special outdoor Mass was celebrated in honor of Audrey Santo, who was reputed to be connected to miracles, at the Holy Cross College stadium in Worcester, Mass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Gail Oskin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After Santo’s death, a <a href="http://www.littleaudreysantofoundation.com/">foundation was established</a> to promote her cause for sainthood, believing that the statues and pictures in her home were signs that God has specially blessed her.</p>
<p><a href="https://crossworks.holycross.edu/rel_faculty_pub/5/">In my writings</a> about the case of Santo, I was definitely tempted to focus on talk of the supernatural. And the claims surrounding Little Audrey are still <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070928100126/http://www.worcesterdiocese.org/audrey.html">debated among Catholics</a> as her sainthood cause stalls. But what I found most interesting was listening to people share why weeping statues were so meaningful in their personal lives. </p>
<p>At the Santo home, the people I talked to shared moving personal stories of pain and sadness, hope and healing. In the end, the sense of togetherness in and through suffering was far more important than talk of scientific proofs of the supernatural.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-behind-belief-in-weeping-virgin-mary-statues-100358">an article originally published on July 23, 2018</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Investigating supernatural claims is a delicate task for the church, and Catholic leaders rarely label them as authentic.Mathew Schmalz, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040592023-04-19T16:44:39Z2023-04-19T16:44:39Z‘Esterno Notte’: Marco Bellochio’s series grapples with ghost of assassinated Italian prime minister Aldo Moro<p>Central Rome, 9 May 1978. A crowd of curious passersby spills out by an open car boot. There lies the bullet-riddled body of Aldo Moro, Italy’s Prime Minister, parked mid-way between the party headquarters of the Christian Democrats and those of the Communist Party. The scene concludes 55 days of kidnap and sequestration by the Marxist revolutionaries of the Red Brigades.</p>
<p>One of the darkest chapters in Italian history, the Aldo Moro affair continues to be revisited and written up to this day. Acclaimed film director Marco Bellocchio is the latest to add his take. In his mini-series <a href="https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-023478/esterno-notte/"><em>Esterno Notte</em></a> (“Exterior Night”), which was broadcast on French-German channel Arte throughout March, Bellochio walks us through the tortuous and often little-known history of Italian terrorism.</p>
<p>Bellocchio gives the floor to the tragedy’s protagonists: from the members of the <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-outre-terre2-2014-4-page-433.htm">Red Brigades</a> to Aldo Moro himself, without forgetting his family and the representatives of the political class of the time. The assassination remains a national trauma closely linked to the <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-mouvements-2003-3-page-196.html">“Years of Lead”</a> in Italy, which spanned the late 1960s to the early 1980s. </p>
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<p>Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the period saw a steady rise in political, economic and social tensions, ultimately culminating in a spate of terrorist attacks from the far left and right. Then the head of the Christian Democracy party, Aldo Moro sought to rally the nation around a government of “historical compromise” that would have brought in the general secretary of the Communist Party, Enrico Berlinguer. But the Red Brigades had other ideas, viewing the proposal as a sell-out from the communists.</p>
<p>From terrorist communiqués to official statements and letters written by Moro during his captivity, <em>Esterno Notte</em> exposes a tale of vengeful escalation in merciless detail. Each side intends to fight its corner at all costs, without compromise. The Red Brigades, a far-left terrorist organisation founded in the early 1970s that took up <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-outre-terre2-2014-4-page-433.htm">“armed propaganda”</a> in the name of the workers’ movement, are strengthened hour by hour in their vengeful resolve, just as the Italian authorities are strengthened in their resolve to annihilate them.</p>
<h2>The ruthless escalation of terrorist vengeance</h2>
<p>Was there ever any chance Moro could have escaped the “people’s prison”? Could he have exited the parallel proletarian justice system in which the Red Brigades “tried” him, as Bellocchio suggests when he brings him back to life in the introduction to his work? And, had the Italian government accepted their terms, could the Red Brigades have compromised by releasing him?</p>
<p>The argument that the Italian government could have negotiated with the Red Brigades is often put forward in certain academic literature, media and <a href="https://books.openedition.org/pur/49607">artistic intepretations</a>, and here reclaimed by <em>Esterno Notte</em>. However, this omits how tenacious the Red Brigades were in seeking revenge, and how an unfavourable historical and socio-political environment could corner all parties into the impasse of violence.</p>
<p>Often performative when it comes to revenge, discourse is central to this series, both in terms of the action it inspires and the events it reports. The first communiqué of the Red Brigades, which immediately follows <a href="https://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMEve/411">Moro’s kidnapping</a> on 16 March 1978, leaves no doubt as to the abductors’ bloody intentions. The talk is one of “annihilation”, posited by radical activists as the answer to a “bourgeois and imperialist counter-revolution” and to the “bloody policies” of which Moro would be the “political godfather and the most faithful executor”.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521859/original/file-20230419-18-o99uff.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Aldo Moro looks wearily into the camera during his detention by the Red Brigades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Aldo_Moro_br.jpg">Creative Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>A state dragged into the mud of retribution</h2>
<p>Another problem that <em>Esterno Notte</em> tackles head-on is the reaction of the authorities to this ruthless progression of revenge in the terrorist camp, even though we know <em>a posteriori</em> at <a href="https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00322.x">what price this revenge will come</a> for the Red Brigades. Why did the state apparatus refuse to negotiate with Moro’s kidnappers, when he expressly asked the government to release him and when the political elites were divided over the best course of action? The line that eventually emerged was that any mediation with the Red Brigades would be tantamount to complicity with the terrorists’ negotiation strategy and thus legitimise their violence, in a sensitive context marked by the death of many policemen since Italy launched its “war on terror”.</p>
<p>Writing in <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315088914-2/prelude-long-preparation-dying-life-aldo-moro-1916%E2%80%931978-1-david-moss">the <em>Corriere della Sera</em></a>, the writer and columnist Indro Montanelli argued that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If the Italian State had yielded to blackmail and negotiated with the violent forces that had already caused the death of five of Moro’s bodyguards, then the State, as a State, would no longer have any reason to exist.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, power had no alternative but to freeze into a stance of counter-retribution.</p>
<p>Consumed by their revenge, the Red Brigades systematically rejected any genuine discussion with the authorities, opting instead to send the government a succession of murderous messages. Thus, no exchange of prisoners took place, while all the political parties ended up rallying behind the certainty that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26299800">no democratic state in the world could bargain with terrorism</a>.</p>
<h2>Terrorism’s unforgivable crimes</h2>
<p>Last but not least, what can we learn from <em>Esterno Notte</em> about the eminently complex relationship between terrorism and forgiveness, especially in relation to <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1292116">the possibility, or not, of forgiving terrorists</a>? Is forgiveness even conceivable as a response to terrorism, a supreme crime in the eyes of all societies? Symptomatically, when it comes to terrorist acts, forgiveness is often absent and unattainable. While Moro evokes in one of his letters the forthcoming “moment of massacre” and implores the authorities to intervene, he also appears to have already relinquished the possibility by announcing that he will not forgive anyone and that no political party or government member will be able to attend his funeral.</p>
<p>If the character of Aldo Moro and his letters have inspired a great deal of interpretations since, it is important to question the <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2023/03/14/esterno-notte-sur-arte-la-passion-d-aldo-moro-selon-marco-bellocchio_6165472_3246.html">quasi-“Christology”</a> that Bellochio’s <em>Esterno Notte</em> dubs its subject with from the beginning. It is true that the victims of terrorism can sometimes forgive. But in this case, and contrary to the imaginary resurrection of Moro and the <a href="https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Ce-jour-la/9-mai-1978-Aldo-Moro-proche-Paul-VI-assassine-Brigades-rouges-2018-05-09-1200937656">sacrificial, if not martyrological picture</a> developed here, which tends to suggest a form of forgiveness on the part of the former leader, let us emphasise, once again, that he never forgave anything, either to his executioners, or to the authorities after they renounced saving him. This is probably the ultimate revenge that Moro could individually achieve.</p>
<p>In the end, Italian society has yet to assimilate this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/09/italy.worlddispatch">exceptionally brutal episode</a>. Moro’s assassination remains an indelible stain on local culture, marring not only political and media narratives, but also the very process of remembrance of terrorism. As the researcher Nicolas Demertzis points out in an <a href="https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-146">evocative contribution</a>, exorcising the shock of violence means forgiving its use in order to reconcile with the past. On the one hand, the Italian <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/mots/12032">“Years of Lead”</a> remain subject to controversy and are frequently instrumentalised by competing parties. On the other, the cycle of terrorist revenge and state counter-retribution tends to culminate, by nature, in the radical refusal of forgiveness. According to <a href="https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-146">Demertzis</a>, this ultimately amounts to “[defending][the integral subjectivity of the victim” and “[ethically protesting] against the unjustifiable evils and wrongs” inflicted by terrorism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204059/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myriam Benraad ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Marco Bellochio’s series is the latest interpretation of a murder that continues to haunt Italy.Myriam Benraad, Responsable du Département International Relations and Diplomacy, Schiller International University - Enseignante en relations internationales, Sciences Po Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032292023-04-06T19:32:12Z2023-04-06T19:32:12ZThe Vatican just renounced a 500-year-old doctrine that justified colonial land theft … Now what? — Podcast<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/a51538ad-52c3-4f39-b060-550a73ea8017?dark=true"></iframe>
<p>Last week, the Vatican finally <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-indigenous-papal-bulls-pope-francis-062e39ce5f7594a81bb80d0417b3f902">distanced itself from the Doctrine of Discovery</a> — a hundreds of years old decree that justified land theft and enslavement of people who were not Christian. </p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/the-vatican-just-renounced-a-500-year-old-doctrine-that-justified-colonial-land-theft-now-what">In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, political and Indigenous studies scholar Veldon Coburn explains why the Vatican’s repudiation of the Doctrine is a huge symbolic victory. We also examine what this repudiation may mean for members of Indigenous Nations, what prompted this renouncement, and what still needs to happen.</p>
<p>Coburn said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For an Indigenous person like myself, it’s profound because after four, five hundred years, since the first Papal Bull was issued, I didn’t think I’d see it. Even though it may not have great material influence over my relationship with the colonial state, I do know that it’s very difficult to get the church to change positions on things because, I mean, you had to twist their arm for a long time to get them to see that the sun was at the centre of the solar system and not the Earth.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Moral justifications for settler colonialism</h2>
<p>Coburn explained how the Doctrine became the ideological justification for settler colonialism and enslavement in the Americas, Africa and much of the former colonies as well as the basis of a legal framework that continues to operate and support land dispossession today. </p>
<p>For example, Coburn brings up a 2005 court case involving the Oneida Nation. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I know people cherished Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but she wrote the decision for the courts in 2005… It was kind of a cruel decision too. It’s like, we stole your land. We get it. You’re not getting it back. And then she explicitly cites the Doctrine of Discovery [denying] Indigenous title to the Oneida Nation in New York State.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We also get into the difference between western ideas about land and Indigenous Knowledge. And how ownership and commodification were central to this decree.</p>
<p>Coburn explained how the original decree declared Indigenous territories ready to be claimed because, under western Christian philosophies, land was to be used to generate profit. Coburn said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“They viewed our ‘non-usage’ of the whole territory as wasting God’s gifts. So these were to be exploited … in market exchange for the creation of wealth.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protest sign is held up. It says: Rescind the Doctrine of Discovery (sic)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519874/original/file-20230406-28-jfzc31.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester holds a sign as Pope Francis takes part in a public event in Iqaluit, Nunavut, July 29, 2022, during his papal visit across Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>The legacy of the Doctrine</h2>
<p>While the Church’s role in land theft was quickly taken up by new political entities, the lingering effects of the Doctrine are still evident in current legislative practices. </p>
<p>Christian and European supremacist ideas are evident in the decree: Indigenous Peoples and their existence on land was not sufficient evidence of proper governance. These ideas continue to function as a rationale for ongoing colonial practices. </p>
<h2>A welcome symbolic gesture</h2>
<p>For followers of the church, Coburn said, the Vatican’s official repudiation may work to alleviate the moral stain of colonial plunder. It may also serve as an admittance of culpability. </p>
<p>Mostly, Coburn suggests, the repudiation is a symbolic gesture offered alongside many others. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“…as we’ve seen with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau … the symbolic has moved ahead quite quickly [while] the material aspects of our lived existence still linger in a state that’s more resembling of the worst times of colonial assertions of sovereignty over it. So it really hasn’t changed. They’re still holding onto our land and saying, well, we said we’re sorry. What more can we do? There’s a lot more… the rightful return, restorative justice means: land back.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Read more</h2>
<p><a href="https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/capitalism-and-dispossession"><em>Capitalism and Dispossession</em> by Veldon Coburn</a></p>
<p><a href="https://humanrights.ca/story/doctrine-discovery">What is the Doctrine of Discovery?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.afn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/18-01-22-Dismantling-the-Doctrine-of-Discovery-EN.pdf">Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery</a>:
Recommendations from the Assembly of First Nations on how to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery</p>
<p><a href="https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/capitalism-and-dispossession"><em>Corporate Canada at Home and Abroad</em> (May 2022) (edited by David P. Thomas and Veldon Coburn)</a>: “This edited collection brings together a broad range of case studies to highlight the role of Canadian corporations in producing, deepening and exacerbating conditions of dispossession both at home and abroad.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/30/1167056438/vatican-doctrine-of-discovery-colonialism-indigenous?tpcc=nlraceahead">The Vatican repudiates ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ which was used to justify colonialism</a>:
“The ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ that was used to justify snuffing out Indigenous people’s culture and livelihoods is not part of the Catholic faith.”</p>
<p><a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/rcmp-arrests-wetsuweten-gidimten-camp/">RCMP arrest five land defenders on Wet’suwet’en territory as Coastal GasLink construction continues</a>: Dinï ze’ (Hereditary Chief) Gisday’wa says: “There’s no such thing as Crown land in Canada … It belongs to us, the Natives.” In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the Wet’suwet’en never gave up their Rights and Title to the territory in a landmark case called Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, a 500-year-old decree used to justify settler colonialism. Scholar Veldon Coburn explains this symbolic victory and what still needs to happen.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientBoké Saisi, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016382023-03-12T15:23:57Z2023-03-12T15:23:57ZPope Francis: the first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514818/original/file-20230312-4561-9x10he.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in February 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guerchom Ndebo/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When he was presented to a cheering crowd at St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/13/pope-francis-mario-bergoglio-election">13 March 2013</a>, few people outside Latin America knew much about Jorge Bergoglio.</p>
<p>But a decade later, based on my work as a scholar of Catholicism, I would argue that most Catholics know and love Pope Francis. They also see a deep connection between his message and priorities, and their dreams and hopes for a better church and a world that is reconciled.</p>
<p>When Pope Francis was introduced in 2013, I was working as an African expert on global Catholicism for Canada Television. I went blank when the new pope was presented to the world on live TV because I had no biographical information on him. So, I <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pope/opinion-what-happens-in-the-catholic-church-matters-to-everyone-1.1193979">ran off the list</a> of what we African Catholics wanted from the new pope. </p>
<p>This included a decentralised and decolonised Catholicism, with more powers given to local church leaders to address local challenges using their own cultural and spiritual resources. There was also the urgent need to give African Catholics more places at the decision-making table in the world church. </p>
<p>Before Pope Francis, many of these challenges were either ignored, spiritualised or papered over through moral platitudes. Pope Francis has taken them on. He is the first post-colonial pope to <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_constitutions/documents/20220319-costituzione-ap-praedicate-evangelium.html">challenge the system</a> within the church and society that exploits the poor and vulnerable. </p>
<p>Pope Francis’ papacy is anchored on what he calls a “<a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2019-12/the-revolution-of-tenderness.html">revolution of tenderness</a>”. This reflects two central themes: the courage to dream and the culture of encounter.</p>
<p>These two themes have resonated with African Catholics. They awaken a sense of hope that by collectively tapping into Africa’s human, material and spiritual resources, it’s possible to address the continent’s social, economic and political challenges. </p>
<h2>The courage to dream</h2>
<p>The word “dream” is a constant in Pope Francis’ vocabulary. It is the title of one of his recent books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Let-Us-Dream-Better-Future/dp/1982171863/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=80694070239&hvadid=585362630358&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1009824&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8693299832780598455&hvtargid=kwd-1004150851821&hydadcr=19673_13388860&keywords=let+us+dream+pope+francis&qid=1678516851&sr=8-1">Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future</a>. In it, he invites people to work together as one human family and break the chains of domination driven by nationalism, economic protectionism and discrimination. </p>
<p>He described his <a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">recent trip to Africa</a> as a dream come true. It gave him the opportunity to <a href="http://www.vaticannews.cn/en/pope/news/2023-02/pope-at-audience-visit-to-drc-and-south-sudan-to-bring-peace.html">share a message of hope and peace</a> with the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">Pope Francis' visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church</a>
</strong>
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<p>When he <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-03/pope-francis-urbi-et-orbi-blessing-coronavirus.html">stood alone</a> at St Peter’s Square in March 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis asked humanity “to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength”, and embrace the courage to dream again. </p>
<p>Reflecting on the question Jesus asked his disciples in the Bible, “<a href="https://www.bible.com/bible/116/MAT.8.26.NLT">Why are you afraid?</a>”. He encouraged humanity not to lose hope because of the fear and despair surrounding the loss of lives from the virus.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pope Francis walks to deliver a special blessing at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images</span></span>
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<h2>The culture of encounter</h2>
<p>In his speech to the <a href="https://time.com/4049905/pope-francis-us-visit-united-nations-speech-transcript/">UN General Assembly in 2015</a>, Pope Francis invited the world to embrace a <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/a-culture-of-encounter-pope-francis-ubuntu-paradigm-for-global-fraternity">culture of encounter</a>. </p>
<p>This, he said, would lead to a “revolution of tenderness” and the globalisation of love and solidarity.</p>
<p>I have argued in <a href="https://works.bepress.com/stanchuilo/">my research</a> that the “culture of encounter” is his way of capturing the communal ethics of <a href="https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ubuntu_(philosophy)#:%7E:text=as%20a%20whole.-,Meaning%20of%20the%20word%20ubuntu,Bantu%20languages%20have%20similar%20terms.">ubuntu</a>, which encompasses African values of community, participation, inclusion and solidarity. </p>
<p>Under this theme, Pope Francis is <a href="https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2023-03/quo-051/the-transfiguration-of-pope-francis-and-god-s-people-in-africa.html">challenging people</a> to envision a world freed from violence and war; of a common humanity dwelling in peace in a healthy climate; and of economies that work for all, especially the poor.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/francis-is-the-first-jesuit-pope-heres-how-that-has-shaped-his-10-year-papacy-200667">Francis is the first Jesuit pope – here's how that has shaped his 10-year papacy</a>
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<p>In his letter to bishops, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html">Fratelli Tutti (no.195)</a>, Pope Francis says the culture of encounter can shatter socially and historically designed narrow structures, systems and institutional practices. The dream of a better world, he says, can be realised if people learn to love rather than hate. </p>
<p>Pope Francis challenges all global citizens to contribute to mending the interconnections that have been ruptured among peoples, nations, cultures, churches and religions. These ruptures, he says, are the result of long years of exclusionary practices, unjust economic and global systems, and false ideologies of identity. </p>
<h2>Realising the dream</h2>
<p>In his apostolic exhortation <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20200202_querida-amazonia.html">Querida Amazonia</a>, Pope Francis writes about four dreams he has for all people.</p>
<p>First is a social dream, where everyone can live an abundant life in dignity and in a healthy environment. This can be realised, he proposes, through “an arduous effort on behalf of the poor”.</p>
<p>The second is a cultural dream where people’s cultures are affirmed. Their talents are valued, and they can apply their human potential and material resources as free agents. For an African continent that continues to suffer the effects of colonialism in both church and state, Pope Francis proposes a strong resistance to the destructive forces of neocolonialism.</p>
<p>The third dream is the hope for humanity that flourishes through responsible stewardship of Earth’s resources. This invites all peoples to care for, protect and defend the environment.</p>
<p>The fourth dream is Pope Francis’ hope that the Catholic church will become a community of communities, where people seek common ground. This requires the rejection of any forms of exclusionary practices in the church. It advocates the liberation of the poor, and the protection of the rights of the vulnerable and those who have suffered neglect, oppression and abuse. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-shouldnt-seem-so-surprising-when-the-pope-says-being-gay-isnt-a-crime-a-catholic-theologian-explains-198566">It shouldn't seem so surprising when the pope says being gay 'isn't a crime' – a Catholic theologian explains</a>
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<p>Realising this dream, in Africa particularly, requires dismantling the structures of neocolonialism, the global structures of injustice, and the dependency cycle that continues to characterise the relationship between the continent and the rest of the world. </p>
<p>It will also require a new crop of transformational leaders who are on the side of the people. Leaders who place the interests of their countries and the continent above selfish, ethnic or partisan interests. </p>
<h2>New identity</h2>
<p>Pope Francis’ revolution of tenderness can help bring about a new cohesive identity in Africa built on a historical consciousness of who we are, how far we have come and how we can reach the future of our dream. </p>
<p>The courage to dream and the culture of encounter are capable of ushering in new ethics of co-operation, collaboration and inclusion so that the common good is promoted and preserved for the benefit of all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stan Chu Ilo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pope Francis’ papacy is anchored on what he calls a “revolution of tenderness”.Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2006672023-03-10T13:40:44Z2023-03-10T13:40:44ZFrancis is the first Jesuit pope – here’s how that has shaped his 10-year papacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514040/original/file-20230307-14-9bcxwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C4%2C1020%2C677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in Vatican City on Feb. 15, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-attends-his-weekly-general-audience-at-the-news-photo/1466415224?phrase=%22pope%20francis%22&adppopup=true">Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since Jorge Mario Bergoglio first stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, he has made no shortage of statements that attract attention. “<a href="https://www.ncronline.org/francis-explains-who-am-i-judge">Who am I to judge</a>?” he famously said about gay priests. “Nowadays there is <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/06/20/160620d.html">an economy that kills</a>,” he once declared – a comment that led critics to rather implausibly label the pontiff <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/12/15/pope-marxist-label/4030929/">a Marxist</a>.</p>
<p>As the Argentinian pope approaches the 10th year of his papacy, his positions on issues deemed “political” still <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-shouldnt-seem-so-surprising-when-the-pope-says-being-gay-isnt-a-crime-a-catholic-theologian-explains-198566">make their way into headlines</a>. But as is the nature of headlines, the framework from which his positions emerge isn’t always apparent.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/religiousstudies/gabrielli-timothy.php">a researcher of Catholicism</a>, I’d like to shed some light on a common pattern in Pope Francis’ writings. It’s a pattern that I believe is rooted in the pope’s spirituality as a Jesuit – a member of the <a href="https://www.jesuits.org/about-us/the-jesuits/">Society of Jesus</a> – a Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the 16th century. </p>
<h2>Saint’s legacy</h2>
<p>The “<a href="https://store.loyolapress.com/the-spiritual-exercises-of-saint-ignatius-ganss">Spiritual Exercises</a>,” written by St. Ignatius, is a guide to spiritual development that Jesuits and others have used for centuries. It encourages participants to pay careful attention to the inner movements of the spirit or soul that shape their decisions and actions. </p>
<p>The goal of the <a href="https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/andrew-garfield-spiritual-exercises/">step-by-step exercises</a> is to recognize oneself as a sinner, but – crucially – a sinner loved by God. A “spiritual director” helps the participant first to recognize brokenness in their life, then to perceive God’s love by contemplating the life of Jesus. Ultimately, the exercises lead people to deepen their relationship with Christ, so that they may discern how best to make decisions. </p>
<p>Like a spiritual director, Francis’ first step is often to acknowledge a “presenting problem,” as a doctor might say: the symptom or apparent issue that is bothering someone. He then eliminates superficial solutions that don’t address the underlying “disease,” before calling for a more fundamental change.</p>
<p>In 2018, for example, U.S. bishops were set to vote on two proposals related to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-sex-abuse-crisis-4-essential-reads-169442">clerical sex abuse</a>: a code of conduct for clerics and new review boards to evaluate bishops’ conduct. Commentators from all quarters howled when Francis <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/13/18089134/usccb-catholic-bishop-pope-francis-vote-clerical-sex-abuse">halted the vote</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of people in winter clothing holding candles during a nighttime vigil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514513/original/file-20230309-121-jyl2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Portuguese Catholics hold candles during a vigil in Lisbon for the victims of clerical sexual abuse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portuguese-members-of-the-faithful-hold-candles-during-a-news-photo/1468641791?phrase=catholic%20church%20sex%20abuse&adppopup=true">Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Instead, he insisted that the bishops go on <a href="https://www.usccb.org/about/leadership/holy-see/francis/upload/francis-lettera-washington-traduzione-inglese-20190103.pdf">a religious retreat</a>. The Church’s credibility had been “undercut and diminished,” he warned. Francis called on them to relearn how to relate to one another, and to lay Catholics, by spending time in prayer with the gospels, so that they would focus less on “pointing fingers” and more on “seeking paths of reconciliation.”</p>
<p>Without that more fundamental change, Francis wrote, codes and boards could merely be about meeting corporate-style “standards of functionalism and efficiency,” and the call to fundamentally mend relationships would go unheeded. Policies might indeed be necessary, but not before the bishops reminded themselves of their fundamental task to follow Jesus in building relationships with one another and laity.</p>
<p>Several months afterward, the group <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2019/us-bishops-vote-favor-three-additional-bishop-accountability-measures-during-baltimore">adopted new rules</a> for oversight of bishops. Critics argued the reforms <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/06/13/catholic-bishops-adopt-long-promised-abuse-plan-bishops-police-bishops/">did not go far enough</a>, however, particularly in terms of involving lay people or law enforcement.</p>
<h2>Going to the root</h2>
<p>Yet the 2018 episode underscores a broader theme of Francis’ papacy: When accompanying a person, the church or even the whole world on a spiritual journey, pointing out problems and tinkering with surface-level solutions is never going to be good enough. What’s needed, he insists, is a cure for a deeper malaise. </p>
<p>As he said early in his papacy, describing the mission of the church today, “I see the church as <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/09/30/big-heart-open-god-interview-pope-francis">a field hospital</a> after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds.” </p>
<p>In Francis’ eyes, both the church and society are wounded, and the church does not stand apart from the world’s problems – in fact, it must not, because it is Christ’s ongoing presence on earth. But both must acknowledge their deeper sources of brokenness in order to find true solutions.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pope Francis blesses a child attending the weekly general audience at the Vatican in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-blesses-a-sick-child-attending-the-weekly-news-photo/1094264400?phrase=%22pope%20francis%20blesses%20a%22&adppopup=true">Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>This ethos is apparent in Francis’ approach to one of the most pressing problems today: climate change. In 2015, he issued the first papal document dedicated exclusively to <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html">ecological degradation</a>. It begins, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20150630_laudato-si-ecosoc_en.html">said a key adviser to Francis</a>, with “a spiritual listening to the results of the best scientific research on environmental matters available today,” which demonstrates that our environmental situation is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-everyone-needs-to-know-about-climate-change-in-6-charts-170556">bad and getting worse</a>.</p>
<p>That’s the presenting problem. A superficial response is <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html#_ftnref85">purely technological</a>: Humans can gain ever greater control over the natural world and its changes. The structures resulting from that vision of domination stand at the root of environmental degradation because technology alone will always come up short, Francis argued.</p>
<p>To perceive the proper place of technological innovation, the world needs an “ecological conversion,” he wrote – a spiritual shift so that people perceive how “everything is connected,” from honeybees and supply lines to compost and impoverishment.</p>
<p>This idea comes from the New Testament, he said, which narrates Jesus’ “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html#_ftnref78">tangible and loving relationship with the world</a>.” In the pope’s interpretation, because everything hangs together in Christ, the source of all creation, everything is interconnected. Indeed, the pope’s attention to interconnectedness and healing seems to guide his views on everything from homosexuality to economic inequality.</p>
<h2>Spiritual director in chief</h2>
<p>A few months into Francis’ papacy, an interviewer asked, “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/september/documents/papa-francesco_20130921_intervista-spadaro.html">Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio</a>?”</p>
<p>“A sinner,” he replied, echoing Ignatius’ “Spiritual Exercises.” </p>
<p>After decades of practicing Jesuit spirituality, Francis has now spent 10 years as pope applying those practices to a much larger audience, reflecting on the deeper roots of brokenness in the world – and urging people toward fundamental change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200667/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Gabrielli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘I see the church as a field hospital,’ Pope Francis once said – not a place where superficial solutions will do much good.Timothy Gabrielli, Gudorf Chair in Catholic Intellectual Traditions, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976332023-01-16T13:45:14Z2023-01-16T13:45:14ZPope Francis’ visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504210/original/file-20230112-53024-f2g4xr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis in Nairobi, Kenya, during his first papal visit to the African continent in 2015. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nichole Sobecki/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During his <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202212020298.html">planned visit</a> to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in February 2023, Pope Francis intends to be in dialogue with African Catholics – but also to listen to political leaders and young Africans. </p>
<p>This visit comes at a defining moment in what is regarded as a fairly progressive papacy.</p>
<p>Pope Francis has convened a worldwide consultation on the future of the Catholic church. This consultation, called a <a href="https://www.synod.va/en/what-is-the-synod-21-24/about.html">synodal process</a>, began in 2021 and will conclude in 2024. </p>
<p>It is the most ambitious dialogue ever undertaken on bringing changes in Catholic beliefs and practices since the Second Vatican Council’s reforms in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162573716/why-is-vatican-ii-so-important#:%7E:text=AP-,Pope%20Paul%20VI%20hands%20Orthodox%20Metropolitan%20Meliton%20of%20Heliopolis%20a,Orthodox%20churches%20nine%20centuries%20before">1965</a>. It is exciting for reform-minded Catholics, but distressing for conservative Catholics. </p>
<p>The ongoing synodal process has exposed the fault lines in modern Catholicism on the issues of women, celibacy, sexuality, marriage, clericalism and hierarchism. How Pope Francis – who marks a decade of his papacy this year – manages these increasingly divisive issues will, in my judgement, largely define his legacy. </p>
<p><a href="https://works.bepress.com/stanchuilo/">My research</a> has focused on how African Catholics can bring about a <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/as-pope-francis-visits-af_b_8633590">consensus approach</a> in managing these contested issues.</p>
<p>The big questions for me are how another papal visit to Africa at this point will address the challenges and opportunities that Africans are identifying through the synodal process – and how this plays into the state of Catholicism in Africa.</p>
<h2>The influence of African Catholicism</h2>
<p>The Catholic church is witnessing its fastest growth in Africa (recent statistics show <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/global-christianity/#:%7E:text=April%2030%2C%202022&text=Following%20recent%20trends%2C%20the%20Catholic,growth%20in%20Europe%20(0.3%25)">2.1%</a> growth between 2019 and 2020). Out of a global population of <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250362/number-of-catholics-in-asia-and-africa-continues-to-rise">1.36 billion Catholics</a>, 236 million are African (20% of the total).</p>
<p>African Catholics are not simply growing in number. They are reinventing and reinterpreting Christianity. They are infusing it with new language and spiritual vibrancy through unique ways of worshipping God. </p>
<p>Given its expansion, the Catholic church in Africa is well placed to be a central driver of social, political and spiritual life. In many settings, the church provides a community of hope where the fabric of society is weak because of war, humanitarian disasters and disease. </p>
<p>The DRC, for instance, has the highest number of Catholic health facilities in Africa at <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=cZ51EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT649&lpg=PT649&dq=the+Democratic+Republic+of+Congo+(DRC)+has+the+highest+number+of+Catholic+health+facilities+in+Africa+at+2,185&source=bl&ots=c6A8EdULGF&sig=ACfU3U0WBNUa2VbKVLfl4xQMRkmVMeaH2g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigo7Te88P8AhV1WqQEHchBCSEQ6AF6BAgqEAM#v=onepage&q=the%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Congo%20(DRC)%20has%20the%20highest%20number%20of%20Catholic%20health%20facilities%20in%20Africa%20at%202%2C185&f=false">2,185</a>. It is followed by Kenya with 1,092 and Nigeria with 524 facilities. Additionally, bishops have mobilised peaceful protests against violence in the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/4/dr-congo-thousands-of-churchgoers-protest-rebel-violence">DRC</a> and <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2020-03/nigeria-bishops-protest-march-against-extremism.html">Nigeria</a>. </p>
<p>Another major feature of Catholicism on the continent is that it is witnessing a “youth bulge”. Central to Pope Francis’ advocacy for Africa is his appeal that churches, religious groups and governments show solidarity with young people. He calls them “the church of now”. </p>
<p>The pope expressed this most recently in <a href="https://www.aciafrica.org/news/6990/engage-your-history-keep-your-roots-intact-pope-francis-to-african-catholic-students">November 2022</a> during a synodal consultation with African youth. He denounced the exploitation of Africa by external forces and its destruction by wars, ideologies of violence and policies that rob young people of their future. </p>
<h2>Why DRC and South Sudan?</h2>
<p>Pope Francis comes to Africa as part of the synodal consultation. He takes the message of a humble and merciful church to some of the most challenging parts of Africa: the <a href="https://theconversation.com/conflict-in-the-drc-5-articles-that-explain-whats-gone-wrong-195332">DRC</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-sudan-root-causes-of-ongoing-conflict-remain-untouched-133542">South Sudan</a>. </p>
<p>These two countries illustrate the impact of neo-liberal capitalism and the effects of slavery, colonialism and imperialism. Together, they have unleashed the most destructive economic, social and political upheaval in modern African history. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/conflict-in-the-drc-5-articles-that-explain-whats-gone-wrong-195332">Conflict in the DRC: 5 articles that explain what's gone wrong</a>
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<p>Pope Francis is coming to listen especially to the poor, to young people and to women who have been violated in conflicts. He also hopes to address the hidden wounds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-sex-abuse-crisis-4-essential-reads-169442">clerical sexual abuse</a> in the church.</p>
<p>Pope Francis will see how war, dictatorship and ecological disasters have denied ordinary people access to land, labour and lodging. These are the “three Ls” he <a href="https://cjd.org/2015/09/08/sacred-rights-land-lodging-and-labor/">proposes</a> as vital in giving agency to the poor. </p>
<h2>Some opposition</h2>
<p>Pope Francis will no doubt receive a warm welcome during his visit. Most African Catholics embrace his message of a poor and merciful church because it speaks to their challenges. </p>
<p>But there are many African Catholics, particularly high-ranking church leaders, who are yet to embrace this reform agenda. The previous two popes encouraged a centralising tendency, which promoted unquestioning loyalty to Rome by African bishops. As a result, these bishops resisted attempts by African theologians to modernise and Africanise Catholic beliefs and practices to meet local needs and circumstances. </p>
<p>This has led to some African bishops being uncomfortable with Pope Francis’ <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html">progressive agenda</a> on liberation theology, openness to gay Catholics, condemnation of clerical privilege and power, and inclusion of women in mainstream leadership. </p>
<p>Rather than being a strong church that looks like Africa, some of the Catholic dioceses on the continent have embraced medieval traditions – like Roman rituals and Latin – that alienate ordinary African Catholics, especially young people. </p>
<h2>Africa’s future role</h2>
<p>Pope Francis has often <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2022/november/documents/20221119-cuamm.html">spoken</a> of giving Africa a voice in the church and in the world. </p>
<p>Many African Catholics wonder how this will happen when, for the first time in more than 30 years, there is just one African holding an important executive function at the Vatican. This is Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tanzania, the secretary of the <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-06/dicastery-evangelization-vatican-praedicate-evangelium.html">Dicastery for the Evangelization of Peoples</a>, a department at the Vatican’s central offices. </p>
<p>Many African Catholics hope that Pope Francis will announce some African appointments to the Vatican during his February 2023 visit. </p>
<p>They also are hoping he will create a pontifical commission for Africa, similar to the <a href="http://www.americalatina.va/content/americalatina/es.html">Latin American commission</a> created in 1958. This will be a significant way of giving African Catholics a voice in the church of Rome. </p>
<p>Pope Francis hasn’t fully recovered from the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/knee-problem-forces-pope-francis-cancel-july-africa-trip-2022-06-10/">health challenges</a> that led to the cancellation of the trip last July. But he is making this trip because <a href="https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2015/11/29/news/pope-opens-holy-door-today-bangui-is-the-spiritual-capital-of-the-world-1.35211106/">he believes</a> that Africa matters. </p>
<p>Through the sessions that the pope will conduct with Africans, especially young people, it’s hoped that the Catholic church in Africa can help address the causes of war and suffering in the DRC and South Sudan, and the obstacles to reforming the church in Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stan Chu Ilo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>African Catholics are growing in number. They are also reinventing and reinterpreting Christianity.Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor , World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976132023-01-11T01:50:18Z2023-01-11T01:50:18ZGeorge Pell: a ‘political bruiser’ whose church legacy will be overshadowed by child abuse allegations<p>Former senior Vatican figure George Pell has died in Rome from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/cardinal-george-pell-dies-vatican-aged-81/101843096">complications</a> following hip surgery. He was 81.</p>
<p>Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/what-cardinal-george-pell-hated-most-about-his-time-in-prison/news-story/1ec0d4d2112e1d7af745189b397e1be5">13 months</a> for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.</p>
<p>Once a top official in charge of reforming the Vatican finances, and also Australia’s highest-ranked Catholic figure, Pell leaves behind a complex legacy.</p>
<p>His death will be sad for the Catholics who held him in high regard but less so for the many critics he attracted in Australia and elsewhere over the course of his career. </p>
<p>It’s hard to believe he will not be remembered most vividly for the trial in 2019 and 2020, when he was accused and then convicted of several counts of sexual abuse of children within the St Patrick’s Cathedral complex itself. His conviction was later overturned.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-george-pell-won-in-the-high-court-on-a-legal-technicality-133156">How George Pell won in the High Court on a legal technicality</a>
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<h2>Heavily criticised</h2>
<p>Though his conviction was overturned by the High Court, there are many in Australian society who still felt Pell didn’t do enough when he was Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney to act against abuse by priests in the dioceses he controlled.</p>
<p>He was heavily <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/pell-knew-in-1982-that-ridsdale-was-moved-to-save-church-from-scandal-20200507-p54qr9.html">criticised</a> by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. When its report was released after Pell’s conviction was quashed in 2020, it condemned him for his failures to take action against abusive priests – particularly against serial paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.</p>
<p>One thing I think Pell’s own court case highlighted is a particular absurdity about legal reporting in Australia, in that everyone outside Australia knew he had been convicted but no one in Australia could report it. </p>
<p>That’s part of his legacy; this case exposed the difficulty in legal reporting. It’s actually quite important.</p>
<h2>A political bruiser</h2>
<p>Pell was, without a doubt, the most powerful Australian ever to rise through the ranks of the Catholic church. He put Australia on the map in the Vatican in a way it had not been at any other time in history.</p>
<p>It’s testament to how well he was regarded as an administrator in the church that even though he was one of the most staunch conservatives of his generation, the comparatively liberal Pope Francis still turned to him to ask him to regain control of Vatican finances. In other words, his talents were recognised even by liberals within the church.</p>
<p>He was an outsider to the nexus of Italian cardinals who usually controlled that aspect of Vatican activity. </p>
<p>When you talk to people who knew him, they say that in private Pell could be quite charming. But his public personality was as a political bruiser who was simply able to sweep aside opposition, which is what allowed him to ascend the hierarchy so quickly.</p>
<p>He was an ideological fellow traveller with Pope Benedict in many ways, but their style and personality couldn’t have been more different. Benedict was the softly spoken professor type, whereas Pell learned how to do politics in the boxing ring and on the footy field. That shaped his response to any given problem. </p>
<h2>Before and after the court cases</h2>
<p>Pell came from Ballarat, and had, in many ways, a difficult childhood where he wasn’t always physically well. </p>
<p>But he came through it and channelled a lot of his energy into physical pursuits. He <a href="https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/richmond-removes-cardinal-george-pell-as-club-vice-patron-following-child-sex-crime-conviction/news-story/b7fa3681fb5d80c11d44a3346a78a2a7">signed</a> for Richmond Football Club in 1959 and was on the verge of becoming a professional player. Yet he decided instead to give it all up to go into the seminary. I don’t think anyone but he could explain exactly why he made that choice.</p>
<p>His talent to cut to the heart of the problem and impose his solution is what got him noticed by his superiors in Australia and the Vatican and helped his rise though the ranks.</p>
<p>After the court case, Pell quietly returned to Rome, where he has been living in semi-retirement since. He’s only made a handful of public statements and he also published some writing he did during his time in prison.</p>
<p>In Easter last year he urged the Vatican to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/cardinal-george-pell-and-the-status-of-gay-catholics/13809320">intervene</a> to stop German priests who were advocating that homosexuality might be OK. </p>
<p>All in all, Pell had an important impact on making Australia central to the church but that will be overshadowed by the accusation he didn’t do enough to stop abuse by priests and by his own court cases. </p>
<p>This period will no doubt be triggering for survivors and it’s important to remember that. Many adults in the Catholic church and other institutions failed children in a lot of ways and it’s important we remember survivors of abuse and the profound effect public discussion of this case will have on them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-have-media-outlets-been-fined-more-than-1-million-for-their-pell-reporting-162173">Why have media outlets been fined more than $1 million for their Pell reporting?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miles Pattenden has previously received research funding from the British Academy, the European Commission, and the Government of Spain.
</span></em></p>Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.Miles Pattenden, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1937312022-11-04T10:18:28Z2022-11-04T10:18:28ZWhat is beatification? How the Catholic church determines the path to sainthood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492980/original/file-20221102-12-sx5ihr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On 5 November 2022, the Catholic Church will formally recognise Sister Maria Carola Cechin (<a href="https://www.cottolengo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Biografia%20in%20Inglese.pdf?x12356">1877-1925</a>) as “Blessed”. The Italian-born nun spent two decades serving in Kenya. </p>
<p>After this, in places closely associated with Sister Carola or within her religious order, Catholic church services can be held in her honour. An annual celebration in the church calendar of seasons can also be dedicated to her. Additionally, churches and other institutions in those areas can be named after her. </p>
<p>The process culminating in calling Sister Carola “Blessed” is known as beatification. This marks the second-last step before canonisation, which is the official admission into sainthood. </p>
<p>So how does the Catholic church decide who may be honoured in this way? </p>
<h2>The history</h2>
<p>From the earliest years of Christianity, some people after they died were recognised as having been exceptionally holy. For the first 500 years of the Church, they were given the title “saint” by popular acclaim. They were looked at as being already in heaven, close to God. Their prayers for people on Earth who sought their intercession were thought to be especially effective.</p>
<p>Gradually, local bishops became involved in such cases. From the beginning of the second millennium – to avoid potential abuses and to create universal standards – the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en/dicasteri/dicastero-cause-santi/profilo.html#:%7E:text=The%20Dicastery%20for%20the%20Causes,the%20instruction%20of%20a%20cause">process of formal recognition as a saint</a> became increasingly centralised in the Vatican, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. </p>
<h2>How to become beatified</h2>
<p>Currently, the path towards being acclaimed as a saint involves several stages and may take many years to complete.</p>
<p>To allow for some objectivity and to avoid purely emotional reactions, at least five years must normally pass after the death of a person before a request is made to the local bishop to start the “cause for canonisation.” </p>
<p>This local enquiry into someone held to have lived a very holy life involves interviewing people who knew the person. Historians, archivists and theologians also look deeply into the person’s deeds. This process is to confirm their exceptional holiness and investigate their writings for assurance that they wrote nothing contradicting the Catholic faith. If bad behaviour or scandal is discovered, evidence of a thorough change of life must also be presented.</p>
<p>Other bishops and the Vatican are then consulted. Following a positive evaluation, the Vatican grants the person the title “Servant of God” and their cause for canonisation officially opens. </p>
<p>At this stage, their body may be exhumed and examined, and relics taken and preserved. However, public religious services in their honour are forbidden. </p>
<p>Following more extensive investigation by the Roman authorities into their lives and their work, and with evidence that other people have taken them as a model for Christian life, they can then be known as “Venerable”. With this title, the church recognises that someone lived an outstandingly good life, and that their reputation for holiness and virtue is well deserved. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-miracle-heres-how-the-catholic-church-decides-170183">What's a 'miracle'? Here's how the Catholic Church decides</a>
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<p>The next stage is beatification. With the change in title to “Blessed”, the Catholic church effectively states that it is “worthy of belief” that the person is now with God in heaven. </p>
<p>In most cases, evidence for this comes in the form of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-miracle-heres-how-the-catholic-church-decides-170183">miracle</a> attributed to the person’s intervention. (In cases of martyrdom, where a person has suffered death or persecution for their Catholic faith, a miracle is not required for beatification or canonisation.) </p>
<h2>Sister Carola’s miracle</h2>
<p>The Catholic church investigates claimed miracles meticulously. The vast majority of these miracles involve cases of scientifically inexplicable healing. </p>
<p>A panel of scientists is convened in the diocese where the miracle is alleged to have occurred. For the process of potential beatification to continue, the scientists’ positive verdict is required, stating that a healing was spontaneous, instantaneous and lasting. </p>
<p>The medical dossier is then scrutinised in Rome by a different scientific panel. And a team of Rome-based theologians re-investigates the life of the “Venerable”. </p>
<p>Positive scientific and theological evaluations are passed to a panel of cardinals and bishops. They pass on their recommendations to the pope, who declares the person to be worthy of the title “Blessed”. </p>
<p>At Sister Carola’s beatification ceremony in Kenya, a bishop will present an account of her life and a representative of the pope will read a letter granting her the title “Blessed.”</p>
<p>Sister Carola’s beatification follows the confirmation of a <a href="https://cottolengokenya.org/blog/2021/12/16/the-miracle-attributed-to-the-venerable-sister-maria-carola-cecchin-has-been-recognized/">miracle attributed to her</a>. In December 2021, officials in Rome agreed that a prayer made for her intervention led to the <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/eastern/article/2001448010/catholic-church-to-declare-sister-carola-blessed-on-november-5">survival of a boy</a> born with no heartbeat in a village in Meru, central Kenya. </p>
<p>Sister Carola becomes the second person who worked in Kenya to be beatified after <a href="http://consolatasisters.org/blessed-sr-irene-stefani/">Sister Irene Stefani</a> in May 2015. The miracle attributed to Sister Stefani’s intercession involved not a healing, but the multiplication of water in a fountain at a Mozambican parish used as a hideout during a civil war in 1989.</p>
<h2>How to become a saint</h2>
<p>There is no official tally of the number of saints, but the last three popes have beatified and canonised many more people than their immediate predecessors, often during their international travels. This has usually been in places where they have strong local connections, and in countries where Christianity is comparatively new and local saints few in number. Africa has a handful of saints canonised in modern times. They include the 22 <a href="https://theconversation.com/martyrs-day-how-life-in-uganda-today-mirrors-the-dark-old-days-of-kabaka-184274">martyrs of Uganda</a> who were granted the title in 1964.</p>
<p>In 1983, Pope John Paul II (who was declared a saint in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/popes-john-paul-ii-and-john-xxiii-saints-canonisation">April 2014</a>) simplified the process of beatification. He reduced the time between the person’s death and the opening of the process from 50 years to the current five. </p>
<p>During his papacy, <a href="https://epicpew.com/john-paul-ii-death-anniversary/">1,340 people</a> were beatified. This is more than all his predecessors since the 1660s when beatifications became common after the Vatican centralised saint-making. </p>
<p>The current pontiff, Pope Francis, has continued the <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/money-and-saint-making">process of reform</a>. In 2016, greater financial transparency was instituted regarding the considerable costs that the process can involve. In 2020, he also added a new path to beatification in the case of someone who offered up their life so that someone else might live. </p>
<p>Many “Blesseds” remain at this level for centuries or forever. Recognition as a saint requires an additional miracle to be confirmed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorian Llywelyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From the earliest years of Christianity, some people have been recognised as having lived exceptionally holy lives.Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1903192022-09-19T12:21:29Z2022-09-19T12:21:29ZWhy China feels threatened by the moral authority of a 90-year-old Catholic bishop<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484942/original/file-20220915-25774-1djdnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C70%2C5249%2C3394&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cardinal Joseph Zen has long supported protesters and critiqued China.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HongKong/480e34e0d6e04c6bb4609b88a0cbf07c/photo?Query=cardinal%20zen%20arrest&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=7&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Kin Cheung</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cardinal Joseph Zen will stand trial on Sept. 19, 2022, in Hong Kong for his role as a trustee of the <a href="https://612fund.hk/en/home">612 Humanitarian Relief Fund</a>. This organization paid legal fees and medical bills for Hong Kongers protesting the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/world/asia/hong-kong-extradition-bill.html">Extradition Law Amendment Bill</a>. This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to the People’s Republic of China. Many residents viewed this as a subversion of Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous political system, leading to large-scale protests, political unrest and a police crackdown. It also prompted Beijing’s further direct intervention in Hong Kong’s governance. </p>
<p>For the Chinese Communist Party, this organization’s support of protesters and alleged <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-police-arrest-catholic-cardinal-alleged-collusion-with-foreign-forces-2022-05-11/">collusion with foreign forces</a> violated the party-mandated <a href="https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/doc/hk/a406/eng_translation_(a406)_en.pdf">national security law</a>. This law has since been applied <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3148072/hong-kong-leaders-apply-national-security-law-retroactively-us">retroactively</a>. </p>
<p>A retired bishop of the Hong Kong Diocese, Cardinal Zen has <a href="https://www.osvnews.com/2022/05/12/hong-kong-police-detain-release-90-year-old-cardinal/">long supported Hong Kong protesters</a>, critiqued Beijing and criticized the Vatican’s rapprochement with the Chinese Communist Party. <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251219/it-s-a-way-to-keep-people-in-fear-chinese-catholics-react-to-cardinal-zen-s-arrest">Chinese Catholics</a> see the arrest as an attempt to intimidate and prevent activism among Hong Kong’s Catholic community.</p>
<p>To understand why the Chinese Communist Party would feel intimidated by a 90-year-old man and threaten him with life in prison, it is important to go beyond narrow, concrete effects – such as a cowed Catholic community – and identify the principles held by the leadership. As a former military diplomat currently researching the link between <a href="https://apcss.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-mcdonald-25A.pdf">philosophy and foreign policy</a>, I argue that Cardinal Zen’s threat to the Chinese Communist Party lies not in his support for democratic reform, but as a competing source of political authority.</p>
<h2>The party’s morality of hierarchy</h2>
<p>The Chinese Communist Party leadership continues to be shaped by the principles of classical Chinese philosophy. Despite <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2643955">official condemnation</a> during the Mao years, the party has more recently tried to bolster the foundations of classical Chinese thought to legitimize its own rule.</p>
<p>During a <a href="https://china.usc.edu/president-jiangs-speech-harvard-university-1997">1997 speech at Harvard University</a>, Jiang Zemin – then the general secretary of the party – praised classical Chinese thought and tied it to contemporary values and the state’s development. Today, General Secretary Xi Jinping routinely mentions classical philosophy in his speeches and noted <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/download/Xi_Jinping's_report_at_19th_CPC_National_Congress.pdf">at the 19th National Congress</a> that the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics will build upon Chinese culture’s traditional vision, concepts, values and moral norms. </p>
<p>Classical Chinese ethics begin with the existential centrality of the family. <a href="https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/persons/ruiping-fan(154f5f2b-cf56-44b9-ba74-68177bf79b6c).html">Fan Ruiping</a>, a researcher in Confucian ethics at the City University of Hong Kong, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7272-4_10">notes Confucianism sees</a> the family as the basic structure of human existence, not simply a social institution. Thus, the family becomes the standard against which behavior is judged. For example, to protect the family, Confucius argues it is <a href="https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zi#n1572">moral</a> for a son to hide the misconduct of his father.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25267">Yongle Emperor</a>, an emperor who ruled in the 15th century, the entire world is a single family. Within this system, one’s position is defined by one’s role, grounded in the five <a href="https://ctext.org/mengzi/teng-wen-gong-i#n1657">Confucian relationships</a>: ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, and friend to friend. Each of these is both reciprocal and hierarchical. The moral individual <a href="https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zi#n1572">conforms</a> to the role one fills in society and treats others according to theirs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A tall statue of Confucius in Nanjing city in China." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484943/original/file-20220915-4859-tvjkns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Confucianism teaches that people’s positions and responsibilities in society are based on five key kinds of relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/statue-of-confucius-royalty-free-image/901473246?adppopup=true">Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even in contemporary Chinese society, friends treat each other as elder and younger siblings, such that in any situation there is a hierarchical relationship – an older friend is addressed as “elder brother” or “elder sister.” In calling another “elder brother,” one’s own position in that reciprocal relationship – “younger” – becomes obvious.</p>
<p>Through identification of the family as the moral standard and its extension throughout society based on the five relationships, Confucianism views a moral society as a unified family, ordered hierarchically. At the top of the hierarchy sits the emperor, whose relationship with subjects mirrors that between father and son. One <a href="https://ctext.org/analects/zi-han#n1324">serves</a> the rulers as one would serve one’s father or elder brother.</p>
<p>In this view, society is well organized when each person fills the assigned role, paying appropriate deference to those above and acting benevolently toward those below. As Confucius <a href="https://ctext.org/analects/yan-yuan#n1392">stated</a>, “The ruler is the ruler; the minister is minister; the father is father; and the son is son. That is government.”</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://ctext.org/analects/ji-shi#n1523">Confucianism</a>, order, stability and prosperity are maintained when all subjects fill their proper roles. The danger of ignoring this lesson was highlighted by the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, when Chairman Mao Zedong used students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511980411">to attack those in the party who opposed him</a>. It was also evident in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when the party allowed the students to develop moral authority and had to resort to military force to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107323728">crush peaceful student protests</a>. The consequences of losing control was made stark two years later when the Soviet Union collapsed.</p>
<h2>Cardinal Zen and challenge to hierarchy</h2>
<p>According to its moral principles, the party can tolerate no competition for authority, and has a long history of eliminating those who present a challenge to the party’s position. For example, following the 1956-57 Hundred Flowers Campaign that encouraged engagement from intellectuals, Mao Zedong used the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511842405.004">Anti-Rightist Campaign</a> to eliminate their growing authority. This campaign sought to refute anti-regime commentary made by intellectuals, punishing about 550,000 of them, many with reform through labor.</p>
<p>More recently, Xi Jinping has used an <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.6542">anti-corruption</a> drive to eliminate intra-party challenges to his authority by purging prominent figures, such as Zhou Yongkang, retired public security chief and former member of the Politburo Standing Committee. In Hong Kong, the national security law has been used to charge publisher and democracy activist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/world/asia/hong-kong-arrests-lai-national-security-law.html">Jimmy Lai</a>, whose media holdings regularly criticize the Hong Kong and Chinese Communist Party leadership.</p>
<p>The principle of hierarchy can also be used to understand and predict how events can unfold. For example, if Cardinal Zen dies in custody, he could become a martyr of the protest movement – hardly ideal for the Chinese Communist Party. Still, the leadership’s philosophy suggests it would be even worse for the party to let Zen continue his activism and become a more active threat to its moral and political monopoly. </p>
<p>Additionally, arresting a cardinal could disrupt ties with the <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2022/08/hong-kong-five-day-trial-set-for-cardinal-zen-four-defendants">Vatican</a>. However, as political scientist Lawrence Reardon demonstrates, since 1949 the party’s chief <a href="http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/catholic-church-and-nation-state">concern</a> in relations with the Vatican has been whether the pope or the party appoints bishops within the People’s Republic of China. In other words, who sits atop the Catholic hierarchy within the People’s Republic of China is more important than anything else the party gains through relations with the Vatican.</p>
<p>To remain at the pinnacle of China’s moral hierarchy, the party will need to remove alternative sources of authority. Through his criticism of the party and the Vatican, Cardinal Zen has shown the potential of transforming into a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cardinal-joseph-zen-and-the-art-of-chinese-oppression-hong-kong-beijing-arrest-11652304547">political leader</a> in his own right. </p>
<p>As a possible alternative source of authority, Cardinal Zen has become the latest victim of the party’s moral hierarchy; he will not be the last.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott McDonald receives funding from the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Eisenhower Institute. He is affiliated with the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies as a Non-resident Fellow, however all opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the US Government or Department of Defense. </span></em></p>A scholar of philosophy and foreign policy explains why Cardinal Zen poses a threat to the Chinese Communist Party as a competing source of political authority.Scott D. McDonald, Non-resident Fellow, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies; PhD Candidate, The Fletcher School, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1889412022-08-30T13:53:15Z2022-08-30T13:53:15Z‘Smiling Pope’ John Paul I takes the next step toward sainthood – not all pontiffs earn this distinction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480935/original/file-20220824-11730-aaitdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C1017%2C743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in August 1978.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-john-paul-i-greets-the-crowds-gathered-in-st-peters-news-photo/103339545?adppopup=true">Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 4, 2022, Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-07/beatification-dates-john-paul-first-albino-luciani.html">will be beatified</a>: proclaimed as “blessed,” the last step before being canonized as a Catholic saint.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-08/pope-john-paul-i-election-anniversary-42-years.html">Elected head of the Catholic Church</a> in August 1978, he held the papacy for only one month. John Paul I was found dead in bed late that September. The cause of his unexpected death was determined to have been a heart attack, notwithstanding <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/11/04/pope-john-paul-i-smiling-pope-path-sainthood">a lingering swirl of conspiracy theories</a>.</p>
<p>Despite his short papacy, John Paul I left a mark. Called the “<a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-08/pope-john-paul-i-election-anniversary-42-years.html">Smiling Pope</a>” because of his welcoming manner, he was the first pope in centuries to refuse a formal coronation, choosing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/09/04/john-paul-i-is-installed-as-pope/3726ae76-771b-497a-b785-92d74d8616af/">a simpler inauguration ceremony</a>. The new pope’s life as a priest, bishop, cardinal and finally pope <a href="http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=180739">was embodied</a> in the motto he chose for his ministry: “humility.”</p>
<p>All of the past five popes who have died have been nominated for canonization, and three have been named saints. But not every pope has been revered as a saint by Roman Catholics – especially during the medieval era, a period I focus on in my work as <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">a scholar of Catholicism</a>.</p>
<h2>From powerless to powerful</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm">Nearly all the popes</a> of Christianity’s first few centuries have been recognized as saints – starting with St. Peter, Jesus’ apostle, whom Roman Catholics recognize as the first pontiff. He and St. Paul, the author of several of the letters known as <a href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/epistle">epistles</a> in the New Testament, are both believed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575068343-015">have been executed in Rome</a> around A.D. 64.</p>
<p>Until the early fourth century, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mythbusting-ancient-rome-throwing-christians-to-the-lions-67365">Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire</a>, although this legislation was not always rigidly enforced. Tradition holds that most of the early popes died as martyrs.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/christianity-becomes-the-religion-of-the-roman-empire-february-27-380/a-4602728">Christianity was legalized</a>, bishops and popes became increasingly involved in the empire’s political struggles of the next several centuries. Some of these arose when the church became divided over important theological issues, and individual emperors supported one view over another.</p>
<p>Invasions by Germanic tribes from north of the Alps also caused chaos, and popes often <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/attila2.asp">served as stabilizing figures</a> in Italy and beyond. <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm">Several popes</a> from the sixth through eighth centuries have been named saints.</p>
<h2>The age of scandal</h2>
<p>During the early medieval period, after repeated political and military upheavals, the Frankish kings north of the Alps “donated” territories in parts of northern and central Italy to the pope. These <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100304438">Papal States</a> governed directly by the pope became an important center of political activity. </p>
<p>The popes’ secular power led to struggles among aristocratic families of Rome for control of the papacy. This led to a period in the late ninth and 10th centuries often called the “<a href="https://archive.org/details/churchhistorytwe00dwye/page/154/mode/2up?view=theater">Dark Ages</a>” or “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&id=cusRoE1OJvEC&dq=will+durant+nadir+papacy&q=nadir+papacy#v=snippet&q=nadir%20papacy&f=false">nadir</a>” of the papacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting shows men in robes pointing to a skeleton dressed up and sitting on a throne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480953/original/file-20220824-4272-5w6xlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope Formosus and Stephen VII, painted in 1870 by Jean-Paul Laurens. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-formosus-and-stephen-vii-1870-found-in-the-collection-news-photo/600039693?adppopup=true">Heritage Images/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the men chosen to be pope during this period were clearly unworthy of the position, and far fewer were canonized. Pope Stephen VI hated his predecessor, Pope Formosus, so deeply that he had the corpse dug up and put on trial at what came to be called <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-cadaver-synod-putting-a-dead-pope-on-trial/">the Cadaver Synod</a> in 897. After the guilty verdict, he had the corpse thrown into the Tiber River. Soon after, he was himself assassinated. </p>
<p>Pope John XII, of a noble Tuscan family, was chosen to be pope as a very young man because of his political connections. He was derided at the time for <a href="https://time.com/4633580/young-pope-history/">his dissolute life</a> and for having “turned the Vatican into a brothel.” Legend has it that in 964, he died while committing adultery with another noble’s wife. </p>
<p>Ironically, perhaps, it was during this era that popes became responsible for <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-italian-teen-is-set-to-become-the-first-millennial-saint-but-canonizing-children-is-nothing-new-in-the-catholic-church-148507">naming saints</a>, and one of the Vatican offices was tasked with examining cases. Previously, groups of Christians venerated local individuals whom they considered especially holy, but apart from a declaration by the regional bishop, there was no formal process for proclaiming sainthood.</p>
<h2>Renaissance rulers</h2>
<p>The 14th century was an especially chaotic one for the papacy, with several popes <a href="https://cat.xula.edu/tpr/factors/avignon/">living in Avignon, France</a>, because of its kings’ political dominance. After Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377, the next papal election was disputed, and until 1417 there were two, then three, cardinals claiming to be the pope.</p>
<p>These disruptions led some popes of the late 15th and early 16th centuries to be even more focused on preserving their political power. The Papal States took their place among the increasingly <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pape/hd_pape.htm">wealthy and ambitious</a> Italian city-states of the Renaissance.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A bronze coin shows a profile portrait of a man in a heavy robe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480951/original/file-20220824-14-7dd3y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coin from the 15th or 16th century shows Pope Alexander VI, who was born Rodrigo Borgia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/roman-15th-or-16th-century-alexander-vi-pope-1492-obverse-news-photo/1162529633?adppopup=true">Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Again, the reputation of some popes caused scandal. Rodrigo Borgia, reigning as <a href="http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/alexanderVI.htm">Pope Alexander VI</a>, named his own son a cardinal, conducted numerous affairs, and sent the papal armies into battle against other Italian families. One of his successors, <a href="https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/pope-julius-ii/">Julius II, known as the “Warrior Pope</a>,” actually donned armor to lead his own soldiers into battle to expand the Papal States.</p>
<p>No pope from this period would be canonized until Pope St. Pius V, a leader of the Catholic Reformation or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Counter-Reformation">Counter-Reformation</a> of the later 16th century. </p>
<h2>The modern process</h2>
<p>In the 19th century, the area under papal control was reduced to the tiny city-state of Vatican City, which is recognized to this day as a sovereign state by much of the world, including <a href="https://history.state.gov/countries/papal-states">the United States</a> and <a href="https://www.etias.info/schengen-countries/etias-vatican-city/">the European Union</a>. Since then, as popes’ most public roles have become more pastoral than political, more of them have been canonized.</p>
<p>Popes must meet <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">the same requirements as any other Catholic proceeding toward sainthood</a>, which include demonstrating a life of “heroic virtue” and typically having two miracles attributed to their intercession with God. Traditionally, Catholics had to wait 50 years after a death to nominate the person for sainthood. Today, the waiting period is just five years – and sometimes waived altogether. </p>
<p>Pope St. John Paul II, for example, died in 2005, was beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014. Even at his funeral, many in the crowd were already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/13/catholicism.religion1">calling for his immediate canonization</a>. This “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/14/world/europe/john-paul-vatican.html">fast-track” decision</a> has been criticized amid concerns about his handling of clerical sexual abuse reports during his long pontificate.</p>
<p>In John Paul I’s case, the Vatican proclaimed him <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20031123_papa-luciani_it.html">a “Servant of God</a>” in 2003, <a href="https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/saints">the first step in the process</a>.</p>
<p>In 2017, after studying his life and his writings to <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2017-11/pope-approves-the-heroic-virtues-of-servant-of-god-pope-john-pau.html">confirm his “heroic virtue</a>,” Vatican officials recommended that Pope Francis take the next step and proclaim John Paul I as “Venerable.” </p>
<p>Four years later, after a further review, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/recognizing-miracle-pope-clears-way-beatification-john-paul-i">recognized the recovery of a young Argentinian girl in “imminent” danger of death</a> as a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul I. A miracle of this kind is normally required for a “venerable” to move to beatification, <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011">the next step toward canonization</a>. </p>
<p>After the beatification in September, John Paul I will have the title “blessed,” and will be assigned <a href="https://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/local-parishes-can-celebrate-blessed-caseys-first-feast-day/">a feast day</a> that may be observed in regions where he once lived and worked.</p>
<p>In the future, if a second miracle is officially recognized, he may be canonized and proclaimed a saint. Either way, his case illustrates the contemporary Catholic Church’s view of canonization: No one, even a pope, becomes a saint automatically – but every Catholic whose life and actions demonstrate “extraordinary virtue,” famous pope or obscure layperson, may be proposed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1805262022-04-01T21:47:23Z2022-04-01T21:47:23ZPope Francis’s apology for residential schools doesn’t acknowledge institutional responsibility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455828/original/file-20220401-15-4pbmev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C482%2C7000%2C3809&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gerald Antoine, Northwest Territories regional chief and Assembly of First Nations lead delegate to Rome, is flanked by Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, left, and Cassidy Caron, Métis National Council president, in St.Peter's Square in Rome, after their meeting with Pope Francis on April 1. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis made a <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">public statement</a> today to the delegations of Indigenous people who met with him this week <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-delegations-set-to-meet-pope-francis-vatican-1.6394450">to discuss personal experiences in residential schools or their harmful legacies</a>.</p>
<p>His statement included the words “I am very sorry,” and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-pope-francis-apologizes-to-indigenous-delegation-for-deplorable/">is being reported as an apology for residential schools</a>.</p>
<p>As a white settler theologian, it is not for me to say what the apology means to those to whom it was addressed. But as a scholar who studies <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/ecclesial-repentance-9780567523686/">church apologies for historical wrongs</a>, and their place in processes of reconciliation, I note there are significant shortcomings to the Pope’s statement.</p>
<h2>Abuse and criminal actions</h2>
<p>There are several kinds of wrongs associated with residential schools. There were <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8067396/residential-school-abuse-perpetrators-charges-survivors/">abusive and often criminal actions</a> by individuals who worked in these institutions. Those in authority <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">covered up abuses and failed to protect children</a>. And the residential school system advanced an assimilationist policy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/catholic-church-response-to-sexual-abuse-must-centre-on-survivor-well-being-not-defensiveness-162417">Catholic Church response to sexual abuse must centre on survivor well-being, not defensiveness</a>
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<p>Individual criminal responsibility and general institutional responsibility may also overlap. The many <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/03/01/alberta-first-nation-identifies-169-potential-graves-at-former-residential-school.html">unmarked graves</a> and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-a-doctors-century-old-warning-on-residential-schools-can-help-find">unheeded calls to address deathly conditions</a> in the schools speak to the wrongs and traumatic legacies of these institutions.</p>
<p>Pope Francis most clearly addressed the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/francis-apology-full-text-1.6404953">abusive actions by individuals — the “deplorable conduct” of “a number of Catholics”</a> — about which he expressed sorrow and shame. He also acknowledged the painful experiences of those who shared their stories with him. </p>
<p>The Pope did not acknowledge that the church as an institution embraced assimilationist policy in its decision to run the schools.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb0QhUgsw9V","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Lack of clarity</h2>
<p>As is unfortunately common in many church apology statements, when those who utter the apology use the <a href="http://web.uvic.ca/psyc/bavelas/2004ChurchApol.pdf">passive voice</a>, it’s unclear who was the agent of the actions in question. </p>
<p>Pope Francis spoke about “a colonization that lacked respect for you,” and acknowledged that “great harm was done to your identity and your culture.” But who was responsible? He spoke about “attempts to impose a uniformity” to which “great numbers of children fell victim” that were based on “programs devised in offices.” But which offices?</p>
<p>The Pope positions the church as being on the side of outrage and sorrow for this colonization — “sadly, this colonial mentality remains widespread” — and as a partner in overcoming it, rather than as an active agent of its perpetration. </p>
<p>While Pope Francis’s denunciations of settler colonization are welcome and significant, and indeed the Catholic Church ought to be a partner in undoing it, an apology should offer clarity. Clarity is needed regarding the responsibility of the institution on whose behalf he speaks.</p>
<h2>Church as agent of harm</h2>
<p>On an intuitive and experiential level, the Catholic Church as an institution was an agent of harm. But Pope Francis has avoided saying this. </p>
<p>In this regard, there may be a mismatch between what survivors and the wider public expect of an apology and how the Pope has framed his message.</p>
<p>Since the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162573716/why-is-vatican-ii-so-important">Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council (1962-65)</a>, there has been an active debate within Catholic theology about whether the church itself, understood as the Body of Christ, can be the agent of sin, or whether it’s only individual members (including leaders) who sin. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dancer in regalia wearing orange is seen in a public square in front of some people holding drums." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455826/original/file-20220401-14-zhu28f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous delegates to the Vatican seen in St. Peter’s Square, March 31, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Many Catholic apologies make the distinction that it was individual members who did wrong rather than the institution. An analogy sometimes used is that <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000307_memory-reconc-itc_en.html#The%20Motherhood%20of%20the%20Church">the church is like a mother</a> who regrets what her children have done. </p>
<p>Following this analogy, a mother can try to repair what her children have done, although everyone knows the mother didn’t actually commit the offence. While this position can be <a href="https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/confronting-a-sinful-church">found in Catholic theology, it is not the consensus</a>.</p>
<p>A church that is sinless by definition is an abstraction that is unconnected from experience. Several <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/8420/Stumbling-in-Holiness">Catholic theologians</a> <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/4771/A-Holy-Yet-Sinful-Church">do argue that</a> the church itself is sinful.</p>
<p>Unless the church itself acknowledges this, how can it change in order to cease doing harm and be an agent of healing?</p>
<h2>Ambiguous language</h2>
<p>This apology seems to follow this pattern in using ambiguous language on whether the church has acknowledged its complicity. </p>
<p>While Pope Francis’s words may be reported and received as an acknowledgement of church complicity, a careful reading of the words suggest otherwise.</p>
<p>In addition to the language of apology — a language which the church is not accustomed to speaking — the Pope used more traditional theological terms such as “pardon” and “forgiveness.” The danger is that these terms can undermine what an apology is meant to accomplish. </p>
<p>To ask God’s forgiveness, as he did, might imply that it is been granted and everyone can move on. To ask to be pardoned by those he was speaking to may place a burdensome expectation on them to reciprocate by granting it.</p>
<p>Pope Benedict XVI’s private <a href="https://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_canada-first-nations-apr2009_en.html">expression of sorrow</a> in 2009 to Phil Fontaine, then national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a residential school survivor, was often reported as an apology. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in suit and tie and feather regalia seen standing between two men, one holding a drum." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455853/original/file-20220401-55593-fnp5e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, centre, walks with members of the Assembly of First Nations in St. Peter’s Square at the end of their meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, March 31, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)</span></span>
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<p>Fontaine has <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-former-chief-hopes-second-meeting-with-pope-will-lead-to-papal-apology/">recently indicated</a> he felt pressure to acknowledge and accept it as a definitive apology, even though it was not.</p>
<p>An apology should be made in a ritually appropriate way, which will vary for every case. Survivors <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/why-hasnt-pope-francis-apologized-canada-ask-bishops">have consistently asked Pope Francis</a> to make an apology in Canada. Today, the Pope indicated his intention to come to Canada in the near future and continue his “closeness.”</p>
<h2>Definitive apology?</h2>
<p>While I understand Pope Francis was moved to say something this week, for the sake of reconciliation I hope this was not his definitive apology. </p>
<p>In his April 1 statement, Pope Francis also said: “I will be happy to benefit again from meeting you when I visit” your lands, and, “I think with joy … of the great veneration that many of you have for Saint Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. This year I would like to be with you on those days.”
The feast of St. Anne <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pope-francis-responds-indigenous-delegations-final-meeting-1.6404344">falls on July 26</a>.</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">Commission’s Call to Action #58</a> urges the Pope to apologize for the church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools and to do so in Canada.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-schools-what-does-it-mean-if-the-pope-apologizes-in-canada-170984">Indian Residential Schools: What does it mean if the Pope apologizes in Canada?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such an apology will need to acknowledge the complicity of the Catholic Church, and do so on Indigenous land. Pope Francis’s closing comments about humility and the fruitfulness of the humiliation of the church are helpful sentiments. </p>
<p>In Rome, in an ornate Vatican hall, the Pope spoke on his terms. In the spirit of humility, the next statement should be made in a setting chosen by those he will address. </p>
<p>An apology can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0040573616643362">foster accountability</a>. It puts a particular narrative on record and implies specific commitments for the future. It can be a recognizable and public reference point for the ongoing work of truth and reconciliation. I hope Pope Francis continues to reflect on what he has heard this week, and prepares to come to Canada to make a more definitive acknowledgement of the church’s complicity.</p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy M. Bergen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a theologian who studies church apologies for historical wrongs, I understand why the Pope was moved to speak this week, but I hope this was not his definitive apology.Jeremy M. Bergen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701832021-10-28T12:33:02Z2021-10-28T12:33:02ZWhat’s a ‘miracle’? Here’s how the Catholic Church decides<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428910/original/file-20211027-14962-tce5xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C0%2C2923%2C1841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope John Paul I, who was pope for about a month before his death, has moved one step closer to sainthood.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PopeJohnPaulI/a01d7aa464cf4429a22ffe11bf6a4ed4/photo?Query=%22john%20paul%20i%22&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=250&currentItemNo=10">AP Photo/Claudio Luffoli</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Albino Luciano, better known to the world as Pope John Paul I, reigned as pope for only 34 days before his death in September 1978. But he will soon <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-10/pope-john-paul-i-miracle-for-canonization.html">join the ranks</a> of 20th-century popes <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/papal-saints-once-a-given-now-extremely-rare/">who the Catholic Church has canonized</a>. This literally means they have been entered on the “canon,” or list, of people formally declared to be in heaven and have been granted the title “Blessed” or “Saint.” </p>
<p>The process requires a rigorous examination of the life and holiness of a candidate and involves <a href="https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/saints">several stages</a> that can last years or even centuries.</p>
<p>After someone with a reputation for exceptional holiness dies, a bishop can open an investigation into their life. At this stage, the person can be granted the title “Servant of God.” Further details and research are needed for them to be recognized as “Venerable,” the next stage in canonization.</p>
<p>The following step is beatification, when someone is declared “Blessed.” This usually requires that the Vatican confirm that the person performed a “miracle” by interceding with God. Two miracles are required before a “Blessed” can be declared a saint.</p>
<p>What, then, is a miracle? </p>
<h2>More than medicine</h2>
<p>The word is used widely in nonreligious ways. However, the <a href="https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/890/">Catechism of the Catholic Church</a>, which sums up the church’s teachings, defines it as “a sign or wonder such as a healing, or control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power.”</p>
<p>In the canonization process, a miracle almost always refers to the spontaneous and lasting remission of <a href="https://wgntv.com/news/medical-watch/a-chicago-mothers-miracle-baby-and-the-making-of-a-saint/">a serious, life-threatening medical condition</a>. The healing must have taken place in ways that the best-informed scientific knowledge cannot account for and follow prayers to the holy person.</p>
<p>Pope John Paul I’s beatification was greenlighted by <a href="http://www.causesanti.va/it/archivio-della-congregazione-cause-santi/promulgazione-di-decreti/decreti-pubblicati-nel-2021.html">the sudden healing</a> of an 11-year-old girl in Buenos Aires who had been suffering severe acute brain inflammation, severe epilepsy and septic shock. She had been approaching what doctors considered almost-certain death in 2011 when her mother, nursing staff and a priest <a href="https://www.laprensalatina.com/recovered-argentine-woman-reflects-on-late-popes-vatican-confirmed-miracle/">began praying desperately</a> to the former pope. </p>
<h2>The bigger picture</h2>
<p>Catholic belief in miracles is long-standing and rooted in what the church believes about the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospels portray Jesus as a teacher, but also as a wonder-worker who <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+2&version=KJV">turned water into wine</a>, walked on water and <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9">fed a large crowd</a> with minimal food. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/staff/">a Catholic theologian and professor</a>, I have written about saints, <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935420-e-62">especially the Virgin Mary</a>, and taught university courses on hagiography, or writing about saints’ lives. In Catholic tradition, miracles represent more than physical healing. They also confirm what Jesus preached: that God is willing to intervene in people’s lives and can take away their suffering. </p>
<p>For Christians, then, Jesus’ miracles suggest strongly that he is Son of God. They point to what Jesus called “<a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2046.htm">the reign of God</a>,” in which Christians hope to be reunited with God in a world restored to its original perfection. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a black shawl walks down a red carpet at the Vatican with children around her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428668/original/file-20211027-27-hdj8pp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melissa Villalobos walks with her family during a canonization Mass at the Vatican in 2019. She experienced a healing after praying to Cardinal John Henry Newman, and the Catholic Church recognized it as a miracle, clearing the way for Newman’s canonization.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Vatican%20Saints/c9359fd8ff8348e48eaef8ce177b4084?Query=miracle%20catholic&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=292&currentItemNo=223">AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Devil’s advocate?</h2>
<p>Naturally, thoughtful people can object to the claimed supernatural origin of such events. And the development of medical science means that some healing processes can indeed now be explained purely as the work of nature, without needing to claim that divine intervention has been at work. Some Christian writers, notably the Protestant theologian <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UPZTDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA131&dq=Rudolf+bultmann+miracles&ots=xTVxFRg56R&sig=3FsfremirJgrGncTxlS44dQgEl4#v=snippet&q=miracle&f=false_">Rudolf Bultmann</a>, have also interpreted Jesus’ miracles as having a purely symbolic meaning and rejected them as being necessarily historical, literal truth.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church has for centuries held that science and faith are <a href="https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/a-catholic-history-of-the-conflict-between-religion-and-science/">not sworn enemies</a> but rather different ways of knowing which complement each other. That understanding guides investigations of supposed miracles, which are undertaken by the Vatican’s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en/congregazioni/congregazione-delle-cause-dei-santi/profilo.html">Congregation for the Causes of Saints</a>, which has about two dozen staff and more than 100 clerical members and counselors. </p>
<p>Theologians working for the Congregation assess all aspects of the life of a candidate for canonization. These include the “Promoter of the Faith” (sometimes called “the Devil’s advocate”), whose role was <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_25011983_divinus-perfectionis-magister.html">changed in 1983</a> from finding arguments against canonization to supervising the process.</p>
<p>Separately, <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/09/23/160923a.html">a medical board</a> of independent scientific experts is appointed to investigate a claimed miracle. They begin by looking for purely natural explanations as they review the medical history.</p>
<h2>New rules</h2>
<p>The process of canonization has undergone continuous revisions throughout history.</p>
<p>In 2016, Pope Francis initiated <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/money-and-saint-making">reforms in how the church assesses miracles</a>, which are meant to make the process more rigorous and transparent. </p>
<p>The Catholic groups who request to open a canonization case for a particular person fund the investigation. Costs include fees paid to medical experts for their time, administrative expenses and research. But cases were often <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-saints/how-much-is-that-halo-pope-imposes-checks-on-costs-of-making-saints-idUSKCN0WC1WH">opaque and expensive</a>, reaching well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi wrote in a 2015 book.</p>
<p>Among Francis’ 2016 reforms was a new rule that all payments be made by traceable bank transfer so groups can better track the Vatican’s spending.</p>
<p>Another of Francis’ reforms is that in order for a canonization case to go forward, <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2016/09/23/0666/01504.html">two-thirds of the medical board</a> are required to affirm that the miraculous event cannot be explained by natural causes. Previously, only a simple majority was needed. </p>
<p>The overall point of <a href="http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2016/03/10/pope_francis_approves_new_rules_for_funds_of_saints_causes/en-1214383">these reforms</a> is to protect the integrity of the canonization process and avoid mistakes or scandals that would discredit the church or mislead believers.</p>
<p>Since Catholics believe that the “Blesseds” and saints are in heaven and intercede before God on behalf of people who seek their help, the question of miracles is a matter of being confident that prayers can and will be heard. </p>
<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-3-in-1">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorian Llywelyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To qualify as a Catholic ‘saint,’ someone must have two miracles credited to them. But how does the church define a miracle in the first place?Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1700772021-10-27T12:19:51Z2021-10-27T12:19:51ZIn Biden’s visit with the pope, a page from Reagan’s playbook?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428291/original/file-20211025-17-lnj3tp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C38%2C1943%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope John Paul II met with President Ronald Reagan in Miami in 1987.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PopesandPresidents/15692286ae92405fa139bab157480ce2/photo?Query=reagan%20pope&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=41&currentItemNo=32">AP Photo/Arturo Mari, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Joe Biden, who will <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/politics/joe-biden-pope-francis/index.html">meet Pope Francis</a> at the Vatican on Oct. 29, is Catholic. The country’s’ first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqvQEIchix4">visited the Vatican</a> too. But meetings between U.S. presidents and popes have been a staple of politics since the Kennedy era, whether the president was Catholic or not.</p>
<p>Woodrow Wilson was the first sitting president to meet a pope, <a href="https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/woodrow-wilson-becomes-first-us-president-to-visit-vatican-city#:%7E:text=Rome%2C%206%20January%201919%20%2D%20Woodrow,playing%20the%20American%20national%20anthem.">visiting Pope Benedict XV</a> amid peace negotiations after World War I. Dwight Eisenhower <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/speeches/1959/documents/hf_j-xxiii_spe_19591206_usa.html">met John XXIII</a> as part of an international goodwill tour. Lyndon Johnson first <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGcLSSUns04">met with Paul VI</a> when the pontiff came to New York for <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651004_united-nations.html">a historic address</a> at the United Nations in 1965. Richard Nixon twice met with Paul VI, despite the Pope’s clear <a href="https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=ca19671228-01.2.4&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN--------">opposition to the war in Vietnam</a>. Gerald Ford <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Gerald_R._Ford,_Pope_Paul_VI,_and_Secretary_of_State_Henry_Kissinger_Examine_a_Silver_Eagle_Statue_in_the_Pontifical_Residence_at_the_Vatican_-_NARA_-_23898471.jpg">met with Paul VI</a> in 1975, and Jimmy Carter <a href="https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=21">greeted the new pope, John Paul II</a>, in 1979. </p>
<p>Those meetings all preceded the establishment of <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-the-holy-see/">formal diplomatic relations</a> between the United States and the Holy See, as the Vatican city-state is known in formal diplomacy. The two states finally exchanged ambassadors <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1984/01/11/168525.html?pageNumber=1">in 1984</a>, under Ronald Reagan and John Paul II. Both were committed anti-communists, and their move to establish official ties marked an important geopolitical alliance.</p>
<p>In my research <a href="https://ctu.edu/faculty/steven-millies/">on the relationship between Catholicism and U.S. politics</a>, their partnership stands out as a turning point – and a boon for Reagan. At the time, he needed a Catholic ally, and found one in John Paul II. </p>
<p>And today, Biden faces a somewhat similar situation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pope Francis reaches up to shake the hand of Joe Biden, then vice president, in Congress." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428294/original/file-20211025-21-18q8y0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">President Joe Biden’s Oct. 2021 audience with Pope Francis will not be the pair’s first meeting. Here, the two shake hands before the pope’s 2015 address to Congress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenPope/c14de37987474fee8e25cc31dd204049/photo?Query=biden%20pope&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=115&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File</a></span>
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<h2>Common cause</h2>
<p>The Holy See has been an independent city-state <a href="https://vatican.com/The-Lateran-Treaty/">since 1929</a>, but in reality, the pope has been a head of state at least since the eighth century.</p>
<p>It is a unique situation: a religious leader functioning fully as a head of state. Yet the Roman Catholic Church occupies a unique place in world history. <a href="https://www.theglobalist.com/the-catholic-origins-of-globalization/">As the first global power</a>, the church has shaped world politics for centuries. Today the church is not only home to more than a billion believers, but it directly and indirectly supports <a href="https://blogs.shu.edu/unstudies/2017/10/31/the-role-of-the-holy-see-and-catholic-organizations-at-the-united-nations/">a tremendous amount of nonprofit work</a> around the world.</p>
<p>When Reagan formalized the long-standing U.S. diplomatic relationship with the Holy See in 1984, the church’s wide influence provided a good reason. But not the only one. </p>
<p>The previous year, shortly ahead of his reelection campaign, Reagan had reason to worry that Catholic voters might not support him. U.S. bishops had published <a href="https://www.usccb.org/upload/challenge-peace-gods-promise-our-response-1983.pdf">a pastoral letter</a>, “The Challenge of Peace,” which said that “good ends (defending one’s country, protecting freedom, etc.) cannot justify immoral ends (the use of weapons which kill indiscriminately and threaten whole societies).” It was a direct challenge to the Reagan administration’s arms buildup, which had <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-reached-the-brink-of-nuclear-war-not-once-but-twice-in-1983-68998">heated up</a> the Cold War. </p>
<p>The administration went to lengths to discredit the bishops, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/16/us/minuet-with-catholic-bishops-over-nuclear-war.html">suggesting they were out of step with the pope</a>. American public opinion was turning against the arms race, and Reagan needed a powerful ally who could help him <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/4467/Good-Intentions">hold on to Catholic voters</a>.</p>
<p>Reagan <a href="https://isi.org/books/a-pope-and-a-president/">found that ally</a> in John Paul II, who shared his wariness toward the Soviet Union. While the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_a_00533">bishops’ pastoral</a> was being drafted – a process journalist Jim Castelli <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Bishops_and_the_Bomb.html?id=8ptsAAAAIAAJ">has traced in depth</a> – John Paul warned that the church must not call for the U.S. to disarm unilaterally. The Polish pope had experienced Soviet domination and hoped <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.communism02apr02-story.html">to liberate the world</a> from communist influence.</p>
<p>Given the president and the pope’s common cause, Rome likely would be more sympathetic to Reagan’s perspective than the U.S. bishops. The U.S. established diplomatic relations with the Holy See eight months after publication of “The Challenge of Peace” and 10 months before the 1984 election. </p>
<p>Abortion politics <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/4467/Good-Intentions">heated up</a> in the run-up to the election, as pro-choice Catholic Mario Cuomo, the Democratic governor of New York, <a href="https://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/2015/01/02/why-didnt-mario-run-that-was-always-the-question/">considered running for president</a>. The Democrats eventually nominated Walter Mondale, with another pro-choice Catholic, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/geraldine-ferraro-unprecedented-1984-campaign-vice-president-180975491/">Geraldine Ferraro</a>, as his running mate. Reagan, who positioned himself as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01707-1_7">pro-life</a>, focused attention on the issue in another effort to win back Catholic voters, one assured to carry approval from the pope. </p>
<p>Reagan won the 1984 election in <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/20079853">a historic landslide</a>. He carried 49 states and took the greatest share of <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Catholic_Voter_in_American_Politics/B9nFwo5B1BQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA191&printsec=frontcover">the Catholic vote</a> that any Republican had won to that point in history.</p>
<h2>Another timely trip?</h2>
<p>Today, 37 years later, the Biden presidency faces its own Catholic dilemma – the latest chapter in a long struggle about Catholics in American public life, highlighting <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-bishops-set-collision-course-with-vatican-over-plan-to-press-biden-not-to-take-communion-162820">a deeper rift</a> between U.S. bishops and the Vatican. </p>
<p>Many U.S. bishops want to bar public figures from receiving the sacrament of Communion – the focus of every Catholic Mass – if they support the right to an abortion, which the church considers a grave sin. In 2019, a South Carolina priest <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/pastors-denial-eucharist-biden-stirs-recurring-debate">refused to offer Communion</a> to Biden because of the politician’s pro-choice stance.</p>
<p>In November, U.S. bishops <a href="https://www.usccb.org/events/2021/usccb-fall-general-assembly">will gather</a> to debate a document on “<a href="https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/what-is-at-stake-in-eucharistic-coherence/">Eucharistic coherence</a>,” which may contain instructions about who is eligible for Communion.</p>
<p>But the Vatican has all but urged the bishops <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2021-05/vatican-letter-ladaria-bishops-us-communion-politics-abortion.html">not to go ahead</a> with the document.</p>
<p>“I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone,” Pope Francis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/world/europe/pope-francis-biden-abortion.html">told reporters</a> in September 2021, urging priests to think about the issue “as pastors” rather than from a political viewpoint.</p>
<p>As Biden prepares for his papal visit, the administration may have Reagan’s instructive history in mind. The president – like Reagan – may find a more receptive ear in Rome than at home.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Millies was a member of the Biden/Harris 2020 Campaign's National Catholic Advisory Council.</span></em></p>Joe Biden may be only the country’s second Catholic president, but a long line of U.S. leaders have met with popes over the years.Steven P. Millies, Professor of Public Theology and Director of The Bernardin Center, Catholic Theological UnionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1689372021-10-13T12:18:29Z2021-10-13T12:18:29ZWhat is the Synod of Bishops? A Catholic priest and theologian explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425740/original/file-20211011-17-x2ak7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C0%2C8433%2C5497&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Catholic Church's two-year synodal process formally opened Oct. 10 at the Vatican.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Vatican%20Pope/da78131b93994825b22277ba88b343fa?Query=synod&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=now-14d&totalCount=15&currentItemNo=9">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Oct. 10, 2021, Pope Francis formally opened a two-year process called “a synod on synodality,” officially known as “<a href="https://www.synod.va/en.html">Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church</a>.” In brief, the process involves an expansion of an established institution, called the “Synod of Bishops.” This means that bishops around the world will consult with everyone from parishioners to monks, nuns and Catholic universities before coming together for a discussion in 2023. </p>
<p>The topic? How the church can learn to rely more fully on this kind of consultation-and-discussion process – how it can become more “synodal” in its governance.</p>
<p>Throughout the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has held many gatherings called “synods” – but seldom one this sweeping in its potential consequences.</p>
<p>As a Catholic priest <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/william-clark-sj">who studies theology</a>, with particular interest in the role of lay persons and of local communities in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=M_-tAI4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&citft=1&citft=2&citft=3&email_for_op=waclarksj%40gmail.com&authuser=1&gmla=AJsN-F7pEi51zsZ8Vf00bGM-8qhA8CWEdM3nJTPXupX99niI3qwLMKmPvJoLSg5WP5N99Dk34MHTQ8qFkFeaJhPG4FMP62kA4b36PGNk37n9tvppQm3K4hSEJEJBgqhMgz15RUFGuCRtzKZ-Lcj3CqeqX6zzeysG6YsUpA2d4EvPVMyy5of7bLnSRLjrxzP1NV9IW-RvlRZURZ89k2PtkfXJGhn9zgbeX_ycPndcpE5ix5pecUHi_U4ne9BRuttbj384QEq-ln0C5E94aDaRDNqjyMEiSznjfg">the worldwide Catholic church</a>, I will be watching this synod carefully. In part, it is designed to make church governance more open and inclusive of all its members.</p>
<h2>Coming together</h2>
<p>Many people – even many practicing Catholics – may find the name “Synod on Synodality” and its purpose puzzling. What is a synod in the first place? </p>
<p>The word derives from an ancient Greek term that means “coming together” or “traveling together.” Ancient Christians <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20180302_sinodalita_en.html">developed a custom</a> of local leaders coming together to pray and make decisions about matters affecting all the Christian communities in a region. They gathered in the faith that their prayers and discussions would reveal God’s will and the way to achieve it. </p>
<p>These gatherings came to be called “synods” and began a tradition of regional synods for bishops, as well as larger ones called “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/ecumenical-council">ecumenical councils</a>.” In principle, these were for all bishops around the world to discuss issues that were consequential for the whole church. </p>
<p>Over time, as the power of the papacy grew, ecumenical councils continued to be called, but regional synods diminished in importance. After the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, such gatherings of Catholic bishops happened infrequently, and only with <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html#CHAPTER_II.">express permission</a> of the Pope. Meanwhile, even ecumenical councils became rare – only two were held in 400 years.</p>
<p>The most recent one, the Second Vatican Council or “Vatican II,” met from 1962 to 1965 and launched <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674047495">important changes</a> in church law and structure. </p>
<p>One of Vatican II’s goals was to revitalize the importance of bishops as heads of their local churches and emphasize their cooperation with one another. As <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html#Art._2.">a “college”</a> under the leadership of the pope, the bishops are mutually responsible for the governance of the whole church.</p>
<p>To assist this revitalization, Pope Paul VI created a permanent structure for a <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-10/what-is-synod-bishops-faq.html">Synod of Bishops</a>, with a secretariat in Rome and a General Assembly gathered regularly by the pope. Since 1967, the popes have brought this assembly together 18 times: 15 “Ordinary Assemblies” and three “Extraordinary,” in addition to a number of “Special Assemblies” involving particular regions of the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Bishop in green robes adjusts his hat at a mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425749/original/file-20211011-24-ylm6x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A bishop adjusts his hat, called a mitre, at a Vatican mass launching the two-year synod process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VaticanPope/484154ac03424bb583ffe08f161898dd/photo?Query=synod&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=now-14d&totalCount=15&currentItemNo=12">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</a></span>
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<h2>“A Church which listens”</h2>
<p>Pope Francis has shown special interest in the Synod of Bishops since the beginning of his papacy in 2013. The following year, he convened an “<a href="https://www.usccb.org/topics/marriage-and-family-life-ministries/2014-2015-synods-bishops-family">Extraordinary General Assembly</a>,” outside the usual three-year cycle, on “the vocation and mission of the family.” The assembly talked about controversial issues such as welcoming to communion couples living outside church-sanctioned marriages. These discussions continued into an “Ordinary Assembly” in 2015.</p>
<p>2015 also marked the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops established during Vatican II. At a ceremony for the anniversary, Francis gave <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151017_50-anniversario-sinodo.html">a speech</a> that laid out his views <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/cardinal-tobin-synodality-pope-francis-vehicle-changing-church">on “synodality</a>. The word "synod,” he reminded the audience, is about cooperation.</p>
<p>“A synodal Church is a Church which listens,” he said, pointing out that mutual listening has been the goal of much of the church’s renewal since Vatican II.</p>
<p>“For the disciples of Jesus, yesterday, today and always, the only authority is the authority of service, the only power is the power of the cross,” Francis declared. </p>
<p>Since then, Francis has taken steps to give the church examples and a concrete framework for a more “synodal church.” In 2018, he issued <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/pope-francis-boosts-authority-of-the-synod-of-bishops">new regulations</a> that encourage much wider consultation with members and organizations of the church at all levels as part of the synod process. </p>
<p>And in 2019, he followed up a “Special Assembly” for bishops of the Amazon region with “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20200202_querida-amazonia.html">Querida Amazonia</a>,” a kind of papal document known as an “exhortation.” Here, he took the unusual steps of recognizing the authority of the synod’s own final document and referring important structural and procedural changes to their continuing work in their home churches, rather than to intervention by the Vatican.</p>
<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-3-in-1">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.</a>]</p>
<h2>Preparing for 2023</h2>
<p>The current “<a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249241/2023-synod-on-synodality-pope-francis-launches-2-year-synodal-path-with-call-to-encounter-listen-and-discern">Synod on Synodality</a>” is the culmination of all this effort to bring a greater degree of openness, collaboration and mutual listening to the church. Unlike previous synods, this one officially begins in dioceses all over the world, with opportunities for mutual consultation at every level and among many different church organizations.</p>
<p>When the General Assembly meets in 2023, its task will be to prayerfully consider how to move forward as “<a href="https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/document/common/vademecum/Vademecum-EN-A4.pdf">a more synodal Church in the long-term</a>” – a church that “journeys together.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pope Francis formally opened a two-year process called a “synod on synodality” for the Catholic Church on Oct. 10.William Clark, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1694422021-10-07T12:26:00Z2021-10-07T12:26:00ZThe Catholic Church sex abuse crisis: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425124/original/file-20211006-21-171j69a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=160%2C53%2C6993%2C5030&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People pray for the victims of child sex abuse during a special service at a Catholic church outside Paris on Oct. 5, 2021. A new French report estimates that more than 200,000 children were abused by clergy since 1950.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FranceChurchSexAbuse/070e55348b9d4601a1cbcd8c285a4cb8/photo?Query=%22sainte%20jeanne%22&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Michel Euler</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Revelations about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have been emerging for decades. But in the seemingly never-ending stream of investigations and accusations, some stand out.</p>
<p>That will likely be true of <a href="https://www.ciase.fr/rapport-final/">the report</a> released Oct. 5, 2021, which estimates that more than 200,000 children have been abused by clergy in France since 1950. </p>
<p>The authors of the French study <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/world/europe/france-catholic-church-abuse.html?searchResultPosition=1">spent three years</a> reviewing testimony from nearly 6,500 people. They then came up with their overall projection based on broader demographic data, and made dozens of recommendations: from case-by-case compensation to more sweeping reforms, such as that French bishops consider ordaining married men and giving women a louder voice in church decision-making.</p>
<p>The French report’s specific findings may be new, but the underlying issues are not. Here are some of The Conversation’s many articles examining the Catholic sex abuse crisis over the years, both its roots and the potential routes for reform.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239509/original/file-20181005-72130-131u9un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Vatican has known about priestly pedophilia for many decades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Italy-Vatican-Cardinal-Law/d96c6b3b78f242a5894e6ef8151f1e93/10/0">AP Photo/Andrew Medichini</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Years of scandal</h2>
<p>High-profile reports have consistently put the crisis in headlines for the past 20 years, particularly The Boston Globe’s famous “Spotlight” investigation in 2002 and the film it inspired in 2015. </p>
<p>But the paper trail documenting patterns of abuse – and cover-ups – <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-churchs-grim-history-of-ignoring-priestly-pedophilia-and-silencing-would-be-whistleblowers-102387">goes back to at least the 1950s</a>, according to <a href="https://artsci.case.edu/faculty/brian-clites/">Brian Clites</a>, an expert on clergy sex abuse. That’s when U.S. bishops began referring priests to church-run treatment centers, rather than reporting abuse to independent authorities. “Hush money” payouts followed.</p>
<p>By the 1990s, as lawsuits mounted, “the national outcry forced dioceses across the country to create public standards for how they were handling abuse accusations,” Clites writes, “and American bishops launched new marketing campaigns to regain trust.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-churchs-grim-history-of-ignoring-priestly-pedophilia-and-silencing-would-be-whistleblowers-102387">The Catholic Church's grim history of ignoring priestly pedophilia – and silencing would-be whistleblowers</a>
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</p>
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<h2>2. Speaking up – and out</h2>
<p>One major barrier to bringing abusers to justice, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-catholic-churchs-hierarchy-makes-it-difficult-to-punish-sexual-abusers-89477">many experts argue</a>, are the church’s hierarchy and canon laws, which regulate the church and its members. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/12/17/191217b.html">in 2019</a>, Pope Francis modified the “Rule of Pontifical Secrecy,” which required that sensitive information about the church be kept confidential. Over the years, <a href="https://cruxnow.com/february-abuse-summit/2019/02/no-secret-that-pontifical-secrecy-is-taking-a-beating-at-popes-summit/">critics alleged that the policy allowed officials</a> to withhold information about sexual abuse cases, even from victims or legal authorities. Francis’ announcement lifted the rule for three situations: sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, failure to report or efforts to cover up such abuse, and possession of child pornography by a cleric.</p>
<p>Even with this change, however, transparency may prove elusive, argues law professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wI3ku0oAAAAJ&hl=en">Christine P. Bartholomew</a>. She <a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-ends-a-secrecy-rule-for-catholic-sexual-abuse-cases-but-for-victims-many-barriers-to-justice-remain-129434">outlines other practices</a> that can be used to conceal information and work around mandatory reporting requirements. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-ends-a-secrecy-rule-for-catholic-sexual-abuse-cases-but-for-victims-many-barriers-to-justice-remain-129434">Pope ends a secrecy rule for Catholic sexual abuse cases, but for victims many barriers to justice remain</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234498/original/file-20180831-195325-e1n00o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The French Baroque painting ‘Saint Paul writing his Epistles.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Probably_Valentin_de_Boulogne_-_Saint_Paul_Writing_His_Epistles_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Valentin de Boulogne</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Celibacy controversy</h2>
<p>Other analysts trying to understand the roots of the sex abuse crisis focus on the rules of the priesthood itself – especially that priests be male and celibate.</p>
<p>But it hasn’t always been that clear cut. <a href="https://neareasternstudies.cornell.edu/kim-haines-eitzen">Kim Haines-Eitzen</a>, an expert on early Christianity, outlines how views on marriage <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-views-on-priestly-celibacy-changed-in-christian-history-102158">have shifted</a> ever since the first century. Saint Paul seemed to endorse marriage “reluctantly,” she writes, as “an acceptable choice for those who cannot control themselves.” </p>
<p>Attitudes toward sex and marriage continued to cause controversy for centuries, contributing to schisms between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, and later the Protestant Reformation. This is still the case today, as some Catholics advocate that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-ap-top-news-international-news-germany-europe-c3cd8c5c7a4b4811b9cc3ba4452a9963">married men be allowed to become priests</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-views-on-priestly-celibacy-changed-in-christian-history-102158">How views on priestly celibacy changed in Christian history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Change is possible</h2>
<p>Changing a 2,000-year-old institution is hard, but not out of reach.</p>
<p>As a scholar of religious change, <a href="https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/people/melissa-wilde">Melissa Wilde</a> pinpoints moments when the Catholic Church <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-resists-change-but-vatican-ii-shows-its-possible-102543">changed course</a>. Chief among them was Vatican II, the seminal church council in the 1960s that made significant reforms to worship, such as conducting the Mass in parishioners’ own language, rather than Latin. </p>
<p>With the church mired in crises, “the church needs more than reflection,” she argues. “It needs another council.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-resists-change-but-vatican-ii-shows-its-possible-102543">The Catholic Church resists change – but Vatican II shows it's possible</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A French report on the scale of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is the latest revelation in the crisis, but its roots go back decades – or more. Here are a few of our many related articles.Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1631472021-06-28T12:14:21Z2021-06-28T12:14:21ZControversy over Communion in the Catholic Church goes back some 2,000 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408448/original/file-20210625-28-1uvawe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C1011%2C676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When Pope John Paul II was beatified, Zimbabwe's ruler, Robert Mugabe, was in attendance and given Communion.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/zimbabwes-president-robert-mugabe-flanked-by-his-wife-grace-news-photo/457486158?adppopup=true.">Franco Origlia/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently approved drafting a <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/united-states-conference-catholic-bishops-vote-write-document-meaning-eucharist-life">document on receiving Communion in the Catholic Church</a>. It will include a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholic-bishops-debate-communion-for-biden-11623937299">section regarding standards</a> for politicians and public figures who support laws <a href="https://www.archstl.org/bishops-vote-to-draft-teaching-document-on-the-eucharist-6591">allowing abortion, euthanasia and other “moral evils</a>.” </p>
<p>The proposed document has already caused controversy. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/995796836/vatican-warns-u-s-bishops-about-denying-communion-to-supporters-of-abortion-righ">The Vatican</a> has warned against exclusively focusing on abortion and euthanasia and cautioned that the document could further <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/us/targeting-biden-catholic-bishops-advance-controversial-communion-plan.html">divide U.S. Catholics</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/mathew-schmalz">Catholic scholar of religion</a>, I would argue that battles over Communion are nothing new in the Catholic Church.</p>
<h2>The importance of Communion</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C0%2C2587%2C1690&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Archbishop Jose H. Gomez holds a Communion wafer during Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles in 2020." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C0%2C2587%2C1690&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408417/original/file-20210625-23-9t0k7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is debating which Catholics are worthy of receiving Communion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CatholicBishopsCommunionandPolitics/e0a310966abf4656bc4efd469229f175/photo?Query=United%20States%20Conference%20of%20Catholic%20Bishops%202021&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Catholic Church, the Communion service is one of seven rituals called <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3E.HTM">sacraments</a> that have a primary significance. During this service, called <a href="https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/structure-and-meaning-mass">a Mass</a>, Catholics believe that the bread and wine, when specially blessed by a priest, become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Ritually consuming this bread and wine is a special way to “commune,” or be united, with Jesus Christ. </p>
<p>Catholics call both the celebration of Mass and the blessed bread and wine <a href="https://denvercatholic.org/the-eucharist-throughout-history-a-timeline/">the Eucharist</a>, from the Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” Receiving Communion can also be called receiving the Eucharist.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church teaches that <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/10/30/explainer-when-can-someone-be-denied-eucharist">in order to receive Communion</a>, a person must not be <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4D.HTM">conscious of a serious sin</a> – such as murder or adultery – that has not already been absolved through confession to a priest. </p>
<p>In early Christianity, rules about receiving Communion could be strict. Christians who were known to be guilty of serious sins were not supposed to receive Communion until they went through a process of reconciliation with a local bishop. In the <a href="http://cdn.theologicalstudies.net/16/16.4/16.4.1.pdf">Middle Ages</a>, very few Catholics actually received Communion at all, as many believed that they were unworthy to do so. </p>
<h2>The possibility of scandal</h2>
<p>In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Catholic Church <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/decree-on-frequent--daily-reception-of-holy-communion-2174">encouraged a more frequent – even daily – reception of Communion</a>. </p>
<p>Still, one of the main concerns surrounding Communion is that someone publicly known to be committing serious sins would receive Communion. Such cases create “scandal.”</p>
<p>In the Catholic Church’s terminology, scandal is “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P80.HTM">an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil</a>.” So, someone who accepts Communion while at the same time publicly continuing in sinful behavior encourages others to continue to do the same as well. </p>
<p>When it comes to public policy, the compendium of Catholic doctrine, the Catholic Cathechism, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P80.HTM">specifically states</a>, “they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice.”</p>
<h2>Denying Communion</h2>
<p>There is a history of the Catholic Church denying Communion to those participating in what is considered publicly sinful behavior.</p>
<p>One of the most famous examples is of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Ambrose">Ambrose</a>, bishop of Milan, who baptized the theologian Augustine of Hippo, who later became <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/">one of the most influential figures in Christian history</a>. Ambrose denied Communion to the Roman Emperor Theodosius in the fourth century. Enraged by the lynching of a leader of a Roman army garrison, Theodosius gave orders that led to a massacre in the port city of Thessalonica, which killed 7,000 citizens. <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/340951.htm">In a letter calling for Theodosius to take responsibility for his actions</a>, Ambrose wrote, “Are you ashamed, O Emperor?”</p>
<p>From 1208 to 1214, Pope Innocent III asked his bishops to place England and Wales under “<a href="http://magnacartaresearch.blogspot.com/2014/03/23-march-1208-interdict-is-laid-on.html#:%7E:text=On%2023%20March%201208%2C%20English,consecrated%20ground%20with%20religious%20ceremony.">interdict</a>,” or “prohibition,” which banned the performance of all sacraments – including the Eucharist – except for baptism and confession of the dying. The reason for this extreme act was said to be that King John had rejected Innocent III’s candidate for the important position of <a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Archbishops-of-Canterbury/">archbishop of Canterbury</a>.</p>
<p>In the early 20th century, Irish bishops spoke against continuing acts of violence by Irish nationalists who opposed the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/easterrising/aftermath/af06.shtml">Anglo-Irish treaty</a> of 1921, which established the Irish Free State and ended the Irish War of Independence. In <a href="http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000514373#page/1/mode/1up">a letter</a> published on 22 October 1922, the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/29742759?seq=36#metadata_info_tab_contents">Irish bishops</a> denied absolution and Communion to “irregulars” using violence against the “legitimate authority” of the government.</p>
<p>More recently, it was reported in 2011 that priests in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/28/malta-divorce-referendum">Malta were denying Communion to Catholics</a> who supported legalizing divorce. In the United States, presidential candidate John Kerry <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kerrys-communion-controversy/">was denied Communion in 2004</a>, reportedly for his support for abortion rights. The same issue saw Joseph Biden denied Communion in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-joe-biden-was-denied-communion-at-a-church-126171">2019</a> by a church in South Carolina.</p>
<h2>Communion controversies</h2>
<p>At the same time, the Catholic Church has also been questioned for not denying Communion to Catholic public figures who have behaved sinfully.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pope John Paul II, left, with Chilean President Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Santiago, Chile on April 1, 1987." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408421/original/file-20210625-28-ivnooy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pope John Paul II gave Communion to military dictator Augusto Pinochet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CHILEPINOCHETOBIT/bdb7c8cb600b4fd8a4ba3b79d8ef61c1/photo?Query=pinochet%20john%20paul&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Pete Leabo</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/04/11/Pope-avoids-confrontation-with-Pinochet/8894545112000/">his trip to Chile in 1987</a>, Pope John Paul II <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/01/world/pope-on-latin-trip-attacks-pinochet-regime.html">criticized the military dictatorship</a> under the Army General Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet led a revolt that toppled the elected government. <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/1990/05/truth-commission-chile-90">Thousands were tortured and executed</a> under his rule. But <a href="http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2000b/060200/060200a.htm">the pope still gave Pinochet Communion</a>.</p>
<p>When Pope John Paul II was <a href="https://www.archbalt.org/holy-confusion-beatification-canonization-are-different/">beatified</a> – a crucial step in becoming named a saint – Zimbabwe’s ruler, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27519044">Robert Mugabe</a>, was in attendance. Among <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/09/robert-mugabe-1924-2019-a-liberator-turned-oppressor/">many human rights abuses</a>, Mugabe <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-mugabe-violence/mugabes-legacy-thousands-killed-in-rain-that-washes-away-the-chaff-idUSKCN1VR18H">sanctioned the killing of 20,000 people belonging to the Ndebele ethnic minority</a> who were loyal to his rival, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/07/02/zimbabwe-nationalist-joshua-nkomo-dies-at-82/da22452e-4238-4f0d-9dbf-96a21eb7ee1c/">Joshua Nkomo</a>. Nonetheless, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/88416/robert-mugabe-vatican-catholic-pope-zimbabwe">Mugabe was allowed</a> to take Communion at the Vatican, in St. Peter’s Square. Some in the African Catholic media called this a “<a href="https://www.scross.co.za/2011/05/mugabe-the-scandal-factor/">scandal</a>.”</p>
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<h2>The path forward</h2>
<p>Pope Francis <a href="https://www.vatican.va/evangelii-gaudium/en/files/assets/basic-html/page40.html">has stated</a>: “The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” And so one of the key issues that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ proposed document will surely need to address is when human weakness becomes serious sin and scandal.</p>
<p>While the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will issue guidelines for reception of Communion, it will be the task of individual bishops to decide how to put them into practice. And some Catholic bishops, notably Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C., <a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/06/21/washingtons-cardinal-wont-deny-biden-communion/">have said</a> they will not deny communion to President Biden in their jurisdictions.</p>
<p>At the present time, the Catholic Church in America is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/20/us/biden-abortion-catholic-church.html">highly polarized</a>. For his part, <a href="https://time.com/6074753/joe-biden-catholic-communion-abortion/">President Biden, who goes to Mass every week, has said</a> that he has no plan to change how he worships. In such a context, U.S. Catholic bishops will have to move forward very carefully. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="In a Jan. 20, 2021 photo, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle during Inauguration Day ceremonies in Washington." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408420/original/file-20210625-21-wy6b49.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Biden is an observant Catholic who regularly attends Mass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenCatholicBishops/0f62214fa4ac438aa9fc13f6398b661c/photo?Query=biden%20AND%20communion&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=8&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz is a political independent.</span></em></p>Biden is not the first public figure to whom the Catholic Church wants to deny Communion. Over the centuries, the Church has often come under criticism for either denying or giving Communion.Mathew Schmalz, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.