tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/the-vatican-50517/articlesThe Vatican – The Conversation2024-02-28T19:15:48Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230932024-02-28T19:15:48Z2024-02-28T19:15:48ZPope Gregory XIII gave us the leap year – but his legacy goes much further<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578180/original/file-20240227-22-e28jpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C32%2C5363%2C3548&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On this day, February 29, conversations the world over may conjure the name of Pope Gregory XIII – widely known for his reform of the calendar that bears his name. </p>
<p>The need for <a href="https://palazzoboncompagni.it/en/podcast/the-gregorian-calendar/">calendar reform</a> was driven by the inaccuracy of the Julian calendar. Introduced in 46 BC, the Julian calendar fell short of the solar year – the time it takes Earth to orbit the Sun – by about 12 minutes each year. </p>
<p>To correct this, Gregory convened a commission of experts who fine-tuned the leap-year system, giving us the one we have today.</p>
<p>But the Gregorian calendar isn’t the only legacy Pope Gregory left. His papacy encompassed a broad spectrum of achievements that have left a lasting mark on the world. </p>
<h2>Rise to papacy</h2>
<p>Born in 1502 as Ugo Boncompagni, Gregory made many contributions to the life of the Catholic Church, the city of Rome, education, arts and diplomacy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.unibo.it/en/university/who-we-are/our-history/famous-people-and-students/gregory-xiii">Before ascending</a> to the papacy, Boncompagni had a distinguished career in law in Bologna where he received his doctorate in both civil and canon law. He also taught jurisprudence, which is the theory and philosophy of law.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting of Pope Gregory XIII by Lavinia Fontana" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575809/original/file-20240215-26-rm5ni5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=904&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">An oil portrait of Pope Gregory XIII painted by Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lavinia_Fontana_-_Portrait_of_Pope_Gregory_XIII.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>His intellectual influence positioned him as a trusted figure in legal and diplomatic circles even before his election as pope in the 1572 conclave. Upon being elected he adopted the name Gregory, in honour of Pope Gregory the Great who lived in the sixth century.</p>
<h2>Movement in the Church</h2>
<p>One of Gregory’s major undertakings was reforming the Catholic Church in response to the Reformation, a movement which established a distinct new branch of Christianity, Protestantism, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/protestant-reformation/">separated</a> from the Catholic Church. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/revisiting-the-reformation-how-passions-sparked-a-religious-revolution-500-years-ago-86048">Revisiting the Reformation: how passions sparked a religious revolution 500 years ago</a>
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<p>Gregory aimed to implement the decisions of the Council of Trent, which met between 1545 and 1563, and defined key Christian doctrines and practices, including scripture, original sin, justification, the sacraments and saint veneration. Its outcomes directed the church’s future for centuries.</p>
<p>Gregory’s administrative reforms were aimed at <a href="https://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam033/2002038836.pdf">centralising church governance</a> and its operations. As pope, he relished the practice of law, personally engaging in judicial deliberations and surprising his contemporaries with his legal acumen. </p>
<p>His papacy also marked a revision of Gratian’s Decretals, a collection of 12th-century church laws that served as a textbook for lawyers. Gregory aimed to correct numerous errors and unify the various versions of this foundational text of canon law. This culminated in the publication of an amended edition in 1582. </p>
<h2>Gregory’s dragon</h2>
<p>Pope Gregory lived at a time when emblematic and symbolic interpretations were central to the political and cultural discourse. In particular, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-91869-3_6">monsters</a> were interpreted as omens or divine signs and played a significant role in religious and political debate. </p>
<p>Gregory’s coat of arms, the heraldic emblem of the Boncompagni family, featured a dragon. As such, it <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25750536">drew criticism</a> from Protestant propaganda. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575810/original/file-20240215-30-fdl88e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&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 coat of arms of Pope Gregory XIII has a dragon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coat_of_arms_of_Pope_Gregorius_XIII_-_Ceiling_of_Santa_Maria_in_Aracoeli_-_Rome_2016.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>Anti-Catholic publications featured the Boncompagni dragon as an emblem of the Antichrist, drawing on the seven-headed monster in the Book of Revelation.</p>
<p>Rooted in biblical and mythological references, the negative imagery of Gregory’s dragon became a focal point for debates over the nature of papal authority, the legitimacy of Protestant criticisms, and the broader struggle to define truth and meaning in a rapidly changing world. </p>
<h2>A legacy enshrined in art</h2>
<p>Gregory’s legal legacy is celebrated in art, particularly in the <a href="https://factumfoundation.org/our-projects/digital-restorations/the-sala-bologna-the-vatican-palace/">Sala Bologna of the Vatican Palace</a>, which commemorates his and other popes’ contributions to the study and codification of law.</p>
<p>Gregory XIII’s pontificate (term of office) was marked by a comprehensive effort to renew and beautify Rome, improving both the city’s functionality and aesthetics. He had a particular focus on the <a href="https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/campidoglio-capitoline-hill">Capitoline Hill</a>, the political and religious heart of Rome since the Antiquity.</p>
<p>Gregory’s initiatives – which included restoring essential infrastructure such as gates, bridges and fountains – were part of a broader vision to emphasise the centrality of law in Rome’s history and culture. </p>
<p>This is demonstrated by him being honoured by a statue in the Aula Consiliare of the <a href="https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/senatorio-palace">Senator’s Palace</a>. This hall was designed to showcase the importance of judicial proceedings.</p>
<p>Alongside his urban planning initiatives, Gregory’s commissioning of <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/76012/9781000865509.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">artworks and architectural projects</a> showcased his commitment to fostering a city that was not only the spiritual centre of Catholicism, but also a beacon of Renaissance culture.</p>
<p>In the Sala Regia hall in Vatican City, he commissioned a series of mural frescoes showcasing the triumph of Christianity over its enemies. He also commissioned an entire map gallery for the Apostolic Palace, to demonstrate the extent of Christianity’s spread over the world.</p>
<h2>Reforming the calendar</h2>
<p>Because the Julian calendar fell short by about 12 minutes each year, it was increasingly out-of-sync with the solar year. By the time Gregory’s reign began, this discrepancy had accumulated to more than 10 days.</p>
<p>To correct this, Gregory convened a commission of experts. Their work led to the publication of a formal papal decree in the form of the bull <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/calendar/The-Gregorian-calendar#ref793372"><em>Inter Gravissimas</em></a> on February 24 1582.</p>
<p>This decree not only fine-tuned the leap-year system, but also mandated the elimination of ten days to realign the calendar with the solar year.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575813/original/file-20240215-32-4r21bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&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">The first page of the bull <em>Inter Gravissimas</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_gravissimas#/media/File:Inter-grav.jpg">Wikimeia</a></span>
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<p>The Gregorian calendar reform signified a monumental shift in timekeeping. In 1582, October 4 was followed directly by October 15, correcting the calendar’s alignment with astronomical reality. </p>
<p>This adjustment, slowly adopted by Protestant nations, has had a lasting impact on how the world measures time.</p>
<h2>Faith, intellect and reform</h2>
<p>In St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, you will find a remarkable funerary monument to Pope Gregory XIII. Completed in 1723 by Milanese sculptor Camillo Rusconi, it incorporates representations of both Religion and Wisdom, personified by two statues flanking the pope.</p>
<p>Wisdom is shown drawing attention to a relief beneath the enthroned pope which illustrates the promulgation of the new calendar – the pope’s most significant achievement. At the base of the monument, a dragon crouches unapologetically.</p>
<p>It’s a fitting tribute to a pope whose tenure was characterised by the interaction of faith, intellect and reform – and which can now be marked as a cornerstone in European history.</p>
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<span class="caption">A dragon, the heraldic emblem of the Boncompagni family, is carved into the base of the monument.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/The Conversation</span></span>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darius von Guttner Sporzynski 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 Gregory XIII was patron of Rome’s renaissance, and a legal luminary whose influence transcends the ages.Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137222023-10-02T12:29:39Z2023-10-02T12:29:39ZPope Francis has appointed 21 new cardinals – an expert on medieval Christianity explains what it means for the future of the Catholic Church<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551264/original/file-20230930-19-qn921n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C5964%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New cardinals at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sept. 30, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXVaticanNewCardinals/55e2e1150801420ca3e91bb06eab2313/photo?Query=Pope%20Francis%20created%2021%20new%20cardinals&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=12&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 30, 2023, Pope Francis swore in <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-07/pope-announces-consistory-for-creation-of-new-cardinals.html">21 clergymen as new members of</a> the College of Cardinals. The College is an important part of the church’s governance structure – each new member <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/pope-francis-names-21-new-cardinals-including-vaticans-ambassador-us">takes a formal oath</a> during a ritual ceremony in the presence of present members of the College. </p>
<p>This assembly of cardinals, <a href="https://slmedia.org/blog/consistory-2023">known as a consistory</a>, is the ninth that Francis has held to create new cardinals since 2013, when he succeeded the retiring Pope Benedict XVI. </p>
<p>The new appointments will take the <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali---statistiche/elenco_per_eta.html">membership of the College from 221 to 242</a>, including retirees. Francis has ensured that the College includes clergy from around the world and is <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/07/09/pope-francis-new-cardinals-conclave-245656">representative of the diversity</a> within Catholicism. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">specialist in medieval Christianity</a>, I have studied the complex history of the College of Cardinals. Shaped by past challenges, it is a crucial institution – for its members will elect the next pope and help develop the policies the Catholic Church will follow in the future.</p>
<h2>Early church leadership</h2>
<p>During the Roman Empire, when Christianity was illegal, Christians would meet secretly. These meetings were often held <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/when-did-christianity-begin-to-spread/">in private homes called house churches</a> – domestic buildings that were later <a href="http://historyofchristianart.com/files/Origins_Program_Dura_Europos_A.pdf">adapted solely for worship</a> by members of the local Christian community. </p>
<p>It was during this time that leadership of these communities developed into three main orders of ordained clergy: <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+3&version=NRSVCE">Overseers became bishop</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+5%3A+17-22&version=NRSVCE">elders became priests</a>, and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+3%3A+8-13&version=NRSVCE">ministers became deacons</a>. </p>
<p>After the legalization of Christianity in the early fourth century, Christians were free to build large, more elaborate public buildings for worship, which often expanded some of these original house churches. New churches were also built in various sections of Rome, as well as in seven areas surrounding the city — like suburbs – <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14324a.htm">called the suburbicarian churches</a>. </p>
<p>By the sixth century, key members of the clergy staffing many of these Roman and Italian churches, especially the older ones, were referred to as cardinals, from the Latin word referring to a hinge, or a central joint. Leading deacons, senior priests and prominent bishops serving these parishes were all called cardinals. </p>
<h2>Papacy as a political prize</h2>
<p>Over these later centuries, Christianity also spread more widely north of the Alps, and the numbers of Christian churches and clergy expanded. However, because of ongoing warfare, conquest and political turmoil, Christianity in western Europe entered a more turbulent period. Popes came to exert political as well as spiritual power, leaving the office of the papacy vulnerable to the influence of competing secular powers, as well as powerful local Roman families and foreign rulers. </p>
<p>This became such a problem that in 769, under Pope Stephen III, <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14289a.htm">a council held at one of the central churches in Rome</a> – St. John Lateran – ruled that no layperson could be elected pope or influence the election of anyone to the papacy; only candidates holding the title of cardinal could be elected pope.</p>
<p>This requirement improved the situation for a time, but also contributed to the increasing political power of cardinals, traditionally the popes’ closest advisers.</p>
<p>In the later ninth and 10th centuries, however, the papacy again became a political prize for prominent Roman families and Italian nobility. This period, called the “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Age-of-Faith/Will-Durant/The-Story-of-Civilization/9781451647617">nadir of the papacy</a>,” produced a series of unworthy popes, including Pope Stephen VI, who put the corpse of his <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-cadaver-synod-putting-a-dead-pope-on-trial/">predecessor on trial</a>; and Pope John XII, at 17 the youngest pope ever elected, who <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08426b.htm">spent his papacy in the mid-10th century</a> in drinking, gambling and debauchery.</p>
<p>However, many changes took place during the next two centuries, supported by reform-minded clergy and rulers in what is now France. </p>
<p>Several popes, notably Popes Leo IX and Gregory VII, brought organizational improvements to the bureaucratic structure of the Catholic Church in the <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195396584/obo-9780195396584-0131.xml">11th and early 12th centuries</a>; many individual cardinals came to direct administrative departments. </p>
<p>In 1059, Pope Nicholas II declared that <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/papalel.asp">a pope could only be elected</a> by members of the College of Cardinals, and a <a href="https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum11.htm">special election consistory</a> was mandated in 1179.</p>
<h2>Vatican II and other developments</h2>
<p>In the following centuries, cardinals in the Catholic Church continued to assume important roles in Rome as curial officers, diplomats – called papal legates – and experts in the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html#CHAPTER_III">Catholic legal system, the canon law</a>. Others served as advisers to rulers in Catholic countries or directed groups of bishops in their local pastoral ministry.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white image showing a large number of people seated in pews." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551016/original/file-20230928-17-tc7ng6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&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 Benedict XV, cardinals and others pray for peace in Europe at St Peter’s (San Pietro) on Feb. 7, 1915, at the Vatican.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-benedict-xv-cardinals-and-faithfuls-praying-for-peace-news-photo/872464604?adppopup=true">DeAgostini/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several popes made more substantial changes in the number and selection of cardinals in the 20th and 21st centuries. The requirements for a cardinal candidate were narrowed. In 1917, Pope Benedict XV <a href="https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=251196&p=1673402">promulgated a universal Code of Canon Law</a>. In it, the office of cardinal was restricted to priests and bishops, and deacons were excluded.</p>
<p>Later, on the eve of the Second Vatican Council, held from from 1962 to 1965, Pope John XXIII declared that <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/la/motu_proprio/documents/hf_j-xxiii_motu-proprio_19620415_cum-gravissima.html">all cardinals must be ordained bishops</a>. Subsequently, John Paul II – pope from 1978 until his death in 2005 – dispensed certain exceptional priests, often elderly theologians, from this requirement. The first so honored in 1983 was the <a href="https://aleteia.org/2021/09/04/remembering-the-life-of-henri-de-lubac/">French theologian Rev. Henri de Lubac</a>, and the first American, named in 2001, was <a href="https://www.fordham.edu/academics/faculty/endowed-chairs/mcginley-chair/avery-cardinal-dulles-biography/">Rev. Avery Dulles, S. J.</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, popes at this time, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/it/speeches/1946/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19460220_la-elevatezza.html">stressing the universality of the church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180523005422/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/cardinal-stats-pope-makes-college-more-international-not-much-younger.cfm">added several new cardinals</a> from countries around the world.</p>
<h2>A larger College of Cardinals</h2>
<p>Partly because of this stress on diversity, the size of the College of Cardinals increased dramatically. During the later medieval period, popes and councils set the maximum number of cardinals who could serve at one time, varying from 20 in the 14th century to 70 in the 16th century. That limit remained in effect until the 20th century, when John XXIII <a href="https://cardinals.fiu.edu/consist-58.htm">expanded the College</a> to 88 cardinals, which his successor, Pope Paul VI, expanded to 134 – less than half the size of the College today. </p>
<p>The duties expected of individual cardinals have also changed. During his papacy, Paul VI set out rules for the retirement of all bishops and priests, as well as cardinals: All were expected to submit a letter of intent to retire when they reached the age of 75. </p>
<p>He also set another age limit: After reaching the age of 80, cardinals would not be eligible to vote in a papal election, although they <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/it/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19701120_ingravescentem.html">kept the title of cardinal</a> for the remainder of their lives. Even before the September 2023 consistory, almost half of the total number of cardinals were over 80, and so <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali---statistiche/elenco_per_eta/distribuzione-per-tipo.html">were barred from voting</a> in future papal elections.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Clergymen in green robes seated in the pews." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551015/original/file-20230928-15-xqp6f0.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 College of Cardinals at the Holy Mass, presided over by Pope Francis at the Vatican Basilica, on Aug. 30, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-cardinals-at-the-holy-mass-at-the-end-of-the-consistory-news-photo/1419592930?adppopup=true">Grzegorz Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cardinals and the future of the church</h2>
<p>During his pontificate, Francis’ selections have continued to shape the composition of the College of Cardinals in several ways. </p>
<p>Many believe that with his appointments, Francis has tried to ensure that his vision of the church’s future will continue after his death; he is 86 years old and in failing health. </p>
<p>Given the fact that the vast majority of cardinals under 80 are Francis appointees, some commentators have noted that the <a href="https://religionnews.com/2023/09/25/pope-conclave/">pope has “stacked</a>” the College with cardinals who are inclined to agree with his more liberal focus on inclusivity and social justice issues, rather than Benedict XVI’s stress on doctrinal orthodoxy and traditional values. Francis’ latest round of cardinal appointments have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/04/pope-wars-against-american-bishops/">further underscored this tension</a>.</p>
<p>Some more conservative Catholic bishops and cardinals have criticized the pope’s statements and actions as increasingly divergent from Catholic traditional teaching. The late Cardinal George Pell from Australia, who served over a year in prison until his conviction for child sex abuse was overturned in 2020, <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/01/17/commentary-cardinal-pells/">called Francis’ pontificate a “catastrophe</a>” in an anonymous letter sent to other cardinals in 2022. </p>
<p>Other bishops and cardinals disagree. For example, <a href="https://www.archchicago.org/about-us/cardinal-blase-j-cupich">Cardinal Blase Cupich</a>, archbishop of Chicago, <a href="https://www.archchicago.org/about-us/cardinal-blase-j-cupich">has publically approved</a> of the pope’s determination to “situate the church for its future” by <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/cardinal-cupich-francis-giving-new-life-vatican-ii-reforms">emphasizing a more collaborative approach</a>, and praising Francis’ <a href="https://www.archchicago.org/statement/-/article/2020/10/04/statement-of-cardinal-blase-j-cupich-archbishop-of-chicago-on-pope-francis-encyclical-letter-fratelli-tutti-">stress on inclusion</a> rather than division.</p>
<p><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/by-stacking-the-odds-in-his-favour-does-pope-francis-risk-splitting-the-vote-at-the-next-conclave/">Whatever the outcome</a> of the next papal election, members of the College of Cardinals, as bishops in active ministry, diplomats, intellectuals and papal advisers, <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2023/07/17/pope-francis-cardinals-conclave-245695">will have a profound role</a> in shaping that future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213722/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>The College of Cardinals is an important part of the church’s governance structure. Its members elect the next pope and help develop future policies for the church.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876812022-07-26T17:34:39Z2022-07-26T17:34:39ZI survived the ’60s Scoop. Here’s why the Pope’s apology isn’t an apology at all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476126/original/file-20220726-22290-5eq6vb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4149%2C2521&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis arrives to a hero's welcome at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on July 26, 2022, to take part in a public mass. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/i-survived-the--60s-scoop--here-s-why-the-pope-s-apology-isn-t-an-apology-at-all" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Pope Francis came this week to Maskwasic in central Alberta — where many Indigenous people, including survivors of residential schools and their descendants, had gathered — to deliver an expected apology in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-58/">Call to Action No. 58:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>We call upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children in Catholic-run residential schools. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am the granddaughter of a Residential School survivor. I am the daughter of a First Nations woman who survived having each of her seven children stolen and relocated through the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/features/the-sixties-scoop-explained">’60s Scoop assimilation policy</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forced-sterilizations-of-indigenous-women-one-more-act-of-genocide-109603">Forced sterilizations of Indigenous women: One more act of genocide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I spent more than 25 years searching for and locating not only my birth mother, but also all of my siblings who were spread across several provinces. I continue to fight to ensure that my nieces, nephews and young relatives know who they are — and that we are here because of the undeniable strength and perseverance of our ancestors.</p>
<p>What many Canadians don’t understand is that the struggles within Indigenous communities today are not cultural traits — they are symptoms of a people still struggling from the intergenerational trauma and horrors experienced through the genocidal acts and abuses that took place through the Residential School assimilation policy.</p>
<h2>Is the papal apology genuine?</h2>
<p>Did the Pope’s apology truly address Call to Action No. 58?</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for the apology to take place on Turtle Island within one year of the release of the 2015 report. It also called for the apology to speak to the role of the Roman Catholic Church.</p>
<p>Seven years later, and only due to the consistent persistence of Indigenous Peoples, Pope Francis agreed to apologize. But what did he apologize for?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-long-awaited-apology-for-indian-residential-schools-in-canada-is-a-first-step-187342">Pope’s long-awaited apology for Indian Residential Schools in Canada is a ‘first step’</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Much like he did when <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8730542/indigenous-people-made-history-rome-delegation/#:%7E:text=First%20Nations%2C%20M%C3%A9tis%20and%20Inuit,Francis%20related%20to%20residential%20schools.">an Indigenous delegation visited Rome</a> earlier this year, Pope Francis apologized for “the ways in which many members of the church and religious communities co-operated” in the Residential School system. </p>
<p>This was not the Catholic Church taking responsibility for acts of genocide and spiritual, emotional and physical abuses. Apologizing for individuals versus the establishment that upheld not only the assimilation policy, but also protected — and continues to protect — the people who committed the crimes is horrifying at worst and an insult at best.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church not only upheld the government’s Residential School system, it used it to further its own religious agenda. It continues to protect Catholic officials who perpetrated criminal acts upon the children. Some of them are still alive to this day. </p>
<p>Canada continues to investigate and hold accountable individuals who committed <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nazi-war-criminals-in-canada-1.1026670">war crimes during the Second World War</a>. Where is the accountability for those who have committed crimes against Indigenous children?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holds a red banner with hundreds of names on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476135/original/file-20220726-26-jh37cw.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">A person holds a banner with the names of children who died in Residential Schools at Pope Francis’s appearance in Maskwacis, Alta., on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other areas where the church falls short</h2>
<p>After the discovery of unmarked graves of children who died while attending Residential Schools began receiving international coverage in 2021, the Catholic Church committed to providing $30 million to support reconciliation projects for survivors. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/every-child-matters-one-year-after-the-unmarked-graves-of-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in-kamloops-183778">'Every child matters': One year after the unmarked graves of 215 Indigenous children were found in Kamloops</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/catholic-dioceses-funding-residential-school-survivors-1.6524231">But its fundraising campaign fell short by nearly 90 per cent</a>. The church claims it’s still working on a detailed plan.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, in 2016 it managed to raise and invest $128 million to renovate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/cccb-fundraiser-november-timeline-missed-1.6294008">St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica</a> in downtown Toronto. </p>
<p><a href="https://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/06/the-10-richest-religions-in-the-world/">The Catholic Church is among the wealthiest religious organizations in the world</a>. Money flows where priorities go, and the Catholic Church clearly prioritizes renovations over reconciliation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Signs printed with the names of Residential School victims are tied to the iron gates surrounding a cathedral." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476119/original/file-20220726-15-m8fywp.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">Signs printed with the names of Residential School victims are tied to the gates outside St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in Toronto in April 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Yader Guzman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous groups, including the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, have also been calling for the release of all Residential School records since the release of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. But the <a href="http://nationnews.ca/community/indigenous-groups-push-catholic-church-to-release-residential-school-records/">Vatican still hasn’t complied</a>. </p>
<p>It holds records and requires Indigenous people to travel to Rome to access the documents. <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/missing-residential-school-records-vatican-won-t-release-documents-feds-destroyed-files-1.5455783">There are also suspicions some documents have been destroyed</a>.</p>
<h2>False absolution causes pain</h2>
<p>I would not be walking in my truth if I were not to acknowledge how the church has manipulated some Indigenous people.</p>
<p>It appears that the church feels its only responsibility was to listen to survivors share their stories of horror, and that in itself absolves it of any wrongdoings and releases it from any further accountability.</p>
<p>This is still being acted out today in ways that are extremely upsetting for me and many other Indigenous people. We saw it this week as the Pope was gifted sacred items from those who suffered abuses.</p>
<p>Sharing of gifts is a cultural norm for Indigenous Peoples. But to share sacred, ceremonial items that are intended to acknowledge people at the highest level for their contributions, wisdom and leadership is not only inappropriate, it’s deeply harmful for Indigenous culture and the future of our young people. Neither the Pope nor the church has earned these gifts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a white robe straightens and Indigenous headdress on his head." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476123/original/file-20220726-17-2sesuu.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">Pope Francis puts on an Indigenous headdress during a meeting with Indigenous communities in Maskwacis, near Edmonton, on July 25, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It suggests that we don’t deserve reparations, accountability or reciprocity.</p>
<p>Time and time again, Indigenous people who have been displaced through assimilation policies and other colonization tactics tell me they profoundly desire opportunities to learn more about who they are, where they come from and to understand our cultures.</p>
<p>I have wiped their tears while they cry when they see Indigenous political leaders give away headdresses, pipes and drums as symbolic, performative gestures to those who continue to harm us.</p>
<h2>Reconciliation requires people to act</h2>
<p>To my relatives still struggling as you are finding your way back into the circle, I extend my deepest sympathies for the hurt you endured as you watched this happen again during the Pope’s visit. These behaviours must end, full stop.</p>
<p>To the broader community of people in Canada, know that reconciliation is not solely the responsibility of the state or an institution. It also falls upon the individual. </p>
<p>Reconciliation is how you guide conversations with your family while having dinner. It’s how you acknowledge the Pope’s apology and how you deepen the discussion to talk about what wasn’t said. It’s those conversations that will contribute to a future where everyone in Canada can thrive, including Indigenous Peoples.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lori Campbell 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>Apologizing for people versus the establishment that upheld not only the Indian Residential Schools system but protected – and continues to protect — the people who committed the crimes is horrifying.Lori Campbell, Associate Vice President (Indigenous Engagement), University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855552022-07-12T21:30:13Z2022-07-12T21:30:13ZPope’s visit to Canada: Indigenous communities await a new apology — and a commitment to justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473437/original/file-20220711-26-bn3oav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C673%2C6195%2C3681&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 31, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/pope-s-visit-to-canada--indigenous-communities-await-a-new-apology-—-and-a-commitment-to-justice" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Only in the past <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-magazine-for-march-27-2022-1.6391961/time-has-come-for-pope-to-apologize-over-residential-schools-says-phil-fontaine-1.6395063">few decades have survivors of the residential school system spoken out publicly</a> about the injustices they endured in these colonial school systems.</p>
<p>More recently, governments, organizations and institutions have initiated acts of reconciliation, particularly in light <a href="https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports">of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)</a> and <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">its Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/prime-minister-harpers-apology">there have</a> been <a href="https://www.cccb.ca/letter/statement-of-apology-by-the-catholic-bishops-of-canada-to-the-indigenous-peoples-of-this-land">some apologies issued</a>, many survivors have <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/actions-commitments/stakeholder/catholic-church/call-to-action-58/">highly anticipated</a> an apology from the Pope, in Canada.</p>
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<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>
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</em>
</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-pope-visit-maskwacis-alberta-residential-school">Pope Francis</a> will visit Canada <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-residential-school-indigenous-pope-1.6500119#">from July 24 to 29</a>. Many are hopeful he will issue an additional apology — one that is full of accountability and institutional responsibility, unlike the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">one issued at the Vatican on April 1</a>.</p>
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<h2>Years of research</h2>
<p>As a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe), part of the Blackfoot Confederacy, it took years of research before I understood the connection between the strange and heavy silences I recognized as a child but could not name and <a href="https://www.westwind.ab.ca/about-us/podcast/post/dr-tiffany-prete-understanding-intergenerational-trauma">the devastation caused</a> by colonialism inflicted by the Canadian government and Christian churches through the Indian Residential School System.</p>
<p>Part <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLGCqTgdX70">of my research</a> involved articulating my journey and that of my community in <a href="https://doi.org/10.18733/cpi29409">navigating the written records of the Roman Catholic order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate</a>. These records contained information about our people, and we used them to identify our ancestors and to research <a href="https://www.diopress.com/product-page/brave-work-in-indigenous-education">the colonial education system</a> on the Blood Reserve. The Oblates came to the Blood Reserve and opened <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/indigenous-residential-schools-trc-alberta-25-truth-reconciliation-1.6185579">a residential school</a>, as did representatives <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-from-canada-and-europe-helped-fund-indian-residential-schools-164028">of the Anglican Church</a>. Representatives of Catholic, Anglican and Methodist denominations were involved in running colonial schools on the Blood Reserve.</p>
<h2>Earlier statement made in Rome</h2>
<p>The TRC’s <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-58/#">Call to Action No. 58 asks the Pope to “issue an apology</a> to survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic 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>
<p>An apology in line with this call would help demonstrate the Roman Catholics’ responsibility in the colonial education system.</p>
<p>Pope Francis’s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">earlier apology</a>, in April, mainly addressed the cultural abuse Indigenous Peoples suffered. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The chain that passed on knowledge and ways of life in union with the land was broken by a colonization that lacked respect for you, tore many of you from your vital milieu and tried to conform you to another mentality. In this way, great harm was done to your identity and your culture … following programs devised in offices rather than the desire to respect the life of peoples.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A statement like this places the blame on colonization and fails to acknowledge the Catholic Church’s role in supporting these negative colonial outcomes for Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Pope Francis also said, “I feel shame … in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values.” This is the extent to which the Pope acknowledged specific types of abuse that Indigenous children suffered at the hands of religious members.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
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>Pope Francis did not address how Catholic-run residential schools negatively impacted generations of Indigenous Peoples through spiritual, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Nor did he articulate any formal plan for how the Catholic Church would attempt to walk the path of reconciliation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four people are seen sitting in front of a backdrop that says 'walking together' and two bishops are wearing black clerical garments and collars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473439/original/file-20220711-24-8rfdae.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">Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President, Natan Obed, Inuit community member Martha Greig and bishops Richard Gagnon and William McGrattan attend a press conference in Rome on March 28, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)</span></span>
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<h2>Truth, justice, relationships</h2>
<p>There are many of us who hope Pope Francis’s visit will bring a new and more sincere apology. </p>
<p>The Pope must set foot in our communities and onto our reserves. He must see the lasting impacts the Catholic Church has had. He must have conversations, build relationships and listen to the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. He must learn that healing and reconciliation will look different across various communities. </p>
<p>The Pope must make a plan with us, not for us, in order to walk the path of reconciliation.</p>
<p>If the Pope cannot provide a plan while he is here, due to the short visit, he can set things in motion. Indigenous Peoples need more than words. Pope Francis should commit to timelines for formal actions and plans.</p>
<p>These plans should include commitments for representatives of the Catholic Church with the power to make high-level decisions to work with Indigenous communities, and to fulfil all of the TRC’s Calls to Action <a href="https://crc-canada.org/en/ressources/catholic-responses-truth-reconciliation-call-action-48-questions-regarding-doctrine-discovery">related to</a> <a href="https://www.catholicregister.org/item/33968-reconciliation-council-positive-step-forward">the Catholic Church</a> and to attend to any additional needs.</p>
<h2>How to move forward</h2>
<p>As someone who has researched colonial schooling, and who has learned from other experts and Elders in my community, I offer the following suggestions of how to move forward. This is by no means an exhaustive list: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Catholic Church should work with Indigenous communities to determine if criminal investigations will be made <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8067396/residential-school-abuse-perpetrators-charges-survivors/">into the abuses Indigenous children suffered</a> at the hands of adults who were in charge of residential schools. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-school-survivors-draft-papal-apology-bishops-1.6489390">Survivors have asked the Pope to acknowledge church failures in reporting</a> abusers, and the church must hold <a href="https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/92-year-old-charged-following-investigation-into-historic-sexual-abuse-at-manitoba-residential-school-1.5951416">those accountable who are still alive today</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/1873085/first-nations-delegates-ask-pope-francis-to-revoke-church-doctrine-used-to-justify-colonialism">papal bulls (edicts) used to justify</a> the doctrine of discovery and terra nullius must <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/07/06/bishop-syracuse-doctrine-discovery-indigenous-240986">be revoked</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/records-for-residential-schools-should-be-made-public-says-blood-tribe-researcher-1.6081136">Catholic records pertaining to the 1870-1990s colonial school systems must be released</a> and copies given to relevant Indigenous communities. </p></li>
<li><p>In response to requests from survivors, Pope Francis must <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/residential-school-survivors-draft-papal-apology-bishops-1.6489390">recognize that many students were buried in unmarked graves</a> and a plan should be shared to aid Indigenous Peoples while <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7970651/finding-residential-school-graves-complicated">they uncover unmarked graves</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-lawyer-investigate-discovery-of-215-childrens-graves-in-kamloops-as-a-crime-against-humanity-161941">Indigenous lawyer: Investigate discovery of 215 children's graves in Kamloops as a crime against humanity</a>
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<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/04/01/theres-a-lot-to-it-repatriating-indigenous-artifacts-from-vatican-may-take-years.html">Indigenous artifacts at the Vatican</a> must be investigated to determine authorship, and dialogue must happen with the appropriate communities on the fate of the artifacts.</p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/vatican-assets-residential-school-compensation-1.6404280">Catholic Church</a> <a href="https://irshdc.ubc.ca/2021/12/07/online-resources-clarify-outstanding-obligations-of-the-catholic-church-to-indian-residential-school-survivors/">must live up</a> to the original <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074">Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>A new apology from the Pope must be issued on Canadian soil.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As Pope Francis declared in his April statement, “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html">Whenever memory and identity are cherished and protected, we become more human</a>.”</p>
<p>Let us see how the Pope will cherish and protect the memory and identity of Indigenous Peoples by engaging in truth and justice. Such actions will help the world see we are human beings, which colonization and the colonial education system stole from us. </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/185555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Dionne Prete received funding from SSHRC, the National Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund, Community University Research Alliance and Networked Environment of Aboriginal Health Research. She currently receives funding from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. </span></em></p>Pope Francis and the Catholic Church must make a plan with Indigenous Peoples, not for us, in order to walk the path of reconciliation. Some initial suggestions of what a plan might include.Tiffany Dionne Prete, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754872022-01-28T19:48:21Z2022-01-28T19:48:21ZPope Benedict faulted over sex abuse claims: New report is just one chapter in his – and Catholic Church’s – fraught record<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442800/original/file-20220126-13-1ais4ru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C0%2C2928%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the crowd during an audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct.24, 2007. A January 2022 report faulted his handling of several sex abuse cases.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GermanyChurchAbuse/e452d9c9b1e34d82b432e4ec5371c247/photo?Query=pope%20benedict&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=14279&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Plinio Lepri</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-pope-benedict-xvi-reinhard-marx-germany-europe-c75f721f469f969d05348703c093e53d">An in-depth report</a> released last week alleges that former Pope Benedict XVI allowed four abusive priests in Munich to remain in ministry. The pope, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, led the German archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.</p>
<p>The 1,900-page audit was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising but conducted by independent investigators. It covers the period from 1945 to 2019 and lists 235 alleged clergy who were perpetrators of sexual abuse and at least 497 minors who were victims.</p>
<p>Given Benedict’s status – he was pope from 2005 to 2013, until <a href="https://theconversation.com/out-with-gods-rottweiler-the-resignation-of-pope-benedict-xvi-12159">his historic resignation</a> due to ill health – the news has put additional scrutiny on top leaders’ roles in allowing abusers to go unpunished. It also raises the classic questions of what Benedict knew, and when.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://news.fordham.edu/living-the-mission/david-gibson-to-head-center-for-religion-and-culture/">a journalist</a>, I covered Ratzinger in Rome in the 1980s and <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-rule-of-benedict-david-gibson?variant=32127230312482">wrote a biography of him</a> in 2006. Today, as director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, I see this episode as an opportunity to understand the church’s fitful evolution on dealing with abuse.</p>
<h2>Influential role</h2>
<p>After Ratzinger left Munich in 1982, he came to Rome to serve as Pope John Paul II’s top defender of doctrine. For 23 years he led the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/storia/documents/rc_con_cfaith_storia_20150319_promuovere-custodire-fede_en.html">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith</a>, a body tasked with defending Catholic teaching, and arguably the most influential department in the Vatican.</p>
<p>As head, Ratzinger had a say in developing the church’s response to <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/timeline-crisis">the increasingly public sex abuse crisis</a>. John Paul <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-rule-of-benedict-david-gibson?variant=32127230312482">consulted Ratzinger</a> on important decisions, and major documents from other departments at the Vatican required <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/imprimatur">his approval, or imprimatur</a>, before they could be published.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pope John Paul II stands beside Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443029/original/file-20220127-21-1bqwblp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&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 John Paul II stands beside Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would go on to become Pope Benedict XVI, in 1979.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ratzinger’s initial responses to abuse cases mirrored his record in Munich. In one case in 1985, for example, he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/world/europe/10pope.html">rejected an appeal</a> to defrock, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/40548/what-does-it-mean-to-be-laicized-defrocked-or-dismissed-from-the-clerical-state">or “laicize</a>,” an American priest who sexually abused children, even though the priest himself, as well as the bishop, requested it.</p>
<p>One of Ratzinger’s successors at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, defended his mentor by arguing that in the 1970s and 1980s, neither the church nor society at large understood child sex abuse properly. “It was thought that therapy could resolve the problem. Today we know that this is useless for these criminals,” <a href="https://religionnews.com/2022/01/21/pope-vows-justice-for-abuse-victims-after-ratzinger-faulted/">he said</a> after the release of the Munich report.</p>
<h2>‘Weakness of faith’</h2>
<p>Another key factor many critics blame for the hierarchy’s resistance to punishing clergy is <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/priestly-diary/tackle-clericalism-first-when-attempting-priesthood-reform">an attitude called “clericalism</a>,” or treating priests as superior. The <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/coronavirus/father-donald-cozzens-who-challenged-clericalism-church-dies-82">late Rev. Donald Cozzens</a>, a Cleveland priest, seminary director and psychologist who <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/2504/The-Changing-Face-Of-The-Priesthood">published a book</a> on the priesthood in 2000, defined clericalism as an attitude of “privilege and entitlement” among clergy, elites who “think they’re unlike the rest of the faithful.”</p>
<p>Ratzinger and many other church leaders preferred to view the problem as a spiritual one. “I think the essential point is a weakness of faith,” Ratzinger <a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2003/cardinal-ratzinger-sees-weakness-of-faith-behind-the-crisis/">insisted in 2003</a>. He also blamed the secular world, particularly <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/41013/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-essay-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse">what he called</a> the “unprecedented” moral breakdown of the 1960s and 1970s, and the acceptance of homosexuality.</p>
<p>Two studies <a href="https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/The-Causes-and-Context-of-Sexual-Abuse-of-Minors-by-Catholic-Priests-in-the-United-States-1950-2010.pdf">by professors at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice</a> showed that abuse did start to spike in the 1960s and declined sharply in the 1980s. But the researchers note that almost 44% of accused abusers were ordained before 1960 and dismiss the notion that gay men are to blame. Moreover, historians have often pointed out that pedophilia and other sexual abuses by clergy <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/534/article/11th-century-scandal">are nothing new</a> but date back to at least the 11th century.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/specials/clergy/">The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” series</a> finally broke the scandal wide open in January 2002, American bishops sought to institute a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/05/23/one-strike-policy-on-priests-foreseen/08264e3b-13c1-465d-8269-4f2e5ccf260c/">zero-tolerance policy</a> for abusers and to hold bishops who covered up accountable. The Vatican <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-09-22-0209220271-story.html">pushed back</a>, though the U.S. bishops were able <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/11/14/bishops-clear-new-sex-abuse-policy/129e07cc-4c41-45da-8265-f774d7a6e6d1/">to adopt a relatively strong system</a> laying out procedures for removing accused priests.</p>
<p>Ratzinger also continued to minimize the extent of the scandal, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/will-ratzingers-past-trump-benedicts-present">arguing in November 2002</a> that “less than one percent” of priests were guilty of abuse and blaming the media for “a planned campaign” to “discredit the church.” The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/us/two-studies-cite-child-sex-abuse-by-4-of-priests.html">real figure</a> was over 4% nationally.</p>
<h2>A sudden shift</h2>
<p>The previous year, however, Ratzinger had <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/41013/full-text-of-benedict-xvi-essay-the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse">persuaded John Paul</a> to let his office take charge of all abuse cases worldwide to expedite trials and defrock the guilty. The ensuing flood of cases seemed to have an effect: When John Paul died in April 2005 and Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, he moved quickly to begin <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/01/17/263481709/pope-benedict-reportedly-defrocked-hundreds-of-priests-for-abuse#:%7E:text=Pope%20Benedict%20Reportedly%20Defrocked%20Hundreds%20Of%20Priests%20For%20Abuse,-Facebook&text=In%20a%20period%20of%20just,rare%20collection%20of%20such%20data.">laicizing hundreds of abusers</a>. He also apologized to victims and became the first pope ever to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/us/nationalspecial2/18pope.html">meet face to face</a> with clergy abuse victims. This was a sea change for the church, and for Benedict.</p>
<p>But it went only so far. Though Benedict <a href="https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/tackling-wrong-problem">publicly dismissed a bishop</a> whom he considered too liberal, he was not as assertive in taking action against bishops suspected of covering up abuse or being abusers themselves. A key example is the case of Theodore McCarrick, a former Washington, D.C., cardinal.</p>
<p>Allegations that McCarrick had abused children emerged in July 2018 and <a href="https://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_rapporto-card-mccarrick_20201110_en.pdf">led to an investigation</a> that showed that Benedict knew of other accusations against McCarrick of sexual misconduct with adults <a href="https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/tackling-wrong-problem">but took no public action</a>.</p>
<p>After Francis was elected pope in 2013, he <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/16/695422007/pope-defrocks-theodore-mccarrick">stripped McCarrick of his cardinal’s title and defrocked him</a>. McCarrick has pleaded not guilty to <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/court-sets-march-date-former-cardinal-mccarricks-hearing">charges of sexually assaulting a teenager</a> in the 1970s.</p>
<p>Francis also began <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-francis-fires-paraguayan-bishop-suspected-child-abuse-cover-up-n211311">firing other bishops</a> for covering for abusers and started to <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/vos-estis-expires-one-year-what-works-and-what-changes-are-needed-version-20">institute a system of accountability</a>.</p>
<p>Benedict is nearing the end of his life, living in seclusion in a quiet monastery inside the Vatican walls. Beyond the damage to his reputation, he likely won’t face sanctions for his actions decades ago in Munich.</p>
<p>But this episode helps illustrate how the Catholic Church got to this point and what remains to be done. And it may sway cardinals in the next conclave to <a href="https://theconversation.com/cardinal-numbers-what-in-gods-name-is-happening-in-the-sistine-chapel-12783">choose a pope</a> who has a stronger record on abuse.</p>
<p>[<em>This Week in Religion, a global roundup each Thursday.</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-global-roundup">Sign up.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Gibson 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 Benedict XVI’s many years of wrestling with the abuse crisis highlight the Catholic Church’s broader challenges addressing it.David Gibson, Director, Center on Religion and Culture, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754302022-01-21T17:36:37Z2022-01-21T17:36:37ZPope Benedict accused of mishandling sex abuse cases: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441854/original/file-20220120-9596-uwbjln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=119%2C0%2C4550%2C3087&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sits in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 8, 2015. A long-awaited report on sexual abuse faulted his handling of four cases.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Germany%20Church%20Abuse/7c5686fae1ce465db291417e735c83d8?Query=benedict&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=17139&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-resignation-is-a-recognition-of-human-frailty-in-an-ageing-world-12148">Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013</a> – the first leader of the Catholic Church to do so in more than half a millennium – the sexual abuse crisis had already roiled the church for years. </p>
<p>During the conservative theologian’s papacy, the church <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704178004575350551503573886">revised canon law</a> and <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2010/11/20/20154678/vatican-issuing-guidelines-on-sex-abuse-to-bishops#pope-benedict-xvi-delivers-his-message-to-cardinals-he-summoned-for-a-day-of-reflection-at-the-vatican">announced new guidelines</a> in an effort to respond to clergy abuse.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-pope-benedict-xvi-reinhard-marx-germany-europe-c75f721f469f969d05348703c093e53d">a new report</a> accuses Benedict of having mishandled at least four cases of sexual abuse when he was an archbishop in Munich, Germany, in the 1970s and 1980s. The investigation, which covers abuse in the diocese from 1945 to 2019, concluded that the former pope failed to properly act on claims or punish priests – claims Benedict has rejected.</p>
<p>The accusations against a living, if retired, pope underscore how dramatically the sex abuse crisis has shaken the church. Here are some of The Conversation’s many articles examining the crisis over the years – both its roots and the potential routes for reform.</p>
<h2>1. Years of scandal</h2>
<p>High-profile reports have consistently put the crisis in headlines for the past 20 years, particularly <a href="https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/specials/clergy/">The Boston Globe’s famous “Spotlight” investigation</a> 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>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239512/original/file-20181005-72100-1a4uyg1.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">Victims or their family members react after a Pennsylvania grand jury released a report on clergy sex abuse in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Pennsylvania-Dioceses-Sex-Abuse-Investigation/c201adfa98774d4588df745e59c49e53/9/0">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span>
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<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>
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<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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</em>
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<h2>2. Speaking up – and out</h2>
<p>Two barriers 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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<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. The early Christian leader Saint Paul seemed to endorse marriage “reluctantly,” she writes, as “an acceptable choice for those who cannot control themselves.” </p>
<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/Museum of Fine Arts, Houston</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<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>
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<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>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives. It is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-sex-abuse-crisis-4-essential-reads-169442">an article</a> originally published on October 7, 2021. It has been updated to include the January report accusing Pope Benedict of mishandling sex abuse cases.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175430/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A German report accused retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling several cases of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here are a few of our related articles on the Catholic Church’s crisis.Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1355912020-04-17T12:11:27Z2020-04-17T12:11:27ZCatholic Church urges Venezuela to unite against coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327471/original/file-20200413-146889-1mpf93t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C4649%2C3073&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">He may be praying, but so far the Pope has declined to intervene in Venezuela's crisis to aid a unified coronavirus response.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/venezuelan-faithful-holds-a-sign-as-he-waits-for-the-news-photo/1087321398?adppopup=true">LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Coronavirus hasn’t yet hit Venezuela <a href="https://www.as-coa.org/articles/where-coronavirus-latin-america">as hard</a> as neighboring Brazil and Colombia. But after <a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-venezuelas-crisis-7-essential-reads-89018">years of economic and political crisis</a>, the country’s institutions are in ruins and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuela-coronavirus-health-hospital-maduro-guaido/2020/03/19/74ad110c-6795-11ea-b199-3a9799c54512_story.html">experts agree</a> Venezuela is ill-prepared for a pandemic. </p>
<p>As the stalemate between <a href="https://theconversation.com/venezuelas-power-struggle-reaches-a-tense-stalemate-as-human-suffering-deepens-114545">interim President Juan Guaidó and de facto President Nicolás Maduro</a> enters its second year, civil society and world leaders <a href="https://venezuelablog.org/venezuela-weekly-coronavirus-leads-multiple-pushes-political-accord/">are pushing</a> for an emergency agreement that would enable Venezuela to mount a coordinated response to coronavirus. </p>
<p>It will be next to impossible for Maduro’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobody-is-going-to-bail-out-venezuela-87428">cash-strapped government</a> to address the coming crisis without significant international financial assistance. Only Guaidó, who is recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate leader <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-venezuela-iadb/argentina-and-brazil-support-venezuelan-opposition-candidate-at-iadb-idUSKBN1QT1RH">by the United States and most countries in the Americas and Europe</a>, can secure that help.</p>
<p>Many advocates <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/04/venezuela-could-coronavirus-threat-be-opportunity#.Xo-vzoA9lFs.twitter">are calling upon</a> international actors like the European Union, United Nations or the Vatican to engage the conflicting parties. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://venezuelablog.org/positive-neutrality-can-vatican-effective-venezuela/">sociologists</a> who have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mG5rPFUAAAAJ&hl=en">studied religion in Venezuela</a> for <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/the-catholic-church-and-the-venezuela-crisis-20-years-on">years</a>, we are tracking this last possibility closely. We find the Catholic Church is in some ways well positioned to aid Venezuela in this latest crisis. But its power to help is also limited. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327483/original/file-20200413-125133-obtl7f.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">Venezuelan Catholics at a Holy Week procession in Caracas, April 8, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/catholic-faithful-wearing-face-masks-against-the-spread-of-news-photo/1209512149?adppopup=true">Cristian Hernandez/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Broad approval for Catholic Church</h2>
<p>On March 30, Venezuela’s Catholic Church issued <a href="https://conferenciaepiscopalvenezolana.com/downloads/mensaje-de-la-presidencia-de-la-cev-abrazar-al-senor-para-abrazar-la-esperanza">a widely circulated message</a> asking all political leaders to “act decisively to reach a fundamental consensus” that would enable Venezuela to “overcome the serious current public health and socio-economic juncture.” </p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-pope-francis-easter-sunday-urbi-et-orbi-blessing-43012">Easter message</a>, Pope Francis called for a cease of conflicts around the world. He added “in Venezuela, may [God] enable concrete and immediate solutions” to “permit international assistance to a population suffering.”</p>
<p>But so far, neither the Venezuelan Catholic Church nor the Vatican have followed up with concrete efforts to broker an agreement between the Maduro government and the opposition. </p>
<p>Historically, faith leaders have played an important role in <a href="https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268044312/religious-responses-to-violence/">addressing conflict and violence in Latin America</a>, helping gang members start a new life, supporting peasants confronting landowners or mediating between conflicting parties. In nearby Colombia, the church <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/religion-the-catholic-church-and-peace-in-colombia">was a fundamental player in the peace process</a> that ended the FARC guerrillas’ 52-year insurgency against the government. </p>
<p>The Church’s ability to engage in conflict resolution has come about in Latin America in part because it has a bureaucratic structure and administrative districts across the entire region. The Vatican also has an experienced <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/udetmr83&div=46&id=&page=">diplomatic corps</a>. </p>
<p>Seventy-three percent of Venezuelans <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/">identify as Catholic</a>. And in a society in which the courts, parties and most every other institution of public life are discredited or deeply polarizing, <a href="http://www.gumilla.org/biblioteca/bases/biblo/texto/SIC2012745_211-222.pdf">opinion polls</a> consistently show that the Catholic Church has high approval ratings.</p>
<p><iframe id="J4KVd" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/J4KVd/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Pope Francis – the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church – has shown considerable interest in Venezuela since assuming office in 2013, sending Vatican participants to <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2019/06/vatican-takes-part-in-dialogue-to-resolve-crisis-in-venezuela/">two rounds of dialogue</a> between the Maduro government and the opposition. </p>
<p>The Pope even has some Venezuela experts in his administration. His secretary of state, Msgr. Pietro Parolin, was the Vatican’s ambassador to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013. And Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Jesuit order – the religious order that Francis is part of – is himself Venezuelan.</p>
<h2>The perils of principles</h2>
<p>But past efforts to mediate in Venezuela’s conflict reveal the limits of the Catholic Church’s capacity to influence the political stalemate there. </p>
<p>The Church’s power, in Venezuela and worldwide, is symbolic. It has no way of actually enforcing political agreements. That makes <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0149-0508.00035">the Church sensitive to</a> conflicting parties actually respecting its authority. </p>
<p>In 2016 <a href="https://venezuelablog.org/government-and-opposition-agree-on-one-big-thing/">both the opposition and the Maduro government requested Vatican involvement</a> in negotiations. That process eventually resulted in an agreement to recognize Venezuela’s opposition-dominated National Assembly and rid the national electoral authority of its Maduro-dominated directors.</p>
<p>But the Maduro government failed to follow through in good faith. So in January 2017 the <a href="https://venezuelablog.org/no-miracles-in-venezuela-conflict-i-dialogue/">Vatican withdrew from further involvement</a> in Venezuela’s conflict and recalled its envoy. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327486/original/file-20200413-157316-tvi7x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&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 temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients goes up in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, March 28, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/firegighters-soldiers-and-workers-from-the-office-of-the-news-photo/1208490865?adppopup=true">SCHNEYDER MENDOZA/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two years later, amid a crisis caused by the National Assembly’s designation of Juan Guaidó as interim president, Maduro <a href="https://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/venezuela/maduro-envio-carta-al-papa-para-buscar-dialogo-en-venezuela-322696">asked Pope Francis</a> for renewed Vatican mediation. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://apnews.com/f950d904fc804d639867f75c04a4f545">private letter</a> that was later leaked, the Pope demurred “because what had been agreed in the meetings was not followed by concrete gestures.”</p>
<h2>‘Positive neutrality’</h2>
<p>Since the failed 2016 negotiations, both the Vatican and Venezuela’s national Catholic Church hierarchy have maintained what they call “<a href="https://venezuelablog.org/positive-neutrality-can-vatican-effective-venezuela/">positive neutrality</a>.” </p>
<p>By positive neutrality, Church leaders mean the effort to engage leaders on both sides of the conflict while pushing for <a href="https://conferenciaepiscopalvenezolana.com/downloads/mensaje-de-la-presidencia-de-la-cev-abrazar-al-senor-para-abrazar-la-esperanza">democratic elections, humanitarian aid and political dialogue</a>. They <a href="https://conferenciaepiscopalvenezolana.com/downloads/comunicado-comision-de-justicia-y-paz">denounce the Maduro government</a> for its bleak human rights record and <a href="https://www.diariolasamericas.com/iglesia-venezolana-critica-el-regimen-totalitario-e-inhumano-maduro-n4190826">denial of Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis</a>. They also criticize the opposition for violent protests and unwillingness to negotiate.</p>
<p>Our tracking of the Church’s public discourse in Venezuela shows that its message has been remarkably consistent throughout the government of Nicolás Maduro.</p>
<p>But in polarized Venezuela, neutrality of any kind is rarely well received. </p>
<p>Opposition members have <a href="https://america.periodistadigital.com/sociedad/20190313/maria-corina-machado-papa-crimen-justicia-hay-punto-medio-noticia-689400558514/">long complained</a> about the Vatican’s willingness to stay on the margins of a conflict that has seen protesters beaten, opposition leaders jailed and democracy dismantled. They see Pope Francis as appeasing an authoritarian with dictatorial plans.</p>
<p>The Maduro government, for its part, views the local Catholic hierarchy as an ally of the opposition. Indeed, Venezuela’s bishops have <a href="https://www.religiondigital.org/america/Cardenal-Urosa-Presidencia-Interina-Guaido-venezuela-asamblea_0_2191880817.html">openly supported</a> the presidential claims of Juan Guaidó.</p>
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<h2>Religious authority</h2>
<p>Nonetheless, political leaders on both sides consistently seek the blessing of the Venezuelan Catholic Church and the Vatican’s involvement on their behalf.</p>
<p>Our research confirms that the Church has a level of approval and moral authority in Venezuela that crosscuts political powers. That gives it the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rethinking-society-for-the-21st-century/religions-and-social-progress-critical-assessments-and-creative-partnerships/F4DCFDEB009BB27E6536EC776A9F2EA6">potential to alter</a> a conflicted equilibrium. </p>
<p>But this moral authority is fragile, and both the Venezuelan Church and the Vatican jealously guard it. Having been defied once by Maduro, the Pope may be disinclined to back another mediation that might fail.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic appears certain to deepen what is already a tragic humanitarian emergency.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Smilde is affiliated with the Washington Office on Latin America, an human rights organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugo Pérez Hernáiz 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>If anyone can convince the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition to come together to fight COVID-19, it’s the Pope. But the Church’s power to negotiate an emergency deal is limited.David Smilde, Professor of Sociology, Tulane UniversityHugo Pérez Hernáiz, Professor of Sociology, Universidad Central de VenezuelaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1236402019-10-14T19:08:24Z2019-10-14T19:08:24ZPope Francis and the Catholic church continue to look towards science, and that can only be a good thing<p>It’s not uncommon for science and religion to be framed as two opposing forces.</p>
<p>The Catholic church has famously struggled to accommodate scientific research in its past, but recently there has been evidence of a healthier relationship developing.</p>
<p>In many ways, Pope Francis has embraced science as a way of learning about the world. Notably, his <a href="https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/encyclical">encyclical</a> has urged people to care more for the environment and climate change. </p>
<p>His message moves away from the concept of having dominion over the earth, and instead encourages stewardship of it. This stance has resonated with Catholics and other religious people world over.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"771309172033892353"}"></div></p>
<p>By aligning the papal agenda more closely with what science tells us, what impact does Pope Francis have on how people of faith engage with and appreciate science? </p>
<h2>Catholics accepting science</h2>
<p>There are a few potential motivators behind Pope Francis and the modern church’s dedication to the discussion of scientific issues. </p>
<p>First, it becomes harder all the time to refute basic scientific findings. Thus, it makes sense to accommodate new findings rather than isolate yourself from them. </p>
<p>Apart from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/31/world/after-350-years-vatican-says-galileo-was-right-it-moves.html">pardoning</a> of Galileo for the heresy of believing in the heliocentric solar system, an interesting example of this comes in the form of Vatican Observatory director Guy Consolmagno saying he would happily <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/sep/17/pope-astronomer-baptise-aliens">baptise an alien</a>. </p>
<p>Another factor is that some scientific findings and advances are so significant that they present urgent moral issues. It is here, in the ethical implications of developing science, that the church finds traction. </p>
<p>The Pontifical Academy for Life was started in 1994 to advise the church on several scientific matters, especially on questions of medical ethics.</p>
<p>Today, the academy explores solutions to ethical issues in topics such as <a href="http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/news/2019/2020-doctoral-dissertation-award.html">artificial intelligence</a>, bioethics, <a href="http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/projects/human-genome-editing.html">human genome editing</a>, and <a href="http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/projects/robotics.html">robo-ethics</a>. </p>
<p>Furthermore, it’s possible the church has a genuine interest in promoting and contributing to science through its own research initiatives, of which the most famous is the <a href="http://www.vaticanobservatory.va/content/specolavaticana/en.html">Vatican observatory</a>.</p>
<p>The observatory was originally created because of the need to precisely moderate the religious calendar. For centuries it has <a href="https://curiosity.com/topics/the-vatican-has-an-observatory-and-its-made-important-astronomical-discoveries-curiosity/">contributed</a> significantly to modern astronomical research.</p>
<h2>Faith and facts are not always at war</h2>
<p>Catholics as a group seem quite amenable to the idea that science is compatible with the theory that God created the Universe. </p>
<p>In 2017, the <a href="https://cara.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/CARA_Fall2017_Special-Report_FaithScience-FINAL.pdf">Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate</a> found that Catholics, compared with other religious groups, were more accepting of scientific world views.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=206&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293470/original/file-20190922-135128-13kiouf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1,927 people responded to the CARA poll, which resulted in 1010 interviews with self-identified Catholics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH IN THE APOSTOLATE</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As an example of this relative ease with science, the Church has allowed serious discussion around evolution since at least 1950, when Pope Pius XII <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis.html">said</a> evolution could coexist with Catholic doctrine (even though the following paragraph of his statement mentions the Biblical Adam as a real person). </p>
<p>This engagement with evolution was strengthened by John Paul II, who <a href="http://www.pas.va/content/accademia/en/magisterium/johnpaulii.html">said</a> evolution was much more than a hypothesis. He also won a lot of scientists over by formally acquitting Galileo of heresy. </p>
<p>Today, Pope Francis is quite open about his belief in evolution, albeit as a means by which God created humankind.</p>
<p>Perhaps because of this series of developments, American Catholics are ahead of their evangelical counterparts in accepting that life has evolved, rather than being created in its current form.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293471/original/file-20190922-135118-7w57nu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=874&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 Pew Research Centre has conducted various surveys detailing the presence of religiosity among Americans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pew Research Centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Of science, faith, or both?</h2>
<p>There’s an old adage that science is about discovering empirical facts about the world and religion is about the meanings we find in it, but this is a shallow conception of both. </p>
<p>Religious teachings are often grounded in simple and immediate acts of living, and science gives us powerful narratives that help us understand our place in the Universe.</p>
<p>Many great scientists were Catholics, including Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Gregor Mendel, and Louis Pasteur. One could argue this was the result of cultural and philosophical norms at the time. </p>
<p>Of course, many modern scientists are people of faith, but the percentage of scientists who profess no faith is much <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2009/11/05/scientists-and-belief/">higher</a> than among the general public.</p>
<p>Even so, The Pontifical Academy for Life includes some of the world’s leading academics and scientists. While they may not be Catholics themselves, their willingness to engage with the church and advise them on critical issues is noteworthy. </p>
<p>This would not happen if the church and Pope Francis himself were not seen to value scientific expertise. </p>
<h2>Leading the way ahead</h2>
<p>The Catholic Church is not a scientific institution and it would be foolish to suggest it is. </p>
<p>Its religious purpose may be compatible with many aspects of science but, unlike science, its core tenants are not open to revision, even though these core tenants have seemed somewhat malleable over the centuries. </p>
<p>Despite this, the relationship between science and the church looks better now than ever before. The development of this relationship will have a significant impact on the public’s understanding of and engagement with science.</p>
<p>Considering the crucial role science and technology play in our prospering as a species, we can only hope future popes continue to respect and act on the best scientific advice possible. </p>
<p>I would be happy to take that imperative as an article of faith.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: Previously this article said Pope Pius XI started the Pontifical Academy for Life in 1936. This was incorrect and has been amended.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Ellerton is a Fellow of the Rationalist Society of Australia.</span></em></p>Pope Francis continues to champion the importance of science in our world. Having the head of the Catholic Church support various scientific movements is a win for us all.Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1087322019-01-08T11:40:21Z2019-01-08T11:40:21ZWhat Catholics can learn from protests of the past<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252764/original/file-20190107-32136-u8bcyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman holds up a quilt with photos of people who say they were abused as children by priests, in San Diego, 2007.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/AP-A-CA-USA-Church-Abuse-Bankruptcy/b052148bdcdd4f66975d70145b9c9d92/72/0">AP Photo/Denis Poroy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis started the new year <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-francis-acknowledges-sexual-abuse-scandals-have-damaged-the-catholic-church/2019/01/03/7e83e6e6-0f72-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html?utm_term=.31ae7b630b79">criticizing</a> some Catholic bishops for their role in the church’s sexual abuse crisis. In a letter to bishops gathered at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois for a spiritual retreat, the pope said that the “disparaging, discrediting, playing the victim” had greatly undermined the Catholic Church. This followed the pope’s earlier remarks asking clergy guilty of sexual assault to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/world/europe/pope-priests-abuse.html">turn themselves over to law enforcement</a>. </p>
<p>Stories of clergy sex abuse have continued to increase. Among the more recent revelations, a Catholic diocese recently released the names of Jesuit priests who face <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Roman-Catholic-Jesuit-Sex-Abusers-Named-502953241.html">“credible or established”</a> accusations of abuse of minors. Church members learned that many priests accused of sexual abuse on Indian reservations <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/these-priests-abused-in-native-villages-for-years-they-retired-on-gonzagas-campus/">were retired</a> on the Gonzaga University campus in Spokane. And another external investigation has revealed that the Catholic Church <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/us/illinois-catholic-church-abuse-allegations/index.html">failed to disclose</a> abuse accusations against 500 priests and clergy.</p>
<p>Church attendance <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/232226/church-attendance-among-catholics-resumes-downward-slide.aspx">has been on the decline for some time</a>, with the steepest fall of an average 45 percent, between 2005 to 2008. And with these latest scandals, as a theologian <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2018-10-11/catholic-churchs-biggest-crisis-reformation">recently wrote</a>, the Catholic Church is in the midst of its “biggest crisis since the Reformation.” </p>
<p>But what many do not realize is that staying in the church does not mean agreeing with its policies. In the past, Catholics have challenged the church through multiple forms of resistance – at times <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/09/20/church-she-called-home-she-found-her-own-quiet-way-protest/S7YRdhB51TNsr248q1YDnM/story.html">discreet</a> and at other times quite dramatic. </p>
<h2>Pacifist protesters</h2>
<p>I had already begun my training as a scholar of religion and society when I learned that the priest from whom I took my first communion was a known predator in the Boston Archdiocese. I have since then researched and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/horizons/article/iv-catholic-thresholds-spatial-contests-and-the-crisis-in-the-church/C2DD3F8BC84777445D44806C0BB5190C">written about</a> the Catholic clergy abuse cover-up. </p>
<p>Back in the 1960s, some <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3790362?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">radical American Catholics</a> were at the <a href="http://rac.ucpress.edu/content/7/2/163">forefront</a> of challenging U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. Perhaps the most famous among them were the Berrigan brothers. Rev. Daniel Berrigan, the older brother, was an American Jesuit priest, who, along with with other religious leaders, expressed public concern over the war. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251890/original/file-20181221-103631-p1ywzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Daniel Berrigan marching with about 40 others outside of the Riverside Research Center in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Obit-Berrigan/c31f9c289efb4f5f9c1267d988f843af/26/0">AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In New York, Daniel Berrigan joined hands with a group called the Catholic Workers, in order to build a “decent non-violent society” – what they called “a society of conscience.” Among their protests was a public burning of draft cards in Union Square in 1965.</p>
<p>Months earlier, the U.S. Congress had passed legislation that made mutilation of draft registration a felony. A <a href="https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/burning-draft-cards">powerful commentary</a> by the editors of the Catholic “Commonweal” magazine described the event as a “liturgical ceremony” backed by a willingness to risk five years of freedom. </p>
<p>But some in the Catholic leadership were concerned that Daniel Berrigan’s peace activism was going too far. Soon after another Catholic protester set himself on fire in front of the United Nations in an act of protest, Berrigan disappeared from New York. He’d been <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/dan-berrigans-latin-american-exile">sent</a> to Latin America on an “assignment” by his superiors. </p>
<p>The word among Catholics was that Cardinal Francis Spellman had Berrigan <a href="https://brill.com/abstract/journals/jjs/4/2/article-p345_24.xml">expelled</a> from the U.S. The accuracy of the decision is selectively <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44194888.pdf">disputed</a>. However, the narrative had great power. The public outcry among Catholics was immense. University students took to the streets. </p>
<p>The New York Times carried a vehement <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44194888.pdf">objection</a> that was signed by more than a thousand Catholic practitioners and theological leaders. The repression of free speech, they said, was “intolerable in the Roman Catholic Church.” </p>
<h2>Catholic symbols of protest</h2>
<p>In May 1967, Berrigan returned to the United States, only to renew his protest against the draft. Joined by his brother Philip, they broke into a draft board office in Baltimore and poured vials of their own <a href="https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823223312/the-trial-of-the-catonsville-nine/">blood</a> on paper records. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251887/original/file-20181221-103660-1tkqj8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1973 photo shows Rev. Daniel Berrigan and others participating in a fast and vigil to protest the bombing in Cambodia, on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Obit-Berrigan/652fae32c2a44a78b69512623bb42e09/18/0">AP Photo/Ron Frehm</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In pouring vials of their own blood on draft records, they were extending the use of Christ’s blood of sacrifice, to promote peace, as part of Catholic teachings. </p>
<p>The next year they joined by seven other Catholic protesters in a protest action in Catonsville, Maryland. The group used homemade napalm to destroy 378 draft files in the parking lot of a draft board. Daniel Berrigan was put on the <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2016/05/21/blessed-are-the-peacemakers">FBI’s most wanted list</a>. Both brothers later served time in federal prisons. </p>
<p>After the Vietnam war, their protests continued under a group called Plowshares. The name came from the commandment in the book of Isaiah to “beat swords into plowshares.” The Berrigan brothers put their energy into anti-nuclear protests around the country. At a nuclear missile facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, they hammered on nuclear warheads and once again poured their own blood upon them, bridging Catholic symbols with religious protest. </p>
<p>Church leadership, they said, was too cozy with a heavily militarized America. </p>
<h2>Protests inside the church</h2>
<p>Around the same time, another group of Roman Catholics was challenging the leadership of the church using different tactics. In 1969, a group of Chicano Catholic student activists that called itself Católicos Por La Raza, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/649440">objected</a> to the money that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was spending on building a new cathedral called St. Basil’s. They believed that money could be better spent <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/horizons/article/v-models-of-dissent-the-chicano-movement-in-the-roman-catholic-church/ECC910B613342F6FC71FE7252DF72D05">on improving the social and economic conditions</a> of Catholic Mexican-Americans.</p>
<p>Católicos Por La Raza posed a list of demands for the Catholic Church that included the use of church facilities for community work, providing housing and educational assistance, and developing health care programs.</p>
<p>On Christmas Eve, 300 people marched to protest at St. Basil’s. Outside, they chanted “Que viva la raza” and “Catholics for the people.” Some members also planned to bring the protest across the threshold of the cathedral and into the Christmas Eve Mass. </p>
<p>The church locked its front doors. The marchers were met at side doors by undercover county sheriffs.</p>
<p>Later, the protesters publicly <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/horizons/article/conclusion-dissent-in-the-roman-catholic-church-a-response/BB66508D3C2FC9A2898DB8C8BE5EB2BF">burned their baptismal certificates</a>. Catholic teaching maintains that, once baptized, Catholic identity cannot be divested. By burning these symbols of Roman Catholic belonging, members of Católicos Por La Raza were making a powerful statement of their renunciation of the religion that they perceived could not be reformed. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251888/original/file-20181221-103649-12us9ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A priest steps over a protester, who deliberately fell to the floor in front of him as the priest was giving communion at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in 1989.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Domestic-News-New-York-/0fa82adf0fbb423c83a0dc6369fab9b6/20/0">AP Photo/Mario Suriani</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in New York, a generation later, Catholics also organized confrontations with Church leadership. At the height of the AIDS crisis, in 1989, the American Catholic Bishops drafted an explicit condemnation of the use of condoms to stop the spread of the AIDS virus. “The truth is not in condoms or clean needles,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/14/world/vatican-aids-meeting-hears-o-connor-assail-condom-use.html">said</a> Cardinal John O'Connor. “These are lies … good morality is good medicine.” </p>
<p>In response, AIDS activists organized an action called <a href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-57f2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99">“Stop the Church”</a> to protest against the “murderous AIDS policy” at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. Thousands of people gathered to protest. Outside, activists distributed condoms and safer-sex information to passers-by. Inside, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/after-the-wrath-of-god-9780199391288?cc=us&lang=en&">some protesters staged a die-in</a>. </p>
<p>And this does not even get into waves of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/pope-francis-female-priests-catholic-church-sexism">protests over women’s ordination</a> since 1976. </p>
<p>In all these protests, Roman Catholics were demanding that powerful members of the hierarchy acknowledge their demands for the ethics of the church.</p>
<h2>Bringing change in the church</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251886/original/file-20181221-103625-7ew6gq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Catholics have challenged the church through multiple forms of resistance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Catholic-Bishops/4c558e9cd7174e2f8ae1edcde3a53ba3/2/0">AP Photo/Patrick Semansky</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar resistance continued in 2002, when the Boston Globe Spotlight investigation team <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/special-reports/2002/01/06/church-allowed-abuse-priest-for-years/cSHfGkTIrAT25qKGvBuDNM/story.html">exposed the systematic cover-up of child sexual abuse</a> in the Boston Archdiocese, under Cardinal Bernard Law.</p>
<p>On Sundays Catholics came out to protest in front of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, where the cardinal said Mass. They shouted and held up signs calling for his resignation. Other <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/horizons/article/iv-catholic-thresholds-spatial-contests-and-the-crisis-in-the-church/C2DD3F8BC84777445D44806C0BB5190C">Catholics were creating pressure</a> to have the cardinal removed by cutting off lay financial support for the Archdiocese. </p>
<p>They encouraged continuing giving to the poor or to the local parish. But until the cardinal was held accountable, those in the pews were encouraged to abstain from institutional giving. Before the next New Year, enough financial and legal pressure <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/684454">forced Cardinal Law to be removed</a> from the Archdiocese.</p>
<p>February 2019 will bring a <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-convokes-worldwide-meeting-of-bishops-on-abuse-crisis">crucial meeting</a> between the pope and the cardinals. Catholics today could well ask what is their way of showing resistance. After all, there is a rich Catholic heritage that shows that members of the church who put their bodies on the line can make a difference.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mara Willard 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>There is rich Catholic heritage of resistance. Catholic protesters have used powerful religious symbols, including vials of their own blood, as an extension of Christ’s blood, to demand change.Mara Willard, Visiting Assistant Professor, International Studies, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1019582018-09-23T15:30:37Z2018-09-23T15:30:37ZThe Catholic Church is a rich male collective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237534/original/file-20180921-129868-1x7yqbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A religion sociologist discovers that his criticism of the Church is based on lies. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m a typical sociologist, meaning I am skeptical about religion and human spirituality. Although I attended Catholic Church as a small child, I could see the hypocrisy, even as a child. I rejected that religion at an early age. </p>
<p>My undergraduate sociological training reinforced my atheism. My sociological lectures and sociological canons all decried and denounced the irrationality of human religion. </p>
<p>I dutifully read Marx’s <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/index.htm"><em>Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right</em></a> and <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/karl-marx-on-religion-251019">dismissed religion</a> as an opiate delusion. I understood from Max Weber that religion was <a href="http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/sociology-of-religion-max-weber/43751">pure ideology</a>, and made an oath not to get fooled again. I agreed with Peter Berger that religions were superstitions <a href="https://csrs.nd.edu/assets/50014/secularism_in_retreat.html">“beyond the pale”</a> of respectable discussions.</p>
<p>At one point, I’d even have gone go so far as to call myself a devotee of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who sees religion as — among other more negative things — a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/science/20dawkins.html">crime against childhood</a>. </p>
<p>Like a lot of my sociological colleagues, I heaped derision on the faithful. However, one day I decided to put aside my sociological roots and take a closer look myself. </p>
<h2>Religion is the problem</h2>
<p>As a researcher who looks at religions, I dug around and I was surprised by what I found.</p>
<p>I looked at the <a href="https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/cjs/index.php/CJS/article/view/20000">Western Tarot</a> and found it was created as a propaganda tool. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237537/original/file-20180921-129856-1pllrld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hand-drawn, grungy, textured Tarot cards depicting the concept of Death and Judgement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I discovered the remarkable story of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bartolome-de-Las-Casas">Bartolomé de Las Casas,</a> a brutal colonizer who one day <a href="https://www.athensjournals.gr/social/2018-5-3-1-Sosteric.pdf">saw the light and decided to fight for the slaves instead of immolating them</a>. </p>
<p>I read the research of psychology professor <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-H-Maslow">Abraham Harold Maslow,</a> who said everyone has a mystical experience. I examined the origins of global beliefs and found that although our beliefs are different, <a href="https://theconversation.com/star-wars-is-a-religion-that-primes-us-for-war-and-violence-89443">they seem to originate from the same place.</a></p>
<p>After this research, I wondered why the sociological “founders” had mostly ignored these <a href="http://www.sagepub.net/isa/resources/ebulletin_pdf/EBul-Sosteric-Jul2017.pdf">mystical experiences.</a> I decided to pick up the Bible and read; I was surprised by what I learned.</p>
<h2>Jesus was a revolutionary leader</h2>
<p>I expected to find either a passive shepherd who had died for our sins or a shady street corner dealer waiting for the next addict.</p>
<p>What I found instead was a <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A12-15&version=NIV">modest, egalitarian</a> but charismatic and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34970150/Rock_and_Roll_Jesus_Part_One_Anti-authoritarian_Political_Emancipator_and_Revolutionary_Liberator">revolutionary</a> leader. The text I read showed that he was a leader who <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A23-30&version=NIV">thought of women as equals</a>, didn’t like <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A13-17&version=NIV">commercial activity</a>, didn’t think <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A13-17&version=NIV">the rich could be authentic</a> and <em>absolutely hated</em> the wealthy local elites. </p>
<p>He told his students to be cautious of elites because <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+16%3A+5-12&version=NIV">“they are corrupt”</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+15:14&version=NIV">lead people astray.</a> </p>
<p>He said “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A+1-3&version=NIV">they do not practise what they preach”</a> and called them <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A+13-32&version=NIV">wicked, blind, self-indulgent, hypocrite fools; pretty on the outside but rotten and unclean deep within</a>.</p>
<p>After reading the Gospels, it seemed to me that in the story, Jesus was a charismatic <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4%3A+14-15&version=NIV">and popular</a> revolutionary who had angered local elites and was assassinated as a result. </p>
<h2>The big lie</h2>
<p>The elites were afraid that should <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A+45-50&version=NIV">the people crown this new leader king</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21%3A+6-11&version=NIV">as they seemed ready to do</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A+45-50&version=NIV">they would lose their control of power</a>. </p>
<p>To head off the threat, the top male elites, the “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A+45-47&version=NIV">chief priests and the Pharisees</a>”), convened their version of the Supreme Court (<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sanhedrin">the Sanhedrin</a>) and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A+45-50&version=NIV">plotted an untimely death for Jesus</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237604/original/file-20180923-88806-1h6ak5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vatican City is a symbol of the Catholic Church’s enormous wealth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To accomplish their goal, the elites told <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A45-54&version=NIV">a lie, what I call the “Caiaphas Lie,” to turn the people against him</a>. Once the lie spread as truth, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A+54&version=NIV">Jesus went into hiding</a> but was arrested by local elites who <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34970150/Rock_and_Roll_Jesus_Part_One_Anti-authoritarian_Political_Emancipator_and_Revolutionary_Liberator">threatened Roman leaders into a public shaming and brutal execution</a>.</p>
<p>To my sociologically trained eye, the assassination was a clear attempt to suppress teachings that awakened the public to elite corruption. It was designed to put the public back to sleep. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for the elites, their first suppression attempt didn’t work. The assassination turned Jesus into a martyr, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12%3A19-24&version=NIV">as he himself knew it would</a>. </p>
<p>After his death, the word spread fast, with <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A+41&version=NIV">thousands</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4%3A+4&version=NIV">thousands</a> of Jews and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10%3A+44-45&version=NIV">gentiles</a> being converted at once. </p>
<p>We see the conversion of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10%3A+23-26&version=NIV">Roman centurions</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+6%3A7&version=NIV">traditional priests</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A+26-38&version=NIV">foreign state officials</a> and top-level elites (e.g., Saul’s Conversion in Acts 9). There is conversion “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+13%3A+49&version=NIV">through the whole region</a>” — <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+14&version=NIV">Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Syria</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16&version=NIV">Philippi</a>,<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17&version=NIV">Thessalonica, Berea, Athens</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+18&version=NIV">Corinth</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19&version=NIV">Ephesus</a>. </p>
<p>Christ’s martyrdom created a steamroller that spread <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A+6&version=NIV">throughout the whole world</a>. It <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:54-60">enraged local elites</a> and lead
to pogroms (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A+1-4&version=NIV">Acts 8: 1-4</a>), <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11%3A+18&version=NIV">mass deportation</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+20%3A+22-24&version=NIV">pervasive persecution</a>.</p>
<h2>Early Christians were socialists</h2>
<p>Why put so much effort into assassination and suppression? The answer is that Jesus wasn’t just an anti-authoritarian, he was a socialist revolutionary leader. He told wealthy folks to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+19%3A+16-23&version=NIV">redistribute their wealth</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4%3A+32-37&version=NIV">his followers did the same</a>. </p>
<p>Jesus and the early Christians were about equality and freedom from the “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5:1&version=NIV">yoke of slavery</a>.” They <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=GALATIANS+3%3A28&version=NIV">dismissed political, ethnic and gender hierarchies</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+20%3A+32-35&version=NIV">said we should all <em>help</em> the weak</a>, not destroy them. </p>
<p>In 2 Corinthians 8: 13-15, the apostle Paul admonishes the Corinthians and tells them to “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+8%3A+13-15&version=NIV">strive for equality” by redistributing their wealth</a>. In a passage prescient of Karl Marx’s famous quote: “<a href="http://www.politicalaffairs.net/you-might-be-a-marxist-if-you-believe-in-from-each-according-to-their-abilities-to-each-according-to-their-needs/">From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs</a>,” Paul reminds the Corinthians to share. “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+8%3A15&version=NIV">The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little</a>.” </p>
<p>All of the above was rooted in Christ and his followers’ dismissal of authoritarian spirituality in favour of a radical “we are all God” cosmology. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10%3A33&version=NIV">Jesus claimed to be God</a> but “so are you,” he said (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10%3A34&version=NIV">John 10:24</a>,<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A19+&version=NIV">Corinthians 6:19</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3%3A11&version=NIV">Colossians 3:11</a>). </p>
<p>In other words: Don’t listen to authority. Don’t listen to tradition. Don’t follow their rules. Give your possessions away. Help the weak. Live in peace with all people. Redistribute wealth. I am God. You are God. We are God. </p>
<p>Why were my expectations so out of line with the actual story told in the Bible? </p>
<h2>The Church is a rich male collective</h2>
<p>The Catholic priests I listened to as a child didn’t talk about Jesus the revolutionary; they told me <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A45-54&version=NIV">the same “big lie” the elites in the Bible told</a>. They made me recite that same lie every Sunday. By the time I was 10, the Catholic Church had burned the lie deep into my mind. </p>
<p>If you believe the Church is a continuation of Christ’s teachings, this is confusing. </p>
<p>However, once you learn the Catholic Church is a collection of elite patriarchs brought into formal power by edicts and actions of the Roman Emperors Constantine and Theodosius, it begins to become clear. When you realize the Church is <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/wealth-of-roman-catholic-church-impossible-to-calculate">one of the richest and most powerful male collectives in the world</a>, it comes into clear focus.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Sosteric 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>The real lessons of Jesus Christ as outlined in the Bible are socialist. But the Church, a veritable old boys club, doesn’t teach us that.Mike Sosteric, Associate Professor, Sociology, Athabasca UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/925752018-03-04T19:19:57Z2018-03-04T19:19:57ZThe Vatican, the exorcists and the return of the Devil in a time of enchantment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208379/original/file-20180301-36674-1r5weyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Detail from Saint Michael and the Demon, a neogothical stained glass window from Saint-Martin de Florac Church.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitrail_Florac_010609_06_D%C3%A9mon.jpg">Vassil/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sicilian priest and long-time exorcist Father Benigno Palilla <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/vatican-training-more-exorcists-reports-demonic-possession-soaring-819139">recently told Vatican Radio</a> that requests for exorcisms had tripled in the past few years. There were now, he said, 500,000 alleged cases of demonic possession recorded in Italy each year. </p>
<p>With a population of around 60 million, this means the Devil is apparently active in one of every 120 Italians. That’s a lot of demoniacs and a lot of demons – at least some 500,000 of them if they’re not multi-tasking.</p>
<p>As a result of this demonic epidemic, a six-day school will be held in Rome in April at a Catholic education institute, the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, to train clergy in how to recognise and deal with the demonically possessed. </p>
<p>Why the sudden increase in possession by the Devil? Palilla attributes it to an increase in practices that “open the door to the Devil” – such as people seeking out wizards and fortune tellers, reading tarot cards, and generally dabbling in magic and the occult. </p>
<p>All this seems rather odd coming out of a Vatican under the reign of the apparently “modern” Pope Francis. Yet, while the pope is socially progressive, he is theologically quite conservative. The Devil is a real person, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/13/dont-argue-devil-much-intelligent-us-says-pope-francis/">“armed with dark powers”</a>, he declared in a television interview in December 2017. </p>
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<span class="caption">Pope Francis at the Vatican last month: he has said the Devil is a real person.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters</span></span>
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<p>The Devil is nothing if not ecumenical. It is not merely Catholics who apparently become possessed. Conservative evangelical Protestantism, particularly in its Pentecostal forms, has also seen the need for “deliverance ministries” for those who have become infested with demons whether from dabbling with the Devil in occult and magical practices or simply as a result of the Devil’s increased activity as the end of the world approaches. As the late Billy Graham declared in July 2016: “Satan is not only real, but he is far greater than we are, so great that we should have every reason to fear him.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-pope-francis-on-about-with-all-this-talk-of-satan-and-evil-26918">What is Pope Francis on about with all this talk of Satan and evil?</a>
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<h2>A Christian tradition</h2>
<p>In viewing a vast array of modern occult practices as demonic, Palilla is drawing on a Christian tradition of viewing magic and the occult as satanic that goes back to Saint Augustine (354-430 CE) and beyond. For Augustine, even the simplest forms of divination – like reading the stars, examining the entrails of animals, or observing the flight of birds to foretell the future – were dealing in the satanic.</p>
<p>In the golden age of demonic possession from 1500 to 1700, demoniacs and exorcists multiplied. It was difficult to tell then, as now, whether the increase in exorcists was a consequence of the increase in the possessed, or vice versa. Possession was undoubtedly very contagious. </p>
<p>In Catholic Europe, convents of nuns were said to show the signs of possession. Their tongues hung from their mouths, swollen, black and hard; they threw themselves backwards until their hands touched their feet and walked around like that; they made use of expressions so indecent, it was said, as to shame the most debauched of men. </p>
<p>In Protestant England, children in godly households were prone to be “infected”. Certainly in both European Catholicism and English Puritanism, the power of the exorcist over the demons was an effective tool in demonstrating the truth of Catholicism or Protestantism respectively. </p>
<p>So, ironically, the Devil served the interests of both Catholic and Protestant churches. Modern Catholics and Protestants seem just as keen on demonstrating their respective religious truths not only against confessional opponents but against the “dark powers” of secularism too. </p>
<h2>Why the recent rise?</h2>
<p>We can date the rise of demonic possession in the modern West to the early 1970s, in particular, to an emblematic moment in the 1973 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2">The Exorcist</a>. There the demon inside the 12-year-old Regan announces to the exorcist Father Damien Karras: “And I’m the Devil. Now kindly undo these straps.” When the priest asks, “Where’s Regan?”, the demon responds: “In here. With us.”</p>
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<p>This was the beginning of a re-engagement with the demonic in film, television, literature and music – and in Christianity – that has lasted to the present. It influenced the moral panic about the imagined sexual abuse of children in satanic cults. It also contributed to the increased (although unwarranted) suspicions among conservative Christians of demonic influence in the developing New Age movements, particularly modern witchcraft (Wicca) and neo-paganism. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-murky-cauldron-modern-witchcraft-and-the-spell-on-trump-73830">A murky cauldron – modern witchcraft and the spell on Trump</a>
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<p>This re-emergence of the Devil in popular Western culture is part of a new engagement with an enchanted world. Popular culture has embraced a realm of preternatural beings both good and evil – vampires and fairies, witches and wizards, werewolves and wraiths, shape-shifters and superheroes, succubi and incubi, elves and aliens, hobbits and the denizens of Hogwarts, not to mention zombies.</p>
<p>So an enchanted world now exists alongside the disenchanted one. It is a place of multiple meanings where the supernatural occupies a space somewhere between reality and unreality. It is a domain where belief is a matter of choice and disbelief willingly and happily suspended. Horror and fascination happily mingle with each other. </p>
<p>In this newly enchanted world, the Devil has once again found a place. It is this new imaginary realm that has enabled the fear of the Devil yet again to capture the modern Western imagination.</p>
<p>This rediscovered realm of the supernatural has, as conservative Catholicism and Protestantism would have it, enabled the Devil, in the words of the New Testament, “to prowl about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip C. Almond 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>The Vatican is training priests to recognise and deal with the demonically possessed. This re-emergence of the Devil in popular Western culture is part of a new engagement with an enchanted world.Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.