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Is the Catholic Church Ready for Another Reformation?

Ferguson, Marianne
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Ferguson, Marianne
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Keywords
Catholic ethics
reformation
GE Subjects
Christian denominations
Roman Catholic
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Catholic Ethics
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/180412
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Abstract
"Many situations in the world today resemble the circumstances that were prevalent close to the time of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Will these conditions and their ramifications bring about another reform and separation from the Catholic Church? Some of these conditions seem even more intense today than at the time of the Protestant Reform because of our present forms of democratic government, instant communication, adult literacy, advances in science and technology, and the Women's Rights Movement. It appears to many that the hierarchical Catholic Church is still trying to operate as though these issues have not occurred, just as they ignored the prevalent sixteenth century issues of nationalism, communication made possible by the printing press, the growth of the middle class, secular education, and the rise of individualism that resulted in enhanced regard for personal judgment. [2] After the Age of Discovery, there was a paradigm shift from one centered upon European and Asian society to interest in the New World of the West. The church failed to make this paradigm shift except to evangelize and colonize North and South America while keeping all the elements of European patriarchal society. The Vatican kept the older values of absolute monarchy, which excluded the people and clergy from electing Popes and Bishops. They continued the classicism of the Middle Ages with clericalism, ignoring the voice of lay men and women. All authority rested with the Pope, Curia, and Bishops, who sought to control the lives of the lower clergy and the faithful. Today much of the world looks to the West for leadership, where Protestant values of egalitarianism, education for the masses, and representative democracy, lead to questioning of authority, and division of power into legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government."(pg 1)
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Article
Date
2003
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With permission of the license/copyright holder
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