Planting Catholicism in America

The third chapter explores how Catholic seminaries formed an American priesthood equipped to engage American religious pluralism. There were three models of formation. The first was the diocesan seminary founded by Sulpicians, a French order dedicated to the education of diocesan priests, founded by Fr. Jean Jacques Olier. Bishop John Caroll brought them to Baltimore to build St. Mary’s Seminary in 1791, where they combined the scholastic study of theology with a spirituality of interiorizing the mystical states of Christ’s life, as developed by Fr. Pierre Berulle. Priests became “little Christs” of self-sacrifice and formed an “ecclesiastical spirit” that prepared them as leaders of Catholic culture. The second model was that of religious orders like the Benedictines. Fr. Bonifacio Wimmer came from Bavaria to begin St. Vincent’s seminary in Pennsylvania in 1846. He established a regimen of private devotion, study, work, and the liturgy of the hours that focused on lectio divina of the Psalms. The oral/aural engagement with Scripture accompanied a liberal arts rather than scholastic approach to sacred texts. The third kind of Catholic seminary was the modern, professional seminary pioneered by “Americanists” like Bishop John Ireland. He sought a “civic minded Catholicism” that demonstrated the legitimacy and public value of the faith. Following the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, Ireland founded a minor seminary (1885), then a major seminary which included historical-critical studies, a science lab, modern periodicals, and a professional ethos.

Last Decade of the Recollects in San Carlos Borromeo Parish, Negros Occidental (1965-1975)

The controversial cession of San Carlos Borromeo Parish in 1975 by the Augustinian Recollects to the diocesan clergy was significant. Unknown by the present generation, the story is recalled in detail forty-five years after. Rich in primary sources and personal interviews with Recollects and diocesan priests, both protagonists, and eyewitnesses were utilized. The narrative objectively recounts the Recollect ministry in San Carlos. It then focuses on the diocesan consultors' meeting in October 1974 that sanctioned the takeover despite the lack of priests, the uninformed Recollect superiors' vicarial meeting on the reshuffle of curates in November 1974, and the persistent takeover rumors in San Carlos since October 1974. The official cession—that included Calatrava and Barangay Quezon parishes—happened on 6 January 1975. Reasons are revealed and discussed. In retrospect, the early beginnings of San Carlos and its creation as a diocese in 1988 have reminisced. Highlighted is Bishop Epifanio Surban's heartfelt gratitude for the Recollect evangelization effort.

Superior–Subordinate Aggressive Communication Among Catholic Priests and Sisters in the United States

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the world’s largest and oldest organizations, yet communication among its members serving in ecclesiastical occupations (e.g., priests) remains relatively unexplored. The present study addresses this paucity of research by examining the relationship between 145 U.S. priests’ and sisters’ perceptions of their religious superiors’ aggressive communication and perceptions of the superiors’ credibility, as well as their own experiences of job and vocational satisfaction, motivation, and organizational commitment. Results indicated that superior verbal aggressiveness was associated with priests’ and sisters’ job motivation, organizational commitment, and perceptions of superior credibility, whereas superior argumentativeness only predicted perceptions of superior competence. The pattern of findings also suggests that superior aggressive communication functions differently across the ecclesiastical occupations studied, with diocesan priests appearing to be most influenced by their superiors’ aggressive communication and sisters seemingly the least influenced. Implications for management and organizational communication research and the Catholic Church are discussed.

Progressive White Catholics in the South and Civil Rights

A progressive minority of white Catholics in the South strove to counter segregationist arguments and, when necessary, to persuade and pressure southern prelates to inaugurate and enforce desegregation. The progressive minority included some ordinaries, religious and diocesan priests, nuns, editors of diocesan newspapers, faculty and students at seminaries and Catholic and secular higher educational institutions, and laity. Progressives disseminated their message through pastoral letters, sermons, classes, editorials, articles and letters in the diocesan press, pamphlets and newsletters. With the approval of their ordinaries, progressives often formed Catholic organizations, most commonly interracial councils, to disseminate their message. Sometimes progressives cooperated with or joined civil rights organizations, and a few participated in civil rights protests. Despite the opposition of militant Catholic adherents of Jim Crow, progressive prelates positively influenced the views of some Catholic segregationists. Although progressive priests and laity lacked the authority of prelates, they also helped change some segregationists.

The Influences of Families on Religious Vocations

This chapter is based on several national surveys of U.S. Catholics that CARA conducted, as well as a 2015 survey commissioned by the National Religious Vocation Conference of the members of men’s and women’s religious orders, diocesan priests and seminarians, and their families. It explores the differences between the families of priests, seminarians, and religious order members and other Catholic families by covering the family religious backgrounds and practices of priests and religious and whether other family members encouraged or discouraged discernment of a religious or priestly vocation. Also covered are the misconceptions that family members had of the priesthood and religious life and the worries they expressed about the future.

Doświadczenia uczestnictwa w mediach społecznościowych osób konsekrowanych

The consecrated persons’ experiences of participating in social mediaThe paper is an analysis of data collected during the author’s research into the consecratedpersons’ experiences relating to participation in social media. The author seeks to answer questions concerning the motives behind activity in social media, opinions about the effectiveness of the message, expectations and real effects of communication. The subjects are primarily members of male and female monastic orders and congregations as well as diocesan priests of the Catholic Church. The data analysis is complemented by a broader.

Z ZAGADNIEŃ ADMINISTRACJI KOŚCIELNEJ. STATUS I TRANSLOKATY REZYDENTÓW W DIECEZJI EŁCKIEJ W LATACH 1992–2017

The article discusses the administrative changes concerning parish priests in the dioceseof Ełk in the years 1992–2017, ie in the first 25 years of its functioning. The information gatheredincluded nearly half a thousand names of priests and 150 parishes. The proposed changes onlyincluded parishes led by diocesan priests.