Benedict of Nursia

Before Romero In many ways, El Salvador was no different than many of its South American neighbors during the 1970 's and 1980 's. The oppressive government that existed in El Salvador had much in common with the violent regimes running Argentina, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and others. Death squads, supported if not organized by the ruling governments, murdered with no fear of reprisal those they saw as enemies of the status quo. However, it was the global setting, not simply a continental…

Bernard Prusak had done many fascinating things throughout life. Bernard grew up in a small town in Slovakia and came to live in America when he was quite young. After Bernard completed high school he went to study, to become a priest, in Rome. During his time in Rome he worked as a “delivery boy” during the second Vatican Council. His job was to pass out all of the different documents and information that the Bishops needed during the meetings of the council. He primarily worked during the last…

Pope Francis Leading a Modernized Society The world is ever changing, and this persistent evolution is due in part to the creation of revised leadership, beliefs, and ideals by each generation. The Catholic Church is a pivotal example of evolving change and perspective. While the Church has always been steadfast in holding to tradition, some people believe she is shifting her laws to fit those of modern culture. This shift started when Jorge Mario Bergoglio become Pope Francis and established…

The Catholic Church has again been the centre of abuse claims from around the world. Are these isolated cases or is there a deeper problem within the church? 1 > The short answer is - Yes, there are deeper problems within the church regarding claims of sexual deviances. Reports have been around for a long while, even going back to Pope, John Paul II. News groups report credible evidence that the former Pope was aware that his Catholic Church comrades faced serious allegations that they had…

In modern Church history, one of the most contentious and controversial issues that the Roman Catholic Church has had to deal with in its ecumenical dialogue with other Christian churches is the Dogma of Papal Infallibility. This dogma was officially promulgated by Pope Pius IX at the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) in the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus. This magisterial document defined the role and ministry of the pope within the Church. In their attempt to define the Petrine office,…

Joan of Arc A simple, small farm girl made a great difference when possibly saving the French from the English command. She is an inspiration who would lead the French to many victories. This inspiration is knows as Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc a girl living in a small town had enormous dreams of forever fighting for her country. Joan wanted to show to the world that even if you didn’t know how to read, write, and have no background with the military you can still be able to do amazing things. Joan…

The figure of St. John Paul II is colossal in modern times. As one of the most influential figures of the 20th century as well as one of Catholicism’s longest serving popes he sought to reconnect the Church with its congregation, other faiths and especially world youth and functioned as a great inspiration for positive social change. Due to his uncommonly long papacy he fully developed numerous theological ideas and promulgated numerous seminal encyclicals, some of which presented a somewhat…

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the 266th elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, becoming Pope Francis. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 17, 1936. Prior to becoming elected Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, as a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina from 2001-2013 and as president of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from 2005 to 2011. When elected the 266th pope, the first pope from the Americas, Bergoglio took his…

This article about a legendary female pope, or popesse, appealed to me as a Catholic who has learned a lot about Church history in nine years of Catholic schooling. A pope had a lot of influence in the Middle Ages as the head of the highly powerful Church, and the idea of an accidental female pope interested me due to the low status of women at the time. I also enjoy reading stories about mysterious legends and myths. Noble wrote this article intending to explain where her story came from,…

How can a group like the Vatican keep such a large population of the church together and so strong for over 2000 years? The Vatican and the church rely on four key factors to keep itself together; those factors are the strong words, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. By incorporating these four words the church is able to stay so magnificent and in unison with itself. Each of these words has a separate and well-built definition that helps the church stay as great as it is. As the result of one,…