Pope Paul III

I decided for my paper that I would touch on a couple different topics that I can relate to as far as religion. The first topic I plan on speaking on is my definition of religion and what I have come to realize. I also plan on speaking about the different beliefs and practices that I have either been a part of or witnessed. By the end of this paper you will be able to see the change of a young me in opposed to me now with a mind of my own. Growing up as a child I believed religion was just going…

Catholic University of America itself is stretched across one hundred and seventy-six acres of land adjacent to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in North America. It has been visited by Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. The shrine’s Spiritual Director Fr. Raymond Lebrun knows a lot about the goings-on in the neighborhood and how the church has continued its outreach efforts despite all the recent real-estate developments…

Every single emerging adult thinks about religion. Whether one is a devout Christian or an atheist, his or her religious beliefs and opinions are contemplated as an emerging adult. The emerging adult period of life is used as an experimental time for people to develop their core beliefs. It is at this time that people form their sexual identity, political views, and of course religion (amongst many other things). In Christian Smith’s work Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual…

The Catholic Church’s teaching on human freedom undergirds John Paul II’s explication of faith and reason in Fides et Ratio. In a simple yet nuanced depiction, the Church defines freedom as “the power, rooted in reason and will… to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility” (1731). However, it also declares that “the more one does what is good, the freer one becomes” (1733). Such a statement stands in stark contrast to the secular perception of freedom, which divorces it from all…

I grew up in a home without any religion. When I was younger I always felt as if I had an emptiness inside me, but I could never explain what it was. As I got older I had begun to get comfortable with this emptiness to the point where I actually dismissed this feeling. At the age of seventeen I met my future husband John in 1994. His family was nothing like mine. They were devoted Catholics and went to church every weekend and every religious/saint holiday. As we began to date John asked me if…

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) When the sacrament of the Eucharist was first introduced, it was used by Jesus to present the disciples with the idea of God’s creation and how it manifested. The Catholic Church is calling for individuals to re-evaluate the Sacrament of Eucharist, as it is the foot hold to ecological conversion, which is …. During the…

Before Martin Luther posted his 95th thesis on a church door in Worms, Germany so as to publicly air his grievances against the Church, another prominent figure also criticized the abuses of the Church. This man was no clergyman or ruler; he was a prominent literary figure of his time. This man was Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in part, deals greatly with the abuses and scandalous behaviors of authority figures in the Catholic Church. Before Luther and before changes were made,…

continually strengthen their Catholic identity" (2006). In an attempt to analyze the state of faith leadership in my school, Omaha Mercy High School, I interviewed three non-religion teachers: Heather Newville (science), Josh Riesberg (history), and Paul Tschudin (technology). As an English teacher, I chose to interview faculty members outside of my department in order to see the spiritual dimension of our school through the eyes of those whose experiences and opinions…

's executions and crucifixion both have the same purpose and are performed for some of the same reasons. The Church would like us, as Christians, to speak out against the execution processes because we are all guilty of sin. Many people, like Pope John Paul II, already have started the movement of stopping executions from happening in today 's era. Jesus went through tremendous amounts of agony so we would not have to go through the same pain, but many people do not know or forget this and…

the community and implies that our lives should revolve around the Eucharist. That every aspect of the Catholic life should be governed by the Eucharist. These wise words spoken by Pope John Paul II simply means to be closer and be with Jesus today who ascended into heaven year ago we must take the Eucharist. Pope John Paul II is stating that be in the presence of Christ, the Eucharist is the way. From the above quote we are able to understand to be with Jesus the Eucharist is the only way to…