Rethinking Celibacy Reclaiming The Church

Download or read book Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church written by Michael H. Crosby and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2003-07-02 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this courageous work Michael Crosby offers a trenchant analysis of mandatory celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church. He shows how the imposition of celibacy has now revealed a deeper issue: the abuse of power as well as the abuse of women and homosexuals in the Church. Crosby asserts that: --to argue that the present discipline of mandatory celibacy is based on the New Testament is a misuse of scripture; --imposed celibacy continues to be used as a means of maintaining clerical control through fear and intimidation; --a religious system demanding celibacy exposes a deeper control: the abuse of power endemic throughout the system; --while difficult to live out even when freely chosen, enforced celibacy can result in dysfunctional behaviors at all levels. Integrating his personal experience as a celibate and cleric with biblical exegesis, historical study and the behavioral sciences, Crosby believes that: --healthy celibacy demands intimacy with God and others; --a healthy church will reorder its current power dynamics in a way that mitigates sexual abuse; --this will once again reveal Roman Catholicism to be a religion with an inspiring model of evangelical life and witness. This updated revision of Crosby's award-winning 'Celibacy: Means of Control or Mandate of the Heart?' also addresses the abuse of power in the Catholic Church by those male, clerical celibates who control it. He convincingly points the way to a Church that will be--with all its ministers--healthier and holier.

Download or read book Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church written by Michael H. Crosby and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2003-07-02 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this courageous work Michael Crosby offers a trenchant analysis of mandatory celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church. He shows how the imposition of celibacy has now revealed a deeper issue: the abuse of power as well as the abuse of women and homosexuals in the Church. Crosby asserts that: --to argue that the present discipline of mandatory celibacy is based on the New Testament is a misuse of scripture; --imposed celibacy continues to be used as a means of maintaining clerical control through fear and intimidation; --a religious system demanding celibacy exposes a deeper control: the abuse of power endemic throughout the system; --while difficult to live out even when freely chosen, enforced celibacy can result in dysfunctional behaviors at all levels. Integrating his personal experience as a celibate and cleric with biblical exegesis, historical study and the behavioral sciences, Crosby believes that: --healthy celibacy demands intimacy with God and others; --a healthy church will reorder its current power dynamics in a way that mitigates sexual abuse; --this will once again reveal Roman Catholicism to be a religion with an inspiring model of evangelical life and witness. This updated revision of Crosby's award-winning 'Celibacy: Means of Control or Mandate of the Heart?' also addresses the abuse of power in the Catholic Church by those male, clerical celibates who control it. He convincingly points the way to a Church that will be--with all its ministers--healthier and holier.

Download or read book In Defense of Married Priesthood written by Vivencio O. Ballano and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-08-30 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an analysis of the sociological, historical, and cultural factors that lie behind mandatory clerical celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church and examines the negative impact of celibacy on the Catholic priesthood in our contemporary age. Drawing on sociological theory and secondary qualitative data, together with Church documents, it contends that married priesthood has always existed in some form in the Catholic Church and that mandatory universal celibacy is the product of cultural and sociological contingencies, rather than sound doctrine. With attention to a range of problems associated with priestly celibacy, including sexual abuse, clerical shortages, loneliness, and spiritual sloth, In Defense of Married Priesthood argues that the Roman Catholic Church should permit marriage to the priesthood in order to respond to the challenges of our age. Presenting a sociologically informed alternative to the popular theological perspectives on clerical celibacy, this book defends the notion of the married priesthood as legitimate means of living the vocation of Catholic priesthood—one which is eminently fitting for the contemporary world. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, theology, and sociology.

Download or read book The Development of Moral Theology written by Charles E. Curran and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-08 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Curran in his newest book The Development of Moral Theology: Five Strands, brings a unique historical and critical analysis to the five strands that differentiate Catholic moral theology from other approaches to Christian ethics—sin and the manuals of moral theology, the teaching of Thomas Aquinas and later Thomists, natural law, the role of authoritative church teaching in moral areas, and Vatican II. Significant changes have occurred over the course of these historical developments. In addition, pluralism and diversity exist even today, as illustrated, for example, in the theory of natural law proposed by Cardinal Ratzinger. In light of these realities, Curran proposes his understanding of how the strands should influence moral theology today. A concluding chapter highlights the need for a truly theological approach and calls for a significant change in the way that the papal teaching office functions today and its understanding of natural law. In a work useful to anyone who studies Catholic moral theology, The Development of Moral Theology underscores, in the light of the historical development of these strands, the importance of a truly theological and critical approach to moral theology that has significant ramifications for the life of the Catholic church.

Download or read book Fruits of the Spirit written by Crosby, Michael H. and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Repair My House written by Michael H. Crosby and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Repair my house." From a crucifix in a ruined chapel, St. Francis heard this instruction, which set him on a mission of evangelical renewal. In the light of unprecedented crisis afflicting the Catholic church, Michael Crosby calls us all to undertake a wholesale project of repair and renewal. The crisis is visible in the sex abuse scandal, and the questions it has raised about internal structures of authority and clerical culture. Meanwhile, a spate of "new atheists" has challenged traditional worldviews. The percentage of those identifying themselves as "former Catholics" grows at an alarming rate. In response, Fr. Crosby sees a challenge to return to the core evangelical message of Jesus Christ. This message is supported, not contradicted by discoveries in science and cosmology. He envisions a new way of being Catholic and a set of practices that draws on the contemplative, compassionate, and life-giving spirit of the Kingdom that God's will may be realized on earth as it is in heaven.

Download or read book Spirituality of the Beatitudes written by Michael Crosby and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: