Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - Catholicism    3. History and criticism    4. Hymns    5. Institutions & Organizations    6. Religion    7. Religion - Classic Works    8. United States   

Subjects:  1. 15th century    2. 16th century    3. Cappella Sistina (Vatican Palace, Vatican City)    4. Church music    5. History & Criticism - General    6. Italy    7. Music    8. Music Of The 15th And 16th Centuries    9. Religious - Christian    10. Rome    11. Sacred Music   

Reviews (1)

Truth, Well Told, Is Stranger Than Fiction
Neither a work of fiction nor a run of the mill spy novel, Bokun's book, taken from his diaries,is a true story of survival in Mussolini's Rome during the holocaust years.Bokun managed to use his cover position as astaff member in the Rome Red Cross office as a small, but important stop ina 20th century underground railroad, finding hiding places for fugitivesfrom fascism, and helping them to escape to either rejoin resistancemovements or to freedom., all this at significant risk to his ownlife,Read more

Subjects:  1. History: American    2. World War II - Europe   

Reviews (1)

Informative, but biased
This book is definitely written from the perspective of liberal Catholicism.Although the author tries to present a balanced picture of the state of Catholicism today and in the recent past, he doesn't always succeed.The chapter on sexual morality, in particular, tended to present as viable possibilities some ethical schemes which are not consistent with either the Catholic tradition or the Christian orthodoxy in a broader sense.However, to give it credit, I did learn a great deal about recent ecclesiastical history and modern systems of theology.Personally, though, I would prefer a book more in keeping with the teachings of the Magisterium. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (2nd :    2. 1962-1965)    3. 20th century    4. Catholic Church    5. Christianity - Catholicism    6. History    7. Modernism (Christian theology)    8. Religion    9. Religion - Roman Catholic    10. Roman Catholic Church    11. Vatican Council   

Subjects:  1. 1763-1796    2. Catholic Church    3. Diplomatic History    4. Foreign relations    5. History: American    6. International Relations - General    7. Poland    8. Politics - Current Events    9. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    10. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church    11. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - Catholicism    3. Christianity - Church Administration - General    4. Christianity - Ritual & Practice    5. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    6. Divine office    7. History    8. Liturgy    9. Religion    10. Religion - Classic Works    11. Roman Catholic Church    12. Christian doctrinal theology    13. Christian liturgy, prayerbooks & hymnals    14. Christian rites & ceremonies    15. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church    16. Social history    17. Vatican    18. c 1960 to c 1970    19. c 1970 to c 1980   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Sisters of Loretto   

Subjects:  1. Bibliographies & Indexes    2. Bibliography    3. Catalogs    4. Franciscans    5. History    6. Interior Design - General    7. Manuscripts    8. Medieval    9. Philosophy    10. Reference    11. Sociology    12. Sources    13. Specific Religious Congregations And Orders    14. Theology    15. Bibliographies, catalogues, discographies    16. Literary studies: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (2)

An Inside Look into the Injustices within the Church
This book takes a very balanced approach at criticizing functional issues within the Council for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). In many passages of the book the author clearly points out that although there may be an issue of contention with certian people that they are still knowledgeable and good.The book begins with a clear and accurate history of the way the CDF came and its predecessors.The book is far more then about theologans who dissented from the church and were penalized, its about the injustice, immorality, and the devious actions surrounding the treatment of these people.The first case of Charles Curran deals with a Catholic theologan who gets into trouble regarding his questioning of 'fallable' teaching, which are those which should be discussed and questioned.All Curran wanted was a clear answer as to what was fallable or infallable and in what ways it was right to explore the fallable teaching of the church.The case of Tissa Balasuriya deals with the problems faced by a Sri Lankan Catholic priest trying to bring and resolve the religion to the peoples of that part of the world.While he worked to bring catholicism to these people, the Church attacked him for his efforts.The case of Gramick and Nugent is about the Church's stance with regard to homosexuals in the religion.Though Gramick and Nugent were hailed for their work to bring that group of people to the religion they were constantly watched and attacked by the CDF. The case of Lavinia Byrne deals with what should be the role of women in the Church.The final two cases of Kung and Collins are the pinnacle of the unjust operation of the CDF. Collins' Assault on the Faith
It seems obvious to me that ANY church or religious institution with a message it regards as Truth has a right to expect the clergy and theologians who claim the authority to teach within that church to not alter, challenge, denigrate or ignore that Truth.No one would expect Islam to allow muslim theologians to hold positions at a mosque or religious school if they declared Mohammed a con man or just a brilliant myth-maker.No one would expect Orthodox Judaism to place its theology or its rabbinic authority in the hands of people who made their mission the undermining of orthodoxy.But Collins and at least one of his institutional reviewers believe that theologians who claim to be Catholic should be able to question and deride the divinity of Jesus, the truth of the gospels, the apostolic succession, the authority vested in the pope, the church's constant and clear teachings on morality, etc., while still keeping their teaching positions at Catholic universities or their parishes if they are priests.It seems to me laughable on its face.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Catholic Church    3. Catholics    4. Christianity - History - Catholic    5. Dissenters, Religious    6. General    7. History    8. Religion    9. Religion - Classic Works    10. Religion - Roman Catholic    11. Religion / Catholicism   

Reviews (2)

Unusually valuable survey of recent history
No review can indicate this survey's range: a range achieved without waste of wood pulp, since at 351 dense pages - including lavish footnote references - the publication is decidedly on the epigrammatic side. Repeatedly our authors compel reassessments of figures we thought we knew. (One example among a dozen: those na�ve Anglo-Saxons who still envisage Tom�s Masaryk as some sort of cuddly rationalist teddy-bear, Barry-Jones-style, will receive instructive surprises from his vengeful atheistic snarls.) excellent precis of the vatican's struggle with communism
luxmoore writes clearly about the 50 year struggle between organized religion (particularly the catholic church) and the soviet satraps that ran eastern europe between yalta and the fall of the berlin wall.heapproaches the topic from the perspective of the local church on theground.the vatican attempts at ostpolitik, so applauded in the west, areseen as treachery by the priests and faithful under the soviet boot.Read more

Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - History - Catholic    3. Church And Government    4. Communism and Christianity    5. Communist countries    6. Foreign relations    7. History    8. Religion    9. Religion - Church History    10. Roman Catholic Church    11. Eastern Europe    12. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    13. John Paul    14. Marxism & Communism    15. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Catholic Church    3. History    4. Vatican City    5. Vatican Palace (Vatican City)   

Reviews (2)

Communism ingores the Vatican and destroys Europe. News at eleven.
Everyone was confused during World War II. Jesuit scholar Robert Graham, past editor of American magazine, writes in "The Vatican and Communism in World War II: What Really Happened?", "Public confusion was greater than ever." The material cause and stuff underneath the confusion was the Russian version of Marxist Communism, "Bolshevism," and the German version of Marxist Communism, "National Socialism." Both versions of Communism shared the unique features of being "conspiratorial, clandestine... openly subversive and revolutionary." Graham writes, "Marxism and Nazism had the same roots: a materialist, this-world view of the meaning of life... War on religion was essential." The principal agents of the Russian and German brands of Communism were Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) and Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) both of whom "murdered by the million, terrorized by the hundred million", according to the Economist (pages 97, 9, 16 and 11; 23 Dec 99).
Stalin's Pope?
The Rev. Robert A. Graham, S.J., author, former editor at America magazine and co-editor of the 11 volumes of the Vatican's wartime documents, Actes et documents du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, published this book shortly before his death. Several of the chapters are partial or complete translations of articles that Graham published in the Vatican journal. La Civilta Cattolica over the decades. Graham's sole purpose is to show Communist propaganda and Marxist interpretations of history are primarily responsible for allegations that the Pope supported the Nazis during World War II.Perhaps the most important article of faith in the creed of Vatican critics is that the Pope so feared Communist expansion into Europe that he was willing to turn a blind eye to the crimes of Nazism, so Hitler's troops could destroy the Soviet Union for him. In short, we are told that Pius XII saw the Nazis as a "bulwark" against the Soviets. To the leftist mind and those who conditioned to hate the Catholic Church, this line sounds both reasonable and probable.Fr. Graham shows how this theory doesn't hold water. He notes that both sides eagerly awaited the Pope's first public speech after Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Would he give any words of encouragement to the Nazis? The New York Times correspondent Herbert Matthews carefully scrutinized the speech and concluded that the Pope said nothing that could be interpreted as support for the invasion.The Vatican's silence in this matter outraged the Nazis and Fascists. In September 1941, Dr. Bernardo Attolico, Italy's Ambassador to the Vatican, personally lobbied the Pope and his deputy, Msgr. Domenico Tardini to back the invasion or, at least, repeat a public condemnation of Communist doctrines. Attolico sent an account of his meeting with the Pope to the German Foreign Ministry. "But if I should talk of Bolshevism, and I would be fully prepared to do so," the Holy Father said to Attolico, "should I say nothing of Nazism? The situation in Germany . . . has become infinitely worse since my own departure from Berlin."In the same month, President Franklin Roosevelt sent Myron Taylor, his personal representative to Pius XII, to the Vatican. Roosevelt wanted to extend military aid, through the Lend Lease program, to the Soviet Union, so it could have the strength to beat back the Nazis. However, the President's efforts were being successfully frustrated by many Catholics. Graham writes that Roosevelt wanted the Pius XII to tell Catholics in the United States that they could support the extension of Lend Lease to the Soviets. Roosevelt believed that there was a difference between helping Communism and helping the Russian people, who were the innocent victims of Nazi aggression. Surprisingly, the Pope agreed. Msgr. Tardini sent secret instructions to Msgr. Amleto Cicognani, the apostolic delegate in the United States, telling him about the difference between helping Communism and the Russian people. In turn, Cicognani consulted with the Archbishop of Detroit and the head of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. They then recruited Archbishop John McNicholas of Cincinnatti, who gave a well publicized speech saying that Catholics could endorse the President's plans. After that, Catholic opposition to extending Lend Lease to the Soviets soon vanished - thanks to the intervention of Pope Pius XII (recently condemned as "Hitler's Pope"). You won't find this episode discussed in books written by papal critics such as Friedlander, Carlo Falconi, Michael Phayer, Susan Zuccotti and John Cornwell? Why? Because it blows a huge hole in their preconceived theories. If the Pope wanted the Nazis to destroy the Soviet Union for him, then wouldn't he have refused Roosevelt's request?Perhaps as the war progressed and Germany was pushed back, Pius XII began to have second thoughts? According to Graham, the Pope granted an audience to Hungarian Premier Nicholas Kallay in April 1943. In his both his report to the Hungarian government and his memoirs, Kallay quoted the Pope as condemning the Nazi persecution of the Jews, saying that the Nazis were far worse than the Communists and that a Nazi victory would mean the end of Christianity in Europe. The month before, the Vatican sent a long letter to German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop protesting the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland. Graham writes that the note was so strong that the Pope expected the Nazis to cut off diplomatic relations with the Vatican.Graham devotes a chapter to Germany's Ambassador to the Vatican, Ernst von Weiszacker. From mid-1943 until the near end of the war, Weiszacker sent at least nine dispatches to the German Foreign Ministry reporting that the Pope was so frightened by Communism that he was wishing for a Nazi victory in the East. Authors such as Friedlander accept these reports at face value. Graham convincingly shows that Weiszacker was playing to a propaganda campaign orchestrated by Dr. Joseph Goebbles, the German Minister of Propaganda. To divide the Allies and win the support of neutral nations, Goebbels portrayed Nazi Germany as the savior of Europe from Joseph Stalin. Weiszacker was trying to induce Germany to use the Vatican as intermediary to negotiate a peace agreement with the Western Allies in an attempt to save his nation from defeat. The Nazis never took this seriously. They always considered the Vatican an enemy. Graham observes that in none of Weiszacker's dispatches were any direct words from the Pope expressing hope for a Nazi victory in the East. His reports show that he often got his information from second and third hand sources - hardly conclusive evidence of Vatican attitudes. Other chapters in The Vatican and Communism, including the Nazis' seizures over a papal speech on the Fatima prophecies, are also illuminating and add to the historical record. I hesitate to give this book five stars because it lacks precise citations. By contrast, Graham's articles in La Civilta Cattolica and other books are solidly documented. Nevertheless, The Vatican and Communism is an excellent book, written by a great scholar. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1876-1958    2. Catholic Church    3. Christianity - Catholicism    4. Christianity - History - Catholic    5. Church And Government    6. Communism and Christianity    7. Pius,    8. Pope,    9. Religion    10. Religion - Classic Works    11. Religious aspects    12. World War II - Europe    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. XII,    15. Christian theology    16. Europe    17. Marxism & Communism    18. Pius    19. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church    20. Second World War, 1939-1945    21. World history: Second World War   

Features

• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. 1976-    2. Catholic Church    3. China    4. Church history    5. Foreign Relations    6. International Relations - General    7. Political Science    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Roman Catholic Church    11. Catholic Church--Foreign relations--China    12. International relations    13. Political Science / International Relations   

Subjects:  1. (2nd :    2. 1962-1965)    3. 1965-    4. 20th century    5. Catholic Church    6. Congresses    7. Doctrines    8. History    9. Religion    10. Roman Catholic Doctrinal Theology (General)    11. Vatican Council   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Catholic Church    3. Family    4. History of doctrines    5. Non-Classifiable    6. Nonfiction - General    7. Religion    8. Religious aspects    9. Roman Catholic Doctrinal Theology (General)    10. Social Theology    11. Christian social thought & activity    12. Christian theology    13. Family & relationships    14. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church   

Subjects:  1. 1475-1564    2. American - General    3. Bible    4. Cappella Sistina (Vatican Pala    5. Cappella Sistina (Vatican Palace, Vatican City)    6. History of Biblical events    7. Michelangelo Buonarroti,    8. Poetry    9. Michelangelo Buonarroti   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Administration - General    3. Catholic Church    4. Catholic schools    5. Education    6. Education / Teaching    7. History    8. Philosophy & Social Aspects    9. Sources    10. United States    11. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church    12. USA   

Subjects:  1. (2nd :    2. 1962-1965)    3. 20th century    4. Catholic Church    5. Doctrines    6. History    7. Roman Catholic Doctrinal Theology (General)    8. Vatican Council