The Catholic Church and the Nation-State: Comparative by Paul Christopher Manuel,Lawrence C. Reardon,Clyde Wilcox

Presenting case reports from 16 international locations on 5 continents, The Catholic Church and the Nation-State paints a wealthy portrait of a fancy and paradoxical establishment whose political position has assorted traditionally and geographically. during this built-in and artificial number of essays, notable students from the USA and in a foreign country research non secular, diplomatic, and political actions—both admirable and regrettable—that form our global. Kenneth R. Himes units the context of the ebook by means of brilliantly describing the political effect of the church within the post-Vatican II period. there are various fresh circumstances, the members assert, the place the Church has acted as either an ethical authority and a self-interested establishment: within the usa it maintained unpopular ethical positions on concerns corresponding to birth control and sexuality, but while it sought to hide up its personal abuses; it used to be complicit in genocide in Rwanda yet performed a tremendous position in finishing the awful civil battle in Angola; and it has alternately embraced and suppressed nationalism by way of performing because the voice of resistance opposed to communism in Poland, while in Chile it as soon as supported competition to Pinochet yet now aligns with rightist events.

With an in-depth exploration of the 5 basic demanding situations dealing with the Church—theology and politics, secularization, the transition from serving as a nationalist voice of competition, questions of justice, and lodging to often adverse civil authorities—this booklet can be of curiosity to students and scholars in faith and politics in addition to Catholic Church clergy and laity. through demonstrating how nationwide church buildings range significantly within the emphasis in their teachings and within the scope and nature in their political involvement, the analyses offered during this quantity engender a deeper figuring out of the function of the Roman Catholic Church on this planet.