Controversies in Church History

In the final episode of our series on Liberation Theology, we examine the Vatican efforts to curb the excesses of the movement in the 1980s, as historical events lead to its decline in the 1990s. Finally, we consider Pope Francis and his relationship to this movement, and what it means for the Church today. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In this episode, we recall the history of lay men and women's efforts to  preserve the old Roman liturgy from suppression in the aftermath of the  Second Vatican Council. From the growth of such lay movements as Una Voce International, we examine the response of those laymen attached to the old rite to the promulgation of the new missal, and the attempts to end the celebration of the older rite.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In this final episode in our series on the Traditionalist movement, we detail the growth of the traditionalist orders in communion with Rome, the growth of traditionalism during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI, and finally, end with a brief examination of Francis' motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, and what it means for the traditionalists and the Church as a whole. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In the latest episode in our series on the Catholic Traditionalist movement, we pick up the narrative in the reign of John Paul II, where the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Ratzinger, brings a sympathetic voice into the curia. Meanwhile, divisions arise within the Society of St. Pius X, even as negotiations with Rome continue, and Una Voce International continues to press for the legalizing of the Old Roman missal. But negotiations breakdown, leading to excommunication, the division of Marcel Lefebvre's followers and the return of some to communion with Rome. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

This episode is the first in a new series on the Traditionalist movement in the Catholic Church, from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present day. In light of recent events, we discuss who and what the traditionalist movement is in the present day, discuss how it was born out of the turmoil following the Second Vatican Council, and take a look at the early leadership of the movement.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In this episode, we recall the history of lay men and women's efforts to preserve the old Roman liturgy from suppression in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. From the growth of such lay movements as Una Voce, we examine the response of those laymen attached to the old rite to the promulgation of the new missal, and the attempts to end the celebration of the older rite. (Note: the episode was much longer than I planned, so it will be broken up into two parts.) Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

From the early seventeenth century to the beginning of the modern era, a dispute over ideas of salvation and sin, eucharistic discipline and the nature of the Church's authority divided the Latin Church. Labeled Jansenism, a group of writers, priests and religious espoused a rigorous form of Catholic life, inspired by the writings of St. Augustine. Clashing with the Jesuits, whom they accused of promoting laxity in faith and morals, supporters of Jansenism fought a decades long battle to instill their ideas into Church teaching, only to have their ideas condemned by the pope. In this episode, Controversies in Church History takes a deep dive into the history and continuing legacy of this turbulent intellectual challenge in the Church. LINKS: YouTube  Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In 1545, the Catholic hierarchy met in the imperial city of Trent to decide how to respond to the Protestant Reformation. Over the course of eighteen years, the council responded to Protestant criticisms by reaffirming key doctrines but also took steps to reform abuses which contributed to the Protestant schism. Trent would reshape and revitalize the Catholic Church in Europe and set the stage as Catholicism became a global faith in the early modern era. In this episode, Controversies in Church History will looks qt the impact of the council and why its achievements are still important (and controversial!) in the life of the Church today. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube  Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In 1415, cardinals, bishops and religious met in the imperial city of Constance to resolve the Great Western Schism. The Council Fathers would condemn the teachings of John Wycliffe, burn Hus at the stake, elect a new pope and end the schism. Most controversially, the Fathers of Constance would make claims for the power of councils that challenged the primacy of the papacy and inspire the Conciliarist movement of the 15th century, which claimed that ecumenical councils were superior to popes. The episode of Controversies in Church History will examine the history and legacy of Constance and the lessons it holds for us today. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube  Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

*The talk is a bit rambling, as it was recorded while I was traveling. Apologies for any confusion or difficulty in listening.* In  1967, students and faculty at a weekend retreat at Duquesne University  in Pennsylvania experienced what they believed was a movement of the Holy Spirit, which led them to embrace what they called "baptism in the  Holy Spirit," a form of spirituality and devotion previously found in Pentecostal Christianity. Since the late 60s, the Catholic Charismatics  have made up a growing but controversial part of the global Catholic Church. This installment of Controversies in Church History discusses the historical origins and theology of the Catholic Charismatic movement within the Catholic Church, and discuss why it has sometimes become an object of controversy. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

Dignitatis Humanae, the document on religious liberty issued by the second Vatican Council, states that "that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power." And yet, nearly a century before, pope Pius IX condemned the proposition that "every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which...he shall consider true." Because it seemed to contradict previous magisterial teachings, Dignitatis Humanae has caused controversy ever since its promulgation. Controversies in Church History looks at the history of the Church's teaching on religious freedom since the 19th century and its bearing on the status of Dignitatis Humanae. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In the early twentieth century, a group of Catholic scholars tried to  argue that the Catholic Church needed to adapt fundamental doctrines of  its faith to match with the findings of modern historical and biblical  scholarship. In doing so, they challenged both some of the most  fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith, as well as the authority of  its hierarchy. In this lecture, we give a broad overview of the causes  that led these scholars to deny traditional Church teaching, and why  Pope Pius X condemned their beliefs as "the synthesis of all heresies."  More  than a century later, it is still a lightning rod for criticism of the  Catholic Church and its relationship to the modern world. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we will explore what  modernism was and who subscribed to it, as well as examine its legacy  for the Church today. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In this episode, we take a look at the history of how the Catholic Church has navigated the issues surrounding the scientific theory of evolution, what its teaching is regarding evolution, and how it came to that position.  From the initial reception of Darwin's ideas, Catholics have debated the implications of his idea for the Catholic faith, and over time it has come to be accepted by most Catholics, if only in modified form. How and why that has happened, and what the relationship of evolutionary theory is to Catholic theology today, are also touched upon.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

The episode of Controversies in Church History examines the theory of doctrinal development in the history of the  Catholic Church in the 19th and 20th centuries. Associated with St. John Henry Newman, we will discuss how this idea became has become central to debates on controversial issues in the life of the Church today. LINKS: YouTube  Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

*Recorded on May 27, 2020* In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical on the regulation of birth,  which reaffirmed Catholic teaching on the nature of human sexuality. The  ensuing controversy led to open defiance of the encyclical by both  clergy and laity alike, and so great was the outcry against it that Paul  VI never issued another encyclical during his reign as pope. This episode discusses the origins of the encyclical as well as the widespread conflict that followed its promulgation, and grapples with enduring impact of that conflict. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In 1858, a scandal rocked Europe. The Vatican removed an eight year old  Jewish boy from his family and pope Pius IX raised him as a Catholic. The boy's name was Edgaro Mortara, and he would eventually become a  Catholic priest. The Vatican based its decision on the claims that the  boy's nurse had baptized him during a serious illness when he was one  year old, and that therefore he had a right to a Christian upbringing.  In an era of revolutionary change throughout Europe and the world,  non-Catholics were incensed, Jewish organizations mounted a campaign in  the press to have the boy returned to his family, and even Catholic  governments in France, Italy and Austria issued protests for Pius IX to  relent, but he refused. In this episode, we delve into why Pius IX  refused to return the child Edgaro Mortara to his parents, and its  lasting impact on the Church today.   Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In recent years, the existence of a "pontiff emeritus" has caused some confusion for faithful Catholics, with two living popes at the same time. But imagine if there were THREE living popes, none of them "retired," all with their own rival supporters among the cardinals of the Church--what would this be like? How would we know whom to follow as Catholics? In  this episode, Controversies in Church History details the Great Western  Schism (1378-1417), when just such a scenario took place in the Church,  and examines how the Church became divided between rival popes, how  this was resolved, how people at the time experienced it, and what we  can learn from this messy episode in the Church's long history. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube  Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

He has been called "The Morning Star of the Reformation" by Protestants,  and is sometimes regarded as the last great scholastic theologian of the Middle Ages. He denied the doctrine of transubstantiation, translated  parts of the bible from Latin to English, and sent lay preachers out  into the English countryside to teach poor people.  His followers were  condemned by the Church and persecuted by English authorities, but a scattered few remained in existence at the time of the Reformation in  England. In this episode, Controversies in Church History retails the exploits of the medieval theologian John Wyclif, why the Church condemned his teachings, and what we can learn from his challenge to the Church's faith. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

In the year 1054 AD, representatives of Pope Leo IX and the patriarch of  Constantinople, pronounced a mutual excommunication upon each other. This event usually is remembered as the beginning of the schism that has  lasted since then between the Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox. But  how did this excommunication come about?  And was this event really the  beginning of the division between two rival versions of apostolic Christianity? Can this division be healed? "1054 and All That: the Latin-Byzantine Schism" grapples with these questions and more. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms: LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message

"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty..."  Each week, Catholics  recite the Nicene Creed in the liturgy.  Why do we do this? The first lecture of Controversies in Church History for the 2019-2020  academic year will be on the First Council of Nicaea, the first  ecumenical (or general) council in the history of the Christian Church. In 325, the bishops assembled promulgated a creed which is the basis of  the one we recite today.  Critics in the past have asserted that the  Council corrupted Christianity's original message, and that the council  invented the canon of Scripture, among other accusations.  Come learn the history of this momentous event, which for the first time bound all  Christians to believe doctrines as a test of orthodoxy, on pain of excommunication from the Church. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/churchcontroversies/message