Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies
Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies

Author: Sabrina P. Ramet

Publisher: Christianity Under Stress

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13:

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This book is volume two of a three-volume work, Christianity Under Stress, which focuses on the experiences of Christian churches in contemporary communist and socialist societies. In this volume a distinguished group of experts examines the changing relationship of the Catholic church to contemporary communist and socialist societies in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Catholicism has, on the one hand, traditionally regarded earthly life as of secondary importance--as an instrument of spiritual transformation--and, on the other, has ascribed great value to the early institutions of the church, taking great interest in temporal matters that affects its institutional concerns. Against the backdrop of this duality, the church has changed over the centuries, adapting to local and national conditions. Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies surveys these local and national adaptations in their historical contexts, linking the past experience of the church to its present circumstances. Organized around themes of tradition vs. modernity, hierarchy vs. lower clergy, and institutional structure vs. grass-roots organization, this comprehensive volume presents a detailed, country-by-country portrait of the political and social status of the church today in communist and socialist settings. Contributors. Pedro Ramet, Arthur F. McGovern, Roman Solchanyk, Ivan Hvat, Robert F. Goeckel, C. Chrypinski, Milan J. Reban, Leslie Laszlo, Janice Broun, Eric O. Hanson, Stephen Denney, Thomas E. Quigley, Humberto Belli, Hansjakob Stehle, George H. Williams

Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy
Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy

Author: Daniela Saresella

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-10-17

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1350061425

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Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy explores the critical moments in the relationship between the Catholic world and the Italian left, providing unmatched insight into one of the most significant dynamics in political and religious history in Italy in the last hundred years. The book covers the Catholic Communist movement in Rome (1937-45), the experience of the Resistenza, the governmental collaboration between the Catholic Party (DC) and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) until 1947, and the dialogue between some of the key figures in both spheres in the tensest years of the Cold War. Daniela Saresella even goes on to consider the legacy that these interactions have left in Italy in the 21st century. This pioneering study is the first on the subject in the English language and is of vital significance to historians of modern Italy and the Church alike.

Church Militant
Church Militant

Author: Paul P. Mariani

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-10-24

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0674063171

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By 1952 the Chinese Communist Party had suppressed all organized resistance to its regime and stood unopposed, or so it has been believed. Internal party documents—declassified just long enough for historian Paul Mariani to send copies out of China—disclose that one group deemed an enemy of the state held out after the others had fallen. A party report from Shanghai marked “top-secret” reveals a determined, often courageous resistance by the local Catholic Church. Drawing on centuries of experience in struggling with the Chinese authorities, the Church was proving a stubborn match for the party. Mariani tells the story of how Bishop (later Cardinal) Ignatius Kung Pinmei, the Jesuits, and the Catholic Youth resisted the regime’s punishing assault on the Shanghai Catholic community and refused to renounce the pope and the Church in Rome. Acting clandestinely, mirroring tactics used by the previously underground CCP, Shanghai’s Catholics persevered until 1955, when the party arrested Kung and 1,200 other leading Catholics. The imprisoned believers were later shocked to learn that the betrayal had come from within their own ranks. Though the CCP could not eradicate the Catholic Church in China, it succeeded in dividing it. Mariani’s secret history traces the origins of a deep split in the Chinese Catholic community, where relations between the “Patriotic” and underground churches remain strained even today.

Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries
Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries

Author: Greg Simons

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-03

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1317067142

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The increasing significance and visibility of relationships between religion and public arenas and institutions following the fall of communism in Europe provide the core focus of this fascinating book. Leading international scholars consider the religious and political role of Christian Orthodoxy in the Russian Federation, Romania, Georgia and Ukraine alongside the revival of old, indigenous religions, often referred to as 'shamanistic' and look at how, despite Islam’s long history and many adherents in the south, Islamophobic attitudes have increasingly been added to traditional anti-Semitic, anti-Western or anti-liberal elements of Russian nationalism. Contrasts between the church’s position in the post-communist nation building process of secular Estonia with its role in predominantly Catholic Poland are also explored. Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries gives a broad overview of the political importance of religion in the Post-Soviet space but its interest and relevance extends far beyond the geographical focus, providing examples of the challenges in the spheres of public, religious and social policy for all transitional countries.

Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania
Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania

Author: Lavinia Stan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2007-10-25

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0198042175

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In the post-communist era it has become evident that the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe will be determined by many factors, only some of them political. Throughout the region, the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Greek Catholic churches have tried to impose their views on democracy through direct political engagement. Moreover, surveys show that the churches (and the army) enjoy more popular confidence than elected political bodies such as parliaments. These results reflect widespread disenchantment with a democratization process that has allowed politicians to advance their own agendas rather than work to solve the urgent socio-economic problems these countries face. In this penetrating study, Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu investigate the interaction of religion and politics in one such country, Romania. Facing internal challenges and external competitions from other religions old and new, the Orthodox Church in Romania has sought to consolidate its position and ensure Romania's version of democracy recognizes its privileged position of "national Church", enforcing the Church's stances on issues such as homosexuality and abortion. The post-communist state and political elite in turn rely on the Church for compliance with educational and cultural policies and to quell the insistent demands of the Hungarian minority for autonomy. Stan and Turcescu examine the complex relationship between church and state in this new Romania, providing analysis in key areas: church collaboration with communist authorities, post-communist electoral politics, nationalism and ethno-politics, restitution of Greek Catholic property, religious education, and sexual behavior and reproduction. As the first scholars to be given access to confidential materials from the archives of the communist political police, the notorious Securitate, Stan and Turcescu also examine church archives, legislation, news reports, and interviews with politicians and church leaders. This study will move the debate from common analyses of nationalism in isolation to more comprehensive investigations which consider the impact of religious actors on a multitude of other issues relevant to the political and social life of the country.

The Demon in Democracy
The Demon in Democracy

Author: Ryszard Legutko

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2018-06-26

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1594039925

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Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades—and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature. In The Demon in Democracy, Legutko explores the shared objectives between these two political systems, and explains how liberal democracy has over time lurched towards the same goals as communism, albeit without Soviet style brutality. Both systems, says Legutko, reduce human nature to that of the common man, who is led to believe himself liberated from the obligations of the past. Both the communist man and the liberal democratic man refuse to admit that there exists anything of value outside the political systems to which they pledged their loyalty. And both systems refuse to undertake any critical examination of their ideological prejudices.

Catholics on the Barricades
Catholics on the Barricades

Author: Piotr H. Kosicki

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2018-01-09

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0300231482

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In Poland in the 1940s and '50s, a new kind of Catholic intended to remake European social and political life—not with guns, but French philosophy This collective intellectual biography examines generations of deeply religious thinkers whose faith drove them into public life, including Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, and Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the future prime minister who would dismantle Poland’s Communist regime. Seeking to change the way we understand the Catholic Church, World War II, the Cold War, and communism, this study centers on the idea of “revolution.” It examines two crucial countries, France and Poland, while challenging conventional wisdom among historians and introducing innovations in periodization, geography, and methodology. Why has much of Eastern Europe gone back down the road of exclusionary nationalism and religious prejudice since the end of the Cold War? Piotr H. Kosicki helps to understand the crises of contemporary Europe by examining the intellectual world of Roman Catholicism in Poland and France between the Church's declaration of war on socialism in 1891 and the demise of Stalinism in 1956.

Catholic Politics in Europe, 1918-1945
Catholic Politics in Europe, 1918-1945

Author: Martin Conway

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2008-02-20

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 1134922639

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The history of Catholic political movements has long been a missing dimension of the history of Europe during the twentieth century. Martin Conway explores the fascinating history of Catholic political movements in Europe between 1918 and 1945, demonstrating the crucial role which Catholics played in the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany, the events of the Spanish Civil War and of the Second World War. Drawing on the findings of recent research, Conway shows how Catholic political movements formed a vital element of the political life of Europe during the inter-war years. In countries as diverse as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria, as well as further east in Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, and Lithuania, Catholic political parties flourished. Inspired by the values of Catholicism, these movements fought for their own political ideals; hostile to both liberal democracy and totalitarian fascism, Catholics were a 'third force' in European politics. During the Second World War, Catholic political movements continued to pursue their own goals; some chose to fight alongside the German armies, other groups joined Resistance movements to fight against German oppression and for a new social and political order based on Catholic principles. Catholic Politics in Europe will provide an original key point of reference for twentieth century history, for comparison with fascist and communist movements of the period, and will give insight into the present-day character of Catholicism.

Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics
Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics

Author: Sabrina P. Ramet

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 9780822308911

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Religious organizations in many countries of the communist world have served as agents for the preservation, defense, and reinforcement of nationalist feelings, and in playing this role have frequently been a source of frustration to the Communist Party elites. Although the relationship between governments and religious groups varies according to the particular country and group in question, the mosaic of these relationships constitutes a revealing picture of the political reform shaping the lives of Soviet and East European citizens.