Much like Trump can claim credit for the election of the Not-For-Sale Prime Minister in Canada, he can claim credit for the election of the Anti-Trump by the Vatican. And I'm sure he will.
Probable, but I think Pope Francis got the pretty much the same idea across with a name choice that was far more comprehensible to the average human being.
Not in America. I taught at the Catholic University of America for about seven years and I never ran across an undergraduate who did know about it or who was much interested. Hopefully the situation is better elsewhere.
One of the great transitions brought about by Vatican II is the shift from the head to the heart. Vat II taught that our knowledge of Jesus is Knowledge of a person, not propositions. Pre Vat II the goal of Catholic education was to fill you up with theological facts. The pendulum has swung far in the opposite direction.
As a teacher and communicator, I am keenly aware of the maxim, "explain the new by the familiar, not by the obscure." Hence, I hardly ever reach back to the 19th century to explain something new in 21st c.
I understand that, but “Rerum Novarum” was the foundation for the legitimation of labor unions and the emergence of Christian-Democrat and Social Democrat parties across the world.
Until the 21st century it was basically unheard of. For a long time, there was a deep rivalry between diocesan and religious clergy. Bishops were chosen only from the diocesan clergy. Hence no men from religious orders were in the pipeline to the papacy. Some religious orders even forbade their members to become bishops. Also, in an earlier age many bishops were chosen from the European aristocracy.
Recently, as the numbers of clergy have shrunk and as their secular power has waned, the rivalry between the ordinary and religious clergy has diminished greatly. Thus, quite a number of current American bishops belong to religious orders. I don't know how it stands elsewhere.
The story is that Jesuit Jorge Bergoglio became the archbishop of Buenos Aires because the previous bishop was a deeply corrupt man and as his death approached, he wanted to atone for some of his sins by appointing a saintly man as his successor. Hence, Jorge Bergoglio was appointed Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese. Coadjutor means that the bishop is the preordained successor to the reigning bishop.
To be absolutely comprehensive, there was a period from about 900 to 1000 when many popes came from the Benedictines of Cluny, France. The Roman popes of the era were so unsuited for their roles that secular powers threatened and bribed their way into getting these Benedictine elected Pope.
It would be easy enough to comb through Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum to find things a good Radical Centrist could object to, but the overall message -- private property is good but cannot be allowed to produce mass misery or you'll get a revolution -- is as good for 2025 as 1891.
I'm inclined to give Leo I a pass for not being a good Liberal, but I can see that from a non-Catholic POV his increase in the power of the Bishop of Rome is not "Great."
Much like Trump can claim credit for the election of the Not-For-Sale Prime Minister in Canada, he can claim credit for the election of the Anti-Trump by the Vatican. And I'm sure he will.
Perhaps the name choice reflects a commitment to pursue social justice and a concern for the working classes and the poor.
… or perhaps it is my age (82) and my professional bias as a social worker that leads me to think so. 😊
Probable, but I think Pope Francis got the pretty much the same idea across with a name choice that was far more comprehensible to the average human being.
Most Catholics would be familiar with “Rerum Novarum,” would they not?
I’m not and I’m a cradle Catholic through college.
Tch Tch :)
Not in America. I taught at the Catholic University of America for about seven years and I never ran across an undergraduate who did know about it or who was much interested. Hopefully the situation is better elsewhere.
O tempora! O mores! :)
This (then) Southern Baptist ran across Rerum Novarum at the University of Texas in 1960
We studied it in high school back in the late fifties.
One of the great transitions brought about by Vatican II is the shift from the head to the heart. Vat II taught that our knowledge of Jesus is Knowledge of a person, not propositions. Pre Vat II the goal of Catholic education was to fill you up with theological facts. The pendulum has swung far in the opposite direction.
As a teacher and communicator, I am keenly aware of the maxim, "explain the new by the familiar, not by the obscure." Hence, I hardly ever reach back to the 19th century to explain something new in 21st c.
I understand that, but “Rerum Novarum” was the foundation for the legitimation of labor unions and the emergence of Christian-Democrat and Social Democrat parties across the world.
REDRUM! No, I just found about it today. Very heartening. I had no idea that Leo XIII had such a long tenure
Kathleen, as a Church historian, how rare is it to have two popes in a row chosen from religious orders rather than from the regular clergy?
Until the 21st century it was basically unheard of. For a long time, there was a deep rivalry between diocesan and religious clergy. Bishops were chosen only from the diocesan clergy. Hence no men from religious orders were in the pipeline to the papacy. Some religious orders even forbade their members to become bishops. Also, in an earlier age many bishops were chosen from the European aristocracy.
Recently, as the numbers of clergy have shrunk and as their secular power has waned, the rivalry between the ordinary and religious clergy has diminished greatly. Thus, quite a number of current American bishops belong to religious orders. I don't know how it stands elsewhere.
The story is that Jesuit Jorge Bergoglio became the archbishop of Buenos Aires because the previous bishop was a deeply corrupt man and as his death approached, he wanted to atone for some of his sins by appointing a saintly man as his successor. Hence, Jorge Bergoglio was appointed Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese. Coadjutor means that the bishop is the preordained successor to the reigning bishop.
To be absolutely comprehensive, there was a period from about 900 to 1000 when many popes came from the Benedictines of Cluny, France. The Roman popes of the era were so unsuited for their roles that secular powers threatened and bribed their way into getting these Benedictine elected Pope.
It would be easy enough to comb through Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum to find things a good Radical Centrist could object to, but the overall message -- private property is good but cannot be allowed to produce mass misery or you'll get a revolution -- is as good for 2025 as 1891.
I'm inclined to give Leo I a pass for not being a good Liberal, but I can see that from a non-Catholic POV his increase in the power of the Bishop of Rome is not "Great."
What years were you at Catholic U?
I arrived as a Phd student in 1983 and continued as a teacher through the 90s.
Way befror my daughter’s and my fellow choir members’ times there. :)