The Crisis Of Authority In Catholic Modernity Michael James Lacey Francis Oakley Lacey by Michael James Lacey & Francis Oakley [lacey, Michael James & Oakley, Francis] 9780199778775, 9780230316133, 0230316131, 0199778779, B5YGCQAACAAJ instant download after payment.

The essays in this volume shed new light on the paradox of power in the life and thought of the Catholic Church today, focusing on the tensions between authority asserted and authority observed. It is fairly clear that, while Rome continues to teach as if its authority were unchanged from the days before Vatican II (1962-65), the majority of first-world Catholics take a far more independent line, and increasingly understand themselves (rather than the church) as the final arbiters of decision-making, especially on ethical questions. The conflict between "look it up Catholicism" and an evidently increasing selectivity regarding moral teachings among believers defines two distinctive subcultures within contemporary Europe and the U.S. How are the tensions between these two groups to be acknowledged and resolved? This collection of essays explores the historical background and present ecclesial situation, explaining the dramatic shift in attitude on the part of contemporary first-world Catholics. The overall purpose is neither to justify nor to repudiate the authority of the church's hierarchy, but illuminate for the reader some of the complexities and ambiguities of the tradition of belief and behavior the leadership speaks for, and the kinds of limits it confronts - consciously or otherwise.

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