Controversies in Church History

In 1596, bishops and priests from the Orthodox Church in what is today Ukraine entered into communion with the bishop of Rome. This union, proclaimed at the city of Brest, became the foundation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, whose liturgy and spiritual heritage derive from Byzantium rather than Rome. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is largest Eastern Church in communion with Rome, and plays a vital role in the history of Ukraine. In this episode, we discuss how the Union of Brest both created a local church communion with Rome but also divided the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and we consider this legacy of the Union of Brest and how it relates to the current war in Ukraine. 

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In the third episode of our series on Liberation Theology, we look at the growth and expansion of the movement during the 1970s, even as an opposition arises in the Latin American hierarchy, amidst the backdrop of guerrilla warfare and brutal government repression that afflicts much of Latin America.

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In this second episode in our series on Liberation Theology, our story continues with the first wave of theologians who made up the movement. In it, we look at how the Cuban Revolution shook up Latin America in the late 1950s, what the intellectual influences were that shaped liberation theology, and finally examine how progressive theologians and bishops were able to gain official recognition for their ideas by 1968. 

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The first new episode of 2022 begins a new series on Liberation Theology, the controversial intellectual and social movement that swept Latin America in the 1960s and 70s. A response to social and cultural upheavals in Latin American societies, Liberation Theology flourished for several decades before declining in influence by the 1990s. This series will chart the rise and fall of the movement, the source and inspiration of its ideas, and the legacies it has left behind for the Church today.

In our first episode, we explain the basic premise of Liberation Theology, and give a short historical outline of the Church and its role in Latin America from the independence movements of the early nineteenth century up to the 1960s. 

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In 2018, the Vatican announced it had made a diplomatic agreement with the People's Republic of China, in the hopes that it would lead to formal recognition by both parties. The intervening years have seen an intensification of the Chinese government's policy of "Sinicization," of forcing religious and ethnic groups to adapt their beliefs, institutions to Chinese communism. In this bonus episode, we will provide some background on relations between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China since its inception in 1945, and assess the agreement in light of that history.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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In this episode, we will look at some of the priests (and a few bishops) who resisted the suppression of the old Roman rite during the 1960s and 70s.  We discuss how arguments over the liturgy inevitably involved disputes about the Second Vatican Council, and the reforms implemented in the immediate post-conciliar period, as well as the series of events that would lead to the separation of the Society of St. Pius X from communion with Rome.

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In the second part of episode 2, we detail the efforts of lay writers  and activists to stave off attempts to end the celebration of the old  Roman liturgy after the promulgation of the new Roman missal in 1970.

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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.)

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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. 

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The latest episode of Catholic Lives examines the life and career of the notorious Texas gunman, "Bloody" Bill Longley, whose murderous  life ended with his execution--and a jailhouse conversion to the  Catholic Church.

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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.

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*Originally released 7/3/19*

This special Fourth of July episode focuses on the life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), the Catholic landowner, politician and businessman who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped transform an anti-Catholic British colony into a part of a union one of whose basic rights was religious freedom.  

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This week's episode of Catholic Lives takes a look at the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656?). A master of the Baroque era in an age when almost no woman attained such a stature as an artist, she is perhaps more well known for her somewhat scandalous life: raped at the age of 17 by a painter, she was vindicated in court, and went on to become a successful artist in her own right. In this episode we will discuss her life, and why should be considered a Catholic artist, despite her controversial life.

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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.

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In the past week, some disturbing stories have come out of Canada regarding the Residential School System, the educational apparatus set in the 19th century by the Canadian government to assimilate indigenous peoples into European civilization. The Canadian government contracted the Catholic Church and other churches in Canada to run these schools, and since the early 2000s they have been in the news as tales of abuse, neglect, and above all the forced relocation of Indian children to these schools has become more widely known. In this episode, we examine the news coming out of Canada and gives some factual background on this tragic and disturbing history.

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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.

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In  1962, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in Rome.  Before the Council, the Church's liturgy was in Latin, its hierarchy  largely unquestioned by it members, and Catholics were everywhere  recognizable by their habit of abstaining from meat on Fridays, as much  as by their devotion to the Virgin Mary.  Everyone knew that Catholics  thought theirs was the one true Church, and that it was opposed to much in the modern world, most obviously contraception, abortion and sex outside marriage.

Within five years of the Council's closing in 1965, all of these things had  changed--the liturgy was translated into vernacular, Catholics no longer  abstained from meat on Fridays, and vast numbers of its members--including its clergy--openly rejected its teaching on sexual  morality.  To this day, debates rage among Catholic clergy and scholars about what sort of changes Vatican II introduced.

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In this episode of Catholic Lives, we detail the life of Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first black American priest to be considered for canonization. In it we will discuss his journey from slavery to freedom, and from seminary in Rome to the priesthood, ministering to black Catholics in 19th century Chicago.  

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In this episode, we look at the life and times of Sir Thomas Malory, author of Le Morte d'Arthur, the most famous of medieval renditions of the story of King Arthur, during the Wars of the Roses in fifteenth century England.

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*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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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This episode of Catholic Lives focuses on the extraordinary Esther Wheelwright (1696-1780).  Born in a Puritan family in colonial Massachusetts, she was abducted from her family  at age seven by a Native American tribe, eventually converted to Catholicism and became mother superior in a convent of colonial Canada. 

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Our eighth installment of Catholic Lives is a two for one deal! We look at the lives of two men loyal to the Confederacy during the American Civil War, one of whom entered the Catholic Church after the war was over. Father Abram Ryan (1838-1886) was a priest and poet, know both for his poetry eulogizing the fallen South but also for his great preaching and love for the Catholic faith.  James Longstreet (1821-1904) was the second in command to Robert E. Lee during the war, and afterwards became a pariah in the South for criticizing Lee's decision making at Gettysburg. 

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*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.

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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.  

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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.

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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.

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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.

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"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.

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"Why were there no wars of religion in the pagan world?" the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau once asked. His answer was that their religions made no universal claims, unlike Christianity, which he called "the most  violent despotism in the world." "The Wars of Religion, 1524-1549," discusses the wars fought between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, and how much Christian faith contributed to the wars of that age. Was Christianity responsible for the violent wars of the  period?  Or were there other factors which complicate this received  picture of the era?  Listen to find out!

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In the sixteenth century, the Spanish brutally conquered a more civilized  and advanced Aztec civilization, and imposed Catholicism on the native peoples of the Americas.   

Or did they?  

In this special episode, Dr. Ezekiel Stear of the University of Auburn, dispels the myths surrounding the Spanish colonization of the Americas,  and the conversion of their native peoples. In this lecture, Dr. Stear  provides us with some background on the "Black Legend," the propaganda  of Spanish rivals in the early modern period, which became the received  wisdom about alleged Catholic cruelty to Native Americans, in contrast  to the Protestant empires of Britain and the Netherlands.  (Note the volume may be low on this episode, and you may need to turn it up to listen.)

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*Originally recorded April 30 2018*

This episode of Controversies in Church History assesses the charges against the Catholic Church and pope Pius XII as being culpable in some way for the Holocaust during WWII. In this talk, we explore the Church's relationship with Nazi Germany, and its actions with regards to the Jewish people during the war. The talks concludes that the charges are  mostly false, while acknowledging the sensitivity of the issues  involved.

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*Recorded March 26 2018*

Popes have always exercised "immediate jurisdiction" over the entire  Church, and have always been proclaimed to speak infallibly when pronouncing upon matter of faith and morals--haven't they? Though popes long claimed some sort of infallibility with regards to their teaching,  it was only in the late 19th century that papal infallibility was  solemnly defined as a dogma of the Church. In this episode, we discuss the debate over the definition of papal infallibility which took place  at the First Vatican Council in 1870. It details the immediate  background for the definition, what the major criticisms of it were, and  what papal infallibility means for Catholics today.

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This week's episode of Catholic Lives recalls the life of Barnaba Chiaramonti (1742-1823), known to history as Pope Pius VII (1800-1823), the pope who dealt with the aftermath of the French Revolution in Europe, including the general and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he excommunicated in 1809.  

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*Recorded on February 26 2018*

Ever since the Inquisition condemned him in 1633, critics have used the story of Galileo Galilei to illustrate the conflict between faith and science, and the obscurantism of the Catholic Church. In this episode, we will explain why the Church condemned Galileo's heliocentric theory, and what the ramifications are of this historical event for the  relationship between the Church and science, reason and faith in our  world today. on the condemnation of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) will discuss why the Inquisition condemned his word. This episode talk discusses aspects of the Galileo affair, which do not fit the conventional narrative, and actually exonerates the Church from much (though not all) of the calumnies it has received over the centuries.

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In this episode of Catholic Lives, we discuss the heroism of Witold Pilecki (pronounced Vitold Piletski, 1901-1948), a member of the Polish resistance against the Nazi occupation of Poland who volunteered to enter the concentration camp of Auschwitz to gain information. Captain Pilecki wrote a hundred page report on the camp, and both it and his life testify to the enduring power of the Catholic faith and the human spirit.

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*Recorded January 29 2018*

This episode covers one of the most divisive events in all of Church  history: the Protestant Reformation. Why did the Reformation happen? Is  it still important for Catholics today? This talk will address some of  these basic questions, and provide some basic historical background for  those still unfamiliar with the great divide within the Western  Christian world.

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Today we take a brief look at the life of Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos (1404-1453), the last Emperor of the Romans, who came to the throne of Constantinople at the very end of the Roman (i.e. "Byzantine") empire's life, and fought a heroic 52 day siege against Ottoman forces before succumbing in May of 1453.  

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*Recorded November 27 2017*

This episode addresses the origins and function of the various  institutions that that have gone under the name of "inquisition" in the  Catholic Church since the Middle Ages, and separates the history of  those institutions from the many myths surrounding them in our popular  culture. It give a broad overview of how the Church has treated heretics, how an "inquisition" as a legal process was established in the Middle Ages, debunks some myths about its destructiveness, and explains how it came to used in propaganda against the Church from the Reformation onward.  

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The latest episode focuses on Dhuoda, the 9th noble woman known to us only through her Handbook, the work she wrote for her eldest son William.  Dhuoda's handbook instructs her son on how to live a Christian life, and prepare him for public life as an aristocrat.  Written during a time of war an turmoil during the Carolingian period, Dhuoda's handbook is a testament to a life filled with grief but also a strong and enduring Catholic faith.

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*Recorded October 30 2017*

What  were the Crusades?  Were they merely wars of conquest?  Did they  represent a perversion of Christian teachings?  Were the Crusades "holy wars," the way they are often presented in popular culture?  This episode provides an overview of the origins, outcome and meaning of the Crusading movement of the Middle Ages.

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In this podcast, we discuss the evidence for the ordination of Deaconesses in the early Church, and the arguments for whether or not they were ordained in the same way men were in the early Church. 

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Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of West Germany, from 1949-1963, is the subject of this episode of Catholic Lives.

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Within  living memory, the liturgy of the Latin rite provided a visible focus  of unity for Catholics.  It possessed a universal liturgical language  that distinguished Catholicism wherever it was present, supplemented by  devotional practices such as processions, Eucharistic adoration and  other aids to faith.  To many Catholics, it appeared the embodiment of  the Church's unchanging nature. By contrast, today the liturgy of the  Latin Church is a source of controversy, over virtually every aspect of  the liturgy, whether it be which direction the priest faces, the music  played, or the vestments worn by the clergy, and has been the source of  fierce debates and division among clergy and laity alike. "Liturgy Wars: Catholic Liturgy After Vatican II" will describe the efforts to reform the Catholic liturgy in the 20th century and how those efforts led to the divisions which persist within the Roman Catholic Church today.

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Only twice in history have popes explicitly invoked their infallible teaching authority, and both times they did so to defend teachings concerning the Virgin Mary. "Necessary  Additions? The Marian Dogmas, 1854 & 1950," discusses how and why popes Piux IX and Pius XII felt it necessary to invoke their authority to defend these doctrines, and why they caused such consternation for Protestant and Orthodox Christians, who object both to the content but also the authority of the pope to define such  matters of faith.

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The first episode of a new series I am calling "Catholic Lives."  Each episode will be a brief look at the lives of Catholics in history who have been overlooked or not as well known to our listeners.  For our first episode, recorded shortly after St. Patrick's Day, we will look at the brief but fascinating career of the Battalion of St. Patrick, a unit in the Mexican army during the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-1848, comprised entirely of former American soldiers who had deserted the U. S. Army to fight for Mexico. 

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Why does the Catholic Church require celibacy of its priests?  Was this  discipline an imposition of the medieval Church, or is there a basis for  this discipline in the Early Church?  This episode of Controversies in Church considers these questions, and examines what the Church's practice of celibacy in its earliest days and how it came to be made mandatory for priests in the Western Church--though not for the East. 

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Christianity was a persecuted, minority religion within the Roman Empire until, in  the year 312, the Western Emperor Constantine decreed toleration for the Christian Church, and became its patron, endowing it with land,  buildings, wealth, and a status it had never before attained. Throughout history, many have claimed that Constantine's embrace damaged  the Church by allying it to wealth and power, corrupting its message, and has been the source of criticism for many centuries. "By This Sign Conquer: the Conversion of Constantine," discusses the historical background to this momentous event, and also outlines the long standing controversy over the effect Constantine's embrace of Christianity had on the Church, from Enlightenment philosophes to Dan Brown.

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