Controversies in Church History

*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.   Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

*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. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of West Germany, from 1949-1963, is the subject of this episode of Catholic Lives. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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. Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

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.  Please subscribe to our podcast on Anchor and check out Controversies in Church History on our other platforms. LINKS: YouTube Website SOCIAL: Facebook Twitter

The podcast discusses the conversion of Constantine the Great and the controversy surrounding it. It explores the historical context, the influence of Constantine's reign on the Christian church, and the debate over the sincerity of his conversion. The chapter also explores the relationship between the church and the state, including notable concordats and the recent Vatican-China agreement.