Artists creating images of demonic possession during the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation communicated theological messages by accentuating the most famous and dramatic exorcisms. This project proposes an interpretive structure, called cultural theatrics, for analyzing these works. Brian Levack’s theory of cultural performance provides the framework from which cultural theatrics develops. Levack’s cultural performance includes the demoniac and the exorcist as participants in religious dramas who act in a way that their religious communities expected them to act. However, this thesis proposes that images of possession and exorcism (rather than the historical events of alleged possession and exorcism themselves) are more appropriate subject matter for studying the theatricality of possession because artists held the interpretative leverage of conveying theological messages through depictions of exorcisms. This research shows how the artist, patron, and learned advisor mobilize cultural theatrics in images of demonic possession.

Thesis captures the life of doc. RNDR. J. P. Ondok, Th.D. since his childhood, troughout his studies, being in prison, working at the Botanical Institute and at the University of South Bohemia until the day of his death. It shows his wide activity in the world of science, in the spiritual world and in the purely human world.

This thesis is concerned with the transformation of prostitutes and other women in the magdalen asylums, the convict refuge, and the certified inebriate reformatory conducted by a roman catholic order of nuns in nineteenth century Britain. Laundry work came to play a central role in the activities expected of the women admitted to these quasi-monastic houses. Its significance is examined in terms of organisational and symbolic correspondences with the structure and ideology of transformative institutions directed to christian conversion. The thesis initially identifies different organisational forms and the ideology revealed by the long-span history of convent refuges. It goes on to consider the problems that tradition posed in the later institutions. The historical account, ordered around a primary sociological concern with transformation, discloses the struggle between the nuns, the secular authorities, and others, to assert differing ideas of religion, morality, and work. The theoretical discussion examines the structure and process of transformation, and the system of classification and control on which it is based. Moving from the notion of Total Institution, the analysis formulates a sociological model of the refuge as a 'Theopticon'. This provides a stable context for a pattern of transformations ranging from the laundry work to the liturgy. The analysis also deals with the role and status of the long-term transformand in pursuit of christian holiness. The theoretical model is then taken back to analyse the major issues raised by the historical account: the persistence of laundry work in the refuges, the nuns' resistance to public inspection and control, and their refusal to pay wages to the penitent women. The historical data is largely derived from primary sources and includes architectural, statistical, and photographic material, as well as documentary evidence.

The purpose of this study is to investigate ritual in order to establish an intimacy between architecture and its users. The lithurgy of the Roman Catholic Church is used as a point of departure, but the study is especially concerned with personal secular ritual. The intervention will function as an urban retreat. It consists of a series of contemplative spaces that facilitate a spiritual journey. The Retreat is based on ideas surrounding the traditional Roman Catholic Convent, which informed the accommodation schedule to a great extend. The study recognizes the new approach of the Roman Catholic Religion, which entails a holistic ministry that plays an increasingly critical and social role. The Retreat will therefore function as a base for religious and social organizations to work from in the inner-city of Pretoria. The retreat will also offer limited social facilities such as counselling and seminar rooms. The site is situated in the inner-city of Pretoria, in the block directly north-east of Church Square. The site consists of two properties: the northern consists of the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), with the southern being a pan-handle erf that functions as a service courtyard for commercial ventures on Church Street. The Noordvaal thoroughfare runs parallel to the site on its western edge, linking Church and Vermeulen Streets. The site exists unnoticed by pedestrians using the arcade, because of a boundary wall. Of further importance is the 2,8 m slope of the site from south to north over a distance of 140 m. The project directly addresses urban issues as well as spatial and emotional ones. The intervention is seen as part of a process of architectural proliferation. It takes the existing fabric and current conditions and rather than replacing them, creates a synthesis of elements so as to evolve a new urban condition; i.e. how to grow a piece of city rather than how you build it. Design decisions were influenced by Pallasmaa's ideas on fragile architecture: it is concerned with real sensory interaction instead of conceptual manifestations. Problems and opportunities are identified on a small scale and the response is focussed on these: it is an architecture that grows and opens up. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

Advances in cybernetic and nanotechnological body modifications currently allow for enhancements to human physical and mental function which exceed human species-based norms. This thesis examines body modification and human enhancement from two perspectives—Roman Catholicism and Transhumanism— in order to contribute to bioethical deliberations regarding enhancement technologies. Roman Catholicism has a longstanding tradition of bioethical discourse, informing the healthcare directives of Roman Catholic institutions. Transhumanism is more recent movement that endorses body modifications and human enhancements as a means of individual betterment and social evolution. The thesis first considers definitions of human enhancement and levels of normalcy in connection to cybernetic and nanotechnological bionic implants, and outlines a series of criteria to assess a technology’s potential bioethical acceptability: implantability, permanency, power, and public interaction. The thesis then describes Roman Catholicism’s response to non-enhancing decorative body modifications (cosmetic surgeries, common decorative modifications such as tattoos and piercings, and uncommon modifications such as scarifications and brandings) in order to establish a basis for possible Roman Catholic responses to enhancing cybernetic and nanotechnological modifications. This is followed by an analysis from a Roman Catholic perspective of the major social issues brought forward by enhancement technologies: commodification, eugenics, vulnerability, and distributive justice. Turning to Transhumanism, the thesis describes the origins and philosophy of the movement, and then discusses the bioethical principles it advances with regard to human enhancement. The thesis concludes by locating points of convergence between Transhumanism and Roman Catholicism that could be the basis of more widely accepted ethical guidelines regarding modification technologies.

This diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of the current relationship of Christianity and the European Union, namely the positions of political fractions in the European Parliament to the values derived from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. In the work there are analyzed the political programs of the four major parties of the European Parliament (EPP, S&D, ALDE, Greens)and examined level of representation of Christian values. The work is divided into five main chapters. The first chapter is a theoretical part, which forms the theoretical basis, in which the whole work is further conceived. In the second chapter, there are characterized the relations between Christianity and the European Union, respectively, the influence of Christianity on the formation of the European Union. The third chapter delas with the cooperation between the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union. The fourth chapter deals with the determination of Christian values. There are defined and characterized the basic Christian values as contained in the Compendium of the social doctrine of the Church. In the final chapter there ate analyzed the actual political programs four largest parties of the European Parliament. Programs are analyzed in terms of their relation to the defined Christian values.

This dissertation offers an insight into the couple Alena and František Falerski, whose lives were considerably marked by totalitarian regimes. It examines in detail the dynamism of the changes to their spiritual lives within the context of the political, social and ecclesiastical transformations after 1918, with an emphasis on the periods 1939-1945 and 1948-1989. This work presents the spirituality of two intellectuals and church laity from the point of view of the respective development, external appearance, identity, opinions, genders and the reactions to oppression. This study combines a predominantly biographical approach with historical anthropology, where the standard work based on written sources has been expanded by the use of the oral history method. Key words Totalitarian, spirituality, Roman Catholic Church, political prisoner, marriage.

Racism, White supremacy, and Whiteness are deeply ingrained in U.S. society and in our U.S. Catholic Church. White U.S. Catholics are infected with these sins, even our prayer can be tainted. We, who continue to benefit from White privilege and who are descendants of those who created White supremacy, are responsible for bringing an end to its reign with God’s help. In order to heal, we must recognize our sin and repent. Repentance is deeply rooted in our tradition and is a necessary spiritual practice for White U.S. Catholics to prepare the soil for individual, communal, and systemic changes to create the Beloved Community and advance the reign of God.

The aim of this essay is to present and analyse six calling narratives that has been collected from six different priests. Three of them belong to the Roman Catholic Church and three of them belong to the Church of Sweden. I have chosen to have priests from two different churches because I also want to investigate if their calling narratives can be connected to the church they belong to. To be ordained in any of these two churches one´s calling must be acknowledged by the Church involved. In the Church of Sweden, they look at the calling (or vocation) as something with two dimensions, the inner calling and the outer calling. Meanwhile the Roman Catholic Church looks at the calling as one dimensional.  The calling narratives has been collected by interviews with each priest. The interviews have been semi-structured, with the intention that the priests should have been able to talk freely about what they have found important. The main questions, that all the priests got, was “Why did you choose to become a priest?”, “How did you assure yourself that the calling was from God?” and lastly “What has the calling meant in your role as a priest?”.  The essays questions are what the priests think has been crucial for their journeys to become priests, and also if there is possible to see any difference between how the priests from the Roman Catholic Church assured themselves that the calling was from God compared to how the priests from the Church of Sweden assured themselves that the calling was from God. The answer to the first question is that I noticed two different kinds of narratives, one where the calling narrative was described as a process and one where it was affected by one specific experience. The answer to the second question is that I saw a pattern where all the priests from the Church of Sweden described that confirmation from other people, about their adequacy for the priest role, had been crucial to them, while none of the priests from the Roman Catholic Church brought that up.

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