This thesis examines the intellectual activity of the German Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977) during the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). It fills a gap both in the Hildebrand scholarship and the history of Weimar Catholicism. It examines Hildebrand as an intellectual (following Stefan Collini's analytical concept), and argues that he can most adequately be described as a neo-conservative Catholic intellectual. Hildebrand was a profoundly religious person whose principal goal was the personal sanctification of educated Catholics through the renewal of the Catholic ethos. To this end he presented the Catholic worldview not in the form of neo-scholasticism as recently initiated by Pope Leo XIII, but in a new form. At the center of his novel presentation stood his Catholic personalism and his phenomenological value ethics. After an introductory chapter that outlines Hildebrand's upbringing, formation, and education with an eye to his conversion to the Catholic faith in 1914, the thesis situates and analyzes Hildebrand in the context of the four main discourses that he participated in during the Weimar Republic: Chapter two examines Hildebrand's contribution to the discourse on Siegkatholizismus, the confidence of Catholics to re- Christianize German and European culture after the First World War; chapter three examines Hildebrand's novel justification of Catholic teaching in the discourse on the crisis of marriage and sexuality during the middle years of the Republic; chapter four engages his social thought and his views on the relation between person and community during the final period of Weimar Germany; and chapter five explores Hildebrand's transnational activity against the background of a growing transformation of Catholic supranational identity through nationalism shortly before the Nazi takeover of power in 1933.

Vatican II was one of the most seminal councils in Roman Catholic Church history, having far reaching effects on the universal institution.1 One of the most important outcomes of Vatican II was not the reforming of orthopraxy, but the dialogue that developed regarding three specific issues – the transforming of women’s roles in Church life, Catholic sexual ethics, and the Church’s relationship with LGBTQ+ individuals.2 The decades following Vatican II became a new era of religious dialogue among Catholic scholars and theologians, which established new discussions on women’s ordination, sexual ethics, and attitudes towards homosexuality in the contemporary world. This thesis examines dialogue concerning women’s ordination, as well as the dialogue that developed from Pope John Paul II’s teachings in his Theology of the Body regarding sexual ethics and the agency of queer persons in the Church. It explores the dialogue among scholars and theologians on the changing role and opinion of women in ministerial positions, the shifting understanding of sexual morality, and the changing attitudes towards queer individuals that developed because of Vatican II’s emphasis on discussion. Vatican II decisively changed the way the Church practices and performs its numerous responsibilities in our modern world. However, the result also included a deeper understanding of the individual needs, ideas, and beliefs of the laity. In 2014, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission referenced the importance of laity’s role as members of the universal Church: Putting faith into practice in the concrete reality of the existential situations in which he or she is placed by family, professional and cultural relations enriches the personal experience of the believer. It enables him or her to see more precisely the value and the limits of a given doctrine, and to propose ways of refining its formulation. That is why those who teach in the name of the Church should give full attention to the experience of believers, especially lay people, who strive to put the Church’s teaching into practice in the areas of their own specific experience and competence.3 In doing so, greater concern for discussion of these issues developed, which is documented in this thesis. 1 To maintain efficiency within the overall thesis, from this point the term “Roman Catholic Church” will be shortened to “the Church.” This in no way is meant to mean the Catholic Church is the only church but is a way to provide a shortened term for a longer name. It also is not meant to delineate the entirety of the Body of Christ within the religious tradition of Christianity to the Roman Catholic Church. 2 Orthopraxy in this case refers to the correct performance and practice of certain rituals and ritespredominantly found within the Roman Catholic Latin Rite Mass. 3 International Theological Commission, “Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church,” (Vatican City, 2014).

The early 1920s are generally described as a period of transition for American society. Many forces of change collided to create an unsettled atmosphere that appeared to threaten traditional American ideas and values. After World War I, the United States fostered a climate of anti-Catholicism and nativism out of fear that foreign ideas spelled the demise of traditional American values. These ideas were certainly not new to American culture as anti-Catholic sentiments figured prominently throughout the founding of the nation. During the early 1920s, however, a resurrected Ku Klux Klan promoted itself as the protector of American institutions. It won recruits with an identity as a secret society for white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant citizens. The organization also exploited the political issues of the day to ingratiate itself within communities across the nation.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-224).

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborg University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-317).

Zugl.: Bielefeld, Universiẗat, Examensarbeit, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-205).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69).