Este trabalho pretende descrever o surgimento do Movimento Ecumênico na Amazônia Paraense, identificando sua origem nas mobilizações pela libertação dos presos do Araguaia no início da década de 80. Esta identificação pressupõe uma análise do movimento em sua relação com a situação política do país ao final do governo militar, bem como sua relação com os movimentos populares de reivindicação social, mobilizados contra a violência agrária na Amazônia, particularmente na região do Araguaia. O autor demonstra que o Movimento Ecumênico ali surgido tem sua identidade e desenvolvimento definidos em função do compromisso com a realidade amazônica, ao mesmo tempo em que se reconhece como parte da tradição ecumênica e do ideal de unidade do Movimento Ecumênico histórico e mundial. Como base teórica dessa análise, o autor utiliza o conceito de ecumenismo de base, como fenômeno religioso de grande força na América Latina, em íntima conexão com a Teologia da Libertação em sua opção preferencial pelos pobres e deserdados da terra. / The purpose of this study is to describe the emergence of the ecumenical movement in the Amazon Region within the state of Para. It identifies its origin among the mobilizations for the Araguaia prisoners liberation in the early 80s. Such identification presupposes an analysis of the movement and its relation with the political situation in Brazil at the end of the military government, as well as an analysis of its relationship with social movements against rural violence in Amazonia, specifically in the Araguaia region. The author demonstrates that the identity and the development of the ecumenical movement is marked by its commitment with the reality in the Amazone region. At the same time, this ecumenical movement recognizes itself as a part of the ecumenical tradition and of the ideal of unity as represented by the historical and worldwide ecumenical movement. The author bases his theoretical analysis on the concept of base ecumenism as a religious phenomenon of great importance in Latin America, in close connection with Liberation Theology in its preferential option for the poor and the landless.

O presente trabalho busca analisar a atuação dos Franciscanos da Reconciliação(Atonement) em São Paulo entre os anos 1977 a 1994. Fundados em 1898 pela iniciativa do então reverendo Episcopal Anglicano Paul James Francis (Pe. Paul Wattson) e da Irmã Lurana White passam a pregar a união entre as Igrejas Católica, Episcopal Anglicana e Ortodoxa Grega. Em 1909 a conversão dos membros ao catolicismo não interrompeu as atividades ecumênicas, que prosseguem mesmo após a morte de Paul Wattson em 1940. Iniciam a Missão no Brasil nas Dioceses de Jataí e Rio Verde (GO) em 1963. Em São Paulo o trabalho teve início no ano de 1977 a convite do então arcebispo de São Paulo D.Paulo Evaristo Arns ampliando o trabalho ecumênico na Arquidiocese. Em 1994 decidiram encerrar sua presença no Brasil. / The objective of the present work is to analyse the ecumenical task performed by Franciscan Friars and Sisters of Atonement in Sao Paulo City in the period from 1977 to 1994. Founded in 1898 by Anglican Episcopal reverend Paul James Francis (Father Paul Wattson) and Mother Lurana White started the movement preaching the union of Catholic, Anglican Episcopal and Greek Orthodox Churches. The conversion of those members to Catholicism in 1909 did not interrupt the ecumenical activities, which continued after the death of Paul Wattson in 1940. They created in 1963 the mission at Jataí and Rio Verde Diocese in Goias State. In Sao Paulo City the action took place in 1977 by invitation of archbishop D. Paulo Evaristo Arns, expanding the ecumenical work inArchdiocese . In 1994 they decided their departure from Brazil.

Thesis advisor: Mark S. Burrows / Ecclesiology in Motion: Ecumenical Vocation and the Developing Ecclesial Identity and Self-Understanding of the United Church of Christ (USA) By: Jason M. Donnelly Advisor: Mark S. BurrowsThis study explores the question of ecclesiology in the United Church of Christ by presenting a historically descriptive account of this church's developing ecclesial identity and self-understanding during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Chapter one, "Ecumenical Vocation and the Question of Ecclesiology in the United Church of Christ" considers the context and composition of the organic union that established the United Church of Christ in 1957, engages the founding documents and early developments of the UCC's ecclesial identity and self-understanding up to 1982, and situates this study within its larger historical, ecumenical, and theological contexts. Chapter two, "Corporate Expressions of Ecclesial Identity in the United Church of Christ" examines the emergence of a theologically descriptive tradition of ecclesial identity and self-understanding in the UCC. Proposing that this united and uniting church developed its own ecclesiological tradition in the process of responding to a series of ecumenical texts from the 1980s, this central chapter charts the gathering momentum of a maturing ecclesiological tradition evident in the processes and corporate responses of the UCC to these ecumenical texts as the young church remained faithful to its ecumenical vocation by adapting to an ecumenical context vastly different from the one that inspired the creation of the UCC in 1957. The four ecumenical texts that provoked these corporate expressions of the UCC's ecclesial identity between 1982 and 1995 include: Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, the 1982 text produced by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches; An Invitation to Action, the 1984 text produced from Series III of the Lutheran-Reformed Dialogue; The COCU Consensus, the 1984 text presented to the member churches of the Consultation on Church Union for formal action; and Churches in Covenant Communion, the 1988 text, also presented to the member churches of the Consultation on Church Union for formal action.Chapter three, "Deepening Ecclesial Self-Understanding" briefly explores the origins and ecclesiological significance of the UCC's three full-communion agreements, focusing primarily on the theological content behind the UCC's most recent full-communion agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Reformed Church of America.Chapter four, "Assembling the Expressions of Ecclesial Self-Understanding" presents the theological content expressed in the four corporate texts considered in chapter two in conversation with The Nature and Mission of the Church.Chapter five, "Conclusion" provides a brief overview of the study and suggestively explores the significance of what has been advanced in relation to the ecumenical movement in general and the UCC's ecclesiology in motion in particular. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

This study argues that a comparison of human nature, divine grace, and theological virtue in the theologies of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas provides resources for constructing iconic dignity as a vital theological perspective. Iconic dignity names a radiant-yet-reflected human worth rooted in the image of God, whose grace empowers response, transformation, and virtuous participation in God’s loving essence. The dissertation responds to the absence of a focused analysis of nature, grace, and virtue in Wesley-Aquinas studies—a nascent field with only three major publications (on historical-moral theology, Christian perfection, and pneumatology). The project’s contributions to theological reflection and practice have become especially clear in our current context of social-existential fragmentation and bigotry. Iconic dignity begins with an intuitional methodology and proceeds with textual analysis, critically comparative construction, and practical contributions. These methods characterize iconic dignity as participatory, incarnational, relational, dynamic, encompassing, transformational, and loving. These characteristics embrace our inter/personal nature, our development in grace, and our work with God toward virtuous flourishing. The dissertation’s explanatory power and generative potential capacitates constructive doctrinal reflection and practical embodiments of iconic dignity. After detailing “iconicity” and “dignity,” the theological comparison of Wesley and Aquinas traces general contours of their shared theological anthropology. As embodiments of God’s image, humans possess intellect, will, and volitional liberty, which together establish our moral capacity. This holistic anthropology is then analyzed with respect to human acts, their relation to habitus (Aquinas) and tempers (Wesley), and sin (actual and original). Following a constructive exploration of iconic dignity and ecological stewardship, the study shifts to grace. Close stereoscopic reading reveals the congruity of grace’s nature, divisions, and dynamics for Wesley and Aquinas. Throughout, the constructive comparison illustrates the strength of iconic dignity’s theological perspective. Wesley and Aquinas are shown to be similar enough to converse but different enough to contribute: to one another, out of their shared theological departures and destinations; and to our practical-theological conversations, including a repudiation of total depravity, an embrace of universal grace, joint ecological stewardship, radical hospitality, and ongoing Methodist-Catholic ecumenical dialogues. Still, many opportunities remain for developing iconic dignity in practice. First, more research is needed on the means of grace and the nature and exercise of theological virtue for Wesley and Aquinas. Second, future research should focus on additional topics like ecclesiology, moral virtue, sociality, and an expansion beyond Wesley and Aquinas. Finally, the need remains for further study into practices of iconic dignity, including the development of stereoscopic reading for local congregations and communities.

The early nineteenth century was a period in which the German confessional divide increasingly became a national-political problem. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806) and the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815), Germans became consumed with how to build a nation. Religion was still a salient manifestation of German identity and difference in the nineteenth century, and the confessional divide between Catholics and Protestants remained the most significant impediment to German national unity. Bridging the confessional divide was essential to realizing national unity, but one could only address the separation of the confessions by directly confronting, or at least thinking around, memories of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. This dissertation examines how proponents of church unity used and abused memories of Luther and the Reformation to imagine German confessional and national unity from 1817 through 1883. It employs the insights and methods of collective memory research to read the sermons and speeches, pamphlets and poems, histories and hagiographies produced by ecumenical clergy and laity to commemorate Luther and the Reformation, and to understand how efforts toward church unity informed contemporary ideas of German confessional and national identity and unity.Histories of nineteenth-century German society, culture, and politics have been predicated on the ostensible strength of the confessional divide. This dissertation, however, looks at nineteenth-century German history, and the history of nineteenth-century German nationalism in particular, from an interconfessional perspective--one that acknowledges the interaction and overlapping histories of German Catholics and Protestants rather than treating each group separately. Recent histories of the relationship between German religion and nationalism have considered how confessional alterity was used to construct confessionally and racially-exclusive ideas of the German nation. This dissertation complements those histories by revealing how notions of confessional unity, rather than difference, were employed in the construction of the German nation. As such, the history of ecumenism in nineteenth-century Germany represents an alternative history of German nationalism; one that imagined a German nation through a reunion of the separated confessions, rather than on the basis of iron and blood.

Étude comparée au niveau des paroisses (unités de base de la vie ecclésiale, choisies pour leur caractère multitudiniste) sur deux périodes dans les mêmes lieux pour mesurer l’évolution des pratiques œcuméniques et le sens de l’unité recherchée. Trois parties mettent en évidence 1) Les résultats par villes, 2) La progression de l’œcuménisme par thèmes : prières communes, groupes de rencontre, foyers mixtes et récemment Cours Alpha, 3) Les questions qui concentrent les difficultés : la forme d’unité recherchée, et l’enjeu des sacrements. L’œcuménisme poursuit son expansion au niveau local. Il est marqué par l’importance de la fraternité des chrétiens de toutes les Églises, dont la réalisation ultime est désirée dans l’hospitalité eucharistique réciproque. Cet œcuménisme manifeste aussi le souci de préserver les identités, vues comme n’étant pas séparatrices, souci qui se traduit par une méfiance envers tout projet d’unité institutionnelle. / A comparative study across parishes (basic levels of ecclesial life, chosen for their multitudinist character) conducted over two periods in the same places to measure the progress of ecumenical practices and the concept of unity being developed. Its three parts discuss : (1) results by city ; (2) the progression of ecumenism by theme, i.e., common prayer, encounter groups, mixed-faith marriages, and the more recent Alpha Courses ; and (3) related complexcity issues : the form of unity being sought, and the implications on sacraments. Ecumenism continues to expend at local levels. It is marked by the strong emphasis placed on the brotherhood of Christians of all churches, whose ultimate realization is sought through reciprocal Eucharistic hospitality. This ecumenism also manifests the need to preserve faith identity, a concern that is interpreted as not separating, yet leads to mistrust any proposal of institutional unity.

O presente trabalho busca analisar a atuação dos Franciscanos da Reconciliação(Atonement) em São Paulo entre os anos 1977 a 1994. Fundados em 1898 pela iniciativa do então reverendo Episcopal Anglicano Paul James Francis (Pe. Paul Wattson) e da Irmã Lurana White passam a pregar a união entre as Igrejas Católica, Episcopal Anglicana e Ortodoxa Grega. Em 1909 a conversão dos membros ao catolicismo não interrompeu as atividades ecumênicas, que prosseguem mesmo após a morte de Paul Wattson em 1940. Iniciam a Missão no Brasil nas Dioceses de Jataí e Rio Verde (GO) em 1963. Em São Paulo o trabalho teve início no ano de 1977 a convite do então arcebispo de São Paulo D.Paulo Evaristo Arns ampliando o trabalho ecumênico na Arquidiocese. Em 1994 decidiram encerrar sua presença no Brasil. / The objective of the present work is to analyse the ecumenical task performed by Franciscan Friars and Sisters of Atonement in Sao Paulo City in the period from 1977 to 1994. Founded in 1898 by Anglican Episcopal reverend Paul James Francis (Father Paul Wattson) and Mother Lurana White started the movement preaching the union of Catholic, Anglican Episcopal and Greek Orthodox Churches. The conversion of those members to Catholicism in 1909 did not interrupt the ecumenical activities, which continued after the death of Paul Wattson in 1940. They created in 1963 the mission at Jataí and Rio Verde Diocese in Goias State. In Sao Paulo City the action took place in 1977 by invitation of archbishop D. Paulo Evaristo Arns, expanding the ecumenical work inArchdiocese . In 1994 they decided their departure from Brazil.

This dissertation is an exploration of the religious movements within Christianity in the United States. After discussing the common strategies used in the social science literature to classify religious belonging, I develop an alternative method that leverages associational ties between religious groups and people who are not active despite their identity. I develop theory-driven classifications for people whose religious identity cannot be determined solely on their identification. The remainder of the dissertation tests whether religious movements correspond to differences in the social and political behavior of those in these religious categories. I find significant differences on demographics, religious beliefs and behaviors, and political partisanship. Significant differences are also found when the analysis is narrowed down to a specific electoral context, the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Throughout the dissertation I will compare the explanatory power of my new scheme, RELMOVE, to existing classification schemes like RELTRAD. The dissertation concludes with some final thoughts for future researchers on the usefulness of the scheme moving forward.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / There has been an upsurge of interest in Christian spirituality in recent years. In this thesis I will provide a brief survey of the history and forms of Christian spirituality in order to sketch the background against which this study will be situated with specific reference to the history of contemplative spirituality. Beginning with the life and teachings of the Desert Fathers it will show that contemplative prayer is firmly rooted in the ancient Christian tradition. More specifically, I will focus on two contemporary exponents of the contemplative tradition of spirituality, namely Thomas Keating (1923-2018) and Henri Nouwen (1932-1996).

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