History & Teachings of the Catholic Church
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Catholicism has survived for almost 2,000 years with certain core values intact and with a basic framework that has also survived in spite of massive historical changes, countless social movements, defections from the Church and the creation of new sects to compete, and other forces that have challenged the power of the Church, many of its teachings, its structure and administration, and other aspects of the Catholic Church and its beliefs. From time to time, the challenges have become more severe, to be followed eventually by periods of cultural revitalization to which the church has adapted even as it has at times led such an effort. If there is to be a cultural revitalization movement in the future, the Catholic Church will certainly be involved in some form and will be responsible for the maintenance and transmission of certain core values and ideas that will be influential, even as other aspects of Church teaching may transmute or be abandoned entirely. It is difficult to predict the specific contribution of the Church without knowing the form this cultural revitalization may take, but certainly the Church is working toward such an eventuality now and will be prepared to respond either favorably or unfavorably to whatever develops.Marx (1977) emphasizes the power of the Church in America and the fact that most people saw the Church as a spiritual fortress prior to 1962. With Vatican II, however, the Church changed in response to social forces and changes taking place
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ion to something greater than themselves for the followers. Greeley says that there are not all that many things that the believer has to assent to in accepting this religion. Hardon (1975) seems to view the matter differently when he discusses the large number of doctrines that he sees as important and also notes that a hierarchy must be made of these different values and beliefs: "It does not mean that some doctrines are more true than others, since whatever God has revealed is true and whatever we conclude from his revelation is also valid. But some truths are more in the limelight than others, or more immediately pertinent than others, and therefore more pastorally deserving of attention" (p. 21).
The fact that opinons can change within the Church as to which doctrines are more important in the hierarchy at a given time has been seen by some, including Greeley, as a reason for a loss of faith or at least for a loss in the dedication to obedience to Church doctrine perceived as taking place in recent years. Some see the promulgation of Humanae vitae by the Pope in 1968, a doctrine telling Catholics that they were forbidden to use artificial methods of contraception, as the specific act which created disobedience in million
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Approximate Word count = 2187
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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