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14 pages, 256 KB

Open AccessArticle

Preparations for Marriage in the Jewish and Catholic Traditions

by Walter Homolka and Andrzej Pryba

Religions 2024, 15(1), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010062 - 2 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4651

In many churches nowadays, there has been a standardized approach to premarital counseling for couples involving social, pastoral, and psychological perspectives. In contrast, many rabbis and other Jewish officials still concentrate on legal aspects alone. The need for resolving important issues on the verge of wedlock is too often left to secular experts in law, psychology, or counseling. However, in recent years, this lack of formal training for marriage preparation has also been acknowledged by the Jewish clergy in order to incorporate it in the preparatory period before the bond is tied. This case study focuses on Jewish and Roman Catholic conceptions of marriage, past and present. We intend to do a comparative analysis of the prerequisites of religious marriage based on the assumption that both Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church have a distinct legal framework to assess marriage preparation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Religion in Marriage and Family Life)

21 pages, 487 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Marriage Norms and Gender on Anglican Clergy Actions in Response to Domestic Violence

by Miriam Pepper, Ruth Powell and Tracy McEwan

Religions 2023, 14(6), 730; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060730 - 31 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4157

Abstract

Domestic violence (DV) is a gendered issue, with women more likely to be victim/survivors and men more likely to perpetrate abuse. With a strong emphasis on protecting the safety of women and children, the ways in which faith-based communities and leaders engage DV has come under scrutiny. Clergy are potential responders to DV and shape cultural contexts in which DV occurs. Yet, how religious norms relate to actions taken when clergy respond to DV remains under-researched. Using a survey of Australian Anglican clergy, this paper explores how views about “headship” and the sanctity of marriage relate to the uptake of actions by clergy and churches. Increased support for headship predicted a lower take-up of victim/survivor safety-focused actions by clergy and a lower frequency of actions by churches focused on DV organizations. Male clergy were more likely than their female counterparts to engage with perpetrators and to counsel couples. No independent associations were observed between actions and heightened support for the sanctity of marriage. While the strength of relationships between DV actions and both norms and gender was generally weak, these findings indicate that more work is needed to heighten awareness of the importance of actions focused on victim/survivor safety, connections with DV support services, the problematic practice of couples counselling, and challenges around directly pastoring perpetrators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Freedom and Entrapment: Intersections and Collisions in Gender, Sexuality and Religion)

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19 pages, 340 KB

Open AccessArticle

Gendered Division of Work within Clergy Couples in Hungary

by Emőke Török and Emese Biró

Religions 2023, 14(1), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010105 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2505

Abstract

The division of labor within married couples in ministerial professions is a special case of gender-specific division of labor. Since their relationship is marital and professional at the same time, the divisions of professional and familiar tasks are interconnected. Previous research demonstrates that, in such cases, gender roles may override professional status, which implies that clergywomen may easily fall into the traditional role of the pastor’s wife. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with female members of ministerial couples in Hungary, we explore the professional and family roles, divisions of labor, and power relations that characterize relationships where both spouses are clergy. Based on these interviews, we identify three different career strategies which clergywomen use to cope with the tension between their emancipatory role as clergywomen and the traditional expectations of a clergyman’s wife: (1) the Conformist Strategy, (2) the Conformist with a Second Career Strategy, and (3) the Co-equals Strategy. Our results also demonstrate that unequal relations in professional and family tasks are reinforced by traditional gender roles typical for Hungary in general and for Hungarian clergy in particular. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences)

11 pages, 244 KB

Open AccessArticle

Same-Sex Marriage, Toleration, and the Clergy of the Finnish Lutheran Church

by Laura Kallatsa

Religions 2022, 13(8), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080734 - 11 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2314

Abstract

In this study, I clarify what kind of attitudes the clergy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) have towards same-sex marriage and how they treat people who disagree with them. The empirical research material consists of 534 answers from Finnish clergy. The ELCF has rejected same-sex marriages, while in all other Nordic countries, the Lutheran churches are marrying same-sex couples. However, over half of the Finnish Lutheran clergy support same-sex marriages in the church. My article shows that the main justifications for their attitudes are: (1) theological justifications, (2) legal justifications, and (3) justifications related to the essence of marriage. Most of the priests treated respectfully those who disagree with them, while a third of the priests had negative thoughts. As a background theory I use the Theory of Moral Foundations, which gives useful tools for understanding why the clergy are divided by same-sex marriage. Full article

17 pages, 296 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Catholic Religious Presence in Civil Society: A Waning Influence

by Jo Renee Formicola

Religions 2021, 12(4), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12040248 - 31 Mar 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3737

Abstract

The Catholic Church is becoming a waning influence in global civil society. This is due, in part, to demographic changes that show an increasing loss of adherents within the Church’s traditional strongholds. Coupled with the growth of liberal social policies and continuing revelations about the crimes of sexual abuse by its clergy, the Church is being forced to reconsider how to continue as a moral advocate in civil society. It has sought to do this by recalibrating its position in global church-state relations, moving toward a non-ideological or “third way” of politics, and seeking non-partisan solutions to social justice needs. However, even this shift has not been sufficient to address the erosion of the Church’s positive, political influence globally. For the Church to be successful in this goal, it will be necessary to totally re-set its social agenda as well as its religious priorities. Such tasks, however, will be difficult at best and almost impossible to accomplish where the primary obstacle for successful political efficacy and internally meaningful change is the Church’s own mismanagement of its two-millennia-old ecclesiastical structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promise or Threat? Religious Presence in Civil Society)

14 pages, 669 KB

Open AccessArticle

Female Clergy as Agents of Religious Change?

by Kati Niemelä

Religions 2011, 2(3), 358-371; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2030358 - 17 Aug 2011

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 15894

Abstract

This article focuses on female clergy as potential agents of change in the Church. I argue that the adoption of female clergy is one of the main factors that cause the Church to change its practices, policies and theological orientation. The first female ministers were ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in 1988. This is fairly late compared to other Nordic countries. However, the number of female ministers and female students has been growing fast and nowadays about 70 percent of theology students are female.The paper is based on quantitative surveys conducted among the members of the Clergy Union in 2002, 2006 and 2010 (N = about 1,000 each) and among the applicants for university studies in theology in 2010. The research shows that clergywomen are changing the Church in a clearly more liberal direction. They do it in various areas of church life: they change the perception of faith and dogma, the policies of the Church as well as daily practices in parishes. Clergymen are notably more traditional in their orientation, even young clergymen. Therefore it is especially the female clergy who serve as agents of religious change in the Church. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Women and Religious Authority)

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