In his video message sent on the occasion of the closing plenary of OIEC's World Congress, Pope Francis expressed sincere gratitude for all those who work in Catholic education. "I thank you for this service, and through you I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to all those who work in Catholic education: lay people, men and women…

While issues faced by Catholic schools around the world depend on local context, a number of common challenges are often encountered globally. This article considers eight such challenges: (1) the decline in the depth of faith and values; (2) an inadequate number of clergy and religious serving in schools; (3) a changing scenario for teaching…

This article consists of remarks made during a panel at the 2017 annual meeting of the Religious Education Association in St. Louis, MO. From his vantage point as a former law enforcement agent, the author explores issues of ethical dilemmas present in policing; the current situation of militarized police forces; community policing and its…

Indigenous slavery was a critical aspect of New Mexican life and culture during the Spanish, Mexican, and early American (Territorial) periods. Aside from the labor and military support provided by indigenous slaves for the expansion of the province, the genetic contribution to the population growth was enormous. Ramón Gutiérrez (1991) speculates…

Archbishop Mar Ivanios (1882-1953) was a visionary and his educational vision has relevance for today. He emancipated the socially marginalized and disenfranchised people of his time through his educational vision and practice. This article is the story of a small community of Christians and their leader who made a difference in their society.…

The purpose of this study was to describe the social competencies and behavioral problems of a national sample of pastors' children and to compare them to age and sex standardized norms. Data on 98 children between 4 and 16 years of age were obtained by using the Child Behavior Checklist with a random sample of 62 families. Pastors' children have…

Many stressed individuals seek help first from clergy, who in turn have stresses of their own. This study examined stress in single and married clergy and those clergy married to other clergy. In single clergy, 106 females and 134 males were compared on Osipow and Spokane measures and were found to differ significantly on stress from the Physical…

This study attempted to determine how effective clergy are as counselors. Clergy (N=131) from a 7 county area in the Northeast were asked to provide information on their counseling practices, including presenting problems brought to counseling and the counseling techniques they used. A self-appraisal of their effectiveness was obtained. Contrary…

Although the relationship that spiritual health and religious values might have to mental health has long been a focus of research, there is no research to date that has investigated actual perceptions of what constitutes spiritual health. A study was conducted to examine the perceptions of clergy on spiritual health as it pertains to the ideal…

This study examined stress, strain, and coping mechanisms in women religious leaders. Subjects were nuns (N=51), Reform women rabbis (N=45), Episcopal women priests (N=32), United Methodist clergywomen (N=45) and Presbyterian clergywomen (N=45), matched for age and years on the job and pulpit assignments. All subjects were given the Osipow and…

Identifies and assesses the means by which proponents of an orthodox or a heterodox stance regarding the position of women in the Catholic Church seek to reconcile women to their paradoxical situation. Gauges the potential of each to persuade church authorities to modify the institution's position on women. (JK)

Seeking the answers as to what makes one speaker more charismatic than another and why some speeches are merely effective while others move audiences to a transcendent state is a difficult task. This paper follows up on this challenge and seeks to provide some answers as to how the prophetic works of Richard Brothers moved his followers to a…

The purpose of this study was to explore the sexual conduct of troubled clergy toward age-inappropriate individuals. Study participants were males who had sought residential treatment at Southdown, a Canadian institution which assists clergy and other religious professionals in dealing with spiritual, emotional, and psychological issues in their…

Recent literature indicates that ministers' families face not only the normative developmental stressors of other families, but an additional set of stressors created by the interface between the family and the church systems. Based upon the Double ABCX model of family stress, particular ministers' families will vary in their ability to adapt to…

Clergymen have been facing new challenges and stresses resulting from greater numbers of women entering seminaries and positions of religious leadership. In this study, 54 Roman Catholic priests and 50 brothers were given the specially devised Religion and Stress Questionnaire to explore their sensitivity towards some of the gender issues…