The purpose of this study is to show how American Catholic bishops go about preparing a pastoral letter on a public issue. The actual preparation of a pastoral letter includes a number of complicated issues. The first two chapters provide background on the bishops' current letter. "Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy," tracing…

Churches, and in a larger sense religion, should serve as the conscience of society. Hence Christian bodies have an obligation to condemn gross evils and to speak out on the great moral issues, but they should not give their full support to any political party or cause. The World Council of Churches (WCC) from its beginning in 1948 showed an…

This volume contains an address by Richard John Neuhaus entitled "Let the Church Be the Church" in which it is asserted that the crisis in Christian social ethics today is a crisis of faith which calls for spiritual, theological, and ethical renewal. The address is a retrospective look at the Vietnam-era debate between Neuhaus and Paul Ramsey,…

Since the turn of the century, American Jews have been closely associated with reform movements that seek to improve social conditions, to help the disadvantaged, and to achieve international peace. Jewish religious traditions and social circumstances have disposed many Jews to view politics and power idealistically. However, traditional…

A case study tested the premise that people cope with ambiguity in particular ways within an organizational context, negotiating for understanding and choice through the manipulation of power, ideology, and technology. The study focused on the implementation of a satellite communications network in local Catholic Church offices and on staff…

The Christian Brother organization, faced with a decreasing number of workers and forced to reassess the allocation of its resources, conducted a survey of its members. The survey solicited the brothers' views of the organization's direction and sought to discern whether the brothers' beliefs and actions were in agreement. The survey, with 93…

An attempt was made to describe the experience of Christian religious education for its participants. This research is both ethnographic and hermeneutic. Thick descriptions gathered from ethnographic methods like participant observation, in-depth interviews, and journal keeping served as text for analysis. Weekly visits of one to four hours were…

Conducts an ethnographic study, collecting life stories from people with mental retardation living at London's L' Arche community (a center of group homes with disabled and nondisabled residents). Uses Robert Cole's methodology of interpretive narrative, and explains the procedure. Argues that these life stories provide insight that can help…

Roman Catholic schools in the United States have made significant contributions which include the first schools in many geographic areas, the first textbook in the United States, and the first dictionaries of some Indian languages. Early attempts to establish Catholic schools led to incidents which required heroism of the leaders and sacrifices by…

This article discusses Supreme Court cases bearing upon the legal parameters for permissible government regulation of religious elementary and secondary schools. Two legal strategies of religious interests, traditional and radical, are described, followed by a discussion of strategies at the state level. (TE)

Notes that traditional views of nineteenth century comparative education (a period of Eurocentric "borrowing") neglect western selection and transfer of educational models to the Third World ("selective lending"). Traces the first three decades of colonial Zaire's experience--beginning in 1877--which illustrate the…

This paper describes an ethnographic study of how fundamentalist Christian parents new to home schooling are socialized to norms, beliefs, and values of the Christian home schooling organizations with which they are affiliated. Research involved participant observation and interviews with "home schoolers" and educators over an 18-month…

Using recent establishment clause decisions concerning vocal prayer, silent meditation, and prayer groups in the public schools, this article suggests that courts have applied the seemingly consistent doctrine of the tripartite test to arrive at quite different results, based in part on extralegal sources. Two such sources are the attitudinal…

This paper reviews First Amendment federal court cases pertaining to religion in schools, suggesting that the findings reveal a judiciary uncertain of where to strike a balance between the interests of the majority and the rights of the minority. The first area discussed is public aid to private schools. The cases covered in this discussion…

Considers the role of lay vocation (here broadly defined as the servanthood of nonordained persons within and without the church) in everyday life and religious education. Discusses the relationship between lay vocation and the holiness movement, a perfectionist doctrine that arose in U.S. Protestantism in the late 19th century. (MJP)