A Dialogue between Hindu and Catholic Perspectives in Taking Care of Newborns at their End-of-Life.

Hinduism is considered one of the most ancient religions in the world. Although the technological innovation of modernization has undermined the reliance on their traditions, Hindus may still rely on Hindu Scripture when making decisions. From their standpoint, contrary to Western medicine, human lives cannot be reduced to statistical and empirical facts. They focus more on preserving the spirit, rather than considering survival as one of the goals of medicine. Consequently, when a preterm infant is born, Hindu parents might struggle to understand the goals of Western neonatologists. This divergence may create misunderstandings when discussing end-of-life decisions. Since they value relational aspects to be of utmost importance, they may accept treatments only in the likelihood of good neurological outcomes. Being able to interact allows Hindus to act virtuously with the aim of purifying their soul toward moksa. When it comes to end-of-life decisions on behalf of newborns, Hindu parents may opt to forgo treatments and let the baby peacefully die, while praying for their soul to have a better rebirth. This paper aims to evaluate quality-of-life assessment in the Hindu tradition in comparison with the Catholic tradition. It draws parallelisms between these two different religions to investigate whether an inter-religious dialogue is possible. This work will help Catholic, and more broadly Western, doctors to have a better understanding of the Hindu end-of-life views.

"Valha-nos a Providência!": festas e ritos católicos em tempos epidêmicos, Salvador-BA, Brasil, 1918-1919 / "God for us!": Catholic festivals and rites in times of epidemics, Salvador-BA, Brasil, 1918-1919

Resumo O artigo analisa as reações dos católicos vinculados às associações leigas na cidade do Salvador, no período da gripe espanhola (1918) e da varíola (1919). Os jornais foram as principais fontes utilizadas para a identificação das festas e dos ritos, tanto dos praticados para pedir a intercessão dos santos quanto daqueles que foram suspensos em função da necessidade de isolamento social. Apesar de ambas as doenças serem transmissíveis e do curto espaço de tempo entre as duas epidemias, a análise das fontes evidenciou diferentes reações dos fiéis quanto às medidas de proteção e busca da cura.

Abstract This article analyzes the reactions of Catholics linked to lay associations in the city of Salvador, in the period of the Spanish flu (1918) and smallpox (1919). Newspapers were the main sources used to identify the festivals and rites, both those practiced to ask for the intercession of the saints, and those that were suspended due to the need for social isolation. In spite of both diseases being transmissible and the short interval between the two epidemics, the analysis of the sources showed different reactions from the faithful regarding the measures of protection and the search for a cure.

Vers un catholicisme du ressenti ? Les virtuoses et la recomposition d'une religiosité catholique au Québec en ce début de XXIe siècle.

Since 2001, several indicators of religiosity in Quebec show a loss of the dominant configuration of cultural Catholicism since the 1960s. The arrival of new generations is one of the causes of this transformation. A new regime of religiosity is at stake, of which the rise of the non-religious is one of the visible manifestations. But this is only one pole. At the other end of the spectrum are also strongly committed and churchgoers Catholics, with an assumed and asserted religious identity. The life stories of these new "virtuosos", collected as part of a research project on cultural Catholicism in Quebec, reveal the contours of this reshaping and its narrative framework. By describing and analyzing it, this article seeks to grasp what this figure of the virtuoso tells us about contemporary Quebec Catholicism. In this context, a new form of Catholic religiosity centered on feeling is emerging.

Depuis 2001, plusieurs indicateurs de la religiosité au Québec montrent un essoufflement de la configuration dominante que constitue depuis les années 1960 le catholicisme culturel. L'entrée en scène de nouvelles générations est à placer au nombre des causes de cette transformation. S'y joue la mise en place d'un nouveau régime de religiosité, dont la montée des sans-religions est l'une des manifestations visibles. Mais il ne s'agit là que d'un pôle. À l'autre bout du spectre se retrouvent également des catholiques fortement engagés, à l'identité religieuse assumée et revendiquée. Recueillis dans le cadre d'une recherche portant sur le catholicisme culturel au Québec, les récits de vie de ces nouveaux « virtuoses ¼ donnent à voir comment opère cette recomposition et quelle en est la trame narrative. En la décrivant et en l'analysant, le présent article cherche à saisir ce que cette figure du virtuose nous apprend du catholicisme québécois contemporain.

Regendering Childbirth: Catholicism, Medical Activism, and Birth Preparation in Post-War Poland.

This article examines the work of the gynecologist Wlodzimierz Fijalkowski, the key promoter of preparation for childbirth in Communist and early democratic Poland. From the late 1950s until the 1990s, Fijalkowski developed a childbirth preparation training protocol that served as an inspiration for childbirth preparation schools across the country. Through analysis of Fijalkowski's publications in medical journals, books aimed at both professional and lay readers, visual aids for childbirth training, and archival material, we demonstrate that a specific vision of gender roles and relationships lay at the core of Fijalkowski's psychoprophylactic project. This vision represented a re-definition and re-essentialization of femininity and masculinity, and motherhood and fatherhood, while simultaneously advocating for radical change in the relationship between women in labor and obstetric professionals. Fijalkowski's ideas and advocacy were intimately connected with a humanization of the embryo and fetus from the earliest stages of pregnancy, and we show how his work became an important transmission medium for the gradual mainstreaming of anti-abortion ideas within public discourse in late-Communist Poland.

The Prevalence and Persistence of Homophobia in Italy.

Italy is an anomaly among its peers in the European Union (EU) because of its resistance to LGBTQ+ inclusion, acceptance, and legitimation. The acquisition of civil liberties-especially the right to same-sex marriage-remains a dream deferred for queer Italians, and the prioritization of transgender rights has just begun to be seen in broader political discourse. This paper investigates homophobia in Italy, and the social constructs and institutions that support it. We account for the pervasiveness of anti-queerness at the state, cultural, and interpersonal levels of Italian society, and offer recommendations for scholars conducting research in these areas.

Representações do cuidado nas orações Makuxi: história, mito e saúde / Representaciones del cuidado en las oraciones Makuxi: historia, mito y salud / Representations of care in Makuxi prayer: history, myth and health

Objective: to analyze the construction of representations of health care in the drawings, stories and prayers inscribed in the Makuxi Tarumu leaflets. Method: This is a historical-anthropological, documentary that used elements of New Cultural History from the perspective of the Historian Roger Chartier and ethnography. The research was carried out at the Indigenous Documentation Center (IDC) in Boa Vista-RR-Brazil. The leaflet entitled Makuxi Tarumu (Makuxi Prayers), volumes I and II, of 1987 was used as the object document. Results: In the Makuxi prayers, written in the Makuxi Tarumu leaflets, the representation of care appears in all prayers in a supernatural form, where the spiritual authority makes an evocation, interfering in the natural world. The prayer and the shaman are the authorities. Conclusion: The prayers preserve remarkable features of the Makuxi culture without religious syncretism, although it was produced by the DioceseRR. (AU)

Objetivos: analizar la construcción de las representaciones del cuidado en salud en las rezas inscritas en los folletos Makuxi Tarumu. Metodología: Estudio de cuño histórico-antropológico, documental, que utilizó elementos de la Nueva Historia Cultural en la perspectiva del Historiador Roger Chartier y de la etnografía. La investigación se realizó en el Centro de Documentación Indígena (CDI) de Boa Vista-RR-Brasil. Como documento-objeto se utilizó el folleto titulado Makuxi Tarumu (Oraciones Makuxi), volúmenes I y II, de 1987. Resultados: En las oraciones Makuxi, escritas en los folletos Makuxi Tarumu, la representación del cuidado aparece en todas las oraciones de una forma sobrenatural, donde la autoridad espiritual hace una evocación, interfiriendo en el mundo natural. El rezador y el pajé son las autoridades. Conclusión: las oraciones preservan características marcadas de la cultura Makuxi sin sincretismo religioso, a pesar de haber sido producido por la Diócesis-RR (AU)

Objetivos: analisar a construção das representações do cuidado em saúde nas rezas inscritas nos folhetos Makuxi Tarumu. Metodologia: Estudo de cunho histórico-antropológico, documental, que utilizou elementos da Nova História Cultural na perspectiva do Historiador Roger Chartier e da etnografia. A pesquisa foi realizada no Centro de Documentação Indígena (CDI) de Boa VistaRR-Brasil. Como documento-objeto utilizou-se o folheto intitulado Makuxi Tarumu (Orações Makuxi), volumes I e II, de 1987. Resultados: Nas orações Makuxi, escritas nos folhetos Makuxi Tarumu, a representação do cuidado aparece em todas as orações de uma forma sobrenatural, onde a autoridade espiritual faz uma evocação, interferindo no mundo natural. O rezador e o pajé são as autoridades. Conclusão: as orações preservam características marcantes da cultura Makuxi sem sincretismo religioso, apesar de ter sido produzido pela Diocese-RR. (AU)

Biomedical treatment and divine assistance: complementary reproductive itineraries among catholic women users of assisted reproduction technology in Argentina.

This paper explores how Catholic women in Argentina use assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs), and particularly the way in which they resort to biomedicine and religion as complementary sources of knowledge, support and assistance during reproductive treatments. It is concerned about the role of the Catholic religion in local reproductive itineraries, seeing that Catholicism has such significant social, political and cultural influence in the country. Drawing on a qualitative and ethnographic study of Catholic spaces of worship, a maternity hospital and in-depth interviews with former users from three metropolitan areas in Argentina, we examine how reproductive itineraries involve the users' agency in building health resources from religion, with reference to biomedicine. The data reveal that women address religion as an affective, social and therapeutic recourse intertwined with biomedical power. These findings highlight the multiple and complex forms reproduction acquires in specific social, cultural and normative contexts, and contribute to discussing the complementarity between religion and biomedicine in health experiences.

Art, Media, and Fashion: Negotiating Queerness and Catholicism Through Depictions of Saint Sebastian, From the 15th Century to the Present.

Queerness and Catholicism have historically been at odds with one another. The Church's condemnation of queer individuals was pervasive globally for centuries, yet one way queerness and Catholicism converge is via Saint Sebastian depictions. The purpose of this research is to examine how and why Sebastian, a Catholic saint, has come to serve as an icon for the queer community as well as how dress has been used in depicting shifting representations of the Saint from the 15th to 21st centuries. Drawing upon the historic method, we critically analyze the meanings present in imagery of Saint Sebastian. Through our study of portrayals of the Saint, several key themes have emerged. Several of these contemporary artworks incorporated written language that reifies sainthood and associated suffering. Furthermore, many artworks' overall composition surrounding Saint Sebastian reinforced sainthood through contextual visual elements. Ambivalence in depictions of Saint Sebastian's fleshy body was apparent, with an emphasis on depicting Sebastian within the context of his executions. A gap in time periods and differing artwork styles was observed, with many of our examples being either from the Renaissance or post 1960s. Finally, many of the contemporary artworks surveyed included overt signifiers of queerness, with minimal references to subtle queerness.

The Role of Religion and Religiosity in Health-Promoting Care for the Body During the Lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic in Egypt, Poland and Romania.

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), as a widespread health threat, has triggered an increase in health-related behaviours, both pro-and anti-health, especially with regard to diet and physical activity. One of the factors modifying the intensity of such activities may be the religious doctrine and religiosity with which a person is associated. A total of 1502 people (1147 women) from countries that feature one dominant religion, took part in the study. Participants represented Sunni Islam (Egypt, n = 798), Roman Catholicism (Poland, n = 443) and Orthodox Christianity (Romania, n = 261). The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, the Eating Attitudes Test and the Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives were used in the study. Fear of COVID-19 is associated with engagement in pro-health activity, although not to such a significant extent as might be expected. The type of religion in question was revealed to moderate this relationship, but the intensity of religiosity was not found to serve as a moderator.

Catholic Perspective on Decision-Making for Critically Ill Newborns and Infants.

In this paper, we discuss the foundational values informing the Catholic perspective on decision-making for critically ill newborns and infants, particularly focusing on the prudent use of medical technologies. Although the Church has consistently affirmed the general good of advances in scientific research and medicine, the technocratic paradigm of medicine may, particularly in cases with severely ill infants, lead to decision-making conflicts and breakdowns in communication between parents and providers. By exploring two paradigm cases, we offer specific practices in which providers can engage to connect with parents and avoid common technologically mediated decision-making conflicts. By focusing on the inherent relationality of all human persons, regardless of debility, and the Christian hope in the life to come, we can make decisions in the midst of the technocratic paradigm without succumbing to it.

Credibility Enhancing Displays, religious scandal and the decline of Irish Catholic orthodoxy.

Credibility Enhancing Displays have been shown to be an important component in the transmission of empirically unverifiable cultural content such as religious beliefs. Decreased Credibility Enhancing Displays are a major predictor of religious decline. However, because declines in belief are often paired with the decreasing importance of religious institutions, existing research has not yet shown the effect of Credibility Enhancing Displays as separate from this institutional decline. Here, we assess the role of past Credibility Enhancing Display exposure among the baptised Catholic population of Ireland in predicting who retains a Catholic identity and religious beliefs among those who reject the Catholic Church. We find that leaving Catholicism outright (i.e. 'ex-Catholicism') is predicted by low Credibility Enhancing Display exposure, but rejecting the Church while retaining a Catholic identity (i.e. 'liminal Catholicism') and theistic belief is not. High perceived prevalence of clerical paedophiles (i.e. religious hypocrisy) predicts both groups similarly. Higher exposure to Credibility Enhancing Displays predicts higher orthodox Catholic beliefs and Catholic morality among Catholics, but with inconsistent and even negative effects among the other groups. High perceived prevalence of clerical paedophiles predicts the rejection of orthodox Catholic beliefs, but not the rejection of theism or a Catholic identity.

Threat or Godsend? Evangelicals and Democracy in Latin America.

While Protestant and Evangelical groups started as small minorities in Latin America, they have recently experienced explosive growth and now make up a large proportion of the region's religious faithful. This unexpected shift led to a spate of scholarship speculating as to how the new Evangelical communities would impact society. Given the perennial concern over the health of democracy in Latin America, much of this work focused on how Evangelicals might differ from Catholics in terms of support for democratic values and civic participation. Some predicted that Evangelicals would be eager supporters of democracy and an active, positive force in the community. Others warned that Evangelicals were too focused on spiritual matters, which would lead to apathy and a passive acceptance of authoritarianism. This paper uses recent survey data from sixteen nations in Latin America to test these theories with the goal of answering the question: are Evangelicals a threat or godsend for democracy in Latin America?

Mental illness, personhood, and transcendence: Spiritual and religious assistance in Catholic psychiatric contexts.

In recent decades, there have been many calls for the inclusion of spirituality and religion (S/R) in therapeutic contexts. In some contexts, this has been an institutionalized form of spiritual and religious assistance (SRA). This article examines the concepts and practices involved in SRA services at three psychiatric institutions in Portugal, a country with strong Catholic roots but increasing efforts at secularity and recognition of religious diversity. The case of a user who contacted the SRA service allows us to better grasp this new practice in action. Although some SRA practices have similarities with mindfulness, a systematic comparison allows us to explore the links between SRA and the global dynamics related to S/R in mental health and the particularities of Catholic spirituality. In the contexts observed, the transition from the Catholic hospital chaplaincy system to the SRA model is developing through the integration of features of the Catholic spiritual tradition with concepts and practices drawn from the psychology of religious experience. The accompaniment of the 'whole person' emerges as the central concept of this form of SRA. Spirituality gains significance as an integrative approach to the subjectivity fragmented by the illness and the fragmentation of care across multiple clinical specialties. Furthermore, the prioritization of the spiritual needs expressed by users suggests that SRA combines well with the individualistic rationales and the technification of care in the field of mental health.

A Note on Religion.

At the beginning of our era, after a battle on the Ionian Sea, Antony and Cleopatra took their own lives in Egypt, and Augustus was made an imperator by his senators. Roman emperors had sexual access to those senators' daughters and wives, and to thousands of slaves. But they ran governments with help from their cubicularii, castrated civil servants. And they enforced an Imperial Cult: subjects made sacrifices to the emperor's genius, or procreative spirit; or they got disemboweled by wild animals, or decapitated. Then Constantine moved off from the Tiber to the Bosporus, and Europe was ruled over by a few. Lords covered the countryside with bastards, but passed on estates on to their oldest sons. Daughters and younger sons were put away in the Church, where some became parents, but most were reproductively suppressed: they were ἄνανδρος or anandros, or without a husband, and ἄγαµος or agamos, or without a wife. Heretics who objected got burned at the stake. Then the Crusaders expanded Europe to the East, and Columbus went off to the West, and politics, sex and religion became more democratic. Power was more widely distributed; more men and women had families if they wanted them, and monasteries emptied out. The Reformation followed the Roman Church, which had followed the Imperial Cult.

Child Sexual Abuse by Members of the Catholic Church in Italy and France: A Literature Review of the Last Two Decades.

This article aims to provide an overview of the most recent research on child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church that occurred in Italy and France. The studies reported here have been selected as representative of major trends in the field. In particular, they illustrate the paths taken by current scholarship addressing child sexual abuse that has occurred in mono-confessional Catholic culture areas not yet affected by large-scale scandals. The assessment of the last two decades of literature shows that existing research attests the presence of regional patterns regarding the incidence of confirmed cases of abuse, the cover-up procedures, and the reactions of both ecclesiastical and civil institutions and society. However, this review also indicates that scholars have thus far neglected to problematize the local peculiarities of the phenomenon, and to relate them to the broader debate on regional variability in the articulation of modernization processes and religious vitality and power.

Roman Catholicism and fertility among the Mbaise, Southeast, Nigeria.

There is a prevalence of high fertility among the Mbaise of Imo State, Nigeria. This is linked to the perceptions, beliefs and practices of the people. The voluntaristic social action theory by Talcott Parsons and Proximate determinants of fertility framework by Bongaarts were utilized to highlight the links between Catholicism and fertility, as well as socio-cultural variables and fertility behaviour by showing strength of their separate and combined relationships. Data were gathered through survey questionnaire and in-depth interview. The findings from the study show that the factors affecting fertility among the Mbaise include communal and individual norms and practices, and their persistent influence signal a need to investigate their separate and combined influences on fertility behaviour. Specific findings were that: (1) Roman Catholicism is a factor responsible for the perceived high fertility among Mbaise people, (2) Roman Catholic fertility practices conform to the socio-cultural environment in the area (3) knowledge of contraceptives use is significantly low among the people of Mbaise. The negligible proportion that has used family planning methods did so for child spacing rather than for limiting fertility.

Factors Associated with Support for Adolescent Access to Contraception Among Mexican Catholic Parents.

We used a nationally representative survey of 2186 Mexican Catholic parents to assess two outcomes: support for adolescent access to modern contraception and whether adolescents unaccompanied by an adult should have access to contraceptive methods. A majority (85%) of Mexican Catholic parents support adolescent access to modern contraceptive methods, but there was less support (28%) for access to contraception unaccompanied. Further, our results show strong support (92%) for sex education in schools. Parents who believe that good Catholics can use contraception had higher odds of support for adolescent access and unaccompanied access to modern contraception. Mexican Catholic parents support adolescent access to modern contraception, but support for unaccompanied access to contraception is lower. This may reflect an interest in being involved, and not necessarily opposition to contraceptive use. Measures of Catholicism that focus on behaviors may better explain opinions about adolescent access to contraception.

In Vitro Fertilization: A Pastoral Taboo?

Scholars have shown how the moral limitations and caveats that many religions pose against new assisted reproductive technologies have hindered women's medical help-seeking. In the context of reproductive medicine, Catholics, compared to other religious groups (Evans and Hudson 2007), are more likely to disapprove in vitro fertilization (IVF). This article explores, through a qualitative empirical study, the absence of dialogue between Catholic congregants and their priests about IVF. On the one hand, parishioners primarily spoke about infertility issues in a very general manner, but would barely enter into any details. On the other hand, members of the clergy wouldn't mention IVF's prohibition unless they were specifically questioned on that matter. This article proposes explanations for this silence.

Construcciones de juventud y trayectorias militantes católicas contemporáneas en parroquias del Gran Buenos Aires / Constructions of youth and contemporary militant trajectories in parishes in Gran Buenos Aires (Argentina) / Construções juvenis e trajetórias militantes contemporâneas nas paróquias da grande Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Resumen (analítico) El artículo analiza las construcciones de juventud presentes en la Acción Católica Argentina y sus vínculos con trayectorias de jóvenes militantes insertos en parroquias del Gran Buenos Aires. Para el abordaje metodológico cualitativo se utilizan los siguientes materiales de campo, producidos entre 2016 y 2018: entrevistas en profundidad realizadas a jóvenes católicos, registros de observación participante en parroquias y eventos nacionales de Acción Católica Argentina y análisis de documentos institucionales. Dentro de la Acción Católica Argentina, se identifican tensiones entre las definiciones de juventud producidas por la institución y las trayectorias juveniles. Los jóvenes experimentan modos de «ser¼ y de «vivir¼ la juventud distintos a los propuestos por la Acción Católica Argentina, acordes con los cambios sociales y culturales que se produjeron en Argentina en las últimas décadas.

Abstract (analytical) This article analyzes the constructions of youth produced in the Acción Católica Argentina (Argentinian Catholic Action) organization and their link with the trajectories of militant youth living in parishes of Gran Buenos Aires. Field materials produced between 2016 and 2018 are analyzed using a qualitative methodological approach that consists of: in-depth interviews with Catholic youth; participant observation records from parish and national Argentinian Catholic Action events; and the analysis of institutional documents. In Argentinian Catholic Action, tensions were identified between the definitions of youth produced by the institution and young people's own trajectories. Young people experience ways of «being¼ and «living¼ that are different from those proposed by the Argentinian Catholic Action and that respond to the social and cultural changes produced in Argentine society in recent decades.

Resumo (analítico) O artigo analisa as construções de jovens presentes na Acción Católica Argentina seus vínculos com as trajetórias de jovens militantes inseridos nas paróquias da Gran Buenos Aires. Para a abordagem metodológica qualitativo, são utilizados materiais de campo produzidos entre 2016 e 2018, que consistem em entrevistas em profundidade com jovens católicos; registros de observação participante nas paróquias e eventos nacionais da Acción Católica Argentina e análise de documentos institucionais. Na Acción Católica Argentina, são identificadas tensões entre as definições de juventude produzidas pela instituição e as trajetórias da juventude. Os jovens experimentam maneiras de «ser¼ e «viver¼ a juventude diferentes dos propostos pela Acción Católica Argentina de acordo com as mudanças sociais e culturais produzidas na Argentina nas últimas décadas.

Contraception and Catholicism in the Twentieth Century: Transnational Perspectives on Expert, Activist and Intimate Practices.

This special issue uses Catholicism as a thread to bring together five contributions to the transnational history of contraception. The articles, which cover examples from Western and East-Central Europe, East Africa and Latin America, all explore the complex interplay between users and providers of birth control in contexts marked by prevalence of the Catholic religion and/or strong political position of the Catholic Church. In the countries examined here, Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Ireland and Rwanda, Catholicism was the majority religion during the different moments of the long twentieth century the authors of this special issue focus on. Using transnationalism as a perspective to examine the social history of the entanglements between Catholicism and contraception, this special issue seeks to underscore the ways in which individuals and organisations used, adapted and contested local and transnational ideas and debate around family planning. It also examines the role of experts and activist groups in the promotion of family planning, while paying attention to national nuances in Catholic understandings of birth control. The contributions shed light on the motivations behind involvement in birth control activism and expertise, its modus operandi, networking strategies and interactions with men and women demanding contraceptive information and technology. Moreover, through the use of oral history, as well as other print sources such as women's magazines, this collection of articles seeks to illustrate 'ordinary' men and women's practices in the realm of reproductive health.