Global Catholicism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course investigates the relationship in Catholicism (and Christianity) between ideas and cultures. The semester will follow two plans: the first is diachronic (historical), focusing on threshold moments and controversies from antiquity to the present, e.g., Jewish vs Greek Christianity in the first century, established church in the fourth century, the Germanic adoption of Christianity in the early and central Middle Ages, the nationalization of Christianity in the late Middle Ages and early modern periods, Catholicism and European global colonization, Catholicism and liberalism, the “global Catholicism” of Vatican II and its legacy, and the era of Francis . The second is synchronic (diversity in a single time frame) and contemporary, comparing and relating Catholicism as practiced in different cultures, social strata, and world regions: Catholicism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and also in secularized western societies. The driving question throughout: is there such a thing as global Catholicism; if so, what is it; if not, what then.