Why do Catholics use a pipe organ in churches? The sheer size of the instrument alone is something to gaze at and the sounds it produces are something that you can feel echoing through your entire body. This is just one of the countless reasons why the organ has been incorporated into many religious events…
America is Leaving the Church
The number of Catholics in the world and the United States are decreasing every year and is starting to become a significant problem. If the Church wants to keep its numbers high, it is going to have to change the way they conduct their business. In this blog, data will be analyzed on how the…
Exploring Pro-Gay Texts in the Bible
The “other” side to the argument of homosexual relationships within the Roman Catholic Church By Zach Heimbuch I’ve always firmly believed in the saying “there are two sides to every argument”. I see the best method of coming to a rational conclusion is to hear out both sides, consider the opposition’s opinions, and form one’s…
History, Violence and Cultural Agency
Exploring the relationship between the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico and the Catholic Church By Victoria Marquez-Gomez When I was four, my mom and I took a trip down to her hometown of El Paso de la Reina in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much about the trip, aside…
The Evolution of the Social Standing of Irish American Catholics, their Relationship with Other Catholics, and the Politics of Race and Gender
The process by which immigrants become assimilated is one that is simultaneously driven by the desires of the immigrants themselves, and the external conditions they find themselves in. In the case of European Catholic immigrants into the United States, there was a strong need to preserve their Catholic identity in a country that was still…
The History of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Her Devotees
In Mexican and Mexican-American Catholic practice, The Virgin Mary is a very prominent figure. Many people are very devoted to her and think very highly of her as they almost would to Jesus. She had been chosen by God to give birth to the savior and would raise him, so she truly was important in…
Uncovering La Virgen de Guadalupe: The Path to Gender and to Sexual Liberation for Latinxs
The Universal Image of La Virgen de Guadalupe When entering the Alba household, my family and I are greeted with a frame of La Virgen de Guadalupe that is placed on a small table. Around the top corners of the frame, my mom has placed two blue rosaries that were given to her by our…
Bringing Mexican Catholicism to the United States
Every twenty-fourth of October in Los Angeles, the people from el pueblo de San Rafael Tlanalapan celebrate their archangel in la fiesta de San Rafael Arcángel. The festivities commence after the arrival of San Rafael Arcángel to la fiesta with a religious ceremony led by a local priest. After the ceremony, the tables and chairs…
The Reality of Sanctity: Worldviews of Saints of the Catholic Church.
Ngozi Idika Religion 123 Blog How does the Catholic Church’s concept of sanctity impact views on Sainthood today? I was raised as a devout Catholic. Just like many, the routine of devotion such as prayer, attending mass, and doing novenas to enact the faith. Out of all of them, praying to saints have been essential…
The Holiest of Unions: The Marriage of the Catholic Church and the Modern Day Labor Movement
“Woodcut.” St. Lydia’s House http://stlydiashouse.org/what-is-the-catholic-worker-movement/. As the soot settled on the new urban American horizon, waves of Catholic immigrant workers left their industrial jobs and passed through the formerly impermeable membrane between religion and vocation. However, to them, the effects of American industrialization were just as omnipresent as their faith. They sensed it everywhere: from…
Catholics in the Americas 