The Color of Blood This web of deceit, violence and political maneuvering all starts after a revolution threatens to destroy the regime of an Eastern European nation around 1987. After closely escaping an assasination and a kidnapping, Cardinal Bem finds himself a fugitive with enemies on every side. Terrorists, soldiers and even members of the proletariat will try and stop him at all cost. He will find his true friends and discover the ones who are simply out to get him. To save his country he must make it to the mass at Rywald to make his speech and reasure the public that nothing is wrong and guarantee that there will be no revolution nor that the country will crumble apart. He must restore order in the country and bring a balance between the Church and the Governement of his country before it is too late. Section 2-Character study : Cardinal Bem is by far the most important character in the novel. He is very wise and always makes the right decisions. For example, when his friend is being interrogated before him, he observes what is said to make sure it fits into his own story. He is also very persevering for he will not give up searching for his assailant and will neither give up on his country and religion no matter how bad the odds against him. When it seems that the government had won the 'war', he boldly makes a public announcement of the conspiracies going around. He is not afraid to speak his own mind and support his country even if he knows that it may put his life in danger. He proves this well towards the climax of the novel when he finally attends the mass at Rywald. He says what there has to be said to the members of the church ignoring the overwhelming presence of captains, generals, soldiers and lieute... ... middle of paper ... ... very shocking and quite unexpected one. It is a mixed feeling of irony, sadness and contempt. After all the Cardinal's efforts to save his country, be a proper member of the Church and a good Christian, he is shot by a little girl while giving her communion. The contrast between the vividness and the tautness of the situations prior to the abrupt end of the story is a shock and a blast to the reader who is left dumfounded. The world is harsh, relentless and brutal. There is no room for illusion in the world of politics, it's merciless. There is a clinging eerie silence in the air as you read the last few sentences. ' He saw her finger tighten on the trigger. And heard that terrible noise.' You can't help but ask yourself if it's really over.... Sources : O'Donoghue, Jo. Brian Moore : A Critical Study / Jo O'Donoghue. Dublin : Gill and MacMillan, c1990
Typically, a novel contains four basic parts: a beginning, middle, climax, and the end. The beginning sets the tone for the book and introduces the reader to the characters and the setting. The majority of the novel comes from middle where the plot takes place. The plot is what usually captures the reader’s attention and allows the reader to become mentally involved. Next, is the climax of the story. This is the point in the book where everything comes together and the reader’s attention is at the fullest. Finally, there is the end. In the end of a book, the reader is typically left asking no questions, and satisfied with the outcome of the previous events. However, in the novel The Things They Carried the setup of the book is quite different. This book is written in a genre of literature called “metafiction.” “Metafiction” is a term given to fictional story in which the author makes the reader question what is fiction and what is reality. This is very important in the setup of the Tim’s writing because it forces the reader to draw his or her own conclusion about the story. However, this is not one story at all; instead, O’Brien writes the book as if each chapter were its own short story. Although all the chapters have relation to one another, when reading the book, the reader is compelled to keep reading. It is almost as if the reader is listening to a “soldier storyteller” over a long period of time.
Prior to the careers of Popes Celestine V and Boniface XII in the 13th century, the long and, sometimes tumultuous, history of the church can be helpful in setting the stage for these two church official’s very famous, and very different tenures as pope. In different forms and methods, the medieval Catholic Church has always had a strong hold on society in addition to politics. The church has also had a troubling past when it comes to corruption, usually manifesting itself through the pursuit of this dominance over political and outside figures on all aspects of everyday life. Coupling these two themes together, the past actions and power exerted
The modern state seeks its self-preservation above all else, and history reveals that governments are more than willing to exercise their monopoly on force and coercion in order to cement and defend their authority (5-6). Normally, unified social bodies such as the Church seek to counteract the dominance of the state through their public and political influence. However, when the Church simultaneously abdicates its political connections and powers and interiorizes itself within individual Catholics, it frees the state to exercise its will with little backlash: “Once the church has been individualized and eliminated as Christ’s body in the world, only the state is left to impersonate God”
A 16th-century movement in Western Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. The world of the late medieval Roman Catholic Church from which the 16th-century reformers emerged was a complex one. Over the centuries, the church, particularly in the office of the papacy, had become deeply involved in the political life of Western Europe. The resulting intrigues and political manipulations, combined with the church’s increasing power and wealth, contributed to the bankrupting of the church as a spiritual force.
Through the years from the medieval ages up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has always had a major influential presence in all walks of life for European people, whether it was for taxation, the establishing of laws, the rise and fall of monarchs, and even daily social life. Furthermore, the Catholic Church held such power that they could even appoint and dispose of great kings with just the writing of the pen. However, their power started to wane once human curiosity overcome ignorance and blind obedience. For example, the Enlightenment Age brought a series of shocking blows to the Church’s power such as disproving the Church’s theory of geocentricism and presented an age of questioning and secularism. In essence, by looking at the Church’s
Proving to be the paramount of the conflict between faith and reason, the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century challenged each of the traditional values of that age. Europeans were changing, but Europe’s institutions were not keeping pace with that change.1 Throughout that time period, the most influential and conservative institution of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church, was forced into direct confrontation with these changing ideals. The Church continued to insist that it was the only source of truth and that all who lived beyond its bounds were damned; it was painfully apparent to any reasonably educated person, however, that the majority of the world’s population were not Christians.2 In the wake of witch hunts, imperial conquest, and an intellectual revolution, the Roman Catholic Church found itself threatened by change on all fronts.3 The significant role that the Church played during the Enlightenment was ultimately challenged by the populace’s refusal to abide by religious intolerance, the power of the aristocracy and Absolutism, and the rising popularity of champions of reform and print culture, the philosophes, who shared a general opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout the ten-century, particularly in France, the world had become an extremely violent place. Feudal Knights were often quarreling over land possession, looting, and looking to lay people to provide them with sustenance . Likewise, the power of these knights and the extent of violence flourished due to the increasingly lacking power and authority of the kings . The Church, in an attempt to halt the violence and anarchy attempted to take control and issued such concepts as “the Peace of God” . Similarly, at this time other movements for peace by the Church were underway, and one of the commonly held ideas was the need to transform the world to more “monkish ideals”. From these ideals also sprouted the concept of the laity having “God-given functions to perform, functions that could include fighting to protect the Church”. Pope Leo IX (1049-1054) is an example of this idea; he often used militia to fight against his opponents. In the early eleventh century, there came a pivotal figure in the ideas of Church sanctioned war, Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). Pope Gregory was involved in the Investiture Contest, and soon turned to scholars to seek out “justification for his conviction that violence could be used in defense of the Church and could be authorized by it”. The movements generated by Pope Gregory, as well as the results of the Inve...
The structural and technical features of the story point towards a religious epiphany. The title of the story, as well as its eventual subject, that of cathedrals, points inevitably towards divinity. Upon first approaching the story, without reading the first word of the first paragraph, one is already forced into thinking about a religious image. In addition, four of the story’s eleven pages (that amounts to one third of the tale) surround the subject of cathedrals.
Since the genesis of the Catholic Church it has been arguably the most powerful and feared organization in human history, withstanding any that opposed it. After 2,000 years of history it has become one of the most dominant religions on Earth, leading the western world. After the time of Martin Luther, the Catholic Church never thought that it would see another era of opposition until the Boston Globe’s investigative Spotlight Team uncovered one of the churches greatest scandals, bringing it into the light of the world. The uncovering of this scandal will become one the landmarks of modern journalism, after a group of reporters took on one of the strongest organizations known to man without fear of reprisal from this great titan.
The communal values evolve around religious events, having family honor and virginity. Even though the church’s betrayal is versatile, when the bishop arrives, it emphasizes the failure clearer. The people of the town, including the prie...
There are many political issues addressed in this movie starting with the authority of the Church being challenged by Luther. The authority of the Church is exemplified during the scene where the new pope is elected and is revealed to be Pope Leo X. Pope Leo X used his authority to excommunicate Luther because he kept complaining about the selling of indulgences and wrote his 95 Theses. Th...
Ronsley, Joseph, ed., Myth and Reality in Irish Literature, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Canada, 1977
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
To speak of the development of the Roman Catholic Church, is as if to retell the entire story of creation, all the way from Genesis to present day, and even into the future; because “Ecclesia semper reformanda est” or “the Church is always reforming itself” and, “Every valley must be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Therefore, it is best to look at a certain point in the life of this particular religion, which, since “the Church is always reforming itself”, is not yet complete. The life of the Church is not a dull, repetitive life; but a fascinating, sustained life; one that is similar to the history of a rightful country which is in eternal war with an undying, persistent enemy who delights in masking its abhorrent profile with anything that might block its path. And yet, the battle is not direct in any manner, rather it is in indirect dueling where the greater success lies.
During the Late Middle Ages, Christian followers and clergy were becoming increasingly concerned about the corruption of the church. Some had even declared that the dogma was false, however, the church had dealt with similar challenges before. In the 1500’s a new series of attacks on the church’s authority had started to destroy Christianity creating both political and cultural consequences.