Project Details
Projekt
Farewell from the 'Reverend'. The Crisis of Priesthood after the Second Vatican Council
Applicant
Professor Dr. Thomas Großbölting
Subject Area
Modern and Contemporary History
Term
from 2020 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410907407
Anyone interested in changes and continuities of Catholic life in the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s focussing at semantics, practices and emotions can’t ignore the group of the priests, on the contrary: Within the Catholic church’s sacramental-centred pastoral work the clergy was a dominant actor for many reasons: as a discourse figure, as actors in the field of the religious community and as producer and object of attribution of emotions.In the 19th and in the beginning oft he 20th century, their position was massively upgraded to a “total role“ concerning both their sacrality and their pastoral practice. The changes which can be witnessed within the investigation period were experienced all the more radically. These changes relate to the role models and expectations of the clergy and his work. From the ‘witness of faith‘ and the ‘consultant‘ to the ‘agents in crisis‘- there was a wide and increasing range of possible self- and external images. Especially intensive changes have been occuring in the group’s inward-looking view and its distinction and relation to the lay persons.These changes, their dynamics and consequences will be considered by two projects: the “Image and Training of Priests“ (first project) were subject to change since the 1960s both because of the second Vatican Council’s new theological impulses and in the reaction to the “priests‘ crisis“ which was frequently discussed at that time. On the background oft he German development and mainly using the examples of the dioceses of Münster and Munich-Freising we will investigate how the recruitment, the training practice and the internal and external reflection have changed.The “priests‘ and solidarity groups“ which started from the 1960s on represented a new form of clergy’s self-organisation. They established “forums of inner-church self-reflection and clerical criticism“ (second project) for their priestly members. By discussing the celibacy or reflecting the power structures within the church they took up frequently debated issues and didn’t only develop them by distinguishing themselves from, but also in cooperation with the administrations of the dioceses. According to the first partial project the processes in the dioceses of Münster and Munich-Freising will be investigated examplarily on the background of the German development.By analysing self- and external images, the relating priestly habitus and the navigation of feeling (William Reddy) practiced in this context this project is connected with the three-step of semantics-practices-emotions that is constitutive for this research group and contributes to the joint discussion.
DFG Programme
Research Units
Co-Investigator
Professor Dr. Klaus Große Kracht
