 | |
| Abbreviation | B.H. [1] |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1980 [2] |
| Type | Association of the faithful in the Catholic Church |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts [3] |
| Website | brotherhoodofhope.org |
The Brotherhood of Hope (abbreviated B.H. [1] ) is an association of the faithful in the Catholic Church, composed primarily of religious brothers who serve in college campus ministry. They are also a member of an association of charismatic communities called the Sword of the Spirit. [4] [5]
The association was founded in 1980 in Newark, New Jersey by Father Philip Merdinger, a Catholic priest from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, and five lay men who came together to consecrate themselves to God through private vows. [2] [6]
This new community had been formed by an association of charismatic Catholic families in New Jersey known as the People of Hope and from the inspiration of an ecumenical group of consecrated men in Michigan called the Servants of the Word. [6]
Their first apostolate was in New Jersey, serving students at Rutgers University. In 1995 they were invited by Cardinal Bernard Law to establish their headquarters in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, with canonical approval in 1998. [6]
The Brotherhood of Hope serves Catholic campus ministries at University of Central Florida, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, University of South Florida and the University of Minnesota. They formerly served at Florida State University, Boston University and in other ministries. [7] [8] [9] [10]
In December 2012, Father Robert W. Oliver, a member of the Brotherhood of Hope, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. [11] [12] In September 2014, Oliver was promoted by Pope Francis to be the first secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. [3] [13]
Pope Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Upon his resignation, Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus", and he retained this title until his death in 2022.
Bernard Francis Cardinal Law was a senior-ranking prelate of the Catholic Church, known largely for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests. He served as Archbishop of Boston, archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, and Cardinal Priest of Santa Susanna, which was the American parish in Rome until 2017, when the American community was relocated to San Patrizio.
There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up. The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s. Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope. With 23 percent of the United States' population as of 2018, the Catholic Church is the country's second-largest religious grouping after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church if Protestantism is divided into separate denominations. In a 2020 Gallup poll, 25% of Americans said they were Catholic. The United States has the fourth-largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches.
The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in south central Illinois in the United States. The mother church is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield.
Richard James Cushing was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder of new churches, schools, and institutions. Unlike his predecessor, he was on good terms with practically the entire Boston elite, as he softened the traditional confrontation between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant upper-class. He built useful relationships with Jews, Protestants, and institutions outside the usual Catholic community. He helped presidential candidate John F. Kennedy deflect fears of papal interference in American government if a Catholic became president.
Timothy Michael Dolan is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York in the United States, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey in the United States.
The Archdiocese of Miami is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in South Florida in the United States. It is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which covers all of Florida. The Archdiocese of Miami contains the Florida counties Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe.
People of Praise is a network of lay Christian intentional communities. As a parachurch apostolate, membership is open to any baptized Christian who affirms the Nicene Creed and agrees to the community's covenant. The majority of its members are Catholics, but Protestants can also join, reflecting the ecumenical nature of People of Praise. It has 22 branches in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, with approximately 1,700 members. It founded Trinity Schools, which are aligned with the philosophy of classical Christian education.
Donald William Wuerl is an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018. He previously served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle and Bishop of Pittsburgh. Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in 2010.
The CatholicTV Network, commonly known as CatholicTV, is a Catholic television network based in Watertown, Massachusetts. CatholicTV first launched locally in Boston in 1955, making it the oldest Catholic television network in the United States. Today, it is distributed on cable television systems, internet television, and broadcast stations in sixteen U.S. states and the U.S. Virgin Islands and now worldwide.
Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is a Catholic publishing company in Huntington, Indiana, which prints the American national weekly newspaper of that name, as well as numerous Catholic periodicals, religious books, pamphlets, catechetical materials, inserts for parish bulletins and offertory envelopes, and offers an "Online Giving" system and "Faith in Action" websites for parishes. Founded in 1912 by Fr John F. Noll, the newspaper Our Sunday Visitor was the most popular Catholic newsweekly of the twentieth century.
Joseph William Tobin, CSsR, is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Redemptorist order, he has been the Archbishop of Newark since 2017. He previously served as the Archbishop of Indianapolis from 2012 to 2016 and as secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life from 2010 to 2012. He has been a cardinal since November 19, 2016.
Michael Sopoćko was a Polish Catholic priest and professor at Vilnius University. He is best known as the spiritual director of Faustina Kowalska. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
Rev. Robert P. Imbelli is a Christian theologian and Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of New York. Imbelli is an associate professor emeritus of theology at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where he taught from 1986 to 2014. He was the director of the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College from 1986 to 1993. He previously taught theology at the New York Archdiocesan Seminary, St. Joseph's Seminary at Dunwoodie (1970–78) and at the Maryknoll School of Theology in Ossining, New York (1978–1986). While teaching in Boston, Imbelli served at Sacred Heart Church in Newton Centre.
The Sword of the Spirit is an international, ecumenical association of Christian communities within the charismatic movement. As of 2017, the Sword of the Spirit is composed of 82 communities, 45 of which are Catholic. The member communities are composed predominantly of laypersons. The Sword of the Spirit is one of the largest federated networks of communities to come out of the Catholic charismatic renewal.
Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO) is a Catholic missionary organization in the United States which serves college students and young adults. Affiliated with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, SPO describes its mission as follows: "to build transformational communities that form missionary disciples for life."
Rogelio del Rosario Martinez Jr., who took the name Pope Michael II, is a Filipino conclavist bishop claimant to the papacy. He was elected by lot at a conclave held in Vienna, Austria, in July 2023.
