The influence of the Catholic Church on modern societies was the subject of new study from Singapore Management University.
Professor Tse of University College Dublin and Halyna Herasym of the Ukrainian Centre for Law and Crime Research oversaw the research that took place in 2021 and 2022.
Sixty in-depth interviews (10 Catholic priests and 20 protestors in each location) and an analysis of archival audiovisual data from the time of the movements and their aftermath were used to compile this data.
The first phase of the study entailed interviewing Catholic priests for their perspective, while the second phase documented the perspectives of the secular participants.
Since both researchers are native speakers of Ukrainian and Cantonese, they picked up on subtleties and uncovered inferences that would have been missed had the interviews been conducted solely in English.
The research group also made an effort to comprehend the Vatican’s function. In many ways, Pope Francis, who took office in 2013, is different from his predecessors. He is a liberal pope who isn’t afraid to update the church’s tenets to reflect today’s version of paradise.
In-depth interviews showed that Catholic priests and secular participants share common goals of creating a more peaceful, democratic, and equitable society.
A majority of respondents placed their faith in local Catholic churches, believing they would help pave the way to a brighter future for their communities.
The protesters saw the church as providing them with material support in addition to the spiritual support they received through their presence and prayers. The church was thought to have provided the protesters with material support by making its facilities available to them.
The study was publicized on May 7, 2023.
