Cardinals and Education: Reproduction of the Catholic Elite in Europe

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Abstract

In Europe the power of the Catholic Church is measured by the positions it provides. Cardinals are considered to be the Catholic elite since they occupy the highest positions in the church hierarchy. The aim of the article is to identify the role of education in the reproduction of the Catholic elite in Europe. The author underlines the relevance of the Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory and sociology of religion. The study is conducted in the form of structural-biographical analysis, with data being gathered from the website of the Holy See and processed in SPSS. The analysis revealed the following. Firstly, the passage of educational stages is accompanied by a decrease in the prelates’ rootedness. Obtaining higher positions in the religious field requires compliance with the “rules of the game” established in Rome. Secondly, due to the laity’s refusal to delegate the function of salvation, the value of theological and philological education increases. These qualifications allow cardinals to legitimize their own position in the religious field and clarify the content of the ritual language. Thirdly, the presence of secular education among church hierarchs indicates the interaction of the fields of religion and power. The study comes to the conclusion that there is no unified model of cardinals’ education while the key role of pedagogical activity in the Catholic elite selfreproduction is maintained.

About the authors

V. D Dmitrieva

The Sociological Institute of the RAS – Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: ms.valeria.spb@mail.ru
Junior Research Fellow St. Petersburg, Russia

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