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| Theanne's probable background in the Native American religious culture- Native American religions are very closely connected to the land in which Native Americans dwell and the supernatural. While there are many different Native American religious practices, most address the following areas of supernatural concern: an omnipresent, invisible universal force, pertaining to the "three 'life crises' of birth, puberty, and death", spirits, visions, the medicine people and communal ceremony. Native American spiritualities are often characterized by animism or panentheism, with a strong emphasis on the importance of personal spirituality and its inter-connectivity with one's own daily life, and a deep connection between the natural and spiritual 'worlds'. Their lives were steeped in religious ceremonies often directly related to farming and hunting. Spiritual power, they believed, suffused the world, and sacred spirits could be found in all kinds of living and inanimate things-animals, plants, trees, water, and wind. Through religious ceremonies, they aimed to harness the aid of powerful supernatural forces to serve the interests of man. In some tribes, hunters performed rituals to placate the spirits of animals they had killed. Native American religions tend not to be institutionalized but rather experiential and personal while still being communal. Individual asceticism through sweat lodge ceremonies and other events along with rituals make the understanding of Native American faiths and religions by non-Natives, problematic at best. Native American religions tend to be carried out mainly in a family or tribal location first and are better explained as more of a process or journey than a religion. It is a relationship experienced between Creator and created. For Native Americans, religion is never separated from one's daily life unlike Western cultures where religion is experienced privately and gradually integrated into one's public life. Conversation about theology and religion, even within their societies, is extremely limited but to live and breathe is to worship. For Native Americans, a relationship with God is experienced as a relationship with all of creation which interestingly, is ever present and does not require an institution or building. All of creation has life. Rocks, trees, mountains, and everything that is visible lives and is part of creation and therefore has life which must be respected. Achiel Peelman suggests that, “strictly speaking, Amerindians do not believe in God but know God as an intrinsic dimension of all their relations.”God is known indirectly through an awareness of the relationships or links between various aspects of both the physical and supernatural realms. Spirituality of the Native Americans makes no distinction between these realms; the living and dead, visible and invisible, past and present, and heaven and earth. Most adherents to traditional American Indian ways do not see their spiritual beliefs and practices as a "religion"; rather, they see their whole culture and social structure as infused with 'spirituality' - an integral part of their lives and culture. Christianity was seen by government officials as a tool in cultural assimilation; many Native American Christians developed a syncretic combination of their traditional belief systems and Christianity, as with Native American Church. For example, St. David Pendleton Oakerhater (Cheyenne), who was canonized as an Episcopal saint but was a Sun Dancer as well. According to James Treat, Native American Christians "have constructed and maintained their ... religious identities with a variety of considerations in mind. ... Many native Christians accomplish this identification without abandoning or rejecting native religious traditions." Theanne doesn't go into this very much. There is a mention of it in her back story which may or may not be included as a prologue but interspursed in the story as night time ponderings. She does not call her mother, but speaks aloud as if she is listening. That part where the dead still are among us. She isn't afraid of ghosts as she feel they just may be around her and guiding her. A combination of christian and native beliefs. Catholic Church Heirarchy Pope Cardinals-Cardinals are princes of the Church appointed by the Pope.[48] He generally chooses bishops who head departments of the Roman Curia or important episcopal sees throughout the world. As a whole, the cardinals comprise the College of Cardinals which advises the Pope, and those cardinals under the age of 80 at the death or resignation of a Pope elect his successor. Their heraldic logo is symbolized by the red galero and tassels as a form of martyred position in the Church. Not all cardinals are bishops. Domenico Bartolucci, Karl Josef Becker, Roberto Tucci and Albert Vanhoye are examples of 21st-century non-bishop cardinals. The 1917 Code of Canon Law introduced the requirement that a cardinal must be at least a priest.[49] Previously, they need only be in minor orders and not even deacons. Teodolfo Mertel, who died in 1899, was the last non-priest cardinal. In 1962, Pope John XXIII made it a rule that a man who has been nominated a cardinal is required to be consecrated a bishop, if not one already,[50] but some ask for and obtain dispensation from this requirement. Archbishops-The title of archbishop is held not only by bishops who head metropolitan sees, but also by those who head archdioceses that are not metropolitan sees (most of these are in Europe and the Levant[61]). In addition, it is held by certain other bishops, referred to as "Titular Archbishops" (see "Other Bishops" below) who have been given no longer extant archdioceses as their titular sees—many of these serve in administrative or diplomatic posts, for instance as papal nuncios or secretaries of curial congregations. The bishop of a non-archiepiscopal see may be given the personal title of archbishop without also elevating his see (such a bishop is known as an archbishop ad personam), though this practice has seen significantly reduced usage since the Second Vatican Council. Bishops-The bishop or eparch of a see, even if he does not also hold a title such as Archbishop, Metropolitan, Major Archbishop, Patriarch or Pope, is the centre of unity for his diocese or eparchy, and, as a member of the College of Bishops, shares in responsibility for governance of the whole Church (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 886). As each local particular Church is an embodiment of the whole Catholic Church, not just an administrative subdivision of something larger, the bishop who is its head is not a delegate of the Pope. Instead, he has of himself primary teaching, governance and sanctifying responsibility for the see for which he has been ordained bishop. Within each diocese, even if the Eucharist is celebrated by another bishop, the necessary communion with the Bishop of the diocese is signified by the mention of his name. In Eastern-rite eparchies the name of the patriarch, major archbishop or metropolitan is also mentioned, because these also have direct responsibility within all the eparchies of the particular Church in question. For the same reason, every Catholic celebration of the Eucharist has a mention of the Pope by name. A Diocesan Bishop may have bishops who assist in his ministry. The Coadjutor Bishop of a see has the right of succession on the death or resignation of the Diocesan Bishop, and, if the see is an archdiocese, holds the title of Archbishop. Similarly, a retired Diocesan Bishop keeps his connection with the see to which he was appointed, and is known as Bishop (or Archbishop) Emeritus of that see. On the other hand, an Auxiliary Bishop, who may also hold posts such as vicar general or episcopal vicar, is appointed bishop of a titular see, a see that in the course of history has ceased to exist as an actual jurisdictional unit. Priests-A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively. Priests and priestesses have existed since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies. They exist in all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism and many other religions. They are generally regarded as having positive contact with the deity or deities of the religion to which they subscribe, often interpreting the meaning of events and performing the rituals of the religion. Priests are leaders to whom other believers will often turn for advice on spiritual matters. In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time position, ruling out any other career. In other cases it is a part-time role. For example in the early history of Iceland the chieftains were titled goði, a word meaning "priest". As seen in the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, however, being a priest consisted merely of offering periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses; it was not a full-time role, nor did it involve ordination. In some religions, being a priest or priestess is by human election or human choice. In Judaism the priesthood is inherited in familial lines. Deacons-Deacons are ordained ministers of the Church who are co-workers with the bishop alongside presbyters, but are intended to focus on the ministries of direct service and outreach to the poor and needy, rather than pastoral leadership. They are usually related to a parish, where they have a liturgical function as the ordinary minister of the Gospel and the Prayers of the Faithful, They may preach homilies, and in the Roman rite, may preside at non-Eucharistic liturgies such as baptisms, weddings, funerals, and adoration/benediction. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, in the absence of a priest, deacons do not vest and may only lead services as a reader, never presiding at weddings or funerals. |
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