Welcome to Theological Studies

This article traces the development of a tension between the missionary theology of Ad Gentes and Nostra Aetate’s incipient theology of religions through a period of intermediate curial debate toward a resolution expressed in the magisterial teachings of Pope Francis. Shortcomings in both conciliar documents reveal Eurocentric biases in the council’s ecclesial imaginary; further, postconciliar curial reflections, informed by a fear of error and relativism, submit dialogue to the particular missionary goal of conversion of non-Christians. Ultimately, Francis’s description of the theological task as fundamentally comparative in Ad Theologiam Promovendam offers the church a broader range of methodological approaches to diversity and normativity that make intellectually and ethically responsible theology possible in a religiously diverse world.

This article argues that friendship is not solely an analogy for eschatological life but can be an explicit object of eschatological hope. Responding to Gary Chartier’s contention that universal eschatological friendship is impossible due to human finitude and the preferential nature of friendship, I engage John Thiel’s account of time and forgiveness in the eschaton. I argue that our finite participation in the eternal life of God, as mediated by time, entails a transfiguration of our finitude that both respects and transcends our creaturely identities. This transfiguration makes universal eschatological friendship a reasonable hope and affirms earthly friendship as a site of eschatological anticipation.

This article uses the work of Ignacio Ellacuría to articulate a concept of sin in light
of the literature on how neoliberalism shapes us into homo oeconomicus. Ellacuría
describes sin as the stifling of the theologal dimension of historical reality; it rejects
the fundamental affirmation that all things “have been formed according to the triune
life and refer essentially to that life.” Under neoliberalism, such a concept of sin is
hollowed out, as transgressions are always and only against the market: The always
elusive economic market is the only victim of history. The article ends with how the
denunciation of sin has functioned as a critique of market logics on the southern US
border.

The global rise of right-wing authoritarian populism poses a challenge to the Catholic
theology of conscience. For decades, the church has emphasized the connection of
conscience to absolute values in the face of political confrontation with Marxism and
its inchoate totalitarian democratic descendants. But today’s right-wing authoritarian
populist regimes raise different questions: about conscience and relationship,
conscientious objection, and the relationship of the freedom of the church and
freedom of conscience. This article reviews recent literature about this challenge.

The state of democracy is declining worldwide, and that includes the United States, the oldest constitutional democracy. Various scholars have proposed theories regarding the growth and decline of democracy in the twenty-first century. Many commentaries point to a new threat to democracy that goes by a variety of names. This essay aims to understand the cause of the democratic decline and the Catholic Church’s role in supporting democracy.

Given how moral subjectivity and action are constituted within networks of interpersonal and social relations as they negotiate emerging questions and insights, this moral note addresses (a) enduring, individualistic signs of the times in cultural, ecclesial, and methodological contexts; (b) models of agency that center our social and finite dimensions; and (c) what such contexts and scholarship suggest for an agenda for moral agency today. It proposes that deeper attention to the function of internalized structures, the graces of failure and disorientation, and responses to ambiguity are warranted to meet the moment, between the times.

This article gives an account of the legacy of Pope Francis particularly in his moral teachings and pastoral practices. From the beginning of his reign, he sought to teach as Christ did, welcoming all into the merciful life of the church. I will examine how through his work with the World Popular Movements and the Synods on the family, Francis developed a remarkable responsive listening; it looks then to the work of Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti where he leads us to embrace both the earth and all humankind. It concludes on Dilexit Nos and the Synod on Synodality.