Welcome to Theological Studies
Founded and sponsored by the Society of Jesus, Theological Studies is a Catholic scholarly journal that serves the Church and its mission by promoting a deeper understanding of the Christian faith through the publication of research in the theological disciplines and through reviews of noteworthy books. The journal has been in continuous publication since 1940.
About This Website
In keeping with the Society of Jesus’s commitments to serve the global Church, the journal is pleased to provide this site as a resource for scholars who do not have ready access to our journal. It contains articles and book reviews from 1940 up to the last five years, which can be accessed here free of charge. Articles or reviews published in the last five years are available by subscription, or a per article charge, at SAGE Journals. Article submissions by authors must be made via SAGE, where you will also find the latest formatting and style guides. For your convenience, they are also available on this website.
In the Current Issue
From the Editor’s Desk
As I write this, students have recently returned to Georgetown’s campus and begun classes. The time has been a blur of joyful, energy-filled events—from community cookouts and open-air movies on the lawn to a goat-petting station. Unfortunately, the happy normalcy that radiates campus life is sadly discordant from the larger reality beyond our gates, where thousands of National Guard troops have arrived in the nation’s capital, purportedly to combat crime.
Parrhesia as Ancient and New: An Ecclesial Culture Shift Toward Frankness, Courage, and Boldness
Pope Francis imbued the ancient word parrhesia with new significance, framing “frank, bold, courageous speech” as a partner concept to his signature vision of a “listening church.” After tracing Michel Foucault’s genealogy of the term, I argue that Francis’s pneumatological turn is a creative ressourcement of parrhesia, one that would require major shifts for the present church to embrace. To illuminate the challenging intra-ecclesial dynamics of parrhesia, I analyze three case studies of figures from Vatican II whose frank, bold, courageous speech met institutional backlash. I conclude with implications for realizing a more parrhesiastic culture in a synodal church.
Synodality and Personal Renewal: Embracing and Transforming Lumen Gentium’s Universal Call to Holiness
This essay dwells on a crucially important dimension of the church’s synodal renewal: personal renewal. First, I suggest that, to bring out the notion’s full weight, it is helpful to link it to the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on the universal call to holiness and its transformation during the council. Second, I suggest that synodality enriches the council’s teaching by being more specific about what holiness entails and that it may provide the reception of the council’s teaching on holiness with a fresh impetus. In the conclusion, I suggest that thematizing personal renewal balances conceptual and spiritual approaches to ecclesiology.