Signs of the times are best understood as significant historical transitions, motivated by social goods, which the church must discern and respond to in the light of the Gospel. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, Charles Taylor’s interpretive understanding of historical transitions is expounded. Second, Chenu’s and Vatican II’s understandings of the signs of the times are examined, and Taylor’s approach to historical transitions is applied to Chenu’s and Vatican II’s central insights about signs of the times. The third section considers the movement for gender equality as an example of a sign of the times.

This article argues that Pope Francis adopts a practice-focused approach to synodality, and it examines key elements of that approach, including the practice of ecclesial discernment, and the requirement that the church read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel.

This article contributes to a theology of childhood in the context of recent research
in the social sciences on children’s lives and the nature of childhood. The clergy sexual
abuse crisis heightens the need for such a theology. First, the author offers an account
of children’s social agency, with particular attention to cognition and sociality, arguing
that an interpretative approach affords the best account. Second, the argument takes
a christological turn, examining Jesus’s welcoming of children and the statement “it
is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10:14), to consider what
can be learnt about Jesus’s appreciation of children’s agency.