Theological ethics has inadvertently contributed to the diminished autonomy many
feel amid the anxieties of daily life. The shift from act-based ethics to totalizing ethics,
and Vatican II’s universal call to social justice, urged Christians to work for earthly
justice without offering tools for assessing one’s moral goodness when these projects
fail. Virtue ethics that is attentive to moral luck can help combat moral helplessness
by observing moral agency in action patterns that shape the self’s dispositions.

Catholic Christian faith affirms that Christ is present both in the Eucharist and in the poor and afflicted. Yet theological reflection on the relation between these modes of presence remains considerably less developed than their prominence in the lived practice of the faithful would suggest. On an epistemic level, the same eyes of faith and love that recognize Christ in the Eucharist perceive Christ in the poor and afflicted, and vice versa. But this reciprocity issues in different, even contrary responses. Whereas the first mode of presence mediates the riches of participating in divine life and calls for worship and celebration, the second exhibits a privation that calls perceivers to unbind and repair the plight that provoked its appearance. As mutually entwined, both modes work in tandem to induce the church from inverse directions toward the just peace and reconciled love of the whole Christ.

Catholic theologians have called for a more robust theology of childhood and children in light of global clergy sexual abuse. While affirming the need to develop more substantive theological reflection about children, I express concern that Catholic thought on this topic has been adultist, solely reflecting adults’ perspectives and concerns to the detriment of children. To relate to children justly and engage in theological scholarship that fosters a child-safe culture, theologians must undergo a conversion to a childist orientation and methodology. This article examines how Karl Rahner’s theology reflects adultist aspects common to the broader Christian tradition but also offers positive resources for inspiring conversion. Drawing on Rahner’s theology, Margaret Farley’s account of justice, and my child-centered research, I offer preliminary ideas on the features and benefits of a childist orientation in theology.

Developments like COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter have exposed the distinctive
challenges to grief in our contemporary context. This article invites readers to see
grief as a choice that leads to revelations about the depths of human connectedness
that need to be recognized as integral to the moral life. After studying lament in Black
Lives Matter, we focus on what it means to grieve by pursuing three main topics: the
Bible and grief, anticipatory grief, and learning to move forward in grief. We conclude
by offering five different passageways of grief.

This note provides an overview of emerging theological scholarship on parenting, focusing on publications from the last two decades. The first section maps the role of magisterial teaching in shaping Catholic discussions of parenting as a vocation. The second section surveys literature on pregnancy, birth, and adoption, including recent work on the less socially visible experiences of infertility and pregnancy loss. A third section turns to the task of parenting children, addressing scholarship on family spirituality, the moral formation of children, specific ethical issues facing parents, and the relationship of parenting to the common good. Finally, a fourth section introduces the growing literature on motherhood, where women’s experiences of caregiving have proven generative for revisiting questions about care, embodiment, spirituality, and theological anthropology.

This note examines the extensive use of economic sanctions in US foreign policy, a development that has grown extensively in the last four decades without regard to presidential leadership. The issues surrounding sanctions include their definition, history, and effectiveness. Distinctions between kinds of sanctions are noted, as well as the consequences of their use, along with difficulties in employing sanctions. Finally, a moral assessment of the practice of sanctions is offered.