More detailed than preceding social encyclicals, Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate appears to supply a theological foundation for the Catholic Church’s social doctrine. The article argues that the theological anthropology contained in the encyclical (which leads to a notable revaluation of the role of grace) complements Joseph Ratzinger’s life-long reflections on the relationship between

Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus caritas est, assigned political work to the laity and restricted the Catholic Church’s social activities to charity. Benedict’s Word Christology, presented in Jesus of Nazareth, coheres with his longstanding vision of a countercultural Church centered in Europe. Caritas in veritate envisions the Church and its representatives as advocates for global justice.

Providing a critical reading of Pope Benedict’s Caritas in veritate from an African perspective, the note examines several key issues in the encyclical to determine their relevance to the situation of development and underdevelopment in Africa. The note also points out some omissions and troubling situations regarding the role of women in development and the

Caritas in veritate collapses distinctions in Catholic moral theology between “social issues” and “life issues.” This note examines Pope Benedict XVI’s “pro-life environmentalism” and the underlying assumptions concerning the meaning of freedom, the contours of nature, and the significance of sexual differentiation on which the pope relies. While the encyclical powerfully critiques liberal Western preoccupation

Spe salvi emphasizes the difference between eschatological and secular hope, but does not adequately articulate their connection. Drawing on Aquinas, the article advances arguments that spell out the connection between eschatological and secular hope. Secular hopes not only participate in eschatological hope but are its means of realization. Aquinas’s biblical reflections on the law and

Recent provocative reinterpretations of Karl Rahner’s theology illustrate the hermeneutical challenge of retrieving his achievement for a new era. The spectrum of positions is exemplified by Karen Kilby, Patrick Burke, and Philip Endean. The essay proposes an alternative interpretive scheme attentive to Rahner’s metaphoric logic.

The category of social sin elucidates the connection between unjust structures that contribute to undocumented immigration and pervasive ideologies that foster resistance to reform efforts and immigrants themselves. Following an exploration of the development of social sin by Pope John Paul II and Latin American liberation theologians, the author advances a conception of social sin

The article contributes to the debate about the relationship between the liturgical reform and the hermeneutics of Vatican II. The author seeks to develop a critical understanding of the ongoing debate about the need for a “reform of the reform.” A study of the connections between Vatican II and the theology of the liturgical reform