Few ideas have impacted the church more than reform, but in recent centuries it virtually disappeared from theological discourse. That changed on December 22, 2005, when Pope Benedict XVI, in his address to the Roman Curia, introduced “hermeneutic of reform” as the proper category for interpreting Vatican II. John O’Malley here traces the history of

Contemporary proposals regarding an appropriate hermeneutic for interpreting Vatican II vary in their emphasis on three elements: the conciliar process, the conciliar documents, and the shifting contexts from which future generations interpret the council and its documents. Drawing on these insights, this article outlines six principles, which the author proposes as basic for ensuring a

The author describes and comments on developments that have taken place since Vatican II with regard to teaching authority. Among subjects exercising such authority he treats episcopal conferences and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Among objects of definitive teaching he treats truths that are not revealed but necessarily connected with revealed truth.

The article outlines and critiques three important arguments advanced by those who hold that the Catholic magisterium teaches that there should be no mission to the Jewish people. The author raises two important background issues: invincible ignorance and the difference between supersessionism and fulfillment. He argues that the trajectory of magisterial teaching from Vatican II

The author suggests that Gavin D’Costa needs, first, to take seriously the history of the Christian contribution to Jewish suffering, which cannot be parenthesized as outside history, and, second, to reflect on the positive significance of the Jewish no to Jesus (Moltmann), since both Jews and Christians share the anticipation of the Messiah. The author

Some ambiguity remains in the official Catholic understanding of dialogue and mission, but the basic thrust of Vatican II Catholicism definitely leans toward a nonmissionizing position with regard to Jews. This seems evident in the several statements on Christian-Jewish relations beginning with the conciliar text Nostra aetate and continuing in papal statements and the writings

Two very different churchmen, Riccoldo da Montecroce and Nicholas of Cusa, though separated by time and place, were affected by a similar catastrophe: the fall of a Christian capital to Muslim forces. Both responded by seeking heaven’s help to end interreligious strife, but Riccoldo wrote letters full of questions to the church triumphant, while Nicholas

Pius XI called the mutual perfection of spouses “the chief reason and purpose” of marriage, thereby opening the door for a consideration of the virtues spouses may seek in marriage. The article shows that for Augustine marriage is an instrumental good, serving the larger end of friendship, and that for Aquinas the bond of spouses—potentially