The article supplements the one by Ernesto Valiente published in the December 2012 issue of this journal. It adds information not covered by him, as well as first-hand observations on such matters as the impact of foreign religious on the region, Latin American contributions to Vatican II, the current standing of base ecclesial communities, the
The author asks whether the criteria for Catholic theology presented by the International Theological Commission’s Theology Today (2011) are meant to constitute “walls” that seal out or “windows” that open to the rich reality of God’s dialogue with humanity through creation and history. Careful exegesis leads the author to conclude that the document, while including
Conventional wisdom sometimes holds that selfishness pays off and is even necessary for survival in a competitive world. Joseph Bracken here challenges that view, arguing instead that self-giving love for others is the mainspring of human life and even of the cosmic process as a whole. Basing his argument on texts from Scripture, church tradition,
At the Second Vatican Council the bishops expressed their “earnest desire” that provincial councils should again flourish with renewed strength. This article describes the role provincial councils have played since the fourth century in choosing priests for appointment as bishops—a role that they had here in the United States with Rome’s approval from 1833 until
Racism/white supremacy is seemingly ineradicable, despite its contradictions to the gospel and American ideals. James Baldwin perceived the reason: whites’ fears of their own mortality. He did not demonstrate the truth of his claim, but Terror Management Theory (TMT) provides empirical confirmation for it. The Church has declared reconciliation to be the heart of its
The article proposes a Catholic ethical method for the 21st century. To that end, the authors first address the magisterium’s concerns with relativism and distinguish relativism from Bernard Lonergan’s perspectivism. After proposing perspectivism as an epistemological tool that accounts for a plurality of Catholic ethical methods, the authors explore virtue ethics, virtue epistemology, and a
Quantum anthropology looks to the image of particle/wave complementarity within the field of quantum mechanics as an analogy for body/spirit in Christian anthropology. Drawing on Karl Rahner’s concept of human spirit and on quantum mechanics’ concept of wave as probability, the author recasts the body/spirit relationship in terms of the self-actualization of infinite human potential,
The article was prompted by considerations such as those proposed by Heidi Ann Russell in the previous article. Ormerod argues that to recover a proper metaphysical frame to address questions around science and religion, theologians must appropriate intellectual conversion as specified by Bernard Lonergan. Such an appropriation is fully congruent with scientific method but identifies
Vatican II has more than a simple historical interest. What truly counts is comprehending its contemporary relevance and bearing its heritage within ourselves today. If we focus on the council’s governing ideas and adopt the Council Fathers’ method of posing problems rather than limiting ourselves to commenting on the texts’ conclusions, we can apply this
This article relates the itinerary of Vatican II’s exhortation to Catholics to practice prayerful Scripture reading. In 1961 the Preparatory Theological Commission treated Bible reading in a cautionary and admonitory mode that highlighted guidance by the Magisterium. But the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity insisted that pastoral ministers should introduce the faithful to devout reading
