The average Christian who accepts or rejects purgatory usually views it as a demi-hell set up by divine justice between heaven and hell to punish those who have died without having made sufficient reparation for their sins. This article contends, however, that the purgatorial stage of the consciousness of the mystics, caused by their intense

The author explores John Courtney Murray’s thought on the telos of Catholic higher education. Although best known for his political writings on church and state and for his advocacy of religious freedom within a pluralistic society, Murray has also written extensively on Catholic higher education. After reviewing some of the core principles that guided his

This response to Kenneth Garcia’s article explores the challenges of “translating” John Courtney Murray when conversation partners no longer depend on shared cultural assumptions. Drawing on a set of literary keys in Murray’s “Towards a Theology for the Layman,” it suggests the sensitivities, methods, content, and tone that may reach students and colleagues—in Murray’s turn

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