The Groupe des Dombes is a unique gathering of French-speaking ecumenists who, over almost 70 years, have provided a distinguished corpus of ecumenical documents addressing a wide range of issues. This article outlines the Groupe’s history and distinctive methodology, then summarizes its document on doctrinal teaching authority, “‘Un seul maıˆtre’: L’autorite´ doctrinale dans l’e´glise.” Finally

The article reviews the impact of Nostra aetate on Christian-Jewish relations and offers a Jewish perspective, including consideration of the Jewishness of Jesus as well as proposing a covenantal theology that grapples with supersessionism. It also explores the implications of the Holy See’s assertion in 1974 that “Christians must strive to learn by what essential

The Second Vatican Council’s declaration Nostra aetate (NA) is regarded as a “watershed” document. NA no. 4, on relations with the Jewish people, is frequently cited as evidence of a turning point in the Catholic Church’s attitudes toward the religious Other. Yet the full significance of NA no. 4 becomes manifest only when it is

Typically, critical evaluations of doctrines of infallibility seek to highlight errors and contradictions in papal and conciliar teachings. Powell takes a different approach and examines the limitations of papal infallibility as a proposal in religious epistemology, that is, a proposal for how Christians determine and secure their beliefs. In light of this analysis, he outlines

Contemporary moral theologians address a wider scope of ethical issues pertaining to families than did theologians of previous generations. In addition to attending to questions about sexual morality, divorce, and remarriage, many are arguing for intentional family practices, asking what can be done to decrease domestic violence, treating children as moral actors in their own

This note, extended into an article to commemorate Vatican II, argues that any study of the council and theological ethics must attend to World War II’s devastating impact on the field. The war moved European ethicists to repudiate the three centuries of moral manuals and propose a theological ethics based on conscience acting out of

The author discusses the relationship between historical studies and the hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council. He seeks to develop a critical understanding of the two-sided debate about how to understand and assess the event of the council by showing how one side argues not on the basis of historical understanding of the council but

The article examines changes in teaching and practice endorsed by Vatican II. What “combination of continuity and discontinuity” (Pope Benedict XVI) shaped those reforms? Several conciliar documents set out principles guiding the changes by retrieving neglected traditions (ressourcement) and bringing the church’s life up to date (aggiornamento). The article suggests going beyond such schemes as