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

The article examines the place of Caritas in veritate in the documentary tradition of Catholic social teaching, its application of metaphysics to social questions, and its interpretation of social norms and the natural law. It treats the formative role of charity on government and world community and the application of the ethic of gratuitousness and

Within the vibrant life of the Catholic Church today, many currents of spirituality and specific projects can shed light on the encyclical’s themes and provide examples of what its principles might look like in practice. This note focuses on how Chiara Lubich’s spirituality of unity might offer a helpful way for people to understand how

Bernard Lonergan and René Girard provide succinct statements of the meaning of redemption. The article, having raised the question as to how the statements relate to one another, argues that Lonergan provides a heuristic structure for understanding redemption, while Girard supplies much of the data that the heuristic structure would organize. Complementarities between the two

Bernard Lonergan and René Girard provide succinct statements of the meaning of redemption. The article, having raised the question as to how the statements relate to one another, argues that Lonergan provides a heuristic structure for understanding redemption, while Girard supplies much of the data that the heuristic structure would organize. Complementarities between the two

For two centuries Catholic philosophers and theologians have generally treated Immanuel Kant’s critical philosophy as incompatible with principles fundamental to Catholic accounts of the human condition in relation to God. This article argues that contemporary scholarship—particularly about the role of anthropological concerns in the critical project—indicates that Kant’s understanding of finite human freedom provides a