“Wider ecumenism” goes beyond conventional ecumenical and interreligious dialogue to conversation with indigenous religions. While many indigenous theologians today readily employ “Western” thought forms, an additional methodology is needed to articulate aboriginal experience. Cast in the form of a narrative of four decades of field work, this article describes such a methodology, incorporating the symbolic

The nonvowed “secular single lay state” claims many of today’s Catholics, yet is little noticed, even though it was validated by Vatican II and was arguably the first Christian form of life given explicit theological articulation. Insufficient attention and appreciation may prevent the Catholic Church from realizing the full benefits of this form of the

The possibility of formal governance and ministry for women hinges on their admission to the clerical state, which is demonstrably possible by their readmission to the diaconate. Historical exegesis supports the Catholic Church’s present ability to ordain women deacons, and recent official discussion suggests that the readmission of women to the ordained diaconate may be

This article critically analyzes the three distinct forms of political ecclesiology thus far developed by the Radical Orthodoxy movement. William Cavanaugh and Daniel Bell, on the one hand, and Graham Ward, on the other, proffer models that resolve in different ways the contradictions of John Milbank’s affirmation that peace amid diversity is possible only within

The author argues that virtue ethics offers a potentially fruitful framework for approaching Catholic social thought. A virtue-based approach provides a means of connecting a Catholic understanding of social justice to issues of personal morality and moral formation. Three overlapping virtues are proposed as foundational to this approach: solidarity, compassion, and hospitality. The cultivation of

Until the mid-20th century, the reigning Western paradigm of Christian salvation was the Anselmian theory of Christ’s death as atoning for sinful humanity by paying a debt to God. Recent liberationist, feminist, and antimilitarist theologies strongly critique personal and structural violence, leading many to reject the atonement paradigm as sacralizing violence. This article argues that

A review of the literature on theological ethics and human sexuality over the past four years indicates a desire by theologians to host a variety of conversations on sexual ethics that uphold traditional claims yet promote responsible sexual ethics in a different key. Writers are particularly concerned by an overwhelming privatization of sexual relations and

The author examines and clarifies the phenomenon of consumerism. He surveys historical and social scientific perspectives before turning to the recent theological and ethical literature on the topic. An emerging concern in the ethical literature is development of a virtue approach along with the papal insistence on striking a proper balance of “being” and “having”

The article highlights the distinctiveness of European social ethics by beginning with an analysis of how theological ethicists have engaged with “Europe” as both idea and political project. Themes discussed include the role of religion in the public square, pluralism, and the limits of tolerance and intercultural ethics. Also considered are ethical questions arising from

The article argues that a new research program is emerging, one that shifts the focus from the quests for the “historical Jesus,” a person in the past, to recovering the “historic Jesus,” the person remembered by his followers. It finds that Jesus’ historic significance is and should be the center of Jesus research. It argues