Research Article

Feminism and the Vatican

[The recent “Letter on the Collaboration of Men and Women” (2004) published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues Pope John Paul II’s strong affirmation of women in church teaching, but also unfairly critiques two forms of feminism. Contemporary philosophical and theological feminist reflection on both equality and difference suggests a better,

An Ecclesiology of Groaning: Augustine the Psalms and the Making of Church

[The author offers a new approach to Augustine’s understanding of Church and exegesis by concentrating on his practice of preaching about the psalms. More than other biblical books, the psalms were conceived not principally as texts to be explained. Rather, they were the “voice of the whole Christ” that gave expression to a wide variety

Eucharistic Origins: From the New Testament to the Liturgies of the Golden Age

[Reviewing 20th-century research into the origins of the Eucharist, the author observes that many of the Church’s theologians have yet to appropriate the significance of what is commonly accepted as historical fact by exegetes and liturgical theologians, namely, that there is no clear line of development from the Last Supper of Jesus to the theologically

Revisiting Affective Knolwedge and Connaturality in Aquinas

[The author investigates the nature and function of affective cognition through connaturality in Thomas Aquinas. Its modulations are disclosed in the human attraction to happiness, in emotions and their moral significance, in the affective virtues (fortitude and temperance), and in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Finally, the article notes some convergences between the thought

Gender and the Process of Moral Development in the Thought of Paul Evdokimov

[In the writings of Orthodox theologian Paul Evdokimov (1901–1970), Western theology can find new resources regarding the relationship between gender and moral development. The author presents Evdokimov’s unique theological anthropology in the context of both the complicated question of gender, as well as the effects that gender has on the way women and men act.

The Liturgical Functions of Consecrated Women in the Byzantine Church

[Although the ordained order of deaconesses vanished in the Byzantine Church, some women continued to fulfill, either informally or formally, various liturgical functions in public church life. The author examines1 the art-historical and textual evidence of three groups of women: noblewomen who participated as incense-bearers in a weekly procession in Constantinople; matrons who helped organize

Theology’s Responsibility and Tasks in Today’s Church and World

[In this lecture, delivered originally at the Catholic University of America, Washington, the Archbishop of Strasbourg develops a question close to his heart, namely theology’s responsibility and tasks in today’s Church and world. After having enunciated as a principle the embeddedness of this responsibility in faith considered as a total entity, he then outlines the

Cultures Religions and Power: Proclaiming Christ in the United States Today

[The author describes three challenges that the current cultural, religious, and political contexts of the United States present to the Church’s mission: cultural diversity caused by new waves of immigration, religious pluralism by the increasing presence of non-Christian religions, and political hegemony by the collapse of the Soviet Union. With insights from the experiences of

When Magisterium Becomes Imperium: Peter Damian on the Accountability of Bishops for Scandal

[Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati has appropriately criticized the attempt to judge by today’s standards those bishops who in the past routinely reassigned clerical sexual predators to other parishes. This article explores whether our theological tradition points to standards according to which the bishops could be held accountable. Drawing primarily on the theology of the

For What Shall We Repent? Reflections on the American Bishops Their Teaching and Slavery in the United States 1839-1861

[The author explores the intersection of history and theology, focusing on a theological analysis of the American Catholic response to slavery. The article places 19th-century episcopal Catholic teaching and practice on slavery in the context of memory and repentance. Using current papal documents calling for repentance of the Church’s past failings, the article reflects on

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