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This research explores how an emulative and practice-based approach can develop a closer understanding of the mysticism of Teresa of Avila. Drawing upon her mystical practice of recogimiento and the inherent visuality of her texts, this thesis seeks to map the psychological form and function of her soul and its relationship with language, word, and image. To do it so presents an innovative methodology for reading her texts which asks: what new vision of Teresa's mysticism can be developed by approaching her texts in an emulative parallel to the way in which she approached the Divine through Scripture? Drawing upon the centrality of imitatio and meditative visualisation within Teresa's practice of recogimiento, this parallel emulation focuses upon her textual imagery as an interface for "entering-into" and exploring the mystical topography of her soul and is performed through my artistic practice. This practice weaves together feminist philosophy, visual culture, religion, language, and psychoanalysis into an interdisciplinary lens through which to approach Teresa's texts through drawing, performance, dialogue, painting, and sculpture. This novel "practice-to-practice" approach draws together key aspects of Teresa's practice and the creative and interdisciplinary perspectives of my practice to navigate the mystical landscape that lies beyond the threshold of her texts. From this embodied position the thesis traces the function of language within her mysticism - both for Teresa the writer, and Teresa the reader -, and looks to map the functional structure of her soul through notions of word, image, and vision. The resulting map reveals a pattern of word and image that characterises both her practice of recogimiento and the nature of the soul itself. In doing so this project demonstrates how Fine Art practice can function as a methodology for interdisciplinary research.

This thesis analyses the historical and conceptual foundations of the "cosmic" in Joseph Ratzinger's (1927-2022) theology of sacred music, and considers its implications for liturgical music as a Christological iconisation of creation. Ratzinger was a key voice in liturgical reform in the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), especially during his pontificate as Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013). Expressing frequent concern that many reformers implementing Vatican II had misinterpreted the Council's intentions, Ratzinger outlined a "hermeneutic of reform" as an alternative way forward. Ratzinger also wrote extensively about sacred music as a locus in which questions of reform are brought to bear in a potent way. While Ratzinger's musical theology has engendered enthusiasm amongst some of those interested in musical reform, that discourse is often centred on genres, instrumentation, and other practical aspects. The way Ratzinger's larger theological system of thought relates to his musical theology has been left largely unexamined. This thesis addresses that gap in scholarship. In part I, I examine the historical foundations of that theology, first outlining liturgical and musical reform in twentieth-century Catholicism (Chapter 1); I then consider Ratzinger's "hermeneutic of reform," and how he turned to the "cosmic" as a way to express universality in regard to musical renewal (Chapter 2). Part II explicates the conceptual foundations of Ratzinger's musical theology. I show how Ratzinger's understanding of the "cosmic" is derived from a "Eucharistic" cosmology influenced by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Chapter 3). I then argue that Ratzinger adapts Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological aesthetics to help make sense of the phenomenological implications of that cosmology in worship (Chapter 4). Finally, I explicate Ratzinger's musical theology, showing how, in light of the historical and conceptual aspects explored earlier in the thesis, Ratzinger implies, I suggest, that sacred music Christologically iconises the cosmos in liturgy, and I examine a practical outworking of that musical theology in the congregational music of composer Sir James MacMillan (Chapter 5). This thesis offers thereby an examination of Ratzinger's Eucharistic cosmology and musical theology, situating them within his larger theological project. It also presents an analysis of the cosmic theology that underpins Ratzinger's practical provisions for music, and may hopefully contribute, in this way, to the ongoing debates about, and implementation of, Ratzingerian musical reform.

This thesis seeks to develop animal theology in dialogue with Leonardo Boff, specifically in relation to his liberation, ecological, and contextual theologies. Through an examination of his major works relating to creation—notably, Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology of Our Time (1972), Saint Francis: A Model for Human Liberation (1981), Ecology and Liberation: A New Paradigm (1993), and Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor (1995)—this thesis unravels the anthropocentric and instrumentalist thinking that characterises Roman Catholic thought about animals. In Jesus Christ Liberator, the work of Christ is considered only in relation to humanity, which in practical terms means that human beings—their life, worth, and destiny—are God's primary, if not exclusive, concern. In Saint Francis, despite the obvious moral example provided, Boff almost wholly ignores Francis's significance for other creatures, and his ecological theology tantalisingly remains insufficiently attentive to the animal issue. Yet Boff's ecological theology represents a significant shift, and at least notionally, he accepts the rights of other creatures. So paradoxically, his ecological theology is a catalyst for greater concern for creation, including animals. Boff may have influenced the thinking of Pope Francis, especially in the pope's Laudato Si' (2015), and has certainly engendered greater theological thinking on the environment. Finally, this thesis proposes a non-anthropocentric reconstruction of the Trinity as Gentleness, Solidarity, and Fraternity, reinforced by Boff's work in Trinity and Society (1986) and Holy Trinity, Perfect Community (1988). A Trinitarian theology of animal liberation is suggested based on, inter alia, the notion of communion as being “for” creation and the idea of Triune sight. The Trinity is proposed as a model for human–animal relations.

In this thesis, I develop a Catholic analysis of faith and reason, drawing on insights from a movement in contemporary analytic philosophy: Reformed Epistemology. In my first chapter, I explain that despite criticism from Catholic philosophers, Reformed Epistemology provides a broadly salutary model of faith. Inspired by Reformed Epistemology, I develop a further model ("Counter-Reformed Epistemology") which is philosophically defensible, and which accords well with a set of theological desiderata for such a model drawn from the Church's dogmatic teaching about faith. These desiderata include divine faith consisting of propositional assent to divine revelation which is (at least, in paradigm instances) perfectly certain, rationally tenacious and freely chosen. I argue that CRE accounts for these properties of faith better than competing analyses of faith advanced by Catholic philosophers. In the second chapter, I expand my sketch of CRE, to show how it can account for the possibility of "implicit" Catholic faith in those who non-culpably fail to believe in the gospel. In doing so, I also compare CRE to the insights of Rahner and von Balthasar, who are important representatives of modern approaches to "fundamental theology". In the remainder of my thesis, I aim to show that CRE has considerable precedent in Catholic theological tradition. In successive chapters, I argue that Augustine, Aquinas and Newman all advanced religious epistemologies which to different degrees bear considerable similarities to CRE, engaging with various modern interpretations of their work. The support of authors in the tradition should lend plausibility to my model from a Catholic perspective, meaning that Catholics with "basic" belief in divine revelation can be fairly confident that their belief is epistemically fitting. In all, I argue that Reformed Epistemology provides the resources to develop a model of faith that accords well with a traditional Catholic understanding of faith and reason.

As a key contributor to the current discussion of the Catholic theology of religions, Gavin D'Costa's writings represent a consistent attempt to utilize the resources of the doctrine of the Trinity to address a number of issues regarding the theological significance and function of religions in the salvific plan of God. The aim of this thesis is to examine critically his Trinitarian theology of religions through the lens of a main proponent of patristic theology, Basil of Caesarea, and through a historical-systematic study, address the question of whether his underlying Trinitarianism is consonant with classical Trinitarian theology. After a discussion of Vatican II and post-Conciliar sources, the main contours of D'Costa's theology are highlighted through an interpretive grid of particularity/universality (Christology/Pneumatology) with a second-order universality/particularity. Despite his distancing from the three-fold typology of exclusivism-inclusivism-pluralism, we analyzed that much of his theology continues to fall within the category of traditional inclusivism, particularly since his recent proposal of the limbo of the Fathers contained serious difficulties pertaining to his intention to maintain a singular OT Judaism-Christianity relationship. Next, we examined the main features of Basilian Trinitarianism, and proposed that three major themes are of relevance for a comparative analysis with D'Costa's theology, namely, (1) the doctrines of divine simplicity and inseparable operations, (2) the enlightening work of the Spirit, and (3) the theology of baptism and theosis. Throughout the discussion, in recognition that Basil's thought is part of the patristic theological matrix of his time, we will also reference the writings of other Church Fathers, including Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine. We concluded that while in Basil's theology, economy, relationality and ethics are intricately woven into each other, D'Costa's system, despite its significant merits, was at risk of disaffiliating the connections between the three.

The Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is one of the most important exponents of classical world literature. In his writings he addressed the deepest existential questions and human issues that have troubled, with equal urgency and passion, the man of yesterday and the man of today. These same human questions have been addressed in different manners by Christian theology. The present thesis seeks to examine the theological development that Dostoyevsky’s thought has provoked, through a study of the reflection carried out by selected Catholic authors and theologians of the first half of the twentieth century on Dosteyevsky’s works.

Andrea Pozzo was a lay brother for the Order of the Society of Jesus in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries who utilized his work in painting, architecture, and writing to attempt to create an ideal expression of sacred art for the Counter-Reformation Catholic Church. The focus of this study is on Pozzo’s illusionary paintings in Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola in Rome as they coincide with his codification of quadratura and di sotto in su, as described through perspectival etchings and commentary in Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum. This thesis seeks to understand the work of Pozzo in context with his Jesuit background, examining his work under the lens of Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, as well as the cultural, political, and religious climates of Rome during the Counter-Reformation era. Additionally, it seeks to understand how Pozzo and the Order of the Society of Jesus contributed to Baroque Art, as they are so often discussed together. Pozzo’s intentions are additionally examined through a study of his predecessors and contemporaries, such as Andrea Mantegna, Baciccio, Francesco Borromini, and Pietro da Cortona. The works of these artists were either studied by Pozzo, or he encountered them directly. Seeking theatricality and striving to visualize the spiritual realm, Pozzo is finally discussed in the context of the decrees of the Council of Trent from 1543, the theology of the Catholic liturgy, and the theology of Catholic Temple.

Liberation, womanist, and feminist theologians re-imagine hope in light of suffering in a variety of communities, via the narratives of cross and resurrection. They insist that hope is shaped by its context and always practiced in response to particular suffering. This dissertation takes the experiences of women who have lived through domestic violence as the locus theologicus in which to investigate the question: “What constitutes hope after domestic violence?” A Catholic practical theological examination of House of Peace, a Latina domestic violence shelter, recasts hope after domestic violence as the practiced communal embodiment of an open and ambiguous future. The first chapter presents domestic violence as a theological problem, tracking the past half century of feminist and trauma theologies’ questions and concerns in regards to domestic violence. Chapter two provides a survey of liberation theologies of hope (Metz, Moltmann, Sobrino, Isasi-Díaz, Haight, Johnson) and highlights the importance of hope as a communally embodied practice profoundly shaped by its context. The third chapter turns to the insights of womanist theologians (Williams, Terrell, Copeland, and Crawford) who conceptualize hope in the midst of Black women’s experiences of race- and gender-based violence. The fourth chapter investigates Latina theologians, Ivone Gebara and Nancy Pineda-Madrid, who present hope as what emerges through embodied practices of resistance. Their vision of fragile redemption yields insights for a constructive feminist reading of the Gospel of Mark’s “Empty Tomb” resurrection account. Chapter five re-imagines the “Empty Tomb” narrative and hope through the healing narratives and practices of the House of Peace, highlighting the possibility for everyday practices and relationships to mediate hope. The community at House of Peace practices the biblical story differently, thus challenging a singular, extrinsic understanding of the crucifixion and resurrection. They renew the concept and practice of hope—emphasizing embodiment and imagination—in alignment with both Latina and Catholic commitments. This examination of contextual communal practices and narrations of hope after domestic violence contributes to the fields of Catholic practical theology, feminist theology, and trauma theology.

El desarrollo teológico que ha acompañado a lo largo de los siglos la doctrina de la Iglesia acerca del purgatorio ha estado marcado por la propia vida de la Iglesia, por su culto, su liturgia y la reflexión creyente sobre las realidades últimas. Esta tesis de doctorado es el resultado de un amplio estudio sistemático del dogma del purgatorio y del desarrollo teológico en el que se apoya. Se tienen en cuenta la influencia de los diversos contextos históricos y culturales, las corrientes filosóficas y las categorías en las que se expresa la fe en las distintas lenguas. Todo ello influye en el quehacer teológico y marca con diversos matices la doctrina del purgatorio. El estudio de la teología sobre el purgatorio exige recorrer y contemplar un camino de reflexión a lo largo de dos milenios: en la Sagrada Escritura no hay una revelación explícita y detallada, lo que implica una reflexión según las categorías intelectuales-científicas de la época y según el nexus mysteriorum del que participa la escatología como parte de la fe de la Iglesia. En este desarrollo doctrinal destaca la segunda mitad del siglo XX como un tiempo particularmente fructífero; puede decirse que, desde la perspectiva del estudio de su desarrollo, en las últimas décadas la comprensión teológica del purgatorio ha supuesto una revisión y ha alcanzado una notable madurez.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal, though changing the face and feel of U.S. Catholicism, has received relatively little scholarly attention. Beginning in 1967 and peaking in the mid-1970s, the Renewal brought Pentecostal practices (speaking in tongues, faith healings, prophecy, etc.) into mainstream Catholicism. This thesis seeks to explore the Renewal on the national, regional, and individual level, with particular attention to lay and religious “covenant communities.” These groups of Catholics (and sometimes Protestants) devoted themselves to spreading Pentecostal practices amongst their brethren, sponsoring retreats, authoring pamphlets, and organizing conferences. With religious communities, especially, this was a controversial practice, causing tension amongst Catholic celibates and ultimately discouraging religious involvement. To promote something, however, is often to have very clear visions about what that thing should look like. The Renewal was no exception, as covenant communities like the Word of God (Ann Arbor, MI) and the People of Praise (South Bend, IN) endorsed a particularly rigid and authoritarian version of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Clerical groups, most notably the Pecos Benedictine Monastery, advanced a different vision of the Charismatic life. Their version of the Renewal, more heavily based on inner healing and (for Pecos at least) Jungian psychology, was much looser and similar to other New Age spiritualities. At the core, those at Pecos believed in the redemption of man through Christ, whereas those in lay covenant communities tended to focus on the fall of Adam and original sin. These visions came into conflict in the structures and messages of the Renewal, which helped contribute to its decline in the 1980s and practical disappearance by the 1990s.

One of the questions that Catholic theologians have debated for centuries pertains to the true meaning behind St. Paul’s statement, “that in all things, he [Christ] may have the first place [primacy]” (Colossians 1:18). The beginning stages of the debate presented it as a counter-factual claim concerning whether the God-man would have come had Adam and Eve not sinned. One position suggested that the Incarnation was directed toward redemption and gave a negative answer; the opposing position stated that Christ’s primacy spoken of by St. Paul was not dependent on anything outside of God’s will, and gave a positive answer.This thesis seeks to examine the work of the major contributors to both sides of the debate, starting with St. Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo and closing with the work of Bl. John Duns Scotus. In doing this, it will examine in what ways the question developed throughout the Church’s history, what the major contributors to the question truly sought to answer in engaging the question, and why it became such a central and foundational question for the major theologians involved in the debate. What will be seen through this method is that, though the question began as a hypothetical concerning an alternate economy of salvation, theologians like St. Bonaventure and Bl. John Duns Scotus moved it beyond its hypothetical formulation by recognizing that it actually concerned two opposing theological viewpoints on the Incarnation and created universe. The conclusions of this thesis will further show how, at this point, the hypothetical can only obscure the true nature of the question since it does not recognize how fundamentally it affects our understanding of the economy of salvation. It will also show that method has played a role in how the question is approached and answered throughout the Church’s history.

This dissertation explicates and evaluates the theological anthropology of David Tracy. Through a reading of the whole of Tracy's published theological corpus, it argues that Tracy's work on theological method, hermeneutics, public theology, and otherness rests on an implicit and evolving understanding of the human person. This anthropology is rooted in four key characteristics or "anthropological constants": finitude, relationality, sin, and grace. The methodological approach of the dissertation is genealogical and hermeneutical. Each of these four constants is taken as an interpretive lens through which the dissertation considers the development of Tracy's thought. This approach will demonstrate first how finitude, relationality, sin, and grace are interwoven in Tracy's work, and second how the development of his core theological loci of method, interpretation, public-ness, pluralism, and otherness are rooted in these four constants. The text concludes with an evaluation of Tracy's theology anthropology in light of his context as a North American, late 20th century, Catholic theologian. Tracy's work provides insight into the interdependence of theological method and anthropology. However, while he attends to the importance of how historical, linguistic, and social context shape human persons, his conceptual approach to context tends to ignore particularity and embodiment. Nevertheless, the four "constants" of Tracy's theological anthropology could fruitfully engage contemporary currents such as ecotheology and disability theology. This dissertation is the most thorough and sustained foray into the question of David Tracy's theological anthropology to date, and as such provides a significant contribution to the field of 20th/21st century North American Catholic theology.