Search

"On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport" is a book that explores the intersection of religion and sports from a Catholic perspective. The authors discuss the historical transformations and insights of the Catholic tradition on sport, the spirit of play, the sacramental perspective in viewing sport, and the ethical issues related to sport. The book aims to provide a contemporary theological framework for understanding the meaning of sport, and while it focuses on Catholicism, it does not distinguish itself significantly from other Christian approaches. The authors also touch on topics such as gender, injury, and the paschal mystery in relation to sports. Overall, the book offers interesting and thought-provoking insights for both theology and the philosophy of sport. [Extracted from the article]

This essay inquires whether digitally transformed work can be virtuous and under what conditions. It eschews technological determinism in both utopian and dystopian versions, opting for the premise of free human agency. This work is distinctive in adopting an actor-centric and explicitly ethical analysis based on neo-Aristotelian, Catholic social teaching (CST), and MacIntyrean teachings on the virtues. Beginning with an analysis of digital disruption, it identifies the most salient human advantages vis-à-vis technology in digitally transformed work and provides philosophical anthropological explanations for each. It also looks into external, organizational characteristics on both the macro and the micro levels of digitally transformed work, underscoring their ambivalence (efficiency and profits vs. exclusion and exploitation, flexibility and freedom vs. standardization and dependency) and the need to mitigate their polarizing effects for the sake of shared flourishing. The article presents standards for virtuous work according to neo-Aristotelian, CST, and MacIntyrean frames and applies them to digitally transformed work, giving rise to five fundamental principles. These basic guidelines indicate, on one hand, actions to be avoided and, on the other, actions to be pursued, together with their rationales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of liberal market economies, propagated by neoliberal free market thought, has created a vacant responsibility for public interests in the market order of society. This development has been critiqued by Catholic social teaching (CST), forcefully arguing that governments and businesses should be directed to the common good. In this debate, no attention has yet been given to the Reformational tradition and its principle of sphere sovereignty, which provides guidelines on the responsibilities of governments and companies for the public interest of society. This article analyzes the differences and similarities between CST and the Reformational philosophy in their critiques of the neoliberal free market perspective of Hayek. We apply the three perspectives to the case of orphan drugs in the pharmaceutical industry and show that CST and the Reformational philosophy offer valuable insights in correction to Hayek's views on the responsibilities of governments and companies for public health interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the challenges and opportunities of promoting Catholic Studies in higher education, highlighting the need for innovation to address the evolving landscape of academia. Topics discussed include the integration of Catholic Social Thought into diverse disciplines; the tension between inclusivity and academic rigor; and strategies for enhancing student engagement through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative pedagogies.

The article focuses on countering the view that Christianity is a simplistic and ideologically confined worldview, arguing that such a perception overlooks the complex interactions between Christianity, science, and historical failures of religious institutions. Topics include the responses to criticisms of Christianity, the role of Christian thought in the development of modern science.

This article traces the development of Catholic ecological hermeneutics over fifty years, leading to Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si' (2015). Analyzing key church statements, it reveals the expanding biblical sources used and efforts to reinterpret them. The interdisciplinary nature of sustainability and Christian churches' involvement in academic, ecumenical, and interreligious fora have driven this "hermeneutical effort." Although not critically examining difficult passages or revising Scripture systematically, Catholic ecotheological reflection has integrated multiple sources into a fruitful dialogue with the Bible, contributing significantly to sustainability. This study underscores the evolution of Christian social thought, emphasizing its capacity to update biblical insights and adapt Catholic Social Teaching for public theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the contributions of Pope Francis toward human-centered AI and digital innovation. It draws from his numerous dialogues with experts in technology, medicine, science, ethics, law, philosophy, and theology. The papal engagements are based on the rich patrimony of Catholic Social Teaching that is being updated in the wake of the digital revolutions. The paper explores the Magisterium of Francis with the question of technological progress and inherent dangers for human society. It underscores some fundamental anthropological and ethical themes that the Pontiff considered necessary in making emerging technologies beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E. F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful is one of the most succinct elaborations of Catholic social teaching (CST) and 'distributism' – construed as an alternative to both capitalism and socialism. Extending the logic of Polanyi, both market and state, and their right- and left-wing ideological expressions, are shown to be contending forms of collectivism – in that both aggregate the agency of disembedded 'billiard ball' individuals. Schumacher's socio-economic vision is rooted in Livelihood and is orthogonal to both left and right, creating an opportunity for an alternative to modernity involving patterns of embedded production, consumption and reproduction (family, household and place-bound community). 'Smallness' and 'localness' speak to forms of embedded social capital that are 'sticky', viscous and relational, more ascriptive and less fluid. But for precisely this reason, the political agenda implicit in Schumacher's vision is not only post-liberal, but explicitly both covenantal and Christian. It requires the ontology of sovereign, self-actualizing individuals to be reconnected and constrained through a transcendent relationality with God. Small is Beautiful is shown to be diametrically opposed to the eco-modernist, gnostic and sometimes even transhumanist worldview of global environmentalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a comprehensive overview of the life and contributions of John Hubert Plunkett, a prominent figure in 19th century New South Wales. Plunkett, who came from a Catholic background, made significant contributions to law, education, and healthcare in the colony. The article explores his pragmatic approach based on Common Law and his views on the societal good in a pluralist society. It also discusses his involvement in the establishment of the University of Sydney and his support for Catholic emancipation. The text further delves into Plunkett's involvement in drafting bills related to marriages and the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, as well as his support for the Irish Religious Sisters of Charity and the founding of St Vincent's Hospital. The article concludes by discussing Plunkett's legal writings and his adherence to the principles of Common Law. It also explores the concepts of the common good and the public good in relation to Civil Law and Common Law, highlighting the historical contrast between the two legal systems. The text raises questions about the relationship between healthcare and the common good, as well as the implications of pluralism and disagreement on ethical issues. It suggests a mixed economy approach as a potential way to balance the common good and individual beliefs. [Extracted from the article]

This article argues that the Catholic Church in Nigeria needs to move beyond interreligious dialogue that dwells more on Councils' interactions and discourses to develop a dialogical ethical framework that engages religious multiplicity in a more active capacity. Although Nigeria's religious diversity necessitates interreligious dialogue, that alone is insufficient for constructing concrete ethics of dialogue. The article thus argued for an ethical framework tagged one family, many flavours. The theological sense of the proposal is rooted in Catholic social teachings but open to engagement with other religious traditions for mutual respect and social justice. The religious scope of the article is on Roman Catholicism and the Nigeria Muslim Ummah. The article addressed related ethical challenges confronting Nigeria's interreligious landscape as a diverse religious community. Primary and secondary sources were used in gathering information for the article; thus, scriptural texts and traditions in Islam, as well as sources in Roman Catholicism, were theologically engaged. The suggested model acknowledges the importance of retaining one's religious identity while also recognising the importance of interreligious dialogue and the right of the religious other in ethical matters. The article is envisioned to promote conversations about translating dialogical frameworks into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catholic Church recognizes the role of Catholic schools in teaching the faith to students and how it can be applied in their daily lives. With the global challenge we face due to climate change, the education sector plays an essential role in promoting awareness, adaptation, and mitigation against climate change. This study describes the possibility of integrating climate sensitivity into the religious education curriculum for the senior high school level, the Unified Schools of the Archdiocese of Lipa (USAL). Through a focus group discussion among religious education teachers of USAL, climate sensitivity is found in the elements of the religious education curriculum through the objectives, contents, learning experience, and assessment. A climate-sensitive religious education curriculum in USAL is evident through the integration of environmental education into religious education subjects by the teachers on selected lessons for the senior high school level that aims to bring out the relationship between the faith being taught and the action that the students must do toward the environment to care and protect it. Thus, climate sensitivity bridges how one must live the faith in favor of God’s creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explains how Dom Hélder Câmara, archbishop of Olinda and Recife, used the traditions of critical inquiry, Catholic social teaching, and cultural aesthetics to advocate for the poor in the northeast of Brazil during the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. It details the adversity that Câmara and others in his position faced, providing some historical context for those events. Drawing from social movement and theological sources, the article then proceeds to highlight critical inquiry, Catholic social teaching, and cultural aesthetics as driving forces in Câmara's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to reimagine ethical leverage in technology for peaceful synodality (the term peaceful synodality is coined to mean a synodality that welcomes participation and inclusion of people from different backgrounds and views without compromising the truth and respecting their dignity and journeying together) through the lens of the bioethics of synodality with technology. The concept of this paper is that technology can be leveraged ethically to promote peaceful synodality in the Catholic Church and that such an approach to technology is rooted in reimagining a bioethics of synodality that emphasize the need for journeying hand in hand with the speed at which technological advancement moves in order to enhance ethical decision-making processes. Ethics has moved at a different pace than technology, especially in matters involving human life. Ethics has been viewed as problematic in technology, especially where science wants to be neutral, but rethinking ethics as a companion of emerging technologies will be helpful in directing the ethical uptake of technology. To argue this thesis, the paper will employ a review of relevant literature while presenting the theological and ethical perspectives of synodality. By and large, an interdisciplinary approach will be employed where various disciplines play a key role. Such methodology advances the theme of reimagining Catholic ethics by offering a fresh perspective on the ethical implications of technology in the context of synodality. By emphasizing the importance of journeying together through enhanced ethical guidelines for proper decision-making and by exploring how technology can respect human rights and dignity among other values, this paper contributes to a broader conversation about how Catholic ethics can be reimagined in light of technological developments. Ultimately, this paper argues that a bioethics of synodality with technology can offer a vision for technology that is grounded in Catholic social teaching that promotes universally accepted human dignity and the common good. A cross-cutting method will also be used, given that ethics has basically constant principles, yet technology keeps on changing. Reimagining ethics means studying the advancement brought about by biotechnology and seeing to what degree human beings are affected in their basic rights and the risks versus the benefits brought about by the same. The assumption is that decisions made regarding the ethics of various technologies will be at par with the rate at which new technologies emerge and are employed. What is of vital importance is that ethics can have the power to journey together with technology, not as an adversary but in synodality. Reimagining ethics means being ever alert in the developing technologies that serve humanity so that in consultation with various experts, the best practices can be embraced within the ethical guidelines for the common good. The outcome of this research is that reimagining Catholic ethics involves listening to the needs of humanity and how technology is bringing solutions to them. Participating in bioethical debates, training on bioethics and listening to experts in various fields will enable a critical, analytical and pneumatological discernment of how ethical decisions on frontier technologies can benefit non-humans and humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the decline of religion and community in contemporary societies, focusing on Poland. It explores the concept of a post-secular age and the role of rituals in maintaining community. The author argues that secularization can lead to self-centeredness and narcissism in consumer societies. The article also discusses the impact of globalization on culture and identity. It highlights the connection between religion and Polish society, particularly through the influence of Pope John Paul II. The author emphasizes the role of John Paul II in fostering community and solidarity, and suggests that his legacy can inspire people in challenging times. [Extracted from the article]

What is agroecology's moral vision, and what are the larger metaphysical, even theological, implications of it? Even though agroecology as a field now gathers collaborators from across the natural and social sciences, as well as members of farming communities and international movements, there remains relatively little explicit and sustained reflection upon this question. My main contention is that expanding agroecology's dialogue of wisdoms (diálogo de saberes) to include theological traditions can address this lacuna. To show how, I explore the contribution of one particular theological tradition—Catholic social teaching—and how its account of integral ecology enables agroecologists to deepen their engagement with fundamental questions raised by their own normative commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Catholic tradition. It acknowledges the rapid growth of AI and the challenges it poses for theology and religion, which are slower to adapt. The article introduces the publication of the first volume of the Theological Investigations of Artificial Intelligence Book Series, written by the AI Research Group of the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education. The book explores ethical and anthropological aspects of AI and its implications for the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition. It discusses secular AI ethics, the limitations of AI consciousness, and the engagement of Catholic social teaching with AI. The article emphasizes the importance of encountering AI and invites scholars and people of faith to consider the ethical problems and imagine a more just and hopeful future. [Extracted from the article]

It is the contention of this paper that ethics of work ought to be anthropological, and artificial intelligence (AI) research and development, which is the focus of work today, should be anthropological, that is, human-centered. This paper discusses the philosophical and theological implications of the development of AI research on the intrinsic nature of work and the nature of the human person. AI research and the implications of its development and advancement, being a relatively new phenomenon, have not been comprehensively interrogated in the social and ethical teachings of the Catholic Church. This paper, therefore, proposes a path for this interrogation by expounding a discourse which is believed to be epistemically helpful in the developing discourse of AI in the ethical and social teachings of the Church. The advancement in the research on AI is not only redefining the meaning of work, but, even more so, it is questioning the metaphysical notion of the human person and the theological notion of work as an intrinsic part in the selfhood and dignity of the human person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Theological Dickens" is a book that explores Charles Dickens' opinions on the Christian faith and its role in Victorian culture. While the collection covers various aspects of Dickens' work, such as his views on material culture and social justice, it does not extensively discuss the theological dimensions of his writing. The book also examines how Dickens grappled with questions of literal truth in the Bible and the teleological implications of evolutionary science. Some contributors challenge Dickens' anti-Catholicism and explore the relationship between his work and Catholic social teaching. Overall, the book offers diverse perspectives on Dickens' religious beliefs but falls short in providing a comprehensive analysis of his theology. [Extracted from the article]

The claims to universality in the thought of Jacques Maritain and Catholic social teaching present a problem: they tend not to perceive their own entanglement in modernity and its hidden underside of colonial oppression. First, I explore this problem by drawing upon the scholarship of Catholic social ethicist Mary E. Hobgood to underscore the internal contradictions between three different social models in Catholic social teaching: feudal organic, liberal orthodox, and radical liberationist. I situate Maritain's work within these social models. Second, I utilize Sylvia Wynter's appropriation of Frantz Fanon's sociogenetic approach as a way of understanding how people and institutions are malformed by dominant modern epistemologies. I argue that the Roman Catholic Church lacks a coherent and credible praxis of transformation. Finally, I suggest three starting points to initiate shifts toward a decolonial ethic of Catholic social teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing the collection of articles regarding Jacques Maritain and his relevance for challenges to democracy today, this article describes the complexity and some of the main themes of his intellectual journey. Maritain played a major role in the development of Catholic social teaching on democracy, and can provide moral and spiritual grounding for a renewal of democracy now. He articulates the moral value of democracy as the form of politics that best allows Christians to live out love of neighbor and enemy in concrete ways, while still making an appropriate distinction between the spiritual and temporal spheres. Articles in this volume examine the implications of the friendship between Maritain and Saul Alinsky, William Cavanaugh's interpretation of Maritain's influence (with a response from Cavanaugh himself), and reflections upon how we can critically appropriate the thought of Maritain in the contemporary context, fifty years after his death. The introduction concludes with words Maritain addressed to US Catholics in 1939. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pope Francis's statement about NATO expansion provoking Russia to invade Ukraine raises the question about whether it is legitimate to support NATO generally and its expansion after 1989 in particular. This article argues that the right of nations to self-determination and legitimate defense and the ethic of solidarity as understood in the Catholic social tradition can justify NATO's existence and enlargement. The author concludes that not only was NATO enlargement after 1989 justified, but it should also be open to Ukraine and other countries in the region in accordance with these tenets of Catholic social teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explicate ways in which Aboriginal Australian economy can inform, augment, and vindicate Catholic social teaching and related scholarship on work, the use of technology, and leisure. Collaterally, Aboriginal Australian economy gives an example of what could happen if key parts of Catholic social teaching were to be implemented concretely. That is, we can argue that Aboriginal economy gives an indication of what a society would be like if it adopted these parts of Catholic social teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A relevant Religious Education needs to confront the life-threatening global issues humanity faces today. The present study investigates how Catholic Life Formation (CLF) through religious instruction may predict environmental attitudes among students in Cebu City, Philippines. This study analyzes how the following variables may influence Christian environmentalism: students' reception of CLF inputs, Catholic Social Teachings (CST) perceptions, and students' beliefs and environmental responses (STB) from a sample of 491 Grade 12 SH students of a private university in Cebu, Philippines. This descriptive quantitative survey used ordinal logistic regression to test our model. We adopted a two-step procedure to gather data: First, an open-ended interview was used to tease the themes and viewpoints of students. Second, incorporating the qualitative output from the interviews, a survey was conducted using a researcher-made self-report paired with the Christian Environmentalism Scale (CES) to describe student attitudes toward the environment. The findings are discussed with respect to Religious Education and CLF environmental advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought" explores how Catholic social teaching can inform the curriculum and institutional life of Catholic colleges and universities. It offers critiques of the current state of Catholic higher education and proposes practical steps to implement Catholic social teaching on campus. The volume addresses themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, labor practices, financial management, sustainability, and the role of CCUs in addressing structural racism. The article emphasizes the importance of using Catholic teaching to guide campus DEI efforts and offers an alternative to the neoliberal model of higher education. [Extracted from the article]

"Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (And Do) About Anti-Muslim Discrimination" is a book by Jordan Denari Duffner that explores the roots and effects of anti-Muslim prejudice. The author addresses Christians, discussing the role Christianity has played in fostering anti-Muslim bias and the need to heal these divisions. The book examines the manifestations of Islamophobia, including how Muslims are perceived and treated, and highlights the racialization of Islam, which affects not only Muslims but also non-Muslims who are mistakenly identified as Muslims. The author also discusses the presence of anti-Muslim prejudice within Christianity, particularly within the Catholic Church, and offers a Christian response to Islamophobia based on scriptural sources and Catholic social teaching. The book is recommended as a valuable resource for understanding and addressing Islamophobia in various contexts, including parishes, educational institutions, and interfaith dialogue. [Extracted from the article]