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The foundations and principles of Catholic theology as unity and identity, require a permanent turn to the unique message of Christ, a message that we need to announce with courage and conviction. Therefore, it is legitimate to speak about the need for a certain unity of theology. Thus we must bear in mind that the concept of unity needs to be carefully understood so as not to be confused with uniformity or with an individual style. The unity of theology and the whole Church, as professed in the Creed, must be closely linked to the idea of catholicity, as well as to holiness and apostolicity. Uniqueness and identity come from Christ, Savior of the world. The theology of unity and identity that wants to be "Catholic" must participate in the catholicity and in the unity of the Church, which ultimately is based on the trinitarian unity of God himself. "œThe fact that there is one Saviour shows that there is a necessary bond between catholicity and unity. As it explores the inexhaustible Mystery of God and the countless ways in which God"™s grace works for salvation in diverse settings, theology rightly and necessarily takes a multitude of forms, and yet as investigations of the unique truth of the triune God and of the one plan of salvation centered on the one Lord Jesus Christ, this plurality must manifest distinctive family traits". Theology is catholic in the richness of the plurality of its expressions, protagonists, ideas and contexts and, therefore it is born from the attentive listening of the Word of God, it is incardinated in the communion of the Church and it is oriented to the service of the truth. Keywords: unity, identity, Catholic theology, holiness, apostolicity, Jesus Christ, Trinity

As a particular case study of “world Christianity,” this article seeks to develop a Chinese Catholic epistemological foundation for the Church’s theological quest to know God. It is a comparative study of the thought of Neo-Confucian philosopher Wang Yangming (1472–1529) and the Belgian Jesuit Joseph Maréchal. I demonstrate how both thinkers affirm the subjective contribution of the human mind in any act of knowing while still maintaining that any accurate or moral knowledge participates in a higher order of ontological being. The agreements between Wang’s Neo-Confucian and Maréchal’s Transcendental Thomist theories of mind make for a fruitful convergence of the Chinese and Catholic intellectual traditions, from which Chinese theology can contribute to the worldwide Church’s understanding of God.

“The Doctrine of God in Luther, Calvin and Arminius – Part III: Comparison between the Reformers and Classical Theism”—The rupture of Luther, Calvin, and Arminius with doctrines of classical theology such as justification by works and a clerical ecclesiology, is undeniable. However, it is important to ask whether this reform included the doctrine of God, given its centrality to the entire theological system. This article is the third of a series of three that has as its objective to compare the methodology and hermeneutical presuppositions of Luther, Calvin, and Arminius with those of classical theism (scholastic Catholic theology) to determine if they departed from the methodology of sola Scriptura to elaborate the doctrine of God, following the methodology of multiple sources of classical theology.

The main thesis of the paper states that Catholic theology and Evangelical theology use different languages. The differences stem from the philosophical dispute about universals. The following positions emerged in the debate: radical realism (universalia ante rem), moderate realism (universsalia in re) and nominalism (notitia intuitiva et notitia abstractiva). The language of Catholic theology is a language of moderate realism, while the language of Evangelical theology is a language of nominalism. The linguistic differences result in a different understanding of important theological statements. The paper uses an analysis of selected fragments from a Catholic and an Evangelical catechism as a basis for the demonstration of the way the following issues are understood: (1) knowledge of God, (2) the concept of original sin, (3) the nature of the Church, (4) the origin of sacraments, (5) life in the world to come.

A morte é um evento antropológico que gera consequências escatológicas. A teologia clássica desdenhou o tema da morte devido à preocupação com o pós-morte. A definição clássica da morte (separação de corpo e alma) é antropologicamente insuficiente por sua falta de densidade pessoal. O tema da morte, em primeiro lugar, ganhou relevância antropológica com a filosofia contemporânea, principalmente com Heidegger. A morte é uma possibilidade iminente que reside no interior da existência. Da filosofia, o tema da morte passou para teologia protestante e católica e, principalmente sob o influxo de Heidegger, recebeu um tratamento humano. A teoria da “decisão final”, expressão da antropologia da morte, concentrou sua atenção sobre o que ocorreria com as relações entre o corpo e a alma no momento pontual da morte. Abstract: Death is an anthropological event that leads to eschatological consequences. Classical theology dismissed the theme of death in view of its concern with the afterlife. The classic definition of death (the separation of body and soul) is anthropologically insufficient because of its lack of personal density. The theme of death gained anthropological relevance for the first time with contemporary philosophy, especially with Heidegger. Death is an imminent possibility that lies within the existence. From philosophy the theme of death passed into Protestant and Catholic theology and especially under Heidegger’s influence, received a humane treatment. The theory of “final decision”, an expression of the anthropology of death, focused its attention on what would happen with the relationship between body and soul at the actual time of death.Keywords: Life. Death. Anthropology. Imminent possibility. Term-realization.

The discovery of universal freedom is an achievement of Saint Paul, and an achievement of the Church is a consequent propagation of this fact throughout the centuries. The Christian character of this discovery was already noticed by Hegel. In today’s world, so strongly marked by the search of freedom it is necessary to reiterate the Christian vision of freedom which is a universal one. This vision is profoundly theological in character and deeply rooted in the mystery of redemption brought by Jesus Christ. This article touches upon this fact and points out its certain aspects, especially the soteriological one. Bearing in mind the theology of freedom we cannot ignore its abundant anthropological references. The article recalls the proposition of St. Thomas Aquinas, which has been largely accepted by Catholic theology and constitutes a benchmark of anthropological philosophy which has a special application in ethics. Christian tradition stresses the fact that for a human, freedom is above all “a vocation”. Therefore, on the one hand God’s definite design through Jesus Christ concerning man has to find its eschatological realization, on the other hand man’s freedom which is solidifying in this design has to revel and show itself to the full. Undoubtedly, the eschatological issue in Christian vision of freedom is worth mentioning as well.

The purpose of this article is to explore an aspect of the Catholic theology of the 19th century which is relatively unknown: namely the Roman School and Carlo Passaglia’s position within it. This contribution is focused on presenting the main theological treatise of Carlo Passaglia (1812–87), De Ecclesia Christi (1853–56), an unprecedented work in the context of 19th-century theology, from which a Trinitarian ecclesiology, rooted in the economy of salvation, emerges. The article will be divided into three parts: the first will provide a brief outline of the Roman School, which played a significant role in the theology of the 19th century; the second will offer a biography of Passaglia; finally, the third will focus on the De Ecclesia and will present a basic survey of the whole monograph in order to highlight the most significant aspects of Passaglia’s ecclesiology. Moreover, this contribution will seek to emphasize that several aspects of Passaglia’s Trinitarian ecclesiology went on to be developed by the Second Vatican Council, particularly in Lumen Gentium.

In the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner’s life and work, philosophy, spirituality and systematic theology are harmonized for the benefit of the increasingly desacralized and secularized man of the late modernity. Familiarization with the great world’s philosophers, from Plato to Aristotle up to Blondel and Heidegger, with Ignatian spirituality and with the Eastern and Western Fathers of the Church decisively helped Rahner in his endeavour to free the Catholic theology from the “captivity” of scholastic rationalism and objectivism and to redirect it “existentially”, by a genuine turn, from an abstract God, isolated in the transcendent and irrelevant for the Christian life, to the concrete man, “hearer of God’s word”. The spiritual experience of the most influential Catholic theologian of the 20th century was conveyed in an original way, by pastoral guidance, through lectures and his monumental work, on many generations of Catholic servants and believers.Setting out the Ignatian and Patristic sources of Karl Rahner’s spiritual theology, this article outlines, against its background, the odyssey of yesterday’s and today’s Christian experience, at the same time emphasizing the profound ecumenical dimension of patristic spirituality. Keywords: Karl Rahner, Jesuit, Spiritual Exercises, Ignatian spirituality, Church Fathers, existential experience

From the middle of the 19th century until convocation of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), several spiritual and intellectual revival movements were visible in the Catholic Church. They had one overarching objective – return to the origins (French: ressourcement). The revival of Biblical Studies, as the first of these movements, was implemented mainly at two specialist universities: the School of Practical Biblical Studies (French: École pratique d’études bibliques) of Father Marie-Joseph Lagrange OP and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Pontificium Institutum Biblicum) founded by Pope Saint Pius X. The Movement of Liturgical renewal, on the other hand, began at the Benedictine abbeys in Belgium, France and Germany, and was later popularised by Father Prosper Guéranger OSB, Father Lambert Beauduin OSB and Father Odo Casel OSB. Similarly as in the case of the Biblical revival, the teaching of successive Popes – and of Pius XII in particular – had a significant influence on changes in the Catholic liturgy. In contrast, the Ecumenical Movement was characterised by its bottom-up nature, and its beginnings were associated initially with Protestant missionary circles. An important contribution to this transformative movement were meetings between the Catholic and the Anglican Church, known as the Malines Conversations (French: Conversations des Malines), as well as the Una Sancta ecumenical movement developing robustly in Germany. Finally, the last crucial phenomenon – ain particular from the perspective of genesis of the Second Vatican Council – was the rise of Nouvelle Théologie, a new school of thought in Catholic theology. Its representatives include leading theologians of the 20th century: Father Henri de Lubac SJ, Father Karl Rahner SJ, Father Yves Congar OP, Father Marie-Dominique Chenu OP, as well as Father Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Father Hans Küng. It should be emphasised all the above Catholic renewal movements had a decisive influence on development of dominant tendencies at the Second Vatican Council, and the consequent conceptual framework used in the Council documents.

The concept of “dissent” is of recent coinage and narrow use in Catholic theology. However, since rereadings of Catholic tradition through the lens of cultural studies have revealed its constitutive plurality, we are faced with a profound tension between a critical description of ecclesial polyphony and the normative ideals of unity and consensus. This interdisciplinary reappraisal of tradition raises far-reaching theological questions: Do we necessarily have to refer to inner-ecclesial polyphony as “dissent”? Does “dissent” silently rely on (and thus reinforce) established hierarchies of authority in the church? What could be counterhegemonic frameworks that resist entrenched power/knowledge regimes in the church? In which ways could “dissent” be reconceived to allow for a constructive approach to inner-ecclesial plurality? Once we raise questions such as these, we begin to see that Catholic theology lacks adequate models for a reflection of ecclesial polyphony in its full complexity. This roundtable addresses this lacuna: it offers critical case studies of historical and contemporary forms of “dissent” within the church, and it engages the theological and ecclesiological issues at stake.

Catholic theology defines grace in general as a gift of God to human beings, and sanctifying grace as the kind that remains in the soul. The operation of invisible grace is not, strictly speaking, ...

In seventeenth-century France, secular law favoured parents’ authority in children's choices of marriage, religion or the clerical state, despite Catholic theology and canon law favouring individual freedom. Negotiating this tension led many clerical writers – in advice on choosing a state of life found in devotional treatises, sermons and catechisms – to reconcile parental involvement with vocational liberty. Believing that the right choice of a state was virtually necessary for salvation, they urged parents and children to cooperate in discerning and accepting God's call. Amid conflicts with French law and culture, pastoral persuasion helped to forge an enduringly influential strain in modern Catholicism.

This paper is interdisciplinary and combines the research perspective of medical studies with that of media and social communication studies and theological studies. The main goal of this article is to determine [from arguments on all sides of the issue] whether, and to what extent, statements issued by a religious authority can be used as an argument in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The authors also want to find answers to the questions of how the pope’s comments affect public opinion when they concern the sphere of secular and everyday life, including issues related to health care. The main method used in this study is desktop research and the analysis of the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on vaccination and on the types and significance of the pope’s statements on various topics. The auxiliary methods are sentiment analysis and network analysis made in the open source software Gephi. The authors are strongly interested in the communication and media aspect of the analyzed situation. Pope Francis’ voice on the COVID-19 vaccination has certainly been noticed and registered worldwide, but the effectiveness of his message and direct impact on Catholics’ decisions to accept or refuse the COVID-19 vaccination is quite questionable and would require further precise research. Comparing this to the regularities known from political marketing, one would think that the pope’s statement would not convince the firm opponents of vaccination.

Nostra Aetate initiated a revolutionary shift in Catholic theology, opposing supersessionism and affirming that Jews remain in a salvific covenantal relationship with God. However, this shift raises for Catholics a deep tension regarding the value of this “Old Covenant” vis-à-vis the “New Covenant,” as this article illustrates using the statements of Walter Kasper and The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable. While speaking positively about the Old Covenant, both deem it essential to maintain the superiority of the New Covenant as universalistic, fulfilling the promises in the Old Covenant and transcending its limitations. The author demonstrates how they seek to reduce this tension by characterizing the two covenants as good and better covenants, rather than as bad and good covenants, thereby avoiding a lapse into supersessionism.

In 1918, after the 120 years of occupation by three neighbouring powers, Austria, Prussia and Russia, Poland obtained its desired independence and returned on the map of Europe. Warsaw became the capital of the Republic once again. One of the authorities’ first moves was to resume the activities of the University of Warsaw that were disrupted by the war. We needed qualified staff who would rebuild the country. This concerned politics, administration, culture…, and the religious life of our homeland. For this purpose, the Faculty of Catholic Theology was established (1918), Faculty of Lutheran Theology (1922), and in 1925, the Faculty of Orthodox Studies was also opened. Throughout the 14 years of its existence up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the Faculty of Orthodox Studies faithfully fulfilled its mission of serving the Church, education and the homeland. It educated priests and theologians dedicated to the church and citizens committed to their homeland. Unfortunately, the process of building today’s well organized and extensive structure of higher (and secondary) Orthodox theological schooling in Poland was neither simple nor short lived. After the war, when the University of Warsaw refused the Faculty of Orthodox Studies the right to further operate, it turned into the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at the Christian Theological Academy to continue serving God, the Church and education. The Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw experienced many changes and processes after the war in order to obtain its current shape and level. The Department of Orthodox Theology at the University of Bialystok was established in 1999. It is a continuation and expansion of the theological education at the University of Warsaw. The Faculty of Orthodox Studies at the University of Warsaw, the Christian Theological Academy, the Orthodox Theological Seminary and the Department of Orthodox Theology at the University of Bialystok, along with post-secondary studies in iconography and hymnography, as related academic and didactic units, have performed and still performs their tasks in serving education and the Orthodox Church. By mutually taking advantage of this experience (it should rather be said that taking advantage of the Faculty of Orthodox Studies at the University of Warsaw after the war), they fulfilled their expectations despite difficult times and unfavourable politics. They form a constantly developing spiritual and cultural common heritage of the Republic.

The decision of the German Bishops’ Conference to publish a pastoral guideline for offering Eucharistic hospitality to non-Catholic spouses sparked fierce international debate. The author reflects on the document, eventually published as orientation aid entitled Mit Christus gehen – Der Einheit auf der Spur; Konfessionsverbindende Ehen und gemeinsame Teilnahme an der Eucharistie and on the discussion that accompanied it. He argues that the German Bishops address the issue almost exclusively as a pastoral question, based on the particular challenges mixed couples face in their personal faith and within their marriage. Supported by his interpretation of Pope Francis’ responses to the matter, the author appeals to regard the issue just as much, or even primarily, as an ecumenical quest. Eucharistic hospitality, then, should be reimagined as significant step along the path towards Christian unity: a path indicated by the unique intuitions and experiences of Brother Roger of Taizé. A practical theological evaluation of the experiences of Brother Roger, partners in ecumenical marriages, and others may offer new insights for the debate about the place of Eucharistic sharing in the ecumenical process.

This paper is part of a larger scholar project focused on Catholic theologians and scientists between 1871 and 1910 who accepted the evolutionary origin of the human body in accordance with so-called Mivart’s theory, or rejected it. The author presents the life and work of an important German Biblical scholar Johann Baptist Gottsberger (1868–1958), focusing mainly on his 1910 book Adam und Eva. Gottsberger describes the contemporary scene very well providing information about an entire range of authors who showed a great openness to the evolutionary origin of man. Surprisingly we encounter here for the first time authors who hypothesised the possibility of also applying the evolutionary model to creation – the origin of the human spirit, what is also true in some sense about Gottsberger himself. It turns out that at least in German Catholic theology, the year 1910 is a turning point, because after this date authors showing an openness to the evolutionary theory of the origin of man cannot be considered pioneers. These authors formed a numerous and still growing group.

This article examines the relationship between the analogy of being (which is a fundamental principle of Catholic theology and metaphysics) and the most significant contemporary Eastern Orthodox theologians. This question of analogy touches upon the fundamental theological problem of the conceptualization of the relationship between God and creation. Even though there is no analogy in Eastern Orthodox theology, it has two polar positions regarding Western analogy of being—pro and con.

The paper is a part of the research that focuses on the Catholic theologians and biologists between 1871 and 1910 who accepted Mivart’s thesis of the evolutionary origin of the human body, or who, on the contrary, tended to reject it. The paper presents J. Knabenbauer SJ (1839–1911). In the 1930s, Czech theologian J. Miklik asserted that Knabenauer accepted Mivart’s position. Knabenbauer’s study on evolution is analysed. Already in 1877, Knabenbauer shows, in the first two parts of his work, an openness to the reality of evolutionary origin of species in the fauna and flora. In the third part, he deals with Mivart’s thesis. From the philosophical point of view, Knabenbauer admits the possibility of the creation of human body by way of evolution. From the exegetical point of view, he refuses the reading of Gen 2:7 that considered this verse to be an allusion of the origin of the human body from the animal base. Because of this later view, Miklik’s information is to be considered imprecise. Knnabenbauer’s study contains, though, much relevant information that testifies to the Catholic theology and exegesis of his era.

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on 31 October 1517, he did so in protest at abuses in Catholic theology and practice. Contemporary times, too, call for protest. The first “protest” concerns the revitalization of education and an increased commitment to intellectual excellence. The second “protest” concerns a recovery of Luther as a figure of protest. While scholars have tamed Luther's dangerous doctrines, the popular imagination still perceives him as an urban legend who spoke truth to power. An expansive notion of scholarship on Luther is required in order to approach a Luther who continues to inspire people around the world. The third “protest” is a critical protest of Luther's religious intolerance, specifically his anti-Judaism. Christian theologians must acknowledge Luther's anti-Judaism as central to his theology and radically revise this legacy to promote justice in inter-religious relations.

Catholics in Indonesia perceive that the Republic of Indonesia is founded by many elements of religious entity. The strength of the state completely lies on the agreement of many adherents of religion to unite as an independent country. The spirit of nationalism is the acknowledgement of all people who are equally important to enhance the dignity of Indonesia. The research on Catholics in Kupang is aimed at understanding the relationship of Catholic theology and nationalism in socio-political practices and current realities of the adherents, especially the religious elites, public figures, Catholics in general, and youth. Based on the result of the research, it is highly recommended that the formulation of national identity and guarantee of the religious freedom is important. It is equally important to strengthen the nationalism by enhancing the understanding of Catholic theology.

W pierwszej części artykułu prezentuję krótki przegląd tego, czym jest negacja z punktu widzenia filozofii i logiki. W drugiej części przedstawiam przykłady pięciu rodzajów negacji, które są używane w języku teologii katolickiej. Co zaskakujące, jest to wynik skomplikowanej struktury teologii.

Female bodies as sexual and reproductive are subject to much scrutiny in Western societies and the church. Mysteriously missing from discourses related to such scrutiny is the reality of menstruation and its place in theology and females’ lives. From within a feminist theological perspective, this article aims to recover menstruation and menstrual awareness, and to advocate for the positive possibilities of widespread recognition and acceptance of, and engagement with, these realities to advance female presence in sexual theology and related discourses. In engaging contemporary social discussions, Jewish and Christian histories of menstruation, contemporary sexual theologies, and varied feminist theologies, this article proposes a robust view of menstruation in the sexual lives of faithful females.

In this essay, I will argue that a political theology of human work can provide the sacramental principle underlying the theology of labor. This principle could complement the foundations of Catholic social teaching, since the sacramental aspects of work have not been made very explicit in the ethical framework of the Church's theology of work. The view of labor as the active participation in God's future is an important aspect of such a theology. In order to serve as a foundation for faith-based labor organizing, I will claim that it needs to be complemented by a sacramental view of labor as art, a labor-aesthetic that undergirds a labor-ethic, in which labor itself becomes a sign and instrument of the way the Church becomes God's work in the world. First, I will sketch an outline of some of the major positions on labor in modern Catholic theology. Then, I will draw on the writings of the British poet and painter David Jones to explore a sacramental view of human work, arguing that a sacramental view of work could support the Church's social criticism of laborer's circumstances.

This essay discusses the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist within Lutheran theology, in dialogue with Roman Catholic theology. It starts by making some remarks on the controversial nature of the ...