The second encyclical of Pope Francis was the Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium). It is the blueprint of his papacy. This focus on the new evangelization began in the Second Vatican Council and was expanded by Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi. Pope John Paul II also emphasized the need for evangelization (proclaiming the Gospel) […]
Topic: ecumenism
Enriching our Vision of Reality
Enriching Our Vision of Reality: Theology and the Natural Sciences in Dialogue. By Alister McGrath. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2016, West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press Edition, 2017. Kindle. Alister McGrath holds Oxford doctorates in the natural sciences and in Christian theology. He has written what is considered the classic work on the relationship […]
An Essay on the Development of Doctrine
John Henry Newman. An Essay on the Development of Doctrine. Forward by Ian Ker. Sixth ed. Notre Dame IN: University of Notre Dame, 1989/2015. Kindle ed. Introduction Ian Ker in the Forward to the book makes a wonderful presentation of the question whether the Catholic Church has changed its teaching over the centuries. The Protestant […]
Gaudete et Exsultate
Gaudete et Exsultate: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World. Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis. Rome: Libreria Vaticana, 2018/Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2018. Pope Francis wrote the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be Glad) It is neither a systematic theology on the subject nor a dissertation on moral theology. It is […]
The Seven Storey Mountain
The Seven Storey Mountain. By Thomas Merton. Fiftieth Anniversary Edition. New York: Harcourt, 1948/1976. (Kindle). Robert Giroux writes in the Introduction to this book that when he first met Thomas Merton at the office of the Columbia Review in New York, and Giroux had read an article Merton had written, he told himself: “This […]
The Importance of Interfaith Relations
Introduction Nostra Aetate is a very short document of the Second Vatican Council which speaks about interfaith relations and their importance to the Catholic Church “In our time” which are the first words of the document and its title. In this age of ours, when men are drawing more closely together and the bonds of […]
A New Ecumenism?
In 2002 Christopher R. Seitz edited a book entitled Nicene Christianity: The Future for a New Ecumenism. The chapters of this book were written by different theologians, mostly from the Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches. My search for book reviews produced a number of books with a similar focus, the oldest of these by […]
Eucharist as a Celebration of Forgiveness
Eucharist as a Celebration of Forgivenesss by Francis J. Moloney, SDB. New York, Paulist Press, 2017. Key to an understanding of this book and the theology of Fr. Moloney is a clear grasp of the concept of doctrine and the concept of teaching. Doctrine is related to creed and faith. Teaching is related to magisterium […]
The Church: Towards a Common Vision
Introduction The World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission issued an ecumenical milestone in 1982 with the publication of Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, (Faith and Order Paper #111. Geneva: WCC, 1982). It sent that document to the churches which are members of the World Council and other churches who participate in the work of […]
The Call to Holiness: From Glory to Glory
The Call to Holiness: From Glory to Glory The Report of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church (Houston, TX, August 2016) Since January 1967 Methodists and Catholics have been engaged in an international dialogue on various questions which are shared and divide the two Christian […]