Authentic Voices Discerning Hearts

One may argue that the Second Vatican Council simply came too early to address the questions that swept over Christianity and Catholicism with the sexual revolution. There is little doubt, however, that although the popes in the post-conciliar era made marriage and family issues a matter of decision at the highest level, they did not succeed in thwarting the growing discrepancy between the church's moral teaching in these matters and the moral insights of a large portion of the Catholic faithful. The two Synods of Bishops, which Pope Francis called in 2014 and 2015, can be regarded as a new attempt of the magisterium to come to terms with the problems that appeared on the horizon in the 1960's. The present volume addresses some of the major theological and ethical questions at stake and provides perspectives and resources for a renewed discourse of the church on marriage and family. (Series: INTAMS Studies on Marriage and Family / INTAMS-Studien zu Ehe und Familie, Vol. 1) [Subject: Religious Studies]Ã?Â?Ã?Â?

A practical guide to understanding and implementing Amoris Laetitia. The pastoral implications of this document will be of interest to church professionals.

From 2006 to 2011 researchers at Heythrop College and the Oxford Centre for ecclesiology and Practical Theology (OxCEPT, Ripon College Cuddesdon) worked on a theological and action research project: "Action Research – Church and Society (ARCS). 2010 saw the publication of Talking About God in Practice: Theological Action research and Practical Theology (SCM), which presented in an accessible way the work of ARCS and its developing methodology. This turned out to be a landmark study in the praxis of Anglican and Catholic ecclesiology in the UK, showing how theology in these differing contexts interacted with the way in which clergy and congregations lived out their religious convictions. This book is a direct follow up to that significant work, authored by one of the original researchers, providing a systematic analysis of the impact of the "theological action research" methodology and its implications for a contemporary ecclesiology. The book presents an ecclesiology generated from church practice, drawing on scholarship in the field as well as the results of the theological action research undertaken. It achieves this by including real scenarios alongside the academic discourse. This combination allows the author to tease out the complex relationship between the theory and the reality of church. Addressing the need for a more developed theological and methodological account of the ARCS project, this is a book that will be of interest to scholars interested not only Western lived religion, but ecclesiology and theology more generally too.

How has Pope Francis’s groundbreaking document on marriage and family, Amoris Laetitia, been implemented in Africa? In Asia? In Latin America? In this volume, scholars from across these regions reflect on their experiences, correcting the overly western focus of most reactions to AL. The contributions look at local issues like polygamy in Africa, as well as more global issues in a local context, like feminism in Indonesia and synodality in Colombia. The reader will find that concerns about marriage and family can be similar throughout the world or specific to different contexts. As a whole, the book contributes to a more diverse and revisited catholic understanding of marriage and family.

In Hermeneutics of Doctrine in a Learning Church, Gregory Ryan offers an account of the dynamic, multi-dimensional task of interpreting Christian tradition, with reference to doctrinal hermeneutics, Receptive Ecumenism, and the ‘pastorality of doctrine’ seen in Pope Francis.

In his post-synodal exhortation Amoris laetitia, Pope Francis calls upon the church to "make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations." Respect for personal conscience and pastoral discernment should also guide the church's theological stance and pastoral attitude toward contemporary forms of living together, especially those that do not conform to the ideal of exclusive and lifelong marriage. This volume explores the implications of this vision, with particular regard to the divorced and remarried. (Series: INTAMS Studies on Marriage and Family / INTAMS-Studien zu Ehe und Familie, Vol. 2) [Subject: Catholic Studies, Marriage & Family]

This is a historical excursus that describes female ministries in the early Church. It analyzes the disputed traces of women in the presbyteral ministry, diaconal ministry, and the differences in ordination rite and functions for deaconesses and deacons of the Byzantine Church. Information is included on the gender balance of today's identical ordination rite and functions of deaconesses and deacons. The study also examines: the hypothetical possibility of female presbyteral ordination; belief in female subordination; the spousal symbol; Mary; woman and person; reciprocity; the incarnation of the Word; the impossibility of female presbyteral vocation; the value of doctrines; and the sacramental sign and substance of a sacrament. In conclusion, a prayer for female presbyteral ordination is proposed. (Series: Theology: Research and Science / Theologie: Forschung und Wissenschaft, Vol. 60) [Subject: Gender Studies, Catholic Studies, Religious Studies, History]