Journey across the desert

Thirty years ago, my father, Charles Davis, then a secular priest and considered by many the leading Catholic theologian in Britain, publicly denounced the Roman Catholic Church as corrupt, and left. It was a move which sent shock waves around the Catholic world. At the same time he married my mother, then Florence Henderson, a long-standing member of the international Catholic lay women’s organisation, the Grail. They had become friends through their joint work in the ecumenical movement in Britain. She followed him in his decision to leave the Church and together they went into a form of exile, which my father, in different contexts, has often referred to as the desert. It was in the desert that my brother and I were born and raised.
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Posted: January 25, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6547
Categories: Opinion, The Tablet • In this article: Christian, Christianity, church, church reform, theology Transmis : 25 janvier 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6547
Catégorie : Opinion, The Tablet • Dans cet article : Christian, Christianity, church, church reform, theology

Liberating Mary

In the furore surrounding the ex-communication of Fr Tissa Balasuriya, very little has been said about the overall project of his book, Mary and Human Liberation. Beyond specific theological questions, Fr Balasuriya’s treatment of Mary touches on issues which go to the heart of the conflict between traditionalists and reformists which is dividing the Catholic Church today.

As in so many of Christianity’s decisive theological moments, the role of Mary is pivotal. The saying, “As Mary goes, so goes the Church,” is as true today as it was of the fifth century when the Council of Ephesus affirmed Christ’s divinity by declaring Mary Theotokos, or Godbearer.
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Posted: March 8, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6554
Categories: Opinion, The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, feminist, liberation, Mary, theology Transmis : 8 mars 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6554
Catégorie : Opinion, The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, feminist, liberation, Mary, theology

Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism

More than 25 years ago in Northern India I first met Fr Dupuis. That meeting prefigured my contact with his remarkable book, and was also thoroughly physical. As he gunned his Yugoslavian motorcycle along narrow roads in the foothills of the Himalayas, I clung to him for dear life and prayed not to fall into the cavernous valleys that flanked our route to a high-altitude Buddhist monastery. After visiting the monks Dupuis roared off down another road to a self-help Tibetan refugee camp directed by the Dalai Lama’s sister-in-law and then to a mountaineering school run by the Sherpa Tensing who had conquered Mount Everest in 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary. These visits shaped my first impressions of Jacques Dupuis as someone who wanted direct contact with other religious traditions and was certainly not content to learn about them simply by reading texts at his desk.
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Posted: January 24, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6701
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: dialogue, interfaith, salvation, theology Transmis : 24 janvier 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6701
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : dialogue, interfaith, salvation, theology

Bishops between a rock and a hard place

Catholics are permitted to support attempts to limit the evil aspects of an abortion law, says Pope John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. In Germany, however, the moral complexities have made the Church draw back, which threatens to reduce its influence in society. A journalist on the weekly Rheinischer Merkur highlights the German bishops’ dilemma.
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Posted: August 21, 1999 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6689
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: abortion, Catholic, ethics, social policy, theology Transmis : 21 aoüt 1999 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6689
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : abortion, Catholic, ethics, social policy, theology

Cardinals in conflict

The recent elevation of 44 new cardinals may have seemed to show that for the Catholic Church, it was business as usual. In reality the ceremony marked a radical break. For this first consistory of the new millennium was at the same time a farewell ceremony for a whole era — the era of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The eminent prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), that capable and controversial guardian of Roman Catholic orthodoxy, had enjoyed a monopoly of spiritual power under papal primacy. Now that was challenged. The consistory was both an individual personal drama and an institutional setback to Roman centralism.
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Posted: April 28, 2001 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6706
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: church, ecclesiology, Joseph Ratzinger, Second Vatican Council, theology, Walter Kasper Transmis : 28 avril 2001 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6706
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : church, ecclesiology, Joseph Ratzinger, Second Vatican Council, theology, Walter Kasper

Feminism, Vatican-style

Rome’s new document on men and women shows that feminists and the Church have more in common than perhaps either realises, but Catholic theology has yet to describe the sacramental nature of women.
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Posted: August 7, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6756
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, Christian feminism, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theological anthropology, theology, women Transmis : 7 aoüt 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6756
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, Christian feminism, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theological anthropology, theology, women

Benedict XVI and the Future of Interreligious Theology

“Benedict XVI and the Future of Interreligious Theology” is the subject of a talk by Francis Clooney, S.J., at 8 p.m., March 24, 2006 at Sam Sorbara Auditorium in Brennan Hall, 81 St Mary Street, Toronto. The evening is sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Centre for the Study of Religion, Regis College, and the University of St Michael’s College. For more information call (416) 926-7115 or (416) 926-1300 ext 3317.

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Posted: March 16, 2006 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=215
Categories: News • In this article: Benedict XVI, events, interfaith, Joseph Ratzinger, theology Transmis : 16 mars 2006 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=215
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Benedict XVI, events, interfaith, Joseph Ratzinger, theology

Catholic women in ministry – a review

CATHOLIC WOMEN IN MINISTRY: Changing the Way Things Are, by Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers. Novalis (Montreal, QC ). © 2007, 216pp., $21.95. Reviewed by Gertrude Rompré.
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Posted: August 21, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=338
Categories: News • In this article: books, Catholic, ecclesiology, ministry, ordination, theology, women Transmis : 21 aoüt 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=338
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : books, Catholic, ecclesiology, ministry, ordination, theology, women

Evangelicals and Social Engagement

Evangelical theology stresses the importance of a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ and sees the transformation of individuals as an important part of the transformation of the world. However, the notion of a purely privatized faith in which the gospel only affects individual, personal or family life but has no wider implications for society must be rejected as inadequate.
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Posted: September 15, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=349
Categories: News • In this article: environment, Evangelicals, justice, peace, social policy, statements, theology, World Evangelical Alliance Transmis : 15 septembre 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=349
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : environment, Evangelicals, justice, peace, social policy, statements, theology, World Evangelical Alliance

The God of Women & the Women of God

The God of Women & the Women of God

The Friends of Sophia fall program features a series with Dr. Mary T. Malone, retired chair of Religious Studies at St. Jerome’s University & the University of Waterloo. Dr. Malone is the author of numerous publications including Women and Christianity (3 vols, 2000-2003) and Praying with the Women Mystics (2006). Dr. Malone will make three presentations:

• Women Mystics, 1150-1450 CE — Sunday, September 21, 2 to 4 pm in St. Andrew’s College Lounge
• Retrieving Women’s Christian Story — Monday, September 22, 11:30 to 1 pm in St. Thomas More College, room 344A
• Do the Medieval Women Mystics Have a Message for Our Time? — Monday, September 22, 7:30 pm in St. Thomas More College Auditorium. Reception to follow.

The Friends of Sophia is an interdenominational group of women, dedicated to nurturing Christian feminist spirituality through educational opportunities, shared experience and liturgical celebration. For further information email mbeavis@stmcollege.ca or ursula.wiig@usask.ca.
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Posted: September 18, 2008 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=495 In this article: feminist, Friends of Sophia, Saskatoon, theology Transmis : 18 septembre 2008 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=495 Dans cet article : feminist, Friends of Sophia, Saskatoon, theology

Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order Communiqué

Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order Communiqué

[Canterbury • ACNS4675] Grateful for the gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order held its first meeting in Canterbury, England from 1 to 8 December 2009.

The Commission has been established by the Lambeth Conference, the Primates’ Meeting, and the Anglican Consultative Council. It builds on previous work done by the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations, and the Windsor Continuation Group. It reports to the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.

… continued
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Posted: December 8, 2009 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=620
Categories: Communiqué • In this article: Anglican, theology Transmis : 8 décembre 2009 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=620
Catégorie : Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican, theology

WCC Faith & Order issues are relevant for Mennonites

WCC dialogue questions relevant for Mennonites says Neufeld

How and where does the global church discuss issues such as the nature and mission of the church, sources of authority and moral discernment in the churches? One long-standing forum for important discussions such as these is the Faith and Order Plenary Commission of the World Council of Churches. This body, while not officially decision-making, gathered in Kolympari, Crete, 7-13 October 2009.

… continued
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Posted: December 15, 2009 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=622
Categories: Dialogue • In this article: ecclesiology, Mennonite, Mennonite World Conference, theology, WCC Transmis : 15 décembre 2009 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=622
Catégorie : Dialogue • Dans cet article : ecclesiology, Mennonite, Mennonite World Conference, theology, WCC

Central Themes in Recent Catholic Teaching on the Environment

A new Canadian bishops’ document summarizing themes of recent church teaching on the environment is an urgent cry for action, says Bishop Donald Bolen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. “Recent church teaching and papal statements are clearly telling us that the way we are living is not sustainable,” said Bolen, one of the bishops on the Canadian bishops’ Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, which released the new resource April 8 entitled “Building a New Culture: Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment.” “Care of the environment is a growing area of concern for the Church and for all human beings, and in fact the Church has been speaking about this – and in particular, recent popes have been speaking about this – not only with regularity, but with passion,” said Bolen.
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Posted: April 8, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=3590
Categories: News, Resources • In this article: bishops, Canada, CCCB, creation, ecology, environment, theology Transmis : 8 avril 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=3590
Catégorie : News, Resources • Dans cet article : bishops, Canada, CCCB, creation, ecology, environment, theology

Comprehending the nature of the theology in number thirty-six

The new encyclical, issued by Pope Francis, Lumen fidei, is a splendid document that deserves to be pondered prayerfully. Its clarity and depth will repay multiple readings by all in the Church – indeed, by all who are seeking the meaning and truth of human existence.

However, one section will prove of particular interest to theologians. Number thirty-six of the encyclical sets forth briefly, but in a remarkably rich way, an understanding of the task of theology. From one perspective, of course, it is a traditional view (as the footnote reference to Bonaventure and Aquinas shows). But it places that traditional understanding into an intersubjective context that brings out, in a new and deeper way, its significance and implications.

The Pope writes: “God is a subject who makes himself known and perceived in an interpersonal relationship.” Thus the theologian cannot approach the theological task in a distant, neutral manner, as would a scientist or a mere observer. Theology flourishes through participatory knowledge in which reason, will, and affections are all engaged. The encyclical appeals to the biblical notion of the “heart” and insists that, as Blessed John Henry Newman expresses it: cor ad cor loquitur — heart speaks to heart. Theology reflects upon the Word of God, fully revealed, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, as abiding Love. The heart of God speaks to our heart his Word of Love in interpersonal encounter.
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Posted: July 13, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6602
Categories: Opinion • In this article: encyclicals, Francis, theology Transmis : 13 juillet 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6602
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : encyclicals, Francis, theology

Ecumenical observers at Pentecostal-Charismatic consultation

Pentecostals and Charismatics are among the fastest growing Christian groups in the world. The question is to what extent the Pentecostals understand themselves as a church or a movement. This existential and ecclesiological issue remains ambiguous.

These views were shared by Dr Tamara Grdzelidze at the second Empowered21 (E21) Global Scholars Consultation, held from 8 to 10 July in Sydney, Australia.

Grdzelidze, programme executive for the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches, participated in the consultation as an observer, along with Prof. Neil Ormerod of the Roman Catholic Church.

The consultation gathered Pentecostal scholars, mostly from Asia, to reflect on ecclesial, sociological, theological and academic challenges that “Spirit-empowered” Christianity faces in the 21st century.

The group of Pentecostal and Charismatic scholars are preparing for the Empowered21 Global Congress, set to take place at Jerusalem in 2015.
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Posted: July 23, 2013 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6634
Categories: WCC News • In this article: Pentecostal, theology Transmis : 23 juillet 2013 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6634
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : Pentecostal, theology

Our Unfolding Journey with Jesus Christ: new document reflects on the Global Christian Forum

An important document, which is a theological reflection on the experience and life of the Global Christian Forum, has been approved by the GCF committee.

Titled, Our Unfolding Journey with Jesus Christ: Reflections on the Global Christian Forum Experience, the document is the work of a group of theologians drawn from across the church traditions and families that make up the GCF.

Rev Dr Wonsuk Ma, executive director of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, headed a panel of nine theologians, known as the Theological Working Group (TWG), who produced the document. [Full membership of TWG is listed below.]

The work, initiated by the GCF committee when in met in Rome in 2012, was received and approved by the committee at its recent meeting in Geneva in September.

The decision to undertake the task came after the second GCF global gathering at Manado, Indonesia, where it was felt that it was important to put down some theological markers so the wider Christian community could understand the story, practice and on-going life of the GCF.
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Posted: February 18, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7372
Categories: News • In this article: ecclesiology, Global Christian Forum, theology Transmis : 18 février 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7372
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : ecclesiology, Global Christian Forum, theology

Truth and Relevance: Catholic Theology in French Quebec since the Quiet Revolution

After the Quiet Revolution, the Catholic Church lost its stronghold in Quebec. Despite this decline, or perhaps because of it, contemporary Catholic thought in Quebec exhibits a bold creativity. In Truth and Relevance, Gregory Baum introduces, contextualizes, and interprets Catholic theological writing in Quebec since the 1960s, and presents this body of work for an anglophone readership.

Baum shows how Catholic theologians, inspired by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), uncovered the social meaning in the Christian message, allowing them to address many problems and concerns of contemporary society. With reliance on the Gospel, they supported Quebec’s new self-understanding, embraced its nationalism under certain conditions, fostered social solidarity, criticized the unregulated market system, demanded gender equality, and called for respect of new religious and cultural pluralism. Leaving behind the Catholicism of Quebec’s past, these theologians embraced the humanistic values of modern society, recognizing their affinity with the Gospel, while at the same time revealing the destructive potential of modernity, its individualism, utilitarianism, relativism, and its link to empire and capitalism.
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Posted: March 26, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7456
Categories: Resources • In this article: books, Catholic, Québec, theology Transmis : 26 mars 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7456
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : books, Catholic, Québec, theology

Vatican publishes reflection on discerning essentials of faith

When a significant portion of the Catholic faithful ignore or reject a church teaching, it is often — but not always — a sign that social and cultural pressures are weakening their faith or that church leaders simply have not found a way to explain the teaching, said members of the International Theological Commission.

The commission published the document “‘Sensus Fidei’ in the Life of the Church” on the Vatican website in late June with the approval of Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The theologians, who were appointed to the commission by Pope Benedict XVI, had been asked to explain the meaning, purpose and limits of “sensus fidei” and “sensus fidelium” — the capacity of individual believers and of the church as a whole to discern the truth of faith.
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Posted: June 20, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7748
Categories: CNS, Documents • In this article: Catholic, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theology Transmis : 20 juin 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7748
Catégorie : CNS, Documents • Dans cet article : Catholic, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theology

History made, as Anglicans, Oriental Orthodox agree on Christ’s incarnation

Senior theologians in Anglican Communion and Oriental Orthodox Churches recently made history by signing an agreement on their mutual understanding of Christ’s incarnation. This was not just a minor point of theology, rather it was a subject that divided the Church following the Council of Chalcedon* in 451 AD, leaving the Oriental Orthodox Churches separated from the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Church of Rome. The work to reconcile these branches of the Christian family on the question of how the two natures, human and divine, were united in one human being: Jesus Christ began in earnest in the 1990s.
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Posted: October 27, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7870
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican, Christology, dialogue, Oriental Orthodox, theology Transmis : 27 octobre 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7870
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican, Christology, dialogue, Oriental Orthodox, theology

Archbishop Oscar Romero, blessed and defender of the poor and justice

This morning in the Holy See Press Office Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and postulator of the cause for the beatification of Oscar Arnulfo Romero, presented the figure of the Salvadoran archbishop assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass and whose martyrdom was acknowledged yesterday with the signing of the necessary decree by Pope Francis. Historian Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, professor of modern history at the University of Rome III and author of a biography of Oscar Romero, also participated in the conference. Extensive extracts of Archbishop Paglia’s presentation are published below.

“It is an extraordinary gift for all of the Church at the beginning of this millennium to see rise to the altar a pastor who gave his life for his people; and this is true for all Christians. This can be seen in the attention of the Anglican Church, which has placed a statue of Romero in the facade of Westminster Abbey alongside those of Martin Luther King and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and for all of society that regards him as a defender of the poor and of peace. Gratitude is also due to Benedict XVI, who followed the cause from the very beginning and on 20 December 2012 – just over a month before his resignation – decided to unblock the process to enable it to follow the regular itinerary”.

“The work of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., has been careful and attentive. The unanimity of both the commission of cardinals and the commission of theologians confirmed his martyrdom in odium fidei. … The martyrdom of Romero has given meaning and strength to many Salvadoran families who lost relatives and friends during the civil war. His memory immediately became the memory of other victims, perhaps less illustrious, of the violence”.
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Posted: February 4, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8041
Categories: Vatican News • In this article: bishops, Catholic, liberation, saints, theology Transmis : 4 février 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8041
Catégorie : Vatican News • Dans cet article : bishops, Catholic, liberation, saints, theology