Familiaris Consortio


Book Description

"The future of humanity passes by way of the family." -Pope John Paul IIFamiliaris consortio is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation written by Pope John Paul II and promulgated on 22 November 1981. This edition has been grammatically edited and formatted to improve readability of the original translation.This document describes the position of the Catholic Church on the meaning and role of marriage and the family, and outlines challenges towards realizing that ideal. It refers to marriage as "one of the most precious and most urgent tasks of Christian couples in our time."Familiaris consortio restates the Church's opposition to artificial birth control, stated previously in Humanae vitae, and briefly mentions the opposition of the Church to abortion. It also discusses the responsibility and expectations of the family regarding the education of children. It continues with a description of the expectations of the family relative to the larger society, including service to the poor.This document is for all young men and women preparing for marriage, for all fathers and mothers trying to raise a Christian family, for clergy guiding their flock in understanding the sacrament of matrimony, and for all people endeavoring "to save and foster the values and requirements of the family."




Modern Catholic Social Teaching


Book Description

Including contributions from twenty-two leading moral theologians, this volume is the most thorough assessment of modern Roman Catholic social teaching available. In addition to interrogations of the major documents, it provides insight into the biblical and philosophical foundations of Catholic social teaching, addresses the doctrinal issues that arise in such a context, and explores the social thought leading up to the "modern" era, which is generally accepted as beginning in 1891 with the publication of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. The book also includes a review of how Catholic social teaching has been received in the United States and offers an informed look at the shortcomings and questions that future generations must address. This second edition includes revised and updated essays as well as two new commentaries: one on Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in Veritate and one on Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si'. An outstanding reference work for anyone interested in studying and understanding the key documents that make up the central corpus of modern Catholic social teaching.




John Paul II and Moral Theology


Book Description

A collection of articles that survey contemporary papal teaching on moral theology, dealing specifically with economics, gender, sexuality and life issues.




A Call to Families


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Catholicism, Liberalism, and Communitarianism


Book Description

"This book makes a very ambitious proposal. The proposal is that Catholic social thought can contribute significantly to revivifying the American experiment in liberal democracy. That there is a need, and urgent need, for such a revival is today widely recognized by thinkers across the political and philosophical spectrum. Some of the essays here are polemical and others apologetic, but the book taken all in all is a proposal. As such, it must make its case sometimes in conversation with and sometimes against other proposals that are advanced in the public square of democratic discourse." [Foreword].







In the World, But Not of the World


Book Description

In the World, But Not of the World explores the threefold tension among Alasdair MacIntyre's prognosis for Western society; the desires of some for a social transformation with a Christian moral vision at the sacred centre; and a "baptist" understanding of Christianity as essentially voluntary, non-sacralist discipleship. Andrew Fitz-Gibbon uses five contemporary Christian social thinkers, from different traditions, as conversation partners. Through his examination of these thinkers, Fitz-Gibbon explores how the church may continue to truthfully narrate the Christian story in the midst of the moral tensions of late-capitalist Western society. His creative conclusion is that the church at the beginning of the twenty-first century can move toward a resolution of the central tension of "being in the world, but not of the world" through a synthesis of the believers' church tradition and an affirmation of communitarian liberal democracy.




Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church


Book Description

This Compendium is a unique, unprecedented document in the history of the Church. It serves as a tool to inspire and guide the faithful who are faced daily with moral and pastoral challenges. Parts include: God's plan of love for humanity The family, the vital cell of society Social doctrine and ecclesial action For a civilization of love Index of references Analytical index




The Indissolubility of Marriage


Book Description

This well-researched book explains why the Catholic Church continues to teach marital indissolubility and addresses the numerous contemporary challenges to that teaching. It surveys the patristic witness to marital indissolubility, along with Orthodox and Protestant views, as well as historical-critical biblical exegesis on the contested biblical passages. It also surveys the Catholic tradition from the Trent through Benedict XVI, and it examines a Catholic argument that the Catholic Church's teaching can and should change. Then it explores Amoris Laetitia, the papal exhortation from Pope Francis on marriage, and the various major responses to it, with the issue of marital indissolubility at the forefront. Finally, it retrieves Aquinas's theology of marital indissolubility as a contribution to deepening current theological discussions. The author argues that Amoris Laetitia upholds the traditional Catholic teaching that a valid and consummated Christian marriage is absolutely indissoluble, in accord with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, as solemnly and authoritatively taught by the Council of Trent and affirmed by later popes and the Second Vatican Council. He says that Amoris Laetitia should be interpreted and implemented in light of the doctrine of marital indissolubility: implementations that undermine this doctrine should be avoided. Levering says that numerous contemporary Catholic theologians and biblical scholars are mistakenly turning the indissolubility of marriage into contingent dissolubility based upon whether the spouses continue to act in loving ways toward each other. The sacrament's gift of objective indissolubility is thereby undermined. Fortunately, the main interpreters of Amoris Laetitia, whose views have been approved by Pope Francis, insist that the Apostolic Exhortation does not change the doctrine of marital indissolubility in any way.




Information Sheet


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