Turning to the World: Social Justice and the Common Good since Vatican II

by Gertrude Rompré (Editor), Carl N. Still (Editor)

Overview

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) was a watershed event in the history of the Catholic Church, a critical self-examination that sought at once to rediscover the most ancient sources of Christian thought and practice and to bring these traditions into the modern world. While few question the idealism and vision of Vatican II, its legacy is contested. Has the Catholic Church fulfilled the promise of the council? Has it successfully reclaimed the scriptural call to justice? Has it truly shifted its gaze to the "joys and hopes, grief and anguish" of our troubled world? Reflecting on both the vision of the council and its uneven reception, Turning to the World ponders the impact of Vatican II on interreligious dialogue, peace-building, and care for the environment. Focusing specifically on the Canadian and Latin American experiences, contributors work from diverse disciplinary perspectives to examine developments in the Catholic Church's understanding of freedom, conscience, and the common good. The volume also appraises the effects of the Church's turn to the world in its hope to voice the pressing needs of the human family, especially in contexts of great poverty and injustice and among peoples adversely affected by the modern and postmodern economies of greed. Exploring the legacy of Vatican II, Turning to the World offers a unique perspective on the influence, reception, developments, and applications of the council from the 1960s to the teachings of Pope Francis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773555273
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	12/30/2018
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Carl N. Still is associate professor of philosophy at St Thomas More College. Gertrude Rompré is director of mission and ministry at St Thomas More College.

Table of Contents

Editors' Note ix

Abbreviations xi

Prologue The Spirit Lives On: Reflections of a Council Father Remi J. De Roo xiii

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction Carl N. Still Gertrude Rompré 3

1 Conscience, Freedom, and Humanism: New Foundations for Catholic Social Teaching at Vatican II Michael W. Duggan 10

2 The Social Mission of the Church: An Issue of Dialogue Gregory Baum 34

3 Moralizing Neoliberalism? An Analysis of the Principle of Subsidiarity in Catholic Social Teaching Anna Blackman 50

4 Dialogue and Dignity: Linking Nostra Aetate to Catholic Social Justice Teachings Alisha Pomazon 67

5 Images of Dealing with Social Injustice from Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition: A Resource for Renewed Reflection Loren T. Stuckenbruck 91

6 A Voice from the South: Social Justice in the Latin American Church after Vatican II Eduardo Soto Parra 107

7 To the World: Ana Castillo's The Guardians and Literature after Vatican II Cynthia R. Wallace 125

8 An Integral Vision of Peace? Assessing Catholic Social Teaching's Contribution to Contemporary Green Cultures of Peace from Vatican II to Benedict XVI Christopher Hrynkow 140

9 The Priority of Social Justice at the Second Vatican Council: Canadian Contributions Catherine E. Clifford 164

10 The Search for the Common Good in Canada Mary Jo Leddy 180

Epilogue Donald Bolen 193

Bibliography 199

Contributors 225

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

"This collection of original essays offers a unique perspective on the legacy of the Second Vatican Council in light of the trajectory of the Church's social teaching since its first 'social encyclical,' Rerum Novarum (1891) by Pope Leo XIII, and as it has unfolded refreshingly in the many initiatives of the Catholic Church in Canada." Mary Jo Iozzio, Boston College


"Most books on the reception of Vatican II focus on the actual documents of the council and the ongoing effort to implement their teaching. Assessments of the implementation of the council's teaching on social justice are rarer, although they can be found (see The Church in the Modern World: Fifty Years after Gaudium et Spes, ed. by Erin Brigham, 2015). ... this book will prove valuable to scholars of social justice." Choice

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