The Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network organized a major international conference at Georgetown University, Washington National Cathedral and Marymount University, in 2015, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The council, one of the most important events in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, initiated a process of renewal, transition, and openness that affected not only Catholics, but all Christians, adherents of other religions, and the secular world. The Washington conference received worldwide media (...) attention, with highlights including keynote addresses by several cardinals, archbishops, and bishops as well as eminent scholars from a wide and diverse range of backgrounds in terms of geography and expertise alike. This second of three volumes emerging from this event assesses how Vatican II opened up the Catholic Church to encounter, dialogue, and engagement with other world religions. It begins with a contribution from the late President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, followed by a section devoted to exploring the impact, relevance, and promise of the Council's Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate. The volume turns next to explore how Vatican II in general has influenced and helped develop method in both interfaith dialogue and in the intellectual and comparative study of world religions in the post-conciliar decades. The final thematic section of this volume is devoted to a range of perspectives on the fruits and future of Vatican II’s opening to other faiths. The volume draws toward its conclusion with a moving and evocative reflection from one of the leading pioneers in contemporary comparative theology, Jesuit Francis X. Clooney. (shrink)

At times decisions are made in the field of genetics that are presented as if the ethical debates have been adequately treated and so all moral considerations have been addressed, when the truth is very different. Nor is it always easy or desirable to separate the ethical, legal and social questions posed by new developments. The impact of developments in genetic science upon communities is one field of enquiry that envelops each of these areas.This paper explores the impact of genetics (...) upon communities through focusing, in particular, upon certain developments in reproductive science. After introducing core issues and technologies, it discusses particular ethical concerns in relation to the ‘shadow’ of eugenics over such developments, before exploring the role of legislative debates and procedures in transforming social attitudes, values and hence norms. It then turns to consider debates concerning the ‘quality of life ethic’ now prevalent in healthcare, and moves on to discuss the issue of genetic discrimination – focusing, in particular, upon discrimination against disabled persons as a representative instance of the actual ethical and social/communitarian implications of the foregoing. It ends by highlighting the need to discern the ways in which the ethics of genetics is presently shaped and practised in order to discern better the particular social and communitarian implications of certain technological advances. (shrink)

At times decisions are made in the field of genetics that are presented as if the ethical debates have been adequately treated and so all moral considerations have been addressed, when the truth is very different. Nor is it always easy or desirable to separate the ethical, legal and social questions posed by new developments. The impact of developments in genetic science upon communities is one field of enquiry that envelops each of these areas.This paper explores the impact of genetics (...) upon communities through focusing, in particular, upon certain developments in reproductive science. After introducing core issues and technologies, it discusses particular ethical concerns in relation to the ‘shadow’ of eugenics over such developments, before exploring the role of legislative debates and procedures in transforming social attitudes, values and hence norms. It then turns to consider debates concerning the ‘quality of life ethic’ now prevalent in healthcare, and moves on to discuss the issue of genetic discrimination – focusing, in particular, upon discrimination against disabled persons as a representative instance of the actual ethical and social/communitarian implications of the foregoing. It ends by highlighting the need to discern the ways in which the ethics of genetics is presently shaped and practised in order to discern better the particular social and communitarian implications of certain technological advances. (shrink)

The Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network organized a major international conference at Georgetown University, Washington National Cathedral and Marymount University, in 2015, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The council, one of the most important events in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, initiated a process of renewal, transition and openness that affected not only Catholics, but all Christians, adherents of other religions, and the secular world. The Washington conference received worldwide media (...) attention, with highlights including keynote addresses by several cardinals, archbishops, and bishops as well as eminent scholars from a wide and diverse range of backgrounds in terms of geography and expertise alike. The first of three volumes emerging from this event explores the twentieth century context preceding the council, the legacy of Vatican II in relation to issues such as ethics, social justice, church-world dynamics and economic activity, and offers a series of explorations of women and the church in the context of the council. It also discusses the important topic of inculturation and engages a range of ecumenical readings of Vatican II as well as exploring the future of ecumenical engagement in light of Vatican II. The volume draws to a close with the groundbreaking address on the future of ecumenical dialogue and of unity among churches and the human family in wider terms, by Cardinal Walter Kasper. (shrink)

This essay explores how it might be possible to recover a more pluralistic and therefore participatory understanding and exercise of the teaching office in the Christian Church by, first, briefly reflecting upon the historical backdrop to the emergence and development of the role of authoritative ecclesial teacher. Second, I identify some of the ecclesial fault lines and tensions that emerged in the modern and contemporary periods pertaining to teaching authority. Third, I raise the issue of the impact of such developments (...) upon the manner in which Christian churches have sought to offer teachings on ethical issues in recent times. Fourth, I explore, via an ecclesiological analysis that is both a comparative and ecumenical in nature, three visions for retrieving a more participatory and life-giving understanding of the teaching office and practice of the teaching function for our times. The visions explored come from a Reformed, Roman Catholic, and ecumenical standpoint: respectively, those of Richard Robert Osmer, Richard R. Gaillardetz, and Willem Visser 't Hooft. The final section offers some brief conclusions about the potential for truly ecumenical collaboration in moral discernment in the light of such considerations. (shrink)

This paper explores transformations in the understanding of teaching authority and also considers an often neglected group of subjects who have exercised such in the period during and since the Second Vatican Council. In particular, it explores both topics vis-à-vis the role of women in the church, especially their contributions to the church’s exercise of magisterium. The article outlines the need to increase awareness, acknowledgment and appreciation of the contribution of women to the church’s teaching authority and, most importantly of (...) all, to increase further their participation in the same. First, the paper considers, the role played by the few women present in an active capacity at Vatican II. Through posing the rhetorical question, ‘what were they doing there?’, the author argues that these women were teaching with authority, i.e. exercising magisterium. Next, the paper explores some of the confusion and controversies surrounding the notion of what magisterium actually is and who should exercise it, before surveying some further brief examples of how women have exercised magisterium throughout the history of the church. The paper next considers how events in the church have developed from a stance of confrontation toward the more positive steps that have been taken in relation to the role of women in the church under Pope Francis. It concludes with reflections on the future and why attention to aggiornamento for magisterium is essential in order that the church becomes a body of greater and wider co-responsibility, including the indispensable collaboration of women practicing the art of magisterium. (shrink)