Catholic Theological
Society of America

Notice from the Univ. of Notre Dame 

The Office of the Provost has received word of the recent passing of Father Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., Professor Emeritus, Theology, College of Arts and Letters. We join with our colleagues across the university in sending our deepest condolences to the Gutiérrez family, community, and colleagues.

Father Gutiérrez will be remembered at a Memorial Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame on Monday, November 11, 2024 at 5:15 p.m. (Eastern Time).  Our university president, Father Bob Dowd, C.S.C., will preside. The Mass will be live streamed on the regular Basilica daily Mass page: https://basilica.nd.edu/prayer-and-worship/watch-mass/. 

Write a book review for https://catholicbooksreview.org/

 You select the book, I mail it to you, you send me the electronic review, and I post it (about 1,500 to 2,000 reviews posted since 1997). Write to Hegy@adelphi.edu/   Here is the list of books available in November:

ZECHARIAH. In the series Wisdom Commentaries. By Leslie Hoppe (250 pp – Liturgical Press). [Historical-critical analysis of the text, chapter by chapter, in a feminist perspective]

I PETER. Revised edition. Tyndale NT Commentaries. By Wayne A. Grudem (260 pp – IVP Academic). [First published in 1988. A long introduction about date and authorship, followed by a commentary of the various sections]

REDISCOVERING THE WISDOM OF THE CORINTHIANS. Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy. By Timothy Brookins (340 pp – Eerdmans. [The “wisdom” of 1 Cor 1-4 refers to the Stoic philosophy that prevailed in Corinth; some members considered themselves as “wiser” philosophically and “superior” intellectually; this led to conflictive divisions. Paul refutes this philosophical interpretation of his teachings]

CHRISTIANS AT HOME. John Chrysostom and Domestic Rituals in Fourth-Century Antioch. By Blake Leyerle (140 pp – Penn State University Press). [Drawing from Chrysostom’s sermons, the author describes the home devotions of the Antioch Christians.]

JESUS AND DIVINE CHRISTOLOGY. By Brant Pitre (360 pp – Eerdmans). [In the tradition of the study of the historical Jesus, Pitre shows that Jesus made claims of divinity for himself]

TRUST IN ATONEMEMNT.  God, Creation, and Reconciliation by Teresa Morgan (240 pp – Eerdmans). [This book is a further development of the author’s theology of trust: in the NT and everyday life, with chapters on trust and suffering, trust after trauma, trust in creation, trust to forgive]

EUCHARISTIC RESERVATION.  Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Outside Mass. By Paul Turner (180 pp – Liturgical Press). [Commentary section by section on the new edition of Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Outside Mass of 2024]

Together with

SOUNDINGS ON EUCHARIST AND PRIESTHOOD. BY Michael Dellaire (100 pp – Friesen Press) Reflections from the context the Canadian ministry] These works can be reviewed briefly together or separately.

CATHOLIC DOGMATIC THEOLOGY: A SYNTHESIS. Book 3. On the Church and the Sacraments. by Jean-Hervé Nicolas, OP (750 pp – CUA Press). [Translated from German. First published in 1985]

REMARRIAGE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By Andrew Das (320 pp – Eerdmans). [Review of the Jewish and Greco-Roman sources and the witness of the early church]

The nineteenth-century salesian pentecost (Classics of Western Spirituality). edited by Joseph Boenzi (270 pp – Paulist Press). [The Salesian family, the Sisters and the Daughters of Francis de Sales, the Fransalians]

Everyday Annunciations. On Learning to Say Yes. By Susan Swetnam (120 pp – Liturgical Press). [Swetnam recounts how she came to accept her husband’s death when contemplating Fra Angelico’s Annunciation. Using numerous stories of disrupted lives, she describes how to say “Yes” through six paintings of the Annunciation.]

ALL MY SPRINGS ARE IN YOU More Explorations of Great Biblical Texts. By Gerhard Lohfink (1934-2024) (320 pp – Liturgical Press). [The springs in Psalm 87 refer to Jerusalem to which all nations converge for justice and peace. Lohfink illustrates this theme through 50 short biblical reflections.]

SOCIAL CATHOLICISM FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENRTURY? New Hope for Ecclesial and Societal Renewal. Volume 2. Edited by William Murphy Jr. (360 pp – Wipf and Stock). [Proposals for societal renewal on engaging topics like Christian humanism, post-neoliberalism, biophilic markets, new economics, race, the social media, cooperation beyond borders, pastoral leadership, after populism and polarization, etc.]

Edited by Paul Lakeland, an international collection of essays re-evaluating the legacy of Hans Kung. Authors include Hermann Haring, Karl-Josef Kuschel, Anthony Godzieba, Roger Haight, Mary McAleese, Susan Ross, Jakob Rinderknecht, Hille Haker, Frank Clooney, Johanna Rainer and Jonathan Keir. Available from Paulist Press. 

Swiss theologian Hans Kung was the most controversial of the European Catholic theologians who emerged at the time of Vatican II. He gained attention for challenging papal infallibility, but he also wrote at length on other topics, including justification, Christian life, the existence of God, priesthood, the incarnation, global ethics and interreligious dialogue.

John R. Morris, OP has recently published Jesus, the Person and the Mission: Searching for the Jesus of History. The publisher’s description of the book reads:

“This book is a search for the Jesus of history, the Jesus experienced by his disciples during his public life. Its objective is to discover the authentic words and deeds attributable to Jesus with historical certitude. It accounts for his Jewish religious background and the historical context in which he carried out his mission. Central to this work is Jesus’ relationship to his Abba and his personal understanding of his mission. Special attention is devoted to the major events and teaching of Jesus: his baptism, his miracles, his preaching and parables, and his Last Supper. The Jesus of history, the person and his words and deeds, are foundational for the faith of the early church and the written Scriptures that followed his death and resurrection. They are also foundational for  contemporary faith." 

It is the author’s conviction that contemporary Christology must consider the Jesus of history. The book can be ordered through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Yipf & Stock, the publisher.

CTSA remembers the "father of liberation theology," Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, OP. 
 

The funeral arrangements for Father Gustavo are attached. Note that the funeral Mass is tomorrow, October 24, at 1:00 in Lima (Central time zone). We have unofficial word that the funeral Mass will be live streamed on the Facebook page of the Instituto Bartolome de las Casas (https://www.facebook.com/Institutobartolomedelascasas/).

"Damos gracias a Dios por el gran legado que nuestro hermano Gustavo ha dejado a la Iglesia y la sociedad." -Fr. Rómulo Vásquez Gavidia, OP. 

May Gustavo Gutiérrez rest in God's peace,
 

"Critical Theology", a newsletter published by Novalis and originally founded by Gregory Baum, is now available "free" as an online publication.  It is edited by Don Schweitzer of St. Andrew's College, Saskatoon, SK and includes several CTSA members as corresponding editors: M. Shawn Copeland, Lee Cormie, and Charles Curran. You can find it at:

en.novalis.ca/products/critical-theology

The video recording of the CTSA Fall 2024 Virtual Event, Teaching Catholic Theology in the Present Political Moment (Tuesday, October 22), is now available for viewing for CTSA members. 

To access the video, navigate to the CTSA's website home page.  Log into the website using your email address and member #.  Then scroll to the bottom of the page where resources are posted.  Select: CTSA Recorded Videos

Dear Colleagues and Friends,  

With great sorrow, tonight I write to let you know that our brother and friend Gustavo Gutierrez OP passed away this evening.  We are grateful to God for his life, his friendship, and the enormous gift of his theological vision. I met Gustavo for the first time when I was 22 years old. He was personally influential in my decision to become a theologian.  He helped me come to grips with the extreme contrast between wealth and poverty that I witnessed daily as a child growing up on the U.S.-Mexico border.   Mil gracias Gustavo for your work on behalf of the poor and for your love of the people of God and of God’s coming reign.    I do not have any further information at this time. 

Mil gracias hermano Gustavo.  Que descanse en paz,

Nancy Pineda-Madrid, CTSA President

General Secretariat of the Synod ~ Synod 2021 - 2024

Click here to access the website with links to the Vatican Newsfeed, Highlights, Documents, Synod News, Posts and more.

The CTSA prays for and remembers Gregory K. Hillis who died on October 8, 2024.

Eternal rest grant unto, Greg, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Tribute published by Americamagazine.com:

James T. Keane, "Gratitude, sorrow, suffering and mercy: R.I.P. Greg Hillis", America Magazine October 10, 2024 <americamagazine.org, October 18, 2024>.