Catholic Theological
Society of America

In the web article, Being Catholic Interreligiously, Michael Naughton interviews CTSA President Francis X. Clooney, S.J.  A link to the article is posted below.

Michael Naughton, Being Catholic Interreligiously, (Harvard Divinity School, July 18, 2022):

Being Catholic Interreligiously

https://www.fordhampress.com/fordham-university-press-acquires-groundbreaking-series/

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS ACQUIRES GROUNDBREAKING SERIES DISRUPTIVE CARTOGRAPHERS: DOING THEOLOGY LATINAMENTE

New York — Fordham University Press (FUP) acquires Queer God de Amor by Latino     

theologian Miguel Díaz. The book is part of the Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente series, which will also be moving to Fordham University Press from Orbis Books with this volume. Previous volumes include The Word Became Culture and the award-winning Revelation in the Vernacular.

About the Series

Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente is multivolume series that re-maps theology and pushes out in new directions from varying coordinates across a spectrum of latinidad as lived in the USA. Authors reconfigure and disrupt key areas like revelation, eschatology, and trinity. Other volumes complicate and advance even further key themes of significance in Latin@ theologies, including the option for culture, religious diversity, and Mary.

“Fordham University Press is excited to have acquired Queer God de Amor by Miguel Díaz and to have secured the rights to publish the Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente series of which it is a part. The book and series are a perfect fit with our catalog and contribute to our mission of publishing boundary-breaking scholarship and supporting underrepresented voices. We welcome Dr. Díaz, together with his co-editors, Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández and Gary Riebe-Estrella, S.V.D., to the FUP community of authors and look forward to a successful and long-lasting collaboration.”

—Fredric Nachbaur, Director, Fordham University Press

“The Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente series reflects ethical and theological commitments to the invitation of Pope Francis “¡hagan lío!” As theologians and scholars arising from complex matrices of latinidad, lived and experienced in myriad modalities, we stir things up by retrieving resources from a rich diversity of Latin@ /Hispan@ traditioning. With particular attention to sources that may have been suppressed, erased, ignored, or overlooked, we explore in creative and interdisciplinary ways the stuff of lo cotidiano, daily life. We are excited about the prospect of pushing las fronteras en conjunto with Fordham University Press.”

—Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández, Founding Editor, Disruptive Cartographers

About Fordham University Press

Fordham University Press, established in 1907, is the seventh oldest university press in the country and the nation’s oldest Catholic university press. Fordham University Press not only represents and uphold the values and traditions of the University itself but also furthers those values and traditions through the dissemination of scholarly research and ideas. The Press publishes boundary-breaking print and digital books that bring recognition to itself, the University, and authors while balancing the need to publish in new formats and work collaboratively on and off campus. Its regional imprints, Empire State Editions and New York ReLit, and location in New York City’s Lincoln Center neighborhood reinforce the university’s motto, New York is My Campus, Fordham is My School.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Queer God de Amor
Miguel H. Díaz
Fordham University Press; Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-5315-0248-5 | Theology | Religion | LGBTQ Studies | $25.95
160 pages, 5 ½ x 8 ½
eBook Available
Disruptive Cartographers: Doing Theology Latinamente
Publication Date: September 13, 2022

Media Contact: Kate O’Brien-Nicholson, Fordham University Press, bkaobrien@fordham.edu.

Hello Colleagues, 

I wanted to share a link to the Synod Synthesis from the Archdiocese of Seattle, which serves as a summary of nearly 1,000 listening sessions that we conducted in western Washington. It provides an honest portrait of 11,000 Catholics in the area and spurs the diocese to greater outreach and response to the various issues that are named. This synthesis has also been sent to the USCCB.

In a homily that ended this diocesan phase of Pope Francis' global synod on synodality, Archbishop Paul Etienne expressed how this document calls us to walk together on a path marked by pain and love, much like the way of the cross and of the eucharist. I would love to know of any thoughts or feedback you may have on the document, which I can relay to the Seattle Archdiocesan pastoral council. 

Thank you, 

Jaisy

The Catholic Peacebuilding Network (CPN), with over two dozen co-sponsors, hosted the virtual conference Catholic Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis: Hope for a Wounded World from June 20-23. All sessions from the conference are available as recordings on the CPN YouTube channel. This includes a special message from Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the UN; a keynote address from Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar; a plenary roundtable on the ethics of war and peace led by Boston College's Lisa Sowle Cahill; and a plenary panel on climate, development, and peace, which included Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Holy See Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Erin Lothes, from St. Elizabeth University and the Laudato Si' Movement, and Laurie Johnston, from Emmanuel College.

OVERTURNING ROE VS. WADE

The overturning of Roe vs. Wade does not stop abortion or even reduce it, if that was the purpose of the conservative members of the Supreme Court. It was a draconian measure, part of the radical agenda of the right conservative, which only created chaos and deepened social fissures. Abortion is a social problem, and unless its social roots are addressed, draconian measures only instill fear and cause violence, but it does not solve the problem.

Any extreme position regarding abortion results in extreme consequences. By criminalizing abortion, the government overextends itself by intruding into deeply personal moral choices of women as free and autonomous human beings. Criminalizing abortion removes the right of women to privacy as instituted in the Constitution. They can now be charged of felony when they take recourse in abortion.  It would only make abortion more dangerous, for criminalizing abortion would not stop women from seeking abortion, but seeking it now without the protection of the law. They would be easy targets of unscrupulous abortions under the cloak of the night.

What is needed are more social amelioration programs that help reduce abortion, by providing women more access to child care, work benefits, employment opportunities, educational benefits. Adoption should be made a more attractive option, by facilitating the adoption process, and providing all the necessary assistance for women to bring their pregnancy to full term, and to ensure the care for their child until he or she is adopted. The goal is to protect the life of the fetus as well as to support women. When women are supported, fetal life is also protected.  When women are left to their devices, as their male partners take flight, or as social institutions neglect them, they are forced to take final recourse in abortion. Opponents of abortion sometimes talk as though the woman is out to “get” the fetus, hell-bent to kill the life in her womb. Only in extreme situations, at the steepest personal and familial cost, do most women opt for abortion as the lesser of two evils.  

John Paul II views abortion as an instance of the domination of the weak by the strong. This, however, is true in a double sense.  Vulnerable life in the womb is attacked, but women are also victims of structural injustice. John Paul II recognizes the fact that some women as acting under duress and as lacking other options. Supporting the lives of the unborn is a special duty of parents, but they require structures of support in order to do that.  Addressing the social roots of abortion is also addressing a sexual culture that is promiscuous and irresponsible, where abortion is resorted to as an easy and ordinary means, and a patriarchal culture where abortion, as Stanley Hauerwas puts it, is the “coercive method men use to free themselves from responsibility to women.”

Jolting the legal system, the overturning of Roe vs. Wade has created problems that would have long-term social consequences. A middle position should have been the re-examination of  Roe vs. Wade, so that it does not degenerate into abortion on demand, but allows abortion with restrictions and exceptions which are reasonable, ethical, and legal.

Christina A. Astorga

National Catholic Reporter has published "Catholic Theological Society of America resolves to divest from fossil fuels" that outlines the resolutions passed at the Convention.

Dear Colleagues,

Good morning. Like all our fellow citizens, we all have been caught up in thinking about the Supreme Court’s recent judgments on aid to religiously-affiliated schools, on prayer, and on striking down NY restrictions on bearing arms — and most of all, we all have been thinking, discussing, and praying about Dobbs v. Jackson and the overturning of Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey. In these eventful days, we need to reaffirm Cardinal Bernardin’s “seamless garment of life” ethic, respect for life from conception through every stage of life until death.

As thinking Catholics, we know that this reaffirmed protection of life has many ramifications, creating new complications for pregnant women and the fathers of their unborn children, and disproportionately impacting economically marginalized communities and communities of color. Our commitment to the seamless garment ethic will ring hollow if we do not concretely and systemically care for one another in ways that promote real human flourishing. Nor should we overlook the politicization of our courts and the deep divisions and animosities in the United States today, even as we also acknowledge the deep religious and ethical diversity – and hence inevitable differences of opinion – among people of good faith.

As a Board, we decided that the issues following upon Dobbs v. Jackson are too complex for us to be able to craft an adequate Board statement on behalf of the Society without a long consultation with you, our colleagues in the Society. But I do encourage us all, on our campuses, in our seminaries and parishes, to pursue the needed expert conversations among ourselves and our colleagues in every place we do our work and live our Catholic lives, that we may continue to be of service as best we can to the Church and outside it too. Kristin Heyer, our President-Elect, has indicated to me that she will be including an invited session on the topic at next year's convention. Perhaps we should host a Zoomed conversation in the fall, to hear reports on what is happening locally, in our teaching, lecturing, writing, in the post Dobbs v. Jackson era. Please feel free, of course, to use this Newsfeed to post your own thoughtful reflections on the issues facing us.

We are a learned society at the service of the Church amid our complex cultures. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to use our professional skills to clarify and accentuate the truths and values essential to being Catholic today.

Francis X. Clooney, SJ, CTSA President

James F. Keenan, S.J.,  A History of Catholic Theological Ethics, Paulist Press, June 2022.

Brigham, Erin M. and M. Johnson (eds.), Women Engaging the Catholic Social Tradition: Solidarity Toward the Common Good, Paulist Press, June 2022.

STATEMENT FROM THE MEXICAN PROVINCE OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

Mexico City, June 21, 2022 – It is with great dismay that we, the Jesuits of Mexico, denounce the murder of our brothers Javier Campos Morales, S.J. and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, S.J., which occurred yesterday inside the church of the community of Cerocahui, Chihuahua.

 We condemn these violent acts; we demand justice and the recovery of the bodies of our brothers who were taken from the church by armed individuals.

 We also demand the immediate adoption of all protective measures to safeguard the lives of our Jesuit brothers, nuns, lay people, as well as the entire community of Cerocahui.

 These incidents are not to be seen isolated. The Sierra Tarahumara, like many other regions of the country, is facing a situation of violence and neglect that has not been reversed. Every day, men and women are arbitrarily deprived of their lives, just as our brothers were killed today.

 The Jesuits of Mexico will not remain silent in the face of a reality that destroys society as a whole. We will continue to raise our voices and we will work for the mission of justice, reconciliation, and peace, through our pastoral, educational, and social works.

 In denouncing what happened, we also stress the pain our people are experiencing due to the prevailing violence, and we stand in solidarity with so many people who suffer from this same situation, and whose suffering does not arouse public empathy and attention.

 We trust that the testimonies of the Christian life of our dear Javier and Joaquín will continue to inspire men and women to give themselves in the service of the most vulnerable.

May they rest in peace.

The Catholic Social Thought Topic Session is looking for a new administrative team member! 

If you are interested or need more information, don't hesitate to contact Jens Mueller (jnm.2109@gmail.com).

We look forward to working with you!