This new volume of essays examines the relationship between Catholicism and homosexuality. Why did so many literary Modernists embrace Catholicism? What is their relationship between historical homophobia and contemporary struggles between the Church and the homosexual? Moving from the Gothic to the late Twentieth-century, from Britain to America and France, "Catholic Figures, Queer Narratives" interrogates what is queer about Catholicism and what is modern about homosexuality. The result is a radical revision of the sacred - in life and art, the body and devotion.

One of the principal buzzwords of the Second Vatican Council (1963-65), along with collegiality, co-responsibility, full participation, and aggiornamento, was dialogue. This is a history of how the practices of dialogue have actually worked or failed to work at every level of the church over the past forty years. Beginning at the most basic level, that of the parish, the book moves up the ecclesiastical ladder from parish councils, to diocesan synods, to the (Roman) synod of bishops. The book moves laterally as well to include ecumenical and interreligious dialogues. A chapter is devoted to the fractious Call to Action Conference, initiated by the U.S. bishops in 1976; another to the new inclusive style of drafting pastoral letters by the U.S. bishops - "The Challenge of Peace" (1983), "Economic Justice for All" (1986), and the never approved pastoral on women ("Partners in the Mystery of Redemption"). A further chapter is devoted to Cardinal Bernardin's Catholic Common Ground Initiative, which is still going on, though it was initially publicly attacked by four U.S. cardinals. Finally, there is a chapter on what was perhaps the most radical and far-reaching exercise of dialogue of all, namely, the dialogical and democratic processes by which women religious revised their constitutions. This is a cautionary tale, filled with thick description of advances and retreats. In a curious way, the book is a sequel to the multi-volume "History of the Second Vatican Council", edited by Giuseppe Alberigo and Joseph Komonchak If those volumes tell us what transpired at the council, Hinze's volume tells us what happened when the council fathers went home and all the good ideas of the council were either put into effect or left to gather dust in the dead-letter bin. Vatican Council II is an ongoing experiment, and "Practices of Dialogue" is a series of reports from the labs.

'What does it mean to be a human being?' Given this perennial question, Alasdair MacIntyre, one of America's preeminent philosophers, presents a compelling argument on the necessity and importance of philosophy. Because of a need to better understand Catholic philosophical thought, especially in the context of its historical development and realizing that philosophers interact within particular social and cultural situations, MacIntyre offers this brief history of Catholic philosophy. Tracing the idea of God through different philosophers' engagement of God and how this engagement has played out in universities, MacIntyre provides a valuable, lively, and insightful study of the disintegration of academic disciplines with knowledge. MacIntyre then demonstrates the dangerous implications of this happening and how universities can and ought to renew a shared understanding of knowledge in their mission. This engaging work will be a benefit and a delight to all readers.

Canon Sheehan's writings provide valuable insight into Ireland's difficult process of cultural reconstruction after independence. This astute observer of Irish society was pessimistic about the future of religion. Though himself a man of European culture, he made a case for the isolationism to become reality under the Free State. It is a case which today is easily scorned - but his works allow us to understand why it could command such support, and to appreciate its relative historical justification.

The purpose of this book is to provide student affairs professionals who work at Catholic colleges and universities a tool for reflection and dialogue on difficult issues they face on their campuses. It is intended to be used in staff development sessions, in training sessions with student leaders and resident assistants, and in master's level student affairs preparation programs at Catholic colleges and universities. This book is the next step in a series of projects that began in the early 1990s after the publication by the Vatican of the apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae. This book is a collection of case studies that focus on particular issues related to Catholic identity that are faced by student affairs professionals who work at Catholic colleges and universities. By its very nature, the focus on the difficult issues we face is a limitation. The editors in no way wish to imply that Catholic identity is only about problems. Previous research and experience clearly indicates those who work at Catholic institutions understand and embrace the opportunities that this environment provides for them. But as Schaller and Boyle (2006) indicated, there is a need for dialogue around the difficult issues that we face. The editors believe that a book of case studies is particularly helpful because it allows a staff to discuss problems at fictionalized universities and then ask themselves, "What would we do here?" The editors solicited cases using a mailing list provided by the Association for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities (ASACCU); thus, the cases included in this book represent the real concerns of those practicing in the field. Some of the cases that are included are true stories of situations that actually happened, some are fictional, and some are hybrid stories based on actual events but changed to illustrate an issue. To protect the privacy of those who were kind enough to share their difficult issues with their colleagues, the names of case contributors are listed at the beginning of the book in alphabetical order, rather than being listed with the cases they contributed.

The Vatican's foreign relations, particularly their Middle Eastern aspects, are generally little known. This book attempts to clear up the misunderstandings and misconceptions in regard to the Vatican's Middle Eastern relations. For more than a thousand years, the Holy See has been inextricably involved in the Middle East; indeed, the very roots of the Roman Catholic Church originate there. Yet despite the religious overtones of the Holy Land issue, Kreutz argues that the Vatican's Middle Eastern policy is much more than an expression of its religious and secular ideology, it is a reflection of the social, political, and economic climate. The study begins with background on the Roman Catholic Church and its links to the Third World, especially the Middle East. The balance of the book provides a chronological historical analysis of the Vatican's involvement in the Palestinian problem beginning around 1900 through 1988. Kreutz examines its relations in regard to the beginning of Zionist settlement in Palestine, the Holocaust, the 1947-1948 partition plan and the creation of Israel and the Arab refugee problem. He focuses on the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli Six Day War in 1967 including the growth of the Palestinian national movement, and the present day attitude of the Vatican under Pope John Paul II.

"I have been privileged to live in a queer time; I have witnessed the possibilities of both transcendence and horror. Beneath the melange of comely and loathsome, I found a hope hidden in contemporary existence: one can set out on a quest, a search for the truth of the whole, the good of one's life. In spite of the stumbling, the errors, the moral lapses, indeed, because of the disarray, I came to see that only a teleological odyssey makes sense, quiets the need for meaning. The end not only illumines the journey, it also permits one to live with the shame of failure."

--from the Preface

Stumbling Toward Justice is a collection of stories of one man's odyssey through the darkness of the modern world. His journey takes him through the United States, Venezuela, Mexico, Spain, Germany, and India. In each place he stumbles for ground on which he can stand, on which he can seek an honorable life and practice.

Lee Hoinacki's goal, he tells us, is to illustrate a fundamental insight: "The promise of progress is a lie, a terrible and cruel trap. My words can have only one justification: they sow doubt." He questions contemporary belief in the goods offered by mainstream or conventional practices of child rearing, education, health care, industrial farming, and offers a critique of economic growth and technological advances. Each chapter relates a story in one of these areas from Hoinacki's experience, an experience that inspires him to critical reflection.

Hoinacki's underlying assumption is that a narrative relating one's personal experience may introduce the reader to a wider and more incisive understanding than that provided by the investigative and reporting methods of the social and natural sciences. He suggests that one comes to see the physical world, the self, and others better through the language of poetry than through that of science. Stumbling Toward Justice is a fitting sequel to his earlier book, El Camino: Walking to Santiago de Compostela. In this account, Hoinacki is writing not about a single pilgrimage but about a series of journeys over the course of his life. He speaks with the greatest possible directness and authenticity, and the truths he draws are powerful because his right to speak them has been earned along the way. "I must discover and improvise my own story as I go along," he writes.

Fr. Luis Martin Garcia was superior general of the Society of Jesus during one of the most fractious periods in western history, from 1892 to his death in 1906. Fortunately for both the church and his order, he was endowed with remarkable gifts of mind and spirit. He was also troubled with personal challenges that he had to face almost entirely on his own. As an aid, he kept a memoir, prodigious in both size and content, to be published posthumously. The memoir appeared in a critical Spanish edition in 1988. In this present book, David Schultenover provides a condensed English version of it along with an interpretation that engages the question, why would a Jesuit superior general leave to posterity such a candid memoir? The subtitle "Showing Up" provides a clue.

This work explores the role of canon law in the ecclesiastical reform movement of the eleventh century, commonly known as the Gregorian Reform. Focusing on the Collectio canonum of Bishop Anselm of Lucca, it explores how the reformers came to value and employ law as as means of achieving desired ends in a time of social upheaval and revolution.

"Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" is the first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary - predominately a literary and historical criticism - is based on and includes a new translation, and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.

A monk who has striven to live according to the Rule of Benedict for thirty-five years, Father Kardong relates it to modern monastic life while examining the sources (Cassian, Augustine, and Basil) Benedict used to establish his Rule. Overviews - summaries of notes, source criticism, or structural criticism - follow some chapters, and a large bibliography of the current scholarship and source references are also included. "Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" also includes the Latin text of the "Regula Benedicti."This reference work is invaluable to libraries and to those who are called to interpret the Rule. It will be opened again and again. Indexed.

In Envoys of A Human God Andreu Martinez offers a comprehensive study of the religious mission led by the Society of Jesus in Christian Ethiopia. The mission to Ethiopia was one of the most challenging undertakings carried out by the Catholic Church in early modern times. The book examines the period of early Portuguese contacts with the Ethiopian monarchy, the mission's main developments and its aftermath, with the expulsion of the Jesuit missionaries. The study profits from both an intense reading of the historical record and the fruits of recent archaeological research. Long-held historiographical assumptions are challenged and the importance of cultural and socio-political factors in the attraction and ultimate estrangement between European Catholics and Ethiopian Christians is highlighted.

Despite all the hoopla about Pope John Paul II, some believe he has been an unparalleled disaster in the history of the papacy and of the Church. In "Crossing the Threshold of Confusion, " author Andrew J. McCauley examines the record of this pope and discusses the harm he has done or has allowed to have happened not only to the Church but to Western civilization. McCauley uncovers countless faults many Catholic leaders have overlooked, including: Pope John Paul II's failure to enforce discipline in the Church, especially against widespread sexual abuse by priests; his statements alleging and implying universal salvation; the destabilization of marriage caused by his theology of the body; the conflicting messages that confuse the Church's position on capital punishment; his stance on the nature of the Church as a result of Vatican II.This exploration of recent Catholic history studies the ideas, writings, and policies of Pope John Paul II, from his life a young priest to his final days as pope, and examines their compatibility with traditional Catholic doctrine and practice. "Crossing the Threshold of Confusion" presents a case against the canonization of Pope John Paul II and demonstrates how his record warrants condemnation.