An international team of scholars address the theology and practice of peacebuilding.

"Peacebuilding" refers to a range of topics, ranging from conflict prevention to post-conflict reconciliation. In this volume a strong cast of Catholic theologians, ethicists, and scholar-practitioners join to examine the challenge of peacebuilding in theory and practice. While many of the essays deal with general themes of reconciliation, forgiveness, interreligious dialogue, and human rights, there are also case studies of peacebuilding in such diverse contexts as Colombia, the Philippines, the Great Lakes region of Africa, Indonesia, and South Africa. This volume will be of interest to all scholars engaged in developing a theology and ethic of just peace, as well as students seeking to understand the interaction between theology, ethics, and lived Christianity.

Contributors include: John Paul Lederach; Maryann Cusimano Love; Daniel Philpott; William Headley and Reina Neufeldt; Todd Whitmore; Peter-John Pearson; Thomas Michel; Kenneth Himes; Lisa Sowle Cahill; Peter Phan; and David O'Brien.

The concept of Mestizaje--a reference to the distinctive biological and cultural intermixture that occurred in the "New World"--had becme a foundational catagory in U.S. Latina/o theology. This book traces the subversive and innovative ways in which Catholic theologians have turned this concept into a powerful framework for articulating the experiences of faith of Latina/o communities.

Looking back on a happy lifetime spent as a Catholic priest, Kenneth Payne presents an inspired biographical work that discusses a fundamentally important element of human life; namely hospitality and how it has been, and continues to be, a central component of his life, work and faith. This continues as a central theme in the presentation of his travelogue, which describes, not without humour, his work with many different groups of people. Especially moving are the descriptions of his work amongst the most poverty stricken people in Jamaica, and his visit to the deprived peoples in Brazil where the open door and welcoming arms are the agents through which Christ's teachings are practised in today's world. At a time when criticism is often levelled at the institutionalised churches, this book comes as a breath of fresh air and is of interest to many who may not share the author's faith.

The papacy is clearly the greatest difficulty facing ecumenical dialogue today, and particularly the dialogue between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Yet there is a doorway of hope. In his encyclical, Ut unum sint, John Paul II expressed a desire for common reflection on the exercise of papal primacy. In You Are Peter the great Orthodox theologian Olivier Clement brilliantly responds to this request. He emphasizes the history and experience of the undivided Church, before recalling the contrasting developments of eastern and western Christianity and concluding with the tasks that call us to unity. Professor Clements response to John Paul II is] solidly rooted in the Orthodox tradition, and] represents the cordial and open mentality characteristic of the theologians of Saint Sergius. I would judge that it is almost exactly the kind of response for which Pope John Paul II was hoping. It is a pleasure to be able to present to English-speaking readers this concise, learned, and articulate presentation.... Professor Clements contribution ... is a sign of the progress in ecumenism] thus far made and a beacon of hope for the future. From the Foreword by Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Laurence J. McGinley Professor Fordham University, New York

Best-selling author William G. Storey compiles some of the best traditional devotions to assist in daily prayer throughout the liturgical year. Strongly Biblical in tone and content, A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions was written to caryy out a Vatican mandate which promotes the revival of traditional Catholic devotions. In the first devotional prayer book based on the liturgical year, Storey uses psalms, canticles, Scripture readings, and traditional prayers to celebrate the holy seasons of the year, from Advent and Christmas to Lent and Easter. Concentrating specifically on Jesus and Mary, Storey presents devotions from throughout the ages, both official and unofficial, that have found a special place in the lives of Catholics.

In November 1989, six members of the Jesuit community of the University of Central America in San Salvador, including the rector, Ignacio Ellacuria, were massacred by government troops. Twenty-five years later, this book provides the definitive account of the path led to that fateful day, focusing on the Jesuits' prophetic option for the poor, their role in the renewal of Salvadoran church and society, and the critical steps that caused them, as Archbishop Romero would put it, to "share the same fate as the poor." Drawing on newly available archival materials and extensive interviews, Robert Lassalle-Klein gives special attention to the theological contributions of Ellacuria and Jon Sobrino, who survived the massacre, and the emergence among the Jesuit community of a spirituality that recognized the risen Christ in what Ellacuria called "the crucified people of El Salvador." This insight led, in turn, to the development of the most important advance in the idea of a Christian university since the time of Cardinal Newman. Blood and Ink tells a vital story of a religious and university community's conversion and renewal that speaks to the ongoing challenge of discipleship today.

For more than 800 years scholars have pointed to the dark augury having to do with "the last Pope." The prophecy, taken from St. Malachy's "Prophecy of the Popes," is among a list of verses predicting each of the Roman Catholic popes from Pope Celestine II to the final pope, "Peter the Roman," whose reign would end in the destruction of Rome. First published in 1595, the prophecies were attributed to St. Malachy by a Benedictine historian named Arnold de Wyon, who recorded them in his book, Lignum Vitae. Tradition holds that Malachy had been called to Rome by Pope Innocent II, and while there, he experienced the vision of the future popes, including the last one, which he wrote down in a series of cryptic phrases. According to the prophecy, the next pope (following Benedict XVI) is to be the final pontiff, Petrus Romanus or Peter the Roman. The idea by some Catholics that the next pope on St. Malachy's list heralds the beginning of "great apostasy" followed by "great tribulation" sets the stage for the imminent unfolding of apocalyptic events, something many non-Catholics would agree with. This would give rise to a false prophet, who according to the book of Revelation leads the world's religious communities into embracing a political leader known as Antichrist. In recent history, several Catholic priests--some deceased now--have been surprisingly outspoken on what they have seen as this inevitable danger rising from within the ranks of Catholicism as a result of secret satanic "Illuminati-Masonic" influences. These priests claim secret knowledge of an multinational power elite and occult hierarchy operating behind supranatural and global political machinations. Among this secret society are sinister false Catholic infiltrators who understand that, as the Roman Catholic Church represents one-sixth of the world's population and over half of all Christians, it is indispensable for controlling future global elements in matters of church and state and the fulfillment of a diabolical plan they call "Alta Vendetta," which is set to assume control of the papacy and to help the False Prophet deceive the world's faithful (including Catholics) into worshipping Antichrist. As stated by Dr. Michael Lake on the front cover, Catholic and evangelical scholars have dreaded this moment for centuries. Unfortunately, as readers will learn, time for avoiding Peter the Roman just ran out.

The magnitude of the problem of environmental degradation and climate change requires a complete rethinking and reorienting of our way of being in the world. Responding to the environmental crisis requires not only a conversion of the will but even more fundamentally a transformation of the imaginationthat is, the capacity to think of other ways of being, thinking, and acting in the world. These essays, by a distinguished group of Catholic scholars, assess the gravity of the situation and offer resources from the biblical and theological traditions for the necessary mobilization of will and the conversion of our imaginations.

It is surely true that 'reclaimed' spiritual wisdom from the pre-Vatican II era can enrich the faith lives of Catholics today. The American Catholic community prior to the Second Vatican Council can be numbered among the most vital expressions of Catholicism in the history of the church. The contributors are a who's-who of the top theologians and spiritual writers today. other essays cover devotional practices, such as prayer to the saints, devotion to Mary, the Rosary, the Eucharistic Fast, and the Angelus, as well as profiles of figures such as Thomas Merton, Theodore Hesburth, Teilhard de Chardin, and Dorothy Day.

Published in book form for the first time, Thomas Merton's