How did the present authority structures within the Church come into existence? How, if at all, can we justify their existence? What form of authority should exist in the Church? These and other related questions exercise the minds of many Christians in these days when the very notion of authority is questioned, but debate about them is perhaps nowhere more lively than within the ranks of Roman Catholicism. This book offers an important contribution to such debate within that church. Leading Catholic theologians from both sides of the Atlantic take up the key issues: analysing the concept of authority and governance; examining the history of authority within the Roman Catholic church; discussing who should have a say in future developments; exploring ecumenical dimensions, with particular reference to Anglicanism and the Orthodox churches; and suggesting the kind of reforms that might be prudent, as well as ways in which such reforms might be brought about. The book will prove of interest to many Roman Catholics, but given the ecumenical impact of many of the issues explored, it is likely to exert a wide appeal far beyond the confines of that church.

How did the present authority structures within the Church come into existence? How, if at all, can we justify their existence? What form of authority should exist in the Church? These and other related questions exercise the minds of many Christians in these days when the very notion of authority is questioned, but debate about them is perhaps nowhere more lively than within the ranks of Roman Catholicism. This book offers an important contribution to such debate within that church. Leading Catholic theologians from both sides of the Atlantic take up the key issues: analysing the concept of authority and governance; examining the history of authority within the Roman Catholic church; discussing who should have a say in future developments; exploring ecumenical dimensions, with particular reference to Anglicanism and the Orthodox churches; and suggesting the kind of reforms that might be prudent, as well as ways in which such reforms might be brought about. The book will prove of interest to many Roman Catholics, but given the ecumenical impact of many of the issues explored, it is likely to exert a wide appeal far beyond the confines of that church.

Published in association with Caritas (the Catholic Church's agency for social justice), this book draws together a distinguished panel of academics and practitioners involved in the area of social justice. Combining theory and practice, the book explores issues facing the church and its role in today's society and the relationship between Theology, Social Justice and Social Spirituality. The book looks at how the church identifies its social priorities today, allocates its resource, shapes, facilitates and governs its practices, relates to and seeks to influence civil and secular society. In today's climate, the emerging relationship between religion and society is a matter of intense public interest and the book will also address the role of the church/faith in public life. The book also raises questions related to the nature of social ethics and social spirituality today. Particular problems and challenges pose pertinent questions both in relation to the church and society, and these also demand theological reflection, dialogue and exploration. Such themes include human liberation and freedom, globalisation, marginalisation, the changing anthropological bases of social ethics, as well as theological attempts to understand how the worlds of work and leisure relate to human being in both its individual and communal contexts.

A groundbreaking collection of essays on key themes, issues and concepts in contemporary moral theology and Christian ethics.

One of the most heated debates in recent times among Christian ethicians has been over what has come to be called "proportionalism." Opponents have argued that proportionalists are intent on relativizing theology norms and theh concept of intrinsic evil. Proponents, on the other hand, argue that they are merely developing a traditional notion of proportion of reason. Bernard Hoose puts this debate in context by showing its roots in the writings of European moral theologians and its flowering in the writings of their American colleagues. He uncovers a number of confusions that have bedeviled the argument while revealing how important the issues are for establishing in coherent Christian ethics in the twentieth century.