The Catholic Church teaches that punishment must have a constructive and redemptive purpose and that it be coupled with treatment and, when possible, restitution. Rehabilitation and restoration must include the spiritual dimension of healing and hope. Since the publication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's 2000 pastoral statement on restorative justice, the conversation surrounding the need for criminal justice reform and restorative justice has moved forward. Redemption and Restoration responds from a Catholic perspective to help form an educational campaign to equip Catholics and their leaders to participate in the national conversation on this issue, create the programs needed to assist in healing the harm caused by crime, and restore our communities. The book develops the traditional Catholic understanding of justice, offers a theological understanding of restorative justice, explains how it can be implemented, and reflects on the practical arguments for restorative justice. Grounded in the stories of real people, Redemption and Restoration helps readers gain a deeper understanding of how this affects us all as a country and a church. It includes discussion questions to engage groups in exploring issues related to restorative justice.

David Matzko McCarthy's Death Penalty and Discipleship is a faith formation resource to help communities and individuals reflect more deeply on capital punishment. It incorporates Scripture, Catholic social teaching, and contemporary issues that focus on the meaning of God's self-giving in Jesus Christ and the implications of God's redemptive work in our lives. McCarthy shows how the church's stance against the death penalty fits with Scripture, even passages such as "an eye for an eye..." (Lev 24:19-20); he attends to the teachings of Jesus and draws out themes of restorative justice; and he concludes by locating work to end the death penalty within St. John Paul II's call for a new evangelization. God loves the world and gives himself to the world, and we are called to share God's justice and mercy with others. In this insightful and challenging resource, McCarthy encourages us to follow the call of Pope Francis to live out the love and mercy of God for all the world.

"Where Justice and Mercy Meet: Catholic Opposition to the Death Penalty" comprehensively explores the Catholic stance against capital punishment in new and important ways. The broad perspective of this book has been shaped in conversation with the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty, as well as through the witness of family members of murder victims and the spiritual advisors of condemned inmates.

The book offers the reader new insight into the debates about capital punishment; provides revealing, and sometimes surprising, information about methods of execution; and explores national and international trends and movements related to the death penalty. It also addresses how the death penalty has been intertwined with racism, the high percentage of the mentally disabled on death row, and how the death penalty disproportionately affects the poor.

The foundation for the church's position on the death penalty is illuminated by discussion of the life and death of Jesus, Scripture, the Mass, the "Catechism of the Catholic Church," and the teachings of Pope John Paul II. Written for concerned Catholics and other interested readers, the book contains contemporary stories and examples, as well as discussion questions to engage groups in exploring complex issues.

Gathered for the Journey sets moral reasoning in a theological context of worship and discipleship (part 1), provides a framework for the moral life based on questions of human fulfillment (part 2), and demonstrates how these theological resources shape a distinctive approach to questions of globalization, Catholic social teaching, the family, war and peace, bioethics, and the environment (part 3). McCarthy and Lysaught have crafted a distinctively unified collection. Gathered for the Journey represents a common project among Catholic scholars who are struggling with similar questions about living faithfully.

In contrast to consumerism, which encourages shallow relationships, McCarthy explains how the love of God fosters a deep attachment to the world, and that a right ordering of desires will lead Christians to an enjoyment of life that require less "stuff."

In this new textbook two Catholic ethicists with extensive teaching experience present a moral theology based on vision-the idea that how we see the world shapes our choices and actions. David Matzko McCarthy and James M. Donohue draw widely from the western philosophical tradition while integrating biblical and theological themes in order to explore such fundamental questions as What is good? The book's fourteen chapters are short and thematic. Substantive study questions engage with primary texts and get students to apply theory to everyday life and common human experiences. The book is accessibly written and flexible enough to fit into any undergraduate or seminary course on ethics.

In Sharing God's Good Company David Matzko McCarthy explores the role and significance of the saints in Christians' lives today. While examining the lives of specific saints like Martin de Porres, Therese de Lisieux, and Mother Teresa, McCarthy especially focuses on such topics as the veneration of martyrs, realism and hagiography, science and miracles, images and pilgrimage, and why the saints continue to captivate Christians and inspire devotion. Although books about saints abound, Sharing God's Good Company takes a uniquely philosophical and theological approach to the topic. Interested general readers and Catholic scholars alike will find McCarthy's book refreshing and informative.