How did a culturally diverse world church emerge in our local neighborhoods and backyards? Rather than an accidental coincidence, diversity in our country, neighborhoods and pews was intentionally brought about through the Spirit's prompting of historical events. The jubilee of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) reminded us how the Catholic Church opened her doors to the world, while the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 revealed how the U.S. opened her shores to migrants around the world. Through both ecclesial and legislative reforms, the U.S. became home to many ethnically diverse people and allowed for the creation of a worship space incorporating their cultural backgrounds.

Synopsis: The theological reflections of Virgilio Elizondo and Gustavo Gutierrez are examples of the ecclesial fruitfulness of the second half of the twentieth century. Following the directives of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, Elizondo and Gutierrez present the Gospel message in relevant terms to their own people by engaging the world as the Church of the poor. Inspired by this moment in Church history, while at the same time recognizing the plight of their people in their poor and marginal existence, Elizondo and Gutierrez discovered a new way of doing theology by asking a specific set of questions based on their local context. By investigating where God is present in the border crossers of the southwestern United States and the poorest of the poor in Latin America, both theologians have uncovered a hermeneutical lens in rereading Scripture and deepening our understanding of ecclesial tradition. Elizondo's mestizaje and Gutierrez's preferential option for the poor arose out of a theology of context, a theological method that takes seriously the contextual circumstances of their locale. By utilizing the common loci theologici of Scripture and tradition in conjunction with context and their own experience, Elizondo and Gutierrez illustrate through their theologies how every group must embrace their own unique theological reflection. Endorsements: "Simon Kim has clearly delineated his goal of examining the importance of doing theology in context through a comparative analysis of the works of Gustavo Gutierrez and Virgilio Elizondo. Then he masterfully achieves that goal through a careful exposition of the contexts, contents, intersections, and divergences of their respective theologies. . . . Gutierrez is the founding figure of liberation theology in Latin America and arguably one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, while Elizondo is the premiere US Latino theologian, whose influence also stretches to all continents around the globe. Fewer readers will note at first glance that Kim has produced the most comprehensive comparative analysis of these two leading theologians to date. Since many theologians and scholars from related fields tend to conflate the theologies of Latin Americans and those of US Latinas and Latinos, this comparative analysis alone makes Kim's book a valuable contribution to contemporary theological scholarship. "Simon Kim brings out the value of the method Gutierrez and Elizondo employed for doing theological reflection. He captures beautifully how his subjects' life experiences and pastoral leadership have deeply shaped their theological insights and . . . how those insights have shaped their pastoral vision and that of numerous others whom they have inspired." --From the Foreword by Daniel G. Groody, CSC, and Timothy Matovina Author Biography: Simon Kim is a Korean American priest ordained for the Diocese of Orange, California. He has been invited to give conferences, workshops, and retreats across the country on Korean American pastoral ministry. Recently, he has been engaged in generational outreach within the Korean American community, requiring him to present ideas and themes bilingually in order to bridge the generations of Korean Americans. Kim earned a PhD in theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.