"A disciplinary map for understanding African Catholicism today by engaging some of the most pressing and pertinent issues, topics, and conversations in diverse fields of studies in African Catholicism"--

This introductory book to Catholic social teaching covers not only the official documents and encyclicals but also gives a sense of the movements and people who embodied the struggle for social justice in the last 100 years.

Including contributions from twenty-two leading moral theologians, this volume is the most thorough assessment of modern Roman Catholic social teaching available. In addition to interrogations of the major documents, it provides insight into the biblical and philosophical foundations of Catholic social teaching, addresses the doctrinal issues that arise in such a context, and explores the social thought leading up to the "modern" era, which is generally accepted as beginning in 1891 with the publication of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. The book also includes a review of how Catholic social teaching has been received in the United States and offers an informed look at the shortcomings and questions that future generations must address. This second edition includes revised and updated essays as well as two new commentaries: one on Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in Veritate and one on Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si'. An outstanding reference work for anyone interested in studying and understanding the key documents that make up the central corpus of modern Catholic social teaching.

The study of Christianity in the non-Western world reveals a demographic shift in the center of Christianity from the Northern Hemisphere to the South. But the contradictory aspect of the massive African conversion to Christian faith is the grinding poverty level in Africa. This condition raises important theological and ecclesiological questions that demand urgent answers. Therefore, the research objectives of this book are to examine African Catholicism's involvement in human promotion and to seek a new way of theologizing Christianity that moves sub-Saharan African peoples to action against the massive injustices that keep them poor. Drawing on Africae Munus, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second African Synod (2011), and Bernard Lonergan's notion of culture, African Catholicism and Hermeneutics of Culture argues that to truly be "the spiritual 'lung' of humanity," African Catholicism must appropriate the Christian message to transform African attitudes and personhood and so foster a self-reliant commitment to integral African development.

This work offers readers the insight and inspiration to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ, the 'glad tidings to the poor,' here and now. Mich weaves together the biblical tradition and the wisdom of Catholic social teaching with the stories if saints and spiritual leaders, contemporary and historical.

The Principle of Subsidiarity in Catholic Social Thought: Implications for Social Justice and Civil Society in Nigeria provides a theoretical and practical framework for a just vision of society. It focuses on how support for individuals and social groups in Nigeria can foster the building of their communities through the practice of social justice. Social justice will ensure the building of trust across ethnic lines, challenge corruption, encourage accountability and servant leadership, protect minority tribes from larger ones, and promote grassroots self-help tribal, communal, religious, and non-governmental associations as agents of positive social change and development. These dynamics interact within a healthy federal structure that respects its constituent parts for the common good. This volume is recommended as a graduate text for courses in theology, religious education, and social philosophy, and for all interested in promoting the common good.

Populorum Progressio: 50 Years Volume 6, Number 1 Edited by Mari Rapela Heidt and Matthew A. Shadle Development, Nations, and "The Signs of the Times": The Historical Context of Populorum Progressio Mari Rapela Heidt The Soul of Development Clemens Sedmak The Justice Legacy of Populorum Progressio: A Jesuit Case Study Kevin Ahern The Enduring Significance of Populorum Progressio for the Social Mission of the Church in Africa Stan Chu Ilo Vulnerability and Development: Rereading Populorum Progressio in Light of Feminicide Marianne Tierney FitzGerald Populorum Progressio's Vision in an Unequal World: A Theological Ethical Evaluation From the Global South Raymond Olusesan Aina, MSP Pacis Progressio: How Francis's Four New Principles Develop Catholic Social Teaching into Catholic Social Praxis Barrett Turner

A first of its kind critical engagement with the collected documents of Catholic Family Teaching Catholic Family Teaching (CFT) has developed in parallel with Catholic Social Teaching (CST), yet has not similarly been critically explored as a documentary tradition. Modern Catholic Family Teaching redresses this imbalance through a collection of outstanding commentaries and interpretations of the primary texts and key developments of CFT. Modern Catholic Family Teaching features academic commentary on magisterial texts that constitute primary sources of contemporary Catholic teaching on the family. Each chapter engages a moment in this tradition to invite critical academic engagement with CFT, a topic that increasingly bears weight across diverse areas of theological and ethical consideration. This edited volume offers a clear understanding of the tradition’s growth and development over 130 years, equipping scholars and students of theology to engage the pressing questions of our time.

Featuring essays from a broad range of contributors this book is a treasure for anyone interested in theological reflection from an African perspective and is a necessary resource for theologians and scholars working in a church that is steadily moving its center to the Global South.