scholarly journals From De-Humanization to the Flourishing Feast: A Study of Ecological Conversion by means of a Triple Colloquy with Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, and Bernard Lonergan, S.J.

Lumen et Vita ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
Christopher Krall, S.J.

This paper will first source Pope Francis’s notion of ecological conversion with Pope John Paul II’s writings that advocate for an awakening of humanity to a harmony with nature and one another.  Second, using Bernard Lonergan’s notion of conversion as the foundational structure of religion, this paper will establish ecological conversion as an authentic movement into living more consciously as a member of the body of Christ.  Finally, this paper will address how ecological conversion can reverse the destructive cycle of decline by drawing all of creation to the great heavenly feast. 

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2(24)) ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
Paweł Bortkiewicz

Since the publication of the encyclical "Humanae vitae" by Paul VI in 1968, a heated discussion has been taking place around this document. It comes alive in a particularly intense way on the occasion of the subsequent anniversaries of the publication of the document. Subsequent decades showed a number of problems related not only to the ethics of marital life and sexual ethics, but also to the concept of conscience or recognition or rejection of the seriousness of the Church's Magisterium. Recent months have brought further opinions of antagonists and protagonists of this document.Among opponents or critics of the encyclical, there are views questioning the teaching that contraception is intrinsically evil. This, in consequence, means accepting the thesis that there are no intrinsically evil acts at all. What is more, it should be noted that every human action is determined in its moral nature only by the proportion between its good and bad effects.In confrontation with these views, the article presents an outline of the anthropological and theological truth underlying "Humanae vitae" which was analysed with insight by St. John Paul II. This allows for the extraction of several basic theses relating to the theological vision of marriage and parenthood: 1) to read the truth about marriage and parenthood, it is necessary to fully recognize the truth about the dignity of the human person, 2) the person realizes fully in the reality of the gift that creates interpersonal communion with the participation of the human body, 3) communion and endowment made with the help of the "sign" of the body are realized in interpersonal conjugal love, 4) the special (though not the only) act of conjugal love is a sexual act, 5) marital logic of being a mutual gift is specific and this is inseparability of the bond between the inter-marital gift (between spouses) and the non-marital gift (between parents and children). Ultimately, this leads to the thought of St. Pope John Paul II, ordering to combine the order of the marriage act with the creative act "the genealogy of the person is inscribed in the very biology of generation".


2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doyen Nguyen

The introduction of the “brain death” criterion constitutes a significant paradigm shift in the determination of death. The perception of the public at large is that the Catholic Church has formally endorsed this neurological standard. However, a critical reading of the only magisterial document on this subject, Pope John Paul II's 2000 address, shows that the pope's acceptance of the neurological criterion is conditional in that it entails a twofold requirement. It requires that certain medical presuppositions of the neurological standard are fulfilled, and that its philosophical premise coheres with the Church's teaching on the body-soul union. This article demonstrates that the medical presuppositions are not fulfilled, and that the doctrine of the brain as the central somatic integrator of the body does not cohere either with the current holistic understanding of the human organism or with the Church's Thomistic doctrine of the soul as the form of the body. Summary The concept of “brain death” (the neurological basis for legally declaring a person dead) has caused much controversy since its inception. In this regard, it has been generally perceived that the Catholic Church has officially affirmed the “brain death” criterion. The address of Pope John Paul II in 2000 shows, however, that he only gave it a conditional acceptance, one which requires that several medical and philosophical presuppositions of the “brain death” standard be fulfilled. This article demonstrates, taking into consideration both the empirical evidence and the Church's Thomistic anthropology, that the presuppositions have not been fulfilled.


2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 960-987
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Groody

This article explores the significance of the Eucharist in the context of the global refugee crisis. It analyzes this topic in light of the mass that Pope Francis celebrated on the island of Lampedusa on July 13, 2013 and the chalice he used that was hewn from the driftwood of a refugee shipwreck. Drawing on Virgilio Elizondo’s notions of the Galilean principle, the Jerusalem principle, and the Resurrection principle, it examines the migration of the no-bodies, their journey to becoming some-bodies, and their connection to the body of Christ.


2019 ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Robert Tyrała

The papal pilgrimages in the Cracow Archdiocese were always a huge challenge and a significant event for the faithful. Hence there is a need of basing the subject on a certain assumption. It suggests that the entire collected material on the subject, thus this study should refer not only to the music (compositions) as such but also to the people who cre-ated it, namely: music committees of the pope’s pilgrimages, composers commissioned by the Church, performing artists (scholae, choirs, orchestras, soloists, cantors, conductors). Naturally, we cannot forget about the faithful participating in prayers. Music, be an inte-gral part of solemn liturgy (SC 112) during the papal pilgrimages of: John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have been properly prepared and experienced both at liturgies and at other events. Pope John Paul II visited the Cracow Archdiocese in the following years: 1979 (Cracow, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Wadowice, Nowy Targ), 1983 (Kraków), 1987 (Kraków), 1991 (twice: Cracow in June and Cracow, Wadowice in August), 1997 (Cracow, Zakopane, Ludźmierz), 1999 (Cracow), 2002 (Cracow). Pope Benedict XVI came to Poland once in 2006, staying in Cracow and Wadowice. Pope Francis visited Poland on the World Youth Day in 2016. In total there were 10 papal visits to Cracow. This study presents only those which have been paid to Cracow since 199734


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-96
Author(s):  
Sørina Higgins

In his unfinished cycle of Arthurian poems, Charles Williams developed a totalizing mythology in which he fictionalized the Medieval. First, he employed chronological conflation, juxtaposing events and cultural references from a millennium of European history and aligning each with his doctrinal system. Second, following the Biblical metaphor of the body of Christ, Blake’s symbolism, and Rosicrucian sacramentalism, he embodied theology in the Medieval landscape via a superimposed female figure. Finally, Williams worked to show the validity of two Scholastic approaches to spirituality: the kataphatic and apophatic paths. His attempts to balance via negativa and via positiva led Williams to practical misapplication—but also to creation of a landmark work of twentieth century poetry. . . . the two great vocations, the Rejection of all images before the unimaged, the Affirmation of all images before the all-imaged, the Rejection affirming, the Affirmation rejecting. . . —from ‘The Departure of Dindrane’ —O Blessed, pardon affirmation!— —O Blessed, pardon negation!— —from ‘The Prayers of the Pope’


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