This essay partly responds to John Connolly's recent article on the significance of Newman's view of theology for the contemporary Catholic university. I agree with Connolly's argument but believe it does not do justice to the rich theological and philosophical implications of Newman's thought on this topic. Theology in the university serves a vital role in the philosophical formation of the intellect because it aids the intellect's trajectory toward a kind of transcendence. This specific transcendence is connected to the dynamics of reasoning operative within the philosophical habit of mind. The transcendence that Newman holds as constitutive of and ordered by university teaching concerns viewing theology as liberal knowledge and as a type of contemplation. As a subject matter, theology assists in the mind's enlargement by helping to bring out the metaphysical and aesthetic dimensions in knowing.

This article focuses on an increasing trend—the attempt to combine responsibilities of parenthood and professional theology in a dual vocation. Today, many theologians are attempting to complete doctoral studies and earn tenure with young children in tow. Most likely, this will become the majority trend in the near future. How well is our profession adjusting to this significant demographic shift? This article compiles results of a survey of parent-theologians, covering family planning decisions, financial stability, attempts to balance work and leisure, and impact of parenthood on their work as theologians, as well as their suggestions for making the profession more conducive to this dual vocation.

As liberation theology spread across the globe in the seventh and eighth decades of the twentieth century, the need was felt for mutual learning and teaching among its proponents in various continents. The Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) was founded at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1976 to facilitate such a dialogue. This article explores the ways in which the thought of Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., (a Spanish philosopher and theologian who was murdered in El Salvador in 1989) and Asian liberation theology can enrich each other.

After situating Ellacuría, especially his activities as rector of the Jesuit University of Central America, in the context of political and military conflicts of El Salvador, the essay expounds Ellacuría's philosophy of realidad historica, his theology of the People of God as el pueblo crucificado, and his understanding of a Catholic university as a “social force,” and shows how these three ideas can enrich Asian liberation theology. The essay then presents Asian liberation theology in the socio-political and religious contexts of Asia and explains how it can enrich Ellacuría's thought and by extension Latin American liberation theology in three areas: theological method, through the use of non-Christian religious sources, especially popular religion; theology of liberation, by attending to the efforts of non-Christian activists for justice and peace; and a new way of being church, through a triple dialogue: dialogue with the Asian people, especially their poor; dialogue with Asian cultures; and dialogue with Asian religions.

Commentaries on Ignatian Discernment are sharply divided on fundamentals, especially the interpretation of the three Ignatian modes of discernment. This essay negotiates a balance between preserving the inner logic of Ignatian discernment and proposing a new interpretation. Beyond the exegesis of the Ignatian texts, the essay attempts to make Ignatian discernment accessible for Christian decision making in a contemporary context, through the matrix of theological language that translates technical discourse into one that can be generally understood and appropriated for Christian moral and spiritual life.

Some scripture scholars argue for an interpretation of Johannine soteriology as primarily one of revelation which questions the redemptive centrality of the historical crucifixion. Others insist on the primacy of historical event in the Johannine narrative—“The Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14)—and the spiritual meaning of this event, which is at once concrete in its historicity and universal in its meaning as symbol. The historical event of the crucifixion as an object of Johannine theological reflection is indeed central in his soteriology, but only insofar as he reflects upon its transcendent meaning. The three “lifting up sayings” in John's gospel offer us a window into this crucial aspect of his soteriology. In this essay, the author's textual analysis of each saying provides us with ample evidence for the redemptive centrality of the historical crucifixion; but it also will make clear that the “lifting up of the Son of Man” in his “hour” on the cross is at the same time his exaltation and glorification, when he returns to the Father whence he came.

In the Divine Milieu, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin talked about the “passive diminishments” that accompany the passage of time. But often time's passing also brings a growing desire to look back, to reflect, and to try to see things whole. Recently I have found myself reflecting on U.S. Catholicism, Catholic theology in the United States, and myself as an historical theologian at the University of Dayton. My reflections assess the past, address the present, and look to the future.

I begin with U.S. Catholicism. The story I want to tell about it has a threefold lesson and I will state it very generally. First, as embodied mortals with immortal longings, we are rooted in particular times and places in the world. German philosophers sometimes call this our “historicity.” Second, whether we are aware of it or not, our historical sites or locations provide the forms and terms of our coming to know God. It was in Tenafly, New Jersey, for example, that my mother taught me to pray. Third, if we remain unmindful of the second lesson, we risk mistaking historical forms and terms for God. In biblical language, this would be idolatry. And finally, if my Catholic story is not your own, I ask you to allow it to stand as a figure or a type of the particular sited story you have to tell.

How can church history help students and teachers make sense of what happens when the church makes mistakes? The Jubilee Year of 2000 represented a moment to think about the far past, but after January 2002, the revelations about priest-pedophiles and institutional cover-ups placed the topic of the church's errors squarely in the current daily life of the church. This essay explores the historical hermeneutics in the International Theological Commission's document, Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past, issued a few months before Pope John Paul II's Jubilee apologies in Lent 2000. The essay strives to identify and critique historical and theological concerns in this document while applying them not only to historical events, but to the more recent sex abuse revelations. Two topics serve as entry points to this discussion: purification of memory and the historian's role in discerning personal and corporate responsibility.

This article analyzes the International Theological Commission's Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past (MR). The document offers methodological reflections about how to proceed in implementing Pope John Paul II's call for the church to ask for forgiveness for past offenses at the dawn of the third millennium of Christianity. MR thus seeks to clarify “the reasons, the conditions, and the exact form of the requests for forgiveness for the faults of the past.” The article raises some specific concerns regarding the three operative distinctions that MR proposes to be applied: between the holiness of the church emphatically differentiated from holiness (and sinfulness) in the church; between church and social context in making historical and theological judgments; and between magisterium and authority in the church (that allows MR to explain how behavior contrary to the Gospel by persons vested with authority in the church need not imply involvement of the magisterial charism).