The Catholic University of America Press

This work explores a Christian understanding of God's presence in the world. As the Creator of all that exists, the Creator-Trinity is mysteriously present to all things, and truly but imperfectly knowable as such. In addition to this creative presence, however, there is also the manifestation of God's presence as a gift of grace. By supernatural faith, the trinitarian life of God is made known to us as an object of the Christian mystical life. This life is centered especially upon God's unique presence by way of Incarnation, human life, death, and resurrection, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This work explores these notions in comparison with other religious traditions, in a Catholic as well as ecumenical perspective. Original considerations are offered regarding the nature of scriptural inspiration, the Church as the mystical body of Christ, and the sacraments as instrumental expressions of the Incarnation, all with a view to the notion of mystical experience, and union with God. Principles of Catholic Theology, Book 5 is a continuation of Fr. Thomas Joseph White's collection of essays, extending over a range of fundamental topics in Catholic dogmatic theology.

As a result of the neo-patristic movement of the early twentieth century, the teachings of original sin and atonement as understood in the West were questioned and reformulated based on what was believed to be early Eastern Christian patristic thought. This new paradigm proposed that humanity inherited death and corruption, but not sin, from Adam and that the purpose of the Incarnation and salvific work of Christ was to restore humanity from death and corruption, but not an inherent sinfulness.In contrast to this popular and seemingly dogmatic paradigm and false dichotomy between Western and Eastern teaching on sin and atonement, this volume asserts that the writings of many Eastern fathers of the early fifth century incorporate many, if not the majority, of the terms and teachings behind what have been labeled as Western departures concerning original sin and atonement. Through a comprehensive analysis of the writings of Cyril of Alexandria and some of his contemporaries in the early fifth century East during the time of the Pelagian controversy, this book demonstrates that a central and consistent theme of their soteriology revolves around the sinfulness and guilt of all humanity that is rooted in Adam''s sin by nature and is resolved only through recapitulation into the new root, the second Adam, the impeccable Christ. Christ''s impeccability is necessary to correct the state of sinfulness and guilt in humanity through his incarnation and spotless sacrifice on the cross as a ransom and substitute on behalf of and in exchange of all to satisfy the divine justice and to restore humanity to its original state in the divine image.

A study of the life and work of Gordon Zahn (1918-2007), one of the most significant and formative figures in the history of the US Catholic peace movement. During World War II, Zahn was one of only a handful of US Catholic conscientious objectors, an experience that first put him in contact with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. Following the war, Zahn completed a PhD in sociology at The Catholic University of America where Paul Hanly Furfey’s "supernatural sociology" had a profound effect on him. After joining the faculty at Loyola University, Chicago, Zahn won a Fulbright year in Germany (1956-57) where he discovered the story of Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian Catholic farmer, husband, and father who was beheaded bythe Nazis in 1943 for refusing to participate in Hitler’s military. It was Zahn’s 1964 book  In Solitary Witness that introduced Jägerstätter to an international audience and led to his beatification by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. This work, along with Zahn’s several other books, secured his place as a leading intellectual in the Catholic peace movement. His work influenced the discussions of war and peace at the Second Vatican Council and he was enlisted as an expert witness during the drafting of the US Catholic Bishops’ pastoral letter on nuclear weapons,  The Challenge of Peace (1983). Zahn made one of the most intellectually developed cases in the US for "Catholic pacifism"—two terms that both Catholics and pacifists had long regarded as deeply incompatible. Forging a Catholic pacifist position led him to be far more perceptive and critical of US political and military institutions than most of fellow US Catholics. Ultimately, Zahn saw the Catholic Church as the only institution capable of resisting, and support those who resist, modern warfare and the modern war-making state. His traditional view of the Church grounded his claim that Catholics can be pacifist and hisfurther assertion that the Church should serve as a "source of dissent" for Catholics and others, especially during times of war. While marginalized within the broader US Catholic intellectual community, Zahn found common cause with other Catholic luminaries who are now seen to be ahead of their time, including Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Daniel Berrigan.  Gordon Zahn’s story serves as a template for telling the broader story of the US Catholic peace movement and the development of Catholic attitudes on war and conscientious objection that took place within the twentieth century.

Following the formation of the kingdom of Italy in 1860, the new Italian government, led by its King, Victor Emmanuel II, turned its attention to the city it intended to make its capital, the Eternal City, Caput Mundi, Rome. One major obstacle stood in their path, the Papal States, under the leadership of Pius IX and under the protection of French soldiers sent by Emperor Napoleon III. For the Italian nationalist leader Giuseppe Garibaldi, a ferocious anticlerical who had an uneasy alliance with the monarchial Italian government, the Papacy would no longer be allowed to hold back Italy's progress into the modern world. As French commitments to preserve the independence of the Vatican waned, it increasingly fell to one of the most remarkable military units in the history of modern Europe to protect the center of Western Christendom. This unit was the Papal Zouaves, soldiers and officers from all over the world drawn by their Catholic faith to fight on behalf of the Pope against an Italian government which was ruthless in enforcing its authority. They came from as near as Switzerland and Belgium and as far away as Canada and China. This is the memoir of one of the, and Englishmen named Joseph Powell. His story is a chronicle of one of the most tragic clashes of church and state, and how ancient institutions fought to protect their existence against the ruthless waves of modernity.

As a young priest, Robert Prevost was sent in 1981 to Rome to study church law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas (known as the Angelicum). There he earned a licentiate and composed a doctoral thesis, which made final in 1987. This is that thesis, the first book-length work composed by the man now known as Pope Leo XIV. Specifically, his study - drawing from sources in English, Italian, and Spanish and from medieval history and theology as well as canon law - focused on the role of the prior as the local superior in the Order of St. Augustine. In doing so, he describes a traditional notion of obedience in religious life - one based on love of the truth and growth in one's inner freedom to pursue holiness. At the center of his reflection are key ideas regarding the common good of the Church; the Eucharistic liturgy at the center of the life of the community; the role of hierarchy and consultation; and mutual respect for the diverse contributions of each person. Present in this text, moreover, is a far-reaching conception of the priesthood characterized by the triple munera: the priestly work of teaching, sanctification, and governance. Central to the whole volume is an Augustinian conception of the spiritual life that focuses on the inward work of grace, the primacy of the love of God, and inward conformity to Christ. The book's preface - composed by eminent theologian and present-day rector of the Angelicum, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP - helps frame the work for the wider public interested in it as a privileged window into the mind and heart of Prevost as a young priest, showing how its subject matter has implications for how one thinks about the life of the Catholic Church. There are clearly in this early work central themes regarding the life of Church, the apostolic tradition, and ecclesial authority in the service of the common good, that may well indicate directions and themes in the subsequent life and teaching of the author. Canonists will be drawn to Prevost's analysis of the Constitutions of the Augustinians in light of the then-newly promulgated Code of Canon Law. Historians and theologians alike may enjoy considering parallelisms that occur between this Augustinian vision of the prior and the subsequent unfolding of an Augustinian pontificate. Hopefully the publication of this work will lead to constructive debate about and comprehension of the relation of between the two.

Saint Dominic had dedicated himself to a life of prayer and study as a canon regular at the Cathedral of Osma, Spain in 1197. When on a diplomatic mission through southern France, Dominic and his bishop, Diego, encountered the Cathar heresy. The Spaniards were filled with compassion and sought to counter this heresy by preaching and the example of their holy life. In the ensuing years, and with ecclesiastical approval, Dominic would gather around him a group of men, living a common life in evangelical poverty and dedicated to preaching for the salvation of souls, these were the first members of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as Dominicans. In Saint Dominic and His Mission, two of Saint Dominic's spiritual sons present a portrait of this Preacher of Grace using extensive research from the archives of the Order to present Dominic and his brethren in their historical context. The first section comprises two parts: a biographical sketch and an evaluation of hagiographic and historical accounts of the life of St. Dominic. It is said that St. Dominic's gift to the Church is not extensive writings, but a way of life. The second section describes aspects of this distinctly evangelical form life including study and preaching, fraternal life, choral office and the rosary, democratic government, and living in the heart of the Church. In the third section, the authors enlist the help of art historians who present multiple pieces of artwork, ancient and modern, to better know and understand this Doctor of Truth. The final section is a chronology of the life of St. Dominic based on the work of the renowned English Dominic Simon Tugwell, OP. Readers will find that Saint Dominic, whose life and preaching was centered on the Word Incarnate, is a perfect friend and guide to us today as we experience a revival in reverence for the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Ecclesiastical Latin: A Primer on the Language of the Church offers a thorough introduction to the Latin language in 32 chapters, which can be completed in one academic year. The text presents each section in plain language, fully explaining complicated grammar terms which may be unfamiliar to a contemporary audience. Every chapter includes copious examples and practice sentences of the grammar covered, as well as stories drawn from the Vulgate, or Church tradition. In addition to encountering the vocabulary and grammar in practice sentences, the text also offers prayers from the liturgy which illustrate the grammar, as well as sentences which come directly from the corpus of original Ecclesiastical Latin. By the end of the book, students will feel comfortable reading through the Vulgate or praying the liturgy in Latin with more understanding. The grammar structures for each chapter roughly follow the organization of grammar as it is presented in Hans Orberg's Lingua Latina. The student can thus practice more of the language in full immersion with confidence, while also learning the vocabulary and style of later Ecclesiastical Latin.

In this book, Deacon James Keating provides an opportunity for one spiritual director to introduce his mind to the minds of other directors with the hope that his ideas may season their own already developed method of direction. The book does not attend to all the possible realities a director may encounter within his or her training or within the daily execution of this ministry. Keating wishes to share his approach to directing seminarians by reflecting upon themes and experiences which regularly appear within direction sessions. Spiritual direction certainly has some universal components to it. All directors want their directees to internalize a habit of prayer, to choose a life of remaining with God, to suffer the vulnerability necessary to know divine love and to then embody that love as heralds of the Gospel. But each director approaches his or her directees from within their own skin, from within a personality that is unique, and by way of a formation that reflects the unique attractions of each director and his or her own sufferings, failures, and fidelities. These unique embodiments no one writer can know or capture in a book. And so, this book simply begins a conversation that the author invites other directors to enter and add to according to their own insights. The spiritual life of those in seminary occupies the integrating center of a projected life of priestly ministry. Time needed to secure an interior life of prayer is one of the key reasons the Church demands years of formation before the celibate state is entered. Such a state in life is entered as a testimony to the reality that God lives and loves. In light of such love a man enters seminary to discern if he desires to surrender his whole life in response to God sharing His own. To live as a cleric without a vital interior life leaves a man in a state of meaninglessness. Instilling the virtue of prayer during priestly formation can help assure that celibate priesthood retains its inspiration and meaning throughout the life of a priest. Spiritual directors minister to assist a future priest to secure a lifetime habit of prayer so as to secure his commitment to communicate with the living God.