We will notice ways in which Vatican II anticipated the challenges of globalization we face at the beginning of the 21st century.
We will explore the moral and theological resources that the Catholic Church is able to draw upon to respond to globalization,
insofar as "catholicity" already commits the Church to being a global, transnational, multicultural community on pilgrimage in the world through time,
insofar as "pilgrimage in the world through time" has bequeathed the Church a memory of ancient wisdom that provides critical perspective on the claims of any age, particularly the modern age,
and insofar as this "wisdom" has been embodied both in official Catholic social teaching and in the lives, communities and movements of faithful Catholics.
We will focus our discussion of these matters by asking what kind of social ethic a global church should have in an age of globalization?
Through major assignments, students will explore how Catholic social teaching is being or might be applied to specific regions or nations of the world.
Particularly during the closing weeks, we will ask how Catholic social teaching might shape our own personal vocations, as well as those of the Christian local communities in which we participate.
(Click here to see the departmental course description.)
On-line readings
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