Church, Sacrament of the World

by Joe Egan

Overview

Six decades on from Vatican II, the Catholic Church continues to struggle with a crisis precipitated by clerical child sexual abuse. The faith of believers has been shaken and a chasm has opened between popular conceptions of the church and the theological ones prized by Scripture and Tradition.

Seeking to bridge the chasm, this work approaches the church as «sacrament of the world». It underscores the need for continuing ecclesial reform while also insisting on the importance of mutual engagement between church and world, even when the relationship between them is strained and the questions arising are divisive. Among the most complex of those are ones associated with Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, an encyclical that was even dismissed by many committed Catholics. Yet, as history frequently does, questions that once appeared to be closed can reopen in surprising ways, thereby forcing us to grapple afresh with the mysterious workings of divine providence in ways that are quite challenging.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803748283
Publisher:	Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	03/19/2025
Series:	Studies in Theology, Society and Culture , #19
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x (d)

About the Author

Joe Egan is a member of the Society of African Missions who has taught theology at Colleges in West Africa and Ireland. Among his publications are The Godless Delusion: Dawkins and the Limits of Human Sight (2009) and From Misery to Hope: Encountering God in the Abyss of Suffering (2010). He currently serves in a local leadership role with his religious community in Ireland.

Table of Contents

Contents: Ecclesia Semper Reformanda – Ecclesia Semper Reformanda – «Mea Culpa»: The Development of the Papal Response to the Crisis – A Wounded Church: Analysis and Critique – A Sinful, Yet Graced Church – Sacramentum Mundi – In and of the World: The Church Celebrating a Sacramental World – Against the World: Church as Sacrament of Resistance to the Sin of the World – To and for the World: The Church as Sacrament of a Just and Merciful World – From the World: A Learning Church as Sacrament of Dialogue – Ecclesia Docens, Ecclesia Discens – The Dynamic Interplay between Teaching and Learning in the Church – Humanae Vitae: An Encyclical Come of Age? – Church as Sacrament of Hope, Sacrament of the Spirit for a Breathless World.