Welcome to the FIRST

The newsletter of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church
 
January 2018

Dear Friends
 
Happy New Year
 
May this be a year of greater stability, greater justice and greater peace. 
 
May we see new leadership that reminds us of our neighbor and of the common good.  May it crystalize in our minds and hearts an on-going awareness of what it means to be disciples of Christ pursuing him on the way.
 
For those of you registered for Sarajevo, please remember that PROPOSALS for POSTERS AND PRESENTATIONS are due by January 10, 2018 to Kristin Heyer ([email protected]). Participants will be notified of their acceptance by February 20, 2018. Kristin will be sending out a reminder letter to all shortly.
 
Please see our Forum, essays that remind us WHY WE ARE Needing to MEET in Sarajevo.  Ramon Luzarraga has provided an essay on the problem of populism in Spanish and in English for the Fora from Latin America and North America; Petr Stica from Czech Republic on people on the borders and beyond the walls; Hoa Dinh writes from Australia about the same-sex marriage debate there; Sr. Anthonia Bolanthe Ojo from Nigeria writes that a life of dignity for all is the foundation of sustainable development; and Tobias Winright from US writes powerfully about a conference in Vatican City that raised the question of the possession of nuclear weapons. Winright provides important links on nuclear disarmament.
 
Please see also Alain Thomasset's new and important book, Une morale souple mais non saans boussole, (l oosely: A flexible morality but not without compass

a reply to the 4 dubia.)

 
Finally see the North American Regional report regarding the upcoming Society of Christian Ethics and the opportunity to connect with the Ecclesia Women of Asia's video-conferencing.
 
I pray that you have great energy, wisdom, courage and connectedness for the year ahead. 
 
Let us pray for one another.
 
Jim


Book Release
Une Morale Souple Mais non Sans Boussole
By Alain Thomasset and Jean-Miguel Garrigues
Featured Forum Articles:



Ramón Luzárraga, El Peligro del Populismo

Ramón Luzárraga, The Peril of Populism

North America Report
By: Tobias Winright
Any Catholic theological ethicists who will be in North America for the Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE), which will be in Portland, Oregon on January 4-7, 2018, are invited to the following session that is directly related to CTEWC! On Friday, Jan 5, 2:00-3:30 pm, CTEWC Planning Committee Members Linda Hogan, of Trinity College Dublin, and Kristin Heyer, of Boston College, will present a paper on "Beyond the Northern Paradigm: Catholic Theological Ethics in Global Perspective," with this abstract: "Notwithstanding the commitment to include historically underrepresented communities, Christian ethics continues to be dominated by the voices, concerns and methodologies of scholars from the northern hemisphere. In the spirit of 'looking around and looking forward' this paper analyses the field through the lens of the Catholic Theological Ethics in a World Church (CTEWC) network, whose mission is to interconnect within a world church not dominated by a northern paradigm. It highlights the inflection points where the absence of a sustained, critical mass of voices from the global south impacts the field and considers the likely re-prioritizations that will flow from the systemic inclusion of the multiple, diverse voices of majority world scholars.  Whereas its point of departure is of Catholic ethics, its analysis will proceed with an eye to the ecumenical implications." We hope to see many of you at this session!

In addition, also at SCE, I (Tobias) want to bring to your attention this year's joint session between the Ethics and Catholic Theology Interest Group and the Peace and War Interest Group on that evening (Jan 5, 9:00-9:30 pm), which will include a panel on "Active Nonviolence in the Catholic Church: the State of the Question in Light of the Recent Initiatives by Pope Francis and the Vatican Conference of April 2016." This session focuses on the Vatican Conference of Active Nonviolence in April 2016, which brought together theologians, practitioners, and Catholic and other Christian leaders from around the world. It generated an appeal to Pope Francis, asking him to write an encyclical on nonviolence and to develop a new moral framework for engaging conflict and violence. This session begins by recounting the conference and its significance by two of its organizers, Marie Dennis (Pax Christi International) and Eli McCarthy (Georgetown University); continues by exploring theological and ethical issues it raises as articulated by Margaret Pfeil (University of Notre Dame) and Tobias Winright (Saint Louis University); and concludes with a conversation with the audience. I hope you will attend, because this is really a topic that Catholic theological ethicists worldwide are engaging and ought to address. Perhaps we may use this as a springboard, moreover, for follow-up attention in July in Sarajevo.

Europe Report
By: Roman Globokar
"You shall heal your neighbour as yourself": Ethics of care for migrants.
By 
Philippe Bordeyne



Health care for migrants in Europe fuels the ethical debate about the social dimension of the ethics of care. On 24 November 2017 at Institut Catholique de Paris, a public debate was organised between medical doctors in charge of migrants, scholars in moral theology, and journalists, in collaboration with Centre Sèvres, the Jesuit Faculties in Paris, and the Jean Rodhain Foundation.


Latin America Report
By: Emilce Cuda
¿Qué puede aportar la Ética teológica a la comprensión de los conflictos sociales, 
económicos, políticos y culturales que se vivieron en el continente y en el mundo durante 2017? En primer lugar, la denuncia de una inmoralidad ética subyacente a las persistentes situaciones de pobreza, marginación y exclusión de nuestro continente. En segundo lugar, iluminar que no se trata sólo de hechos injustos derivados de situaciones historicas sino de verdaderas estructuras de pecado (Juan Pablo II) que forman parte de un sistema que requiere ser modificado tal como ha señalado con claridad el Papa Francisco. En tercer lugar, que en el mundo periférico, de capitalismo dependiente poder reflexionar ético- filosóficamente sobre la Vida implica situarse en el reconocimiento de su flagrante negación en su forma más apremiante: la pobreza de las grandes mayorías. Pobreza no sólo material sino también simbólica, esto es, expresada en la subjetividad viviente del trabajador explotado, del migrante, del pobre, del campesino desplazado, de la mujer abusada etc., y que reclama con urgencia toda la atención de la reflexión y el pensamiento de los eticistas católicos comprometidos, una atención que - por haber sido negada originariamente desde los lugares centrales del pensamiento -, se vuelve entonces deber irrenunciable para todos los eticistas latinoamericanos." Pablo Blanco

A todos nuestros amigos y colegas teologos, de America Latina y del mundo, les deseamos un muy feliz 2018. Rezamos, junto con nuestros obispos, por nuestros pueblos pobres, "para que tengan vida, y la tengan en abundancia" (AP). Seguimos buscando con esperanza una vida digna, con trabajo y paz, para todos.

Feliz Navidad.


Invitation to Join EWA 7 Videoconferencing
On Friday, January 19, 2018 there will be an interactive video conference featuring one of the paper sessions of the biennial conference of the  Ecclesia of Women in Asia (EWA), which will be taking place in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. EWA is a forum of Catholic women doing theology in Asia. EWA's vision is the development of theologizing from Asian women's perspectives and the recognition of Asian Catholic women theologians as equal partners in theological discussions within the Church and Academe. This is the 4th
 videoconferencing that EWA is holding in collaboration with partners from the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church. 


Professor - Christian Social Ethics
Jesuit School of Theology
Santa Clara University
The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University invites applications for an open-rank position in Christian Social Ethics with a specialization in modern Roman Catholic Social Teaching, to begin Fall 2018. Areas of sub-specialization are open, but may include justice theory, race/racial justice, feminist/womanist/mujerista social ethics, liberation ethics, ethics of migration, economic or labor ethics, war and peace, ecological ethics, church and state, political ethics, or human rights. 

Joint Diploma in Integral Ecology 
The Pontifical Universities of Rome now offers a one year joint diploma in Integral Ecology.


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Jim Keenan S.J.

Editor  

 

Trevor R. Jones

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([email protected])