But here’s a question for you, dear reader of the First: DO YOU WANT TO START UP A VIRTUAL TABLE? We would love one on Climate Change, Race or Caste, Family, Gender Justice, Public Health, or an emerging topic like AI. For more info, check our website.

It’s fairly simple to start. Get a topic, find a partner from some other part of the world to chair with you, invite some people on to it (Let us know and we will advertise your call for members!), agree to meet virtually and regularly (monthly for 60-90 minutes), and send your plans to me, james.keenan.2@bc.edu. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me.

- James Keenan

Gusztáv Kovács, Thought Experiments in Ethics (Episcopal Theological College of Pécs, 2021).

Alain Thomasset et Oranne de Mautort, Familles, belles et fragiles! Mettre en œuvre l’exhortation Amoris Laetitia dans l’Église, avec une préface de Mgr Feillet, (Éditions jésuites, 2020) 204 p.

The aim of this book is to explain the theological reasons of this new pastoral stance of Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia and to review the concrete experiences in this area, in order to facilitate their appropriation by those who are involved, from near or far, in family ministry. The book covers marriage preparation, encouragement and support for couples and families, and the accompaniment and discernment of complex family situations with a view to their greater integration within the Church.

Jack Mahoney, The Holy Spirit and Moral Action in Thomas Aquinas (Fortress-Lexington 2021).

Kurt Remele, »Es geht uns allen besser, wenn es allen besser geht« Die ethische Wiederentdeckung des Gemeinwohls (Grünewald 2021).

Vincenzo Paglia and Renzo Pegoraro, Editors. Proceedings of the XXVI General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Life, "The 'Good' Algorithm? Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Law, Health."

Italy. 21.05.2021, Rome: Invisible Labour Migrants: “LAVORATORI MIGRANTI INVISIBILI E DIRITTI UMANI VISIBILI” – per il progetto CRISIS 2020/2 chiamato Solidarietà Sociale in Europa: Lavoratori migranti dell’Europa orientale per i lavoratori migranti dell’Europa occidentale. Further information.

Germany. 14.-16.07.2021, Münster: Christian social ethics. Symposium on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Institute for Christian Social Sciences. Christliche Sozialethik – zugleich eine sozial-wissenschaftliche und theologische Disziplin. Further information.

U.K. 02.-04.06.2021, Oxford: "Women, Solidarity, and Ecology" multidisciplinary conference, focusing on the disproportionate impact of environmental degradation on women. At the Laudato Si' Research Institute. Further information.

Bryan Massingale, “The Chauvin verdict: Relief, vindication but not celebration," NCR, April 22, 2021.

Tobias Winright, “A former cop reckons with unending police killings of Black Americans,” NCR, April 23, 2021.

Jointly by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at SCU and the California Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic bishops of California, (there are approximately 11 million Catholics in California out of a population of 40 million) has collected materials regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine. Click here for the materials. The materials include a webinar (in English and simultaneous Spanish translation) called "Love Your Neighbor and Get Vaccinated: Science, Ethics, and Covid-19 Vaccines" and a flyer (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese) with key Catholic arguments on vaccination. 

The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies hosts a Summer Institute every year for colleges interested in developing or starting peace studies programs, either as stand alone programs or as something integrated into other curriculum or programs. Many theology-oriented programs have participated in the past, like Marquette, St. Thomas More in Saskatchewan, Seattle University, and some others. It is usually in-person and can be kind of expensive, but it is fully virtual and free this year! Click here for more info.

New Wine New Wineskins, an association for early-career Catholic moral theologians, is launching a new initiative, "Conversations in Moral Theology." It is a series of online dialogues with authors of books relevant to the Church and society. The inaugural conversation features CTEWC's members Julie Hanlon Rubio and Jason King and engages with their edited volume Sex, Love, and Families: Catholic Perspectives. The event is on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 7:30 pm ET and is free and open to the public. You can register here.

Rev. Dr. Melissa Browning died on April 8 after a courageous battle with cancer. Her ecumenical, feminist, postcolonial, participatory scholarship was a model of collaboration and empathetic listening. You can read her full obituary here. Submitted by Emily Reimer-Barry, who offered a memorial reflection on the Catholic Moral Theology Blog, April 22, 2021.

The Boston College Theology Department and the International Studies Program announce a full-time joint tenure-track faculty opening at the rank of assistant professor. Doctoral training in religious/theological ethics is required; expertise in environmental justice in an international or global context is preferred. Areas of specialty may also include international relations theory, racial justice, decolonization, economic justice, or peacebuilding in global contexts. Job information and application are available here.