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Catholic Theologies of Culture
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Catholic Theologies of Culture

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2024) | Viewed by 2784

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jacob Phillips

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Education, Theology and the Arts (FETTA), St Mary's University, Twickenham TW1 4SX, UK
Interests: systematic and philosophical theology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Catholicism is uniquely situated toward the category of culture for reasons that include its historical lineage in Christendom, its foundational relationship with the classical world, its mutually formative relationship with changing contemporary societies, and primarily its marked global provenance among Christian denominations. This Special Issue aims to provide orientation for relating the fundamental elements at play in Catholic theology and culture. As a discussion of fundamentals, the focus is on how God, humanity, and the Church can be construed as relating to culture in the domains of theology and philosophy. There is a particular concern for situating these discussions in relation to contemporary Catholicism, which includes current ecclesial controversies, the growth of ‘traditionalist’ subcultures (particularly among the young), the present reality of liturgical diversity in certain contexts, the growth of Catholicism in Africa, and the changing political contexts of the West with regard to populism and similar upheavals.

The parameters and means of orientating Catholic theology in relation to culture are many and varied, surrounding such fundamental issues as defining culture (with or without God and/or the Church), considerations of human nature and flourishing, disambiguating the ‘religious’ from the ‘cultural’, situating revelation in relation to history, assessing and grounding appropriate liturgical and devotional traditions, discussions regarding cultural pluralism and multiculturalism, defining/maintaining/challenging European cultural legacies, and evaluating new digital technologies and means of communication in relation to the divine human encounter. This Special Issue will seek to explore issues such as these, providing orientation for relating the fundamental elements at play in Catholic theology and culture in the present world.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it either to the Guest Editor or the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jacob Phillips
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Catholicism
  • Catholic theology
  • culture
  • classical civilization
  • philosophical anthropology
  • pluralism
  • technology
  • populism
  • ecclesiology
  • fundamental theology

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 340 KiB  
Article
Christianity, Culture, and the Real: From Maritain’s Integral Humanism to a New Integralism?
by Mary McCaughey
Religions 2025, 16(4), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040506 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 125
Abstract
Jacques Maritain’s understanding of integral humanism influenced the relationship between Christianity and culture at the Second Vatican Council, yet soon afterward, Maritain recognised that in many instances it was misinterpreted, leading Catholics and Catholic theology to a radical accommodation to secular culture. Yet [...] Read more.
Jacques Maritain’s understanding of integral humanism influenced the relationship between Christianity and culture at the Second Vatican Council, yet soon afterward, Maritain recognised that in many instances it was misinterpreted, leading Catholics and Catholic theology to a radical accommodation to secular culture. Yet Maritain continued to believe in his approach as a middle way for Christianity between integralism and liberalism. He responded to these misinterpretations by recalling the pre-political foundations of his new type of humanism and the unquestioning need for holiness to transform the culture. This article revisits Maritain’s integral humanism and restates the importance of the metaphysical foundations he articulates for dialogue with culture and politics but also argues that perhaps Maritain put too much trust in the liberal state to protect Christianity and recognise its usefulness to society. This article enquires furthermore how, in an increasingly secular culture, a more specifically public and ecclesial form of integral humanism may be needed and asks whether this means a new form of integralism. It argues to the contrary but also that to maintain her identity and transformative potential in the culture for all humanity, the Church needs to actively consider how best to connect with both her metaphysical and revelatory sources in Christian faith and manifest these publicly in the culture. It concludes by offering examples of how the Church as a sacrament of salvation in the secular world can witness to Christ at various levels of association and also accept the inevitability of providing a counter-cultural witness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)
19 pages, 349 KiB  
Article
The Formation of Culture Through Eleventh-Century Ritual and Literature
by Ian Patrick McDole
Religions 2025, 16(4), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040505 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 168
Abstract
Culture is the reflection of the values and ideals of society, and changes over time as values change. The early eleventh century was a time of change due to religious ideals and new governments in the French and German Kingdoms, and the values [...] Read more.
Culture is the reflection of the values and ideals of society, and changes over time as values change. The early eleventh century was a time of change due to religious ideals and new governments in the French and German Kingdoms, and the values and ideals of those societies were reinforced and molded by ritual veneration of saints’ relics and the episcopal vitae which gave histories of the saints who were venerated and the churches and monasteries that kept their relics. This contribution evaluates the use of saints’ relics by those involved in the pax Dei movement and by Pope Leo IX at the Synod of Reims (1050). It then evaluates how the public veneration of saints helped to promote the ideals found in episcopal vitae from Toul and Regensburg, namely that holy bishops should belong to a network of saints, that they defend and provide for their people, that they support monasticism, and that they show respect for Rome and the office of pope. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)
21 pages, 280 KiB  
Article
The Crisis of Meaning: A Chestertonian Response
by Duncan Reyburn
Religions 2025, 16(3), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030280 - 25 Feb 2025
Viewed by 378
Abstract
One of the main cultural achievements of modernity, according to Hartmut Rosa, is that it has nearly perfected “human beings’ ability to establish a certain distance from the world while at the same time bringing it within our manipulative reach”. Although this ‘achievement’ [...] Read more.
One of the main cultural achievements of modernity, according to Hartmut Rosa, is that it has nearly perfected “human beings’ ability to establish a certain distance from the world while at the same time bringing it within our manipulative reach”. Although this ‘achievement’ has ensured many remarkable scientific and technological developments, the consequences for culture have been more negative, often taking the form of what is often referred to as the malaise of modernity. Over time, this malaise has intensified to make way for what is now commonly known as the crisis of meaning, which pivots around the erosion of three orders of meaning, named and discussed by John Vervaeke: the nomological order, the narrative order, and the normative order. The work of G. K. Chesterton is consulted, in this article, to grapple with the deeper theological meaning of the modern malaise and the present crisis of meaning. In Chesterton’s work, it is better to interpret any cultural crisis, like the Edwardian cultural crisis he saw first-hand, as well as the current meaning crisis, through theology, and especially in relation to the doctrines of God’s goodness, the goodness of created order, and the doctrine of original sin, narrated as the fall of man. Through this, it becomes possible to better understand and articulate Chesterton’s theological mediation of culture as a more specific aspect of his larger hermeneutical awareness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)
14 pages, 204 KiB  
Article
Accommodation, Fortification, or Conversion? Approaches to Catholic Engagement with Secular Culture
by Hannah Vaughan-Spruce
Religions 2025, 16(2), 160; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020160 - 30 Jan 2025
Viewed by 730
Abstract
As the Catholic Church declines in the west, critical questions are raised about its engagement with secular culture. Different engagement models have been experimented with since the 1960s, which I term accommodation, fortification, and conversion. Each model can be assessed according to sociological [...] Read more.
As the Catholic Church declines in the west, critical questions are raised about its engagement with secular culture. Different engagement models have been experimented with since the 1960s, which I term accommodation, fortification, and conversion. Each model can be assessed according to sociological and theological criteria. While the accommodation model seems to have proven itself sociologically ineffective, compounding the challenge of evangelisation, the two remaining models, while offering more positive signals, still await sufficient sociological testing. This article argues that both the fortification and conversion models are more theologically authentic than the accommodation model and proposes that the conversion model, in its particular understanding of the ‘secular’, is likely to see greater evangelistic fruits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)

Other

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12 pages, 170 KiB  
Essay
In Search of a Christian Social Order: T.S. Eliot as a Follower of Maritain
by Sebastian Morello
Religions 2025, 16(4), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040479 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 189
Abstract
It is often said that Jacques Maritain, having disavowed his earlier right-wing political views, became a foremost enthusiast for liberalism among the Catholic cognoscenti of the mid-20th century. In this paper, I suggest that there is another reading of Maritain, one found in [...] Read more.
It is often said that Jacques Maritain, having disavowed his earlier right-wing political views, became a foremost enthusiast for liberalism among the Catholic cognoscenti of the mid-20th century. In this paper, I suggest that there is another reading of Maritain, one found in the thought of T.S. Eliot, whose political thought was, by his own insistence, inspired by his study of Maritain. In Eliot’s reception and use of Maritain, the modern age has not put an end to the traditional Christian teaching that Jesus Christ’s authority must be acknowledged not only by private individuals but by all temporal, political powers. Rather, the complexities of the modern age have brought to the fore the priority of personal holiness—and by extension, the holiness of the Christian community—in establishing a Christian social order over any causal power of legislative or executive acts by political leaders. In developing my case, I indicate that Eliot emphasises the categorically embodied character of the Christian life, and I highlight that the corollary of this observation is that Christian integralists and secular liberals may be falling into precisely the same error, namely the privileging of abstract schemas over existential spiritual and moral transformation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)
12 pages, 199 KiB  
Essay
The Crisis of Culture: Recovering Shared Meaning
by Imogen Sinclair
Religions 2025, 16(4), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040416 - 25 Mar 2025
Viewed by 178
Abstract
French political scientist Olivier Roy maintains that the West is undergoing a ‘crisis of culture’. The crisis derives from a process of ‘deculturation’ where superficial, deterritorial subcultures become the basis for shared understanding, rather than values. Roy maintains that this is a ‘dehumanising’ [...] Read more.
French political scientist Olivier Roy maintains that the West is undergoing a ‘crisis of culture’. The crisis derives from a process of ‘deculturation’ where superficial, deterritorial subcultures become the basis for shared understanding, rather than values. Roy maintains that this is a ‘dehumanising’ process. This paper seeks to understand by what means the West might recover a culture. This question demands understanding the concept itself, including its relationship to things material and transcendent. Drawing on the work of the 20th century Jesuit priest and theologian Henri de Lubac, as well as contemporary theologians like John Milbank and Carmody Grey, the paper will base its conclusions on the idea that nature and grace are correlative terms, and culture is not opposed to either. Such a conclusion, however, requires a certain religious logic that is rare in current philosophical discourse. A catholic understanding of the human can help to weave back nature, grace and culture into a proper relationship which does not isolate the natural from the supernatural, and informs the remaking of a culture shaped by Christian humanism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)
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