All branches of theology, whether theoretical or practical, purpose in one way or another to make priests, pastors, and others in a pastoral role "the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). Pastoral theology presupposes other various branches, accepts the apologetic, dogmatic, exegetic, moral, juridical, ascetical, liturgical, and other conclusions reached by the ecclesiastical student, and scientifically applies these various conclusions to the priestly ministry.[clarification needed]
Not until the period of the Counter-Reformation did the science of pastoral theology take its present systematized form. During the latter half of the fifteenth century, in certain places, pastoral duties were very much neglected. By the dawn of the sixteenth century, the care of souls was to many priests and not a few bishops a lost or a never-acquired art, with the result that the laity were ready to throw off what was deemed to be a useless clerical yoke. The Council of Trent set itself to bring about a true reformation of the priesthood. Catholic bishops and theologians followed the lead of the council. The result was the treatment of the care of souls as a science by itself.
The goal of Pastoral Studies is to prepare ordained Catholic clergy, vowed religious, students for ordination in the Catholic Church, and lay ecclesial ministers for pastoral ministry through a coordinated program of courses in academic subjects, pastoral skills, and supervised ministry.
Keeping Faith in Practice is a fascinating and enriching collection of essays which complement each other in cultural and critical approach. Emerging from two pioneering conferences at Heythrop College in 2007, the volume draws together a range of scholars, representing various academic and ecclesial contexts in Europe and the United States, to engage in a closer study of what the editors perceive is a sea change in Catholic theological method from which a Catholic pastoral theology is emerging.
There then follows a series of chapters which ask the concrete question of what and whom pastoral theology serves. This section is a most valuable resource for identifying the precise points of engagement between an emerging practical theology, and the world at large and the world of ideas. This is considered on two levels. Firstly, there are chapters on the connection with the immediate level of Christian life: how theology is played out in liturgy and prayer, ethical and social action, ministry and mission. Secondly, we are invited to appreciate how theology is engaged in dialogue with human and social sciences: anthropology, sociology, psychology, ritual studies, textual critique, philosophical ethics, law, the arts, and through reference to the Heythrop ARCS (Action Research: Church and Society) project, qualitative and action research.
The volume ends with a short conclusion co-authored by all three editors. As befits the project it is open-ended rather than prescriptive. Having stayed the course of such a thorough and visionary set of essays on this elusive indefinable of Catholic pastoral theology, it is clear that there is something to work with here, whether what has emerged from the postconciliar empirical approach to theology is a discipline in its own right or a theological methodology. The editors recognise that there is much work to be done on hermeneutics and in particular the truth claim that pastoral theology might be making. So we are left with possibilities which can root the insights of a pastoral approach not just in an applied version of theology but in a new theological insight itself which is emerging naturally from the hermeneutical debates of this postconciliar period.
Indeed, the emergence of this pastoral theology in the present pontificate bears striking resemblance to the renewal of theology in the years preceding the Second Vatican Council. During the postwar period the growth of scripture studies informed by historical-critical method, the recovery of the historic liturgical life of the church as a font for the deepening of contemporary sacramental celebrations, and the sustained reflection on the nature of the church itself were part of a broad theological inquiry that allowed the bishops of the council to reflect upon the challenges of the church in the modern world armed with robust insights central to the proclamation of the gospel in the Twentieth Century.
But in a very real way, the pastoral moment that we are witnessing today in the life of the church is different from any of these prior theological renewals, for each of them took place within a recognized field of specifically theological reflection. The challenge of pastoral theology is not only to delineate the substance of its insights into the gospel and the life of the church, but also the challenge to demonstrate that it is a significant branch of theology at all.
For most of the history of the church, pastoral theology did not exist as a distinct branch of theology. There were splendid pastoral teachings in the Catholic theological tradition in every age, of course, but these writings were not considered a distinct branch of theology. It was in the period after the reformation that a specific Catholic pastoral theology emerged as a major element of the reform of the priesthood and ecclesial life.
But the nature of even this post-reformation pastoral theology was very limited. It was to a significant degree a derivative branch of theology, confined to the application of the fruits of the other branches of theology to the practice of the salvation of souls. Moreover, pastoral theology was envisioned as primarily the work of priests. It was also instrumental in nature.
In his teachings, Pope Francis points to an understanding of pastoral theology which is far more robust. This pastoral outlook demands that all of the other branches of theology attend to the concrete reality of human life and human suffering in a much more substantial way in forming doctrine.
It demands that moral theology proceed from the actual pastoral action of Jesus Christ, which does not first demand a change of life, but begins with an embrace of divine love, proceeds to the action of healing and only then requires a conversion of action in responsible conscience.
The pastoral theology of Pope Francis requires that the liturgical and sacramental life of the church be formed in compassionate embrace with the often overwhelming life challenges which prevent men and women at periods of their life from conforming adequately with important gospel challenges. And the pastoral theology of Pope Francis rejects a notion of law which can be blind to the uniqueness of concrete human situations, human suffering and human limitation.
In these enormously important ways the vision of pastoral theology embraced by Pope Francis is a rejection of the tradition which sees pastoral theology as primarily derivative and the application of the other branches of theology. Rather, the use of pastoral theology in the teachings of Pope Francis points to an interactive role between pastoral theology and the historic disciplines of the Catholic theological tradition. In this way, pastoral realities are a significant font for theological reflection and development in all areas of our doctrinal life.
Just as importantly, the pastoral theology of Pope Francis rejects the traditional prism which focused pastoral theology on the work of priests, or even on a more generalized notion of pastoral ministry in the internal life of the church. In a very real way, the architects of pastoral theology in the writings of Pope Francis include the whole body of the faithful in relationship with God, and the datum of pastoral theology is the lived experience of the faithful in the concrete call of their discipleship.
The second foundation for the pastoral theology that Pope Francis is pointing to lies in the recognition that the church should mirror the pastoral action of the Lord himself. It is the pattern of Jesus Christ who walked the earth which we are to incorporate into every element of ecclesial life. This enduring truth is the foundation for a series of pastoral imperatives that Pope Francis has presented to the church during the last five years.
As a consequence, the pastoral church must be a non-judgmental church. There is no sin which Jesus mentions more frequently in the gospels than the sin of judgmentalism. For it is a sin so easy for all of us in our humanity to fall into. It is a mystery of the human soul why men and women feel better about themselves when they can point to the faults of others. It is a mystery, but also a reality, both for our humanity and the life of the church. Thus we must imitate Christ, who consistently spoke of the standards of the gospel without compromise, but did not reject men and women for their inability to live the fullness of that gospel. We must banish judgmentalism from the life of the church, and replace it with the constantly affirming love of Jesus Christ. And in doing so, we will become the truly inclusive community that the church, both by its charter and its intrinsic mission, was always called to be.
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