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People worldwide find themselves part of overlapping communities of identity and belonging--racial, political, cultural, sexual, ideological. Some identities, like brand loyalties, are chosen; some, like class identity, are imposed.As followers of Jesus Christ, those called to live in between the age that is and the age to come, Christians ask what it means to be part of the body of Christ, God''s new creation from among the nations, in a world filled with other nations. ""Who--and whose--are we?"" There is no easy answer, no time at which Christians got it completely right. Yet such questions must be addressed, and the stakes are high. Matters of war and peace, exclusion and inclusion, who starves and who does not, the credibility of the gospel itself--all are caught up in the whirl of identities, allegiances imposed or refused, and questions about what ""the church"" might possibly mean in such circumstances.In this book, a distinguished group of scholars from five continents asks, ""How can the church respect the diversity of its members--many nations, cultures, and communities--while maintaining a coherent witness to the kingdom of God that is not undermined by more parochial ideologies or priorities?""""Theologians influenced by Stanley Hauerwas are often derisively asked, ''Where is this church of yours?'' Budde''s book shows that one answer is to look no further than the Catholic Church. As a Protestant theologian, I am often envious of a Church that perennially sits astride national and ethnic boundaries. And, as these eminent theologians make clear, the legacy of Catholicism''s resistance to nationalism is not unmixed. It would be enough for this volume to showcase the important work of the Center for World Catholicism at DePaul. These ambitious essays go a good deal further. Their beauty will reshape your view of what the church is and could be.""--Jason Byassee, Butler Chair in Homiletics, Vancouver School of Theology ""In The Borders of Baptism, Michael Budde challenged US Catholics to take seriously the political and practical implications of our usually rote and casual claim--that Jesus is Lord--challenging Catholics to identify the idolatries that shape our lives and to understand the church as our primary location of identity and allegiance. In Beyond the Borders of Baptism, Budde is joined by a chorus of rigorous, theological analysts who explore, challenge, and complexify these claims from diverse global locations, rooting the question in historical contexts and bringing alive the textures of the constant negotiations between the body of Christ and the myriad political and cultural formations in which the church finds herself. This mosaic of analyses elucidate important theoretical questions, provide important examples of ecclesial failure, and converge toward an understanding of these border negotiations as eucharistic--kenotic, exploding tired binaries, and allowing the endlessly creative interruption of God''s grace in histories to transform the reified loci we consider natural. Beyond the Borders of Baptism is a must-read for those interested in ecclesiology, Christian formation, and taking discipleship seriously.""--M. Therese Lysaught, Professor, Associate Director, Institute of Pastoral Studies, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University ChicagoMichael L. Budde is Chair and Professor of Catholic Studies and Professor of Political Science at DePaul University, where he is also Senior Research Professor in the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. He is the author of numerous books on ecclesiology, political economy, and culture, including The Borders of Baptism: Identities, Allegiances, and the Church (2011) and the edited volume Witness of the Body: The Past, Present, and Future of Christian Martyrdom (2011).

He has captured the imagination of people around the world, including those who thought they were ""done with"" Christianity. In ways no one could have expected and no one predicted, Pope Francis has become a living example of what it might mean to be a Christian in our time and place. The modern world was not ready for Pope Francis, but as has been demonstrated--in his travels to the United States and around the world, in his calls for mercy and defense of the vulnerable--Pope Francis was ready for the modern world.New World Pope: Pope Francis and the Future of the Church explores how Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis--the ideas, experiences, influences, and passions that have formed this pastor who has inspired, challenged, encouraged, and angered people worldwide. Ten experts from around the world--scholars, journalists, church leaders, and others--provide insights into the origins and trajectories of Pope Francis' vision and hopes for the Christian community in our day. Persons intrigued by Pope Francis will find deeper insights into his witness via this exploration of the roots and trajectories of his sense of Christian mission and discipleship.

This volume takes its title from the first-century Christian catechism called the Didache: ""Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills . . . gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth.""For Christians today, these words remain relevant in an era of massive human movements (voluntary and coerced), hybrid identities, and wide-ranging cultural interactions.How do modern Christians live as both a ""scattered"" and ""gathered"" people?How do they live out the tension between ecclesial universality (catholicity) and particularity (distinctive ways of being church in a given culture and context)?Do Christians today constitute a ""diaspora,"" a people dispersed across borders and cultures that nonetheless maintains a sense of commonality and mission?Scattered and Gathered: Catholics in Diaspora explores these questions through the work of fourteen scholars in different fields and from different corners of the world. Whether through reflections on Zimbabweans in Britain, Levantines in North America, or the remote island people of Chiloe now living in other parts of Chile, they guide readers along the winding road of insights and challenges facing many of today''s Christians.""Exciting and fascinating, this collection maps the complex global footprint of Christianity in an era of mass movement propelled by constantly evolving religious, political, social, and cultural dynamics, interactions, and tensions. This book is a treasure trove of theological and ethical resources for reimagining and understanding the global phenomenon of migration and diaspora for faith, community, and devotion in the twenty-first century."" --Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ, Hekima University College Jesuit School of Theology, Nairobi""Michael Budde has assembled an extraordinary group of contributors in this superb work of cutting-edge practical, theological, and missiological reflection. The essays significantly move the conversation forward about how migration and growing intercultural encounters are transforming religion and the churches perhaps more than ever before in human history. The writers are not only accomplished in migration studies, theology, and social research, but also in the practices and community life of the church itself. This volume provides more than the look of outsiders. If one desires to grasp the crucial trends and implications for Christianity of today''s unprecedented movement of people in a time of epochal change, one need look no further than this excellent volume.""--Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Distinguished Scholar of Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies, Loyola Marymount UniversityMichael L. Budde is Professor of Catholic Studies and Political Science at DePaul University in Chicago, where he is also Senior Research Professor in the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. His published work focuses on ecclesiology, political economy, and world Christianity; recent works include The Borders of Baptism and the coedited Witness of the Body.

In Fragile World: Ecology and the Church, scholars and activists from Christian communities as far-flung as Honduras, the Philippines, Colombia, and Kenya present a global angle on the global ecological crisis--in both its material and spiritual senses--and offer Catholic resources for responding to it. This volume explores the deep interconnections, for better and for worse, between the global North and the global South, and analyzes the relationship among the physical environment, human society, culture, theology, and economics--the ""integral ecology"" described by Pope Francis in Laudato Si'.Integral ecology demands that we think deeply about humans and the physical environment, but also about the God who both created the world and sustains it in being. At its root, the ecological crisis is a theological crisis, not only in the way that humans regard creation and their place in it, but in the way that humans think about God. For Pope Francis in Laudato Si', the root of the crisis is that we humans have tried to put ourselves in God's place. According to Pope Francis, therefore, ""A fragile world, entrusted by God to human care, challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing, and limiting our power.""""This book is a necessary and powerful follow-up to Laudato Si, a reminder of just how real and pressing these needs are, and of the opportunities for enormous change that lie all around us.""--Bill McKibben, Author The Comforting Whirlwind""William T. Cavanaugh offers this stunning collection as a 'global angle on a global crisis.' With contributions from across the world, these perspectives further our understanding of the crisis that unfolds by the hour. The diversity of the contributors is marked not only by their own national backgrounds, but also by their own academic investigations . . . Cavanaugh beautifully organizes these essays beginning with the foundations of social teaching and the cry of the earth. A refreshing collection, a worthy read, an urgent project!""--James F. Keenan, Canisius Professor, Boston College""This collection blends theology and ethics to produce a scholarly, critical, and pastoral account of the global ecological crisis and the collective responsibility to respond. Rather than yield to despair at the scope of environmental calamity, the authors explore and unveil theological and ethical resources for achieving redemptive and integral ecology for our times and for future generations. Fragile World is a truly global theological and ethical study of the global ecological challenge.""--Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar""Required reading! The Church must 'catch up'--and do it now! It's been nearly 50 years since the first 'Earth Day,' (1970) and the 1975 publication of the Appalachian Bishop's Pastoral. Deplorably, only in 2015 did the Church promulgate a Papal Encyclical on the now--'ecological crisis!' . . . This volume is a primer, showing the complexity of the crisis, but also the theological, moral, and spiritual grounding for an integral ecology at the heart of a sustainable world.""--Dawn M. Nothwehr, Chair in Catholic Ethics, Catholic Theological Union""Fragile World takes seriously the notion of 'integral ecology' as described in Laudato Si'. Its chapters generate an informed, intelligent dialogue among a diversity of voices from around the planet to address the global ecological crisis. Seldom does a reader find in one volume both a clear, critical analysis of this issue as well as so many strong voices from the margins that have too often been ignored. This volume is required reading.""--Dennis Patrick O'Hara, Associate Professor, Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology, University of St. Michael's CollegeWilliam T. Cavanaugh is director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology and professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University in Ch

There is no papal document that has generated as much interest, controversy, and debate in recent times as Pope Francis's Amoris Laetitia. This document, which came out of two very divisive synods of Catholic bishops and leaders in Rome in 2014 and 2015, will probably be the most discussed document ever produced by a pope in modern Catholicism on marriage and family life. This volume has gathered seminal commentaries on Amoris Laetitia by African Catholic theologians, social scientists, and pastoral workers. They offer African theological and pastoral responses to the principles and practices proposed by Pope Francis and the Synod on the family on such contested issues as same-sex relations, divorce and remarriage, and reception and denial of Holy Communion in the church, among other divisive issues. These important essays and commentaries show the strengths and weaknesses of this papal commentary and point out the missing link in the global conversation on marriage, family, and same-sex relations. Their argument for the inclusion of African perspectives and moral traditions in the search for a third way in finding an inclusive and integrated pastoral art of accompaniment is very compelling. The authors here also call for the inclusion of Africa's own unique challenges--like polygamy, childless marriages, and the impact of migration, civil conflict, diseases, ecological and population crises, and the rights of African women--in the global discussion on marriage and family life. They also challenge uncritical cliches in world Christianity that Africa's opposition to same-sex marriages (or Western propaganda about population or birth control and contraception) are conservative, while showing diverse African conversations on these topics in the search for abundant life on this beautiful continent.

There is no papal document that has generated as much interest, controversy, and debate in recent times as Pope Francis's Amoris Laetitia. This document, which came out of two very divisive synods of Catholic bishops and leaders in Rome in 2014 and 2015, will probably be the most discussed document ever produced by a pope in modern Catholicism on marriage and family life. This volume has gathered seminal commentaries on Amoris Laetitia by African Catholic theologians, social scientists, and pastoral workers. They offer African theological and pastoral responses to the principles and practices proposed by Pope Francis and the Synod on the family on such contested issues as same-sex relations, divorce and remarriage, and reception and denial of Holy Communion in the church, among other divisive issues. These important essays and commentaries show the strengths and weaknesses of this papal commentary and point out the missing link in the global conversation on marriage, family, and same-sex relations. Their argument for the inclusion of African perspectives and moral traditions in the search for a third way in finding an inclusive and integrated pastoral art of accompaniment is very compelling. The authors here also call for the inclusion of Africa's own unique challenges--like polygamy, childless marriages, and the impact of migration, civil conflict, diseases, ecological and population crises, and the rights of African women--in the global discussion on marriage and family life. They also challenge uncritical cliches in world Christianity that Africa's opposition to same-sex marriages (or Western propaganda about population or birth control and contraception) are conservative, while showing diverse African conversations on these topics in the search for abundant life on this beautiful continent.

This volume takes its title from the first-century Christian catechism called the Didache: ""Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills . . . gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth.""For Christians today, these words remain relevant in an era of massive human movements (voluntary and coerced), hybrid identities, and wide-ranging cultural interactions.How do modern Christians live as both a ""scattered"" and ""gathered"" people?How do they live out the tension between ecclesial universality (catholicity) and particularity (distinctive ways of being church in a given culture and context)?Do Christians today constitute a ""diaspora,"" a people dispersed across borders and cultures that nonetheless maintains a sense of commonality and mission?Scattered and Gathered: Catholics in Diaspora explores these questions through the work of fourteen scholars in different fields and from different corners of the world. Whether through reflections on Zimbabweans in Britain, Levantines in North America, or the remote island people of Chiloe now living in other parts of Chile, they guide readers along the winding road of insights and challenges facing many of today''s Christians.""Exciting and fascinating, this collection maps the complex global footprint of Christianity in an era of mass movement propelled by constantly evolving religious, political, social, and cultural dynamics, interactions, and tensions. This book is a treasure trove of theological and ethical resources for reimagining and understanding the global phenomenon of migration and diaspora for faith, community, and devotion in the twenty-first century."" --Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ, Hekima University College Jesuit School of Theology, Nairobi""Michael Budde has assembled an extraordinary group of contributors in this superb work of cutting-edge practical, theological, and missiological reflection. The essays significantly move the conversation forward about how migration and growing intercultural encounters are transforming religion and the churches perhaps more than ever before in human history. The writers are not only accomplished in migration studies, theology, and social research, but also in the practices and community life of the church itself. This volume provides more than the look of outsiders. If one desires to grasp the crucial trends and implications for Christianity of today''s unprecedented movement of people in a time of epochal change, one need look no further than this excellent volume.""--Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Distinguished Scholar of Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies, Loyola Marymount UniversityMichael L. Budde is Professor of Catholic Studies and Political Science at DePaul University in Chicago, where he is also Senior Research Professor in the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. His published work focuses on ecclesiology, political economy, and world Christianity; recent works include The Borders of Baptism and the coedited Witness of the Body.