Welcome address by H.L. Bishop Mario Grech

Welcome address by H.L. Bishop Mario Grech for the proceedings of the European Conference “Between Two Synods: Journeying Together,” which the Faculty of Theology, at the University of Malta, convened in conjunction with the European Society of Catholic Theology, on 20 February 2015, at the sixteenth-century Verdala Palacepeer-reviewe

The Orthodox tradition on divorced and remarried faithful : what can the Catholic Church learn?

This study investigates the question “The Orthodox Tradition on Divorced and Remarried Faithful: What can the Catholic Church Learn?” in three steps: first, it outlines the progress of Catholic interest in the Orthodox approach to divorce and remarriage over the last few decades; secondly, it presents the main features of this approach against the broader context of the Orthodox world; and thirdly, it points out five aspects of the Orthodox tradition that can shed new light and instigate the Catholic Church in her ongoing reflection on marriage and the pastoral challenges of the family.peer-reviewe

Mercy as the habitus of a self-giving love

This article is based on a statement regarding the Synod on the Family compiled by a research group at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Innsbruck.1 The arguments of this statement, which appear as a second part of this article, will be introduced by a focus on the significance of mercy as the fundamental option for a pastoral and missionary renewal of the Church as envisioned by Pope Francis, with an emphasis on anthropological, ecclesiological and doctrinal considerations.peer-reviewe

The spirituality of marriage after the second Vatican Council

Theological reflection on a spirituality of marriage needs “confidential conversations with those who [are] immediately affected, that is to say, with committed married couples.” This prevents reflecting theologians from idealizing marriage as well as from being divorced from the reality of everyday marital life. The following reflections made by the author of this paper, who as a religious priest follows a celibate life, have been nourished by many conversations with married couples. The personal reflections of married faithful in the light of faith are a genuine source of moral knowledge; and supplement reflections on an abstract essence or nature.peer-reviewe

Sensus Fidei and Sensus Fidelium in a marriage debate

Men and women today express themselves quite differently than ever in the past. Marriages nowadays exist on the basis of diverse kinds of unions. They fall under varying categories, different ways of experiencing a shared life, and different challenges involved in raising children responsibly. Every marriage union starts with the genuine desire and hope that spousal love is the most beautiful thing one can attain in earthly life. Every couple nourishes high expectations of mutual support and help in their personal development. They are also happy of experiencing companionship, and of sharing each other’s joys, problems and sorrows. But what are the tools that can help marriage and family develop these expectations in society and politics? Are not the leaders of society and politics themselves also married people? What are the instruments available to the Church today to assist her in preparing couples for marriage in a changing world? And above all, how can a community of married people help couples and their family attain the fulfillment of at least their basic aspirations?peer-reviewe

Opening address by H.E. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta

Opening Address by H.E. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca for the European Conference “Between Two Synods: Journeying Together,” which the Faculty of Theology, at the University of Malta, convened in conjunction with the European Society of Catholic Theology, on 20 February 2015, at the sixteenth-century Verdala Palace.peer-reviewe

Family ministry : the interface between church doctrine and pastoral care

This article does not focus on which doctrine needs to be developed, or which pastoral practice is unacceptable in the light of Church doctrine. To bring the Church’s teaching and the pastoral practice into harmony with each other, one needs to go beyond the fake polarity of two Churches: the Church of mercy and the Church dominated by rules which punish the sinner. Since Church doctrine and pastoral care should not contradict each other, it is only through a process of rethinking with “renewed freshness and enthusiasm”8 that this thorny issue can be resolved.peer-reviewe

'A conversion … in the language we use'

Pope Francis’ challenge to seek and find an adequate pastoral response to new family situations needs to be taken up boldly. There is no doubt that an important way of doing this is to reflect on the way we, as Church, consider family issues ad intra, but we also need to look at how we seek to communicate truths about the family with and to the world. Is the “Gospel of the Family” offering hope and joy to those in the fold who are struggling with complex family situations? Is it encouraging the conversion of those often deemed to be on the “margins” of the Church? Is our message about family life persuasive – in particular, in our case, in a strongly secularist European context?peer-reviewe

Distributed Relational Database Performance in Cloud Computing: an Investigative Study

Weak points in major relational database systems in a Cloud Computing environment, in which the nodes were geographically distant, are identified. The study questions whether running databases in the Cloud provides operational disadvantages. Findings indicate that performance measures of RDBMS’ in a Cloud Computing environment are inconsistent and that a contributing factor to poor performance is the public or shared infrastructure on the Internet. Also, that RDBMS’ in a Cloud Computing environment become network-bound in addition to being I/O bound. The study concludes that Cloud Computing creates an environment that negatively impacts RDBMS performance for RDBMS’ that were designed for n-tier architecture