Preferences, Practices, and Virtues: An Ethical Reflection on the Universal Apostolic Preferences

The Society of Jesus has promulgated the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) for the decade 2019-29. We know what the UAPs are: to seek God, walk with the poor, accompany youth, and collaborate in the care of the earth. And we know what they are for: the ongoing conversion of persons and institutions in their commitment to the mission of reconciliation of justice. But what, exactly, is a “preference” anyhow? In this reflection, I draw on the moral tradition of virtue ethics to argue that the preferences are best understood as “practices” or, in other words, as the fundamental actions by which crucial virtues like mercy and justice are developed in persons and in institutions. I also argue that seeing the preferences as practices in the context of virtue ethics opens up fruitful possibilities for fostering engagement with the UAPs at Jesuit institutions of higher education

Ethics and Pope Francis’s Encyclical Letter Laudato Si: A Teaching Module

This open-source teaching module consists of: 1. This Teaching Note for the instructor provides background on the Encyclical and specific discussion questions which the instructor can use to guide discussion in class. After each discussion question, this note identifies key points students or the instructor should make during the discussion. The teaching note concludes with “A Summary the Instructor May Use to Conclude Discussion.” 2. “Excerpts from Laudato Si for Discussion in Class,” is a separate document to be read by students before class. It can be reproduced and handed out, or sent electronically to students. It consists of a short description of five key themes in the Encyclical, the important question or questions raised by that theme, and selected paragraphs from the Encyclical addressing that theme. If read thoughtfully in advance, it should provide adequate preparation for the students to participate in the discussion outlined in this teaching note. This teaching module is designed to be used in a single 50 to 60 minute class period, or a shorter period over several days. It can be used in several different types of courses, including a business ethics course, an environmental studies course, a religious studies course, among others. The type of course will determine which discussion questions and discussion points the instructor wishes to emphasize. The authors were particularly focused on providing a way to use the Encyclical in a business ethics class. This module is designed to permit the students to discuss the encyclical by Pope Francis and its major themes, without having to read the entire encyclical. A link is provided in the “Excerpts” document to the full text of the Encyclical on the Vatican website. For several of the themes, additional paragraphs from the Encyclical are recommended which further develop the theme

Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism in the United States: The Challenge of Becoming a Church for the Poor

The third volume of the Lane Center Series focused on Pope Francis\u27 reforms of the Catholic Church, and the role of the Catholic Church within the United States.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1012/thumbnail.jp

Created Freedom under the Sign of the Cross: A Catholic Public Theology for the United States

The United States is in a crisis of freedom. Influenced by neoliberal economics, the concept of freedom has become identified with an abstract, radical individualism disdainful of responsibility to others and to the past. Signs of this crisis crop up everywhere. Some invoke freedom as justification for refusing to wear a mask in a pandemic. Others argue that freedom is an empty word if it’s celebrated apart from an honest engagement with the country’s history of racism.Created Freedom under the Sign of the Cross offers a Catholic theological response to this crisis of freedom. Catholic social ethics may be better known for its emphasis on social principles like the common good and solidarity. But developments in Catholic theologies of freedom in the last decades provide fertile ground from which to develop a bold, creative response to this American crisis of freedom.In this book, theologian David DeCosse draws on thinkers ranging from philosopher Amartya Sen to Black Catholic theologian Shawn Copeland to twentieth-century theological giant Karl Rahner in order to reimagine American freedom in light of classic Catholic emphases on embodiment, relationship, history, the good, and God. The result is a Catholic public theology that provides a redemptive path forward in an age of crisis.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1553/thumbnail.jp

Conscience and Catholic Health Care: From Clinical Contexts to Government Mandates

Drawn from a two-day symposium at Santa Clara University, Conscience and Catholic Health Care provides a timely and up-to-date assessment of the Catholic understanding of conscience and how it relates to day-to-day issues in Catholic health care. The contributors explore a wide range of topics, including end-of-life care, abortion and sterilization, and the role of Catholic ethics particularly in hospital settings.With insights from key figures this book will serve as a useful text and reference for medical students and practitioners as well as a resource for ethics boards and chaplains in Catholic hospitals, most especially those merging with secular health institutions.In addition to the editors, contributors include Ron Hamel, Anne E. Patrick, Roberto Dell Oro, Lisa Fullam, Kristin E. Heyer, John J. Paris, M. Patrick Moore, Jr., Cathleen Kaveny, Lawrence J. Nelson, Kevin T. FitzGerald, SJ, Gerald Coleman, Margaret R. McLean, Shawnee M. Daniels-Sykes, and Carol Taylor.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1340/thumbnail.jp

Conscience and Catholicism: Rights, Responsibilities, and Institutional Responses

In 2009, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)—an organization representing 300 orders of sisters in the United States—suddenly gained wide attention following a critical doctrinal assessment issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Many became interested in the way the LCWR and its members exercised leadership. One of their members described it as “transformational leadership”—a “way-of-being-in-in-the-world.” To better understand this way of leadership, LCWR regularly conducts interviews with some of the most engaging and passionate of contemporary thinkers.In this volume, interviews with eighteen theologians, psychologists, educators, and religious leaders from various fields and disciplines share their wisdom about a way of leadership able to meet the deep challenges of today’s world. Transformational Leadership offers the opportunity to learn from notables such as Walter Brueggemann, Judy Cannato, Joan Chittister, OSB, Constance FitzGerald, OCD, Donald Goergen, OP, Marty Linsky, and Margaret Wheatley.In 2009, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)—an organization representing 300 orders of sisters in the United States—suddenly gained wide attention following a critical doctrinal assessment issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Many became interested in the way the LCWR and its members exercised leadership. One of their members described it as “transformational leadership”—a “way-of-being-in-in-the-world.” To better understand this way of leadership, LCWR regularly conducts interviews with some of the most engaging and passionate of contemporary thinkers.In this volume, interviews with eighteen theologians, psychologists, educators, and religious leaders from various fields and disciplines share their wisdom about a way of leadership able to meet the deep challenges of today’s world. Transformational Leadership offers the opportunity to learn from notables such as Walter Brueggemann, Judy Cannato, Joan Chittister, OSB, Constance FitzGerald, OCD, Donald Goergen, OP, Marty Linsky, and Margaret Wheatley.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1011/thumbnail.jp

Conscience and Catholic education : theology, administration, and teaching

Leading ethicists and theologians address “Conscience” insofar as this central issue in Catholic theology relates to issues in Catholic education—religious freedom, the challenge of diversity, academic freedom, conscience formation and neuroscience and more. Like our 2017 volume Conscience and Catholic Health Care, this volume brings sharper focus to one particular area where Catholic notions of conscience and fidelity to contemporary interpretations of Church teaching are in constant dialogue.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1558/thumbnail.jp