Pope Francis and The Search for God in América
The Significance of His Early Visits to the Americas
Edited by Maria Clara Bingemer and Peter J. Casarella
Foreword by Christophe Pierre
Imprint: Catholic University of America Press
In Tutti Fratelli, Pope Francis has called again for a "culture of encounter," But how should his theology, pastoral practice, and social message be understood and applied in the Church of the Americas, a single but complex reality that extends from South to North? This volume offers analyses from experts looking back to the Argentine pontiff’s first fateful encuentros in the Americas as a help for understanding the present reality of the Church in the Western Hemisphere. The group includes theologians, historians, and political scientists, and the unique contribution of the volume lies in the panoramic perspective offered by the book as a whole.
The initial essays set the stage for the volume as a whole, offering rich insight into Argentine and Latin American history, the world from which the Pope came and to which he returned in 2015, as well as surveying the impact of the Latin American "theology of the people" on the Pope’s visit to the U.S.
Additional essays address theological, historical, and pastoral engagements that cut across several of the visits. The final group of essays is dedicated to the visits themselves and is arranged in the order that they occurred. Pope Francis and the Search for God in América is offered to all the members of the Church in América, South and North, old and young, with the hope that it will spur even more thought, reflection, prayer, and service.
Peter J. Casarella is professor of theology at Duke Divinity School. Maria Clara Bingemer is professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"Offers a significant contribution to the study of Francis' papacy and a broader contribution to Catholicism in the Americas. The book is not just about Franics; it is about the theology behind the Church in the Americas and the broader themes and issues raised by his papacy."
~Michelle Maldonado, University of Scranton
"The culture of the encounter has become the engine of the current pontificate. Pope Francis and the Search for God in América gathers concrete efforts to promote this culture in the Americas. The book establishes bridges between the experiences of God lived and practiced in contexts that, although diverse, share a common substratum. The theology that emerges from this publication inspires dialogue and fruitful exchange between the North and the South."
~Sandra Arenas, Dean of the Faculty of Religious Sciences and Philosophy of the Catholic University of Temuco-Chile
"In a world fractured by division and distrust, Pope Francis calls for unity and hope. Moreover, in a world where we often define ourselves by what separates us, Pope Francis calls for recognition of our fundamental relationship as brothers and sisters. Pope Francis and the Search for God in América lays out this vision and its significance for North and South America in a series of thoughtful and compelling essays. I highly recommend it"
~Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxilary bishop of Washington
"The work of a circle of authors, men and women, attentive and dedicated, inhabitants of the north and south, who respond, eminently and in the same spirit as Francisco, to the objective of tearing down walls and building bridges. These essays really represent an effort of integration around the search for God as the Holy Mystery, in the Spirit of the Son, who enables us to live united in diversity."
~Ceci Maria Costa Baptista Mariani, Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil
"What a fascinating collection of essays! They provide important keys to better understand the mind and heart of the first pope from the Americas, Pope Francis, and the Catholic experience that journeys from the global South with much impetus and trust in the Holy Spirit to reenergize the entire Church in the twenty-first century"
~Hosffman Ospino, Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College, President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States
"What would it mean for South American Catholics, North American Catholics, and U.S. Catholics to imagine themselves as all part of América, in the singular? How might this vision transform our understanding and practice of being church? This book is written in homage to Pope Francis and to the ways he has extended an invitation to all of us to journey with him on these two continents and into a new way of being church. The eminent scholars in this edited collection—theologians, historians, missiologists, political scientists—are themselves located across these two continents, offering us an utterly rich rereading of catholicity. Expect to experience church differently."
~Nancy Pineda-Madrid, T. Marie Chilton Chair of Catholic Theology, Loyola Marymount University
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