The Second Vatican Council urged Eastern Catholics to cultivate their share of divine revelation for the benefit of the entire Catholic Church. Yet, more than 50 years later, the Eastern Catholic Churches frequently remain on the margins, both in the theological academy and in the life of the Church more broadly. In an effort to remedy this situation, at least in part, this volume offers a scholarly reflection on the unique patrimony of the Eastern Catholic Churches, divided according to the categories of Liturgy, Theology, Spirituality, Discipline, and Culture. In so doing, it both follows the categories used to define a Church sui iuris in the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches, and builds on the legacy of the Rev. Peter Galadza, to whom the volume is dedicated.
On one hand, the volume and its essays are intentionally introductory, revealing the worlds of Eastern Catholicism and the variety of theological approaches that take place there. Emerging in part from the experience of teaching and preaching by scholars of Eastern Christianity, who are frequently asked for a basic introduction to Eastern Catholic theology, and have little to offer in response, these essays gather an international group of scholars engaging in critical, theological reflection from an Eastern Catholic perspective. This approach is rounded out by contributions from Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant scholars, who articulate their own reception and appreciation of the Eastern Catholic theological heritage.
At the same time, however, several of the essays in this volume relate the history and current reality of Eastern Catholicism to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, yet without ignoring how frequently Eastern Catholics live, worship, and theologize without self-conscious regard for their unique ecclesial situation. Indeed, these authors show, Eastern Catholic theology can be unself-consciously grounded in the patristic tradition, and Eastern Catholics can simply "do" theology, without worrying about ecclesial politics. Readers will thus find here the best of both worlds: both an introduction to the unique and frequently ignored patrimony of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and a series of essays that avoids the all-to-common pitfall of reducing these traditions to a parody of other Churches, Eastern or Western. Instead, by engaging with the sources of the Christian tradition – as Eastern Catholics, yes, but first and foremost as Christians – the authors reveal how much their tradition can offer the Catholic Church as a whole.
