https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147720 2026-08-07T08:30:24Z 2026-08-07T08:30:24Z Halík, Tomáš https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147878 2026-07-08T05:53:00Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Discovering new dimensions of catholicity and ecumenism Authors: Halík, Tomáš Abstract: The Second Vatican Council was a fundamental step in the shift from Catholicism to Catholicity, to an ecumenical universal openness to which the Church is summoned and which is one of the important signs of its authenticity. What I call “Catholicism” is the form of Church and theology that was created as a counterculture first vis-à-vis Protestantism and later vis-à-vis the Enlightenment, secular humanism, and secular political ideologies. At the Second Vatican Council, three major overtures in the direction of ecumenism emerged from the besieged fortress of “Catholicism”: dialogue with the non-Catholic Christian Churches, with non Christian religions, and with secular culture, including atheistic humanism.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Faggioli, Massimo https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147875 2026-07-07T11:08:56Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Polarization and globalization of Catholicism : understanding the pontificate of Francis Authors: Faggioli, Massimo Abstract: The crisis of globalization has also affected the globalization of Catholicism, and internal polarization within the Church has become evident. Intra-ecclesial polarization is an important issue because the problem of divisions in the Church has taken on a new form, not only in terms of visibility due to the radical democratisation made possible by social media and new Catholic media independent of functional and institutional dependence on ecclesiastical hierarchies, but also in nature. It is found both among the clergy (up to the level of bishops and cardinals) and among the laity; among practicing and believing Catholics, as well as among Catholics for whom a certain type of positioning and religious identity is an integral part of their profession or vocation/ministry in the Church (politicians, journalists, intellectuals, teachers, lay ministers with local or national public recognition). This is a polarization that originates from the search for a particular and idiosyncratic profile, in opposition to other profiles, including that of the average Catholic, and that originates from different factors. The following is only a provisional and incomplete list. [extract]

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Attard, Stefan M. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147873 2026-07-07T10:57:24Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: “But the word of god is not bound” (2 Tim 2,9) : reflections on the significance of the canons of scripture of different faith communities Authors: Attard, Stefan M. Abstract: The annual seminario biblico organised by the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 2023 dealt with what has been termed “lower criticism”, more often referred to as textual criticism. This study involves the laborious and painstaking analysis of the extant manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments in order to establish the relationships between them, and to ascertain their respective degree of originality and value. Such an analysis cannot but have a bearing on our evaluation of different canons embraced by different faith communities. This evaluation depends, not so much on which of the manuscripts are most faithful to the original version, but rather on which books have been accepted in their entirety as Scripture. [extract]

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Hahn, Judith https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147871 2026-07-07T10:47:38Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Opinions and their theological value : some observations from norm theory Authors: Hahn, Judith Abstract: One key aspect of the discussions about what the Church will be required to learn in the coming years is the relevance that facts have for norms. As scholars we are constantly reminded that facts are not normative and should not be confused with norms. However, we often wonder how the two relate to one another. This relationship is actually fairly difficult to determine; my approach follows legal scholar Christoph Möllers’s norm theory, which Möllers presented comprehensively in his 2015 monograph Die Möglichkeit der Normen. The chief motivation behind my choice of theory is that Möllers’s approach can be directly related to ecclesiology, as I will show later in my study. My article begins by briefly outlining his approach to understanding norms in relation to facts as a relationship of essential distance and intimate proximity. I then apply his theory to ecclesiology to explain how we can employ norm theory to differentiate between the earthly Church as fact and the heavenly Church as norm, and determine their relationship as being at one and the same time indivisible and unconfused. [extract]

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