Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology

Practical theology is an established discipline in the theological curriculum at both Protestant and Catholic European universities. And yet, despite the recent proliferation of English-language scholarly resources in practical theology, there are few explicitly Catholic resources or collections in practical theology. This book provides a view of Catholic practical theological scholarship across different international contexts, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium,...
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Practical theology is an established discipline in the theological curriculum at both Protestant and Catholic European universities. And yet, despite the recent proliferation of English-language scholarly resources in practical theology, there are few explicitly Catholic resources or collections in practical theology. This book provides a view of Catholic practical theological scholarship across different international contexts, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, India, Croatia, Nigeria, Mexico, the United States, Australia, and the Philippines. Contributions encompass a variety of disciplines, methods, research foci, and communicative styles. Chapters address intersections, for example, between practical theology and moral theology, missiology, liturgical/sacramental theology, pastoral psychology, empirical theology, ecclesiology, education, poetics, and spirituality studies. The volume engages theoretical meta-questions (such as the relationship between practical theology, 'lived religion', and empirical theology) and a range of urgent concrete issues (such as clerical sexual violence, religion and violence or gender issues). This volume thus makes a needed contribution to the wider discipline of practical theology and to Catholic theology as it seeks to stimulate further discussion and research among practical theologians and scholars in other related disciplines, both within the Catholic context and within other academic and ecclesial contexts.