Catholic Pastoral and Prophetic Responses to a Secularizing Landscape
Catholic Pastoral and Prophetic Responses to a Secularizing Landscape
Author(s): John Sullivan Subject(s): Pastoral Theology, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Catholic worldview; liturgy; providence; cultural critique; church; renunciation of power; schooling and dependency; modernity as a perversion of Christianity; friendship;
Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to offer a retrieval of some major themes in the writings of Ro-mano Guardini and Ivan Illich, two twentieth century Catholic priests who responded to secularizationin ways that could be described as both pastoral and prophetic. Guardini tended towards a more pas-toral emphasis, while Illich’s stance was more prophetic. Guardini exemplified a Catholic way to bridgethe gap often experienced between faith, life and culture. Illich demonstrated how a Catholic can ad-dress their culture in a way that is both challenging and fertile and does so in penetrating observationsabout contemporary secular professions and preoccupations. The article has three parts. In part one,I sketch a range of responses to Christianity that have emerged in an increasingly secular culture, as wellas the types of response that Christians have made to such a culture. In parts two and three a repre-sentative sample of the writings of Guardini and Illich is drawn on and analysed, together with a range ofsecondary literature on Guardini and Illich, in order to explain the nature and the role of four key themes(in each case) within their overall outlook. For Guardini, in part two, these are Catholic worldview, lit-urgy, providence and cultural critique. For Illich, in part three, I examine his notion of the mission ofthe Church, his treatment of schooling, his understanding that modernity is a perversion of Christianity,and his advocacy of friendship as a healing and liberating mode of engaging the world.
Journal: Verbum Vitae
- Issue Year: 42/2024
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 55-76
- Page Count: 22
- Language: English