Contemporary Liberal Catholicism in the USA
Contemporary Liberal Catholicism in the USA

Summary/Abstract: American liberal Catholics are able to show that they overcome the traditional catholic authoritarianism. We can find many reasons for the particular situation of the Catholic Church in the USA. One of them is the Catholic High Education in the USA and the second is II Vatican Council. Both are closely related, or even one can say that catholic universities in the USA go further with the ideas of II Vatican Council. The two most important declarations of this event were produced by American theologians: Dignitatis humanae and Nostra aetate. The problem of human sexuality was one of the most discussed in Catholic theology in the post II Vatican period, and particularly, when the pope Paul VI issued Humanae vitae, a document dedicated to this topic. The main theologian who criticized the Vatican doctrine was Charles Curran, at that time a professor at Catholic University of America. One of the first theologian who included a feminist perspective in her theological reflection was Mary Daly, after her and less radical are Rosemary Radford Ruether, Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza particularly known for her biblical hermeneutic with feminist perspective, and Elizabeth A. Johnson who proposed an concrete solution for patriarchal concept of God. Very important is a contribution of American liberal Catholics in Jewish-Christian relations, interreligious dialogue, and even with postmodernism.

• Details
• Contents