James Sweeney

Public Theology and Changing Social Values

On the basis of interviews conducted in Bradford, Glasgow and Rotterdam, this article seeks to explore the issue of changing social values as they are affected by or affect the capacity (or incapacity) to participate in community and/or political life. The issue explored is in the context of globalisation and its impact on the communities in question. The aim is to offer some empirical basis for a theological reflection upon the nature and scope of value change and the opportunities and challenges thus posed for publicly engaged Christians.

Why students in Catholic secondary schools should study Pope John XXIII's encyclical, Pacem in Terris (1963)

Pope John XXIIIs final encyclical on the subject of peace, Pacem in Terris, written after the Cuban missile crisis which he helped to resolve, is an extended treatment of the basic principles of political morality and particularly significant for its adoption – the first time by the Catholic Church – of the discourse of human rights. The fundamental moral objective of state power is stated as ‘the recognition, respect, safeguarding, and promotion of the rights of the human person’, and only on this basis can peace be established. The encyclical is an important educational resource for forming peaceable and peacemaking persons.