Antonio AUTIERO and Laurentti MAGESA, eds. The Catholic Ethicist in the Local Church. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2018. pp. 341. $48.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-62698-274-1. Reviewed by Dolores L. CHRIESTIE, Cleveland, OH 44122.

Sadly this is the final collection of articles from the innovative series of conferences, Catholic Theological Ethics in a World Church. Accepting the challenge of Vatican II to examine the “signs of the times,” these international meetings drew on the fresh thinking of moral theologians from all over the world. The essays emphasize a globally-conscious theology. Moral theology, in particular, is informed by the unique communities of believers from many cultures. The Catholic ethicist in the local church is both shaped by and called to transform his or her moral environment. Each must engage in collaborative and collegial conversations that discard the pyramidal model of church and embrace a healthier respect for individual persons and conscience.

Part I of the book articulates the key questions that arise in today’s world. What are the relationships among the hierarchy and the local church, precipitated moral teaching and the lived experience of real believers? As one of the book’s editors puts it, “To know and to reflect on human experience are not accessories [to theology].” Where does the Holy Spirit fit? How is the long history of social justice in the scriptures and the moral message of the gospel incorporated into local practice of the faith? How do ecclesiology and moral education play into the picture? How do conscience and magisterial teaching intersect?

Part II considers the concrete reality of local situations. It offers several short essays that examine the contextualization of theology. Articles from the rich diversity of Africa to Asia, Cuba to France and Poland, Slovenia to Vietnam and South America. Small Christian communities, similar to the base communities of liberation theology, form the patchwork of places poised to salinate the earth with the message of Christ. How do politics and poverty, pollution and terrorism affect moral thinking? How can one listen and move to accommodate diverse experience without descending into relativism? And all this in tension with magisterial teaching and ecclesiology. Not every writer included in the book marches to the same drummer; but the variety of insights comes directly from the historical, political, and cultural reality of the authors themselves.

Part III looks at specific local conflicts and strategies to address them. Some of the most interesting articles are found in this section. One, written from the perspective of the Japanese culture, explores the tensions for Catholic teaching posed by state-mandated laws regarding reproduction. Others address such contemporary issues as political conflict, terrorism, “communities” in the modern world of cyber communication. The reality of the invisibility of large swaths of humanity, moral deafness in the face of social sin, and the diminishing numbers of persons who actually practice or call themselves Christian challenge the moral theologian in new ways.

It is always difficult to review a book of essays. The reviewer cannot, in a short piece, highlight in detail what each author contributes. Certainly not all these essays in this volume are equally compelling, but all are worth reading. They provide a valuable and often provocative addition to the moral theological landscape of the future.

All in all this is an extraordinarily rich book. I suggest it as the perfect Christmas gift for any bishop or aspiring bishop on your holiday list. Students, too, are likely to benefit not only from the articles but from discussion. They will get well-needed insight into the real issues of what might be called “communities of the have-nots.” Perhaps a study guide of questions to bring out the consistencies as well as the divergent positions might be added for student use. The individual articles are well written, provocative, and innovative. They provide a fertile field of thinking for the Catholic church of the future. Much like the exciting series of conferences that provoked it.