Charles E. Curran, Catholic Social Teaching 1891-Present: a Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2004 by Thomas J. Massaro

Future Catholic social teaching will be more adequate and helpful if it more fully appropriates the insights of the Vatican II Declaration of Religious Freedom, particularly its highlighting of the criteria of "public order" as a proper concern of legislation in democratic and pluralistic societies in the contemporary world. While these claims, in and of themselves, by no means settle such neuralgic issues as legalized abortion, such concerns cannot be overlooked if the Catholic community is to supplement the traditional "thick" concept of common good with "thinner" conceptions of public order which are appropriate for democratic discourse today.

One of the few shortcomings of this volume is an occasional tendency to tax the patience of the reader with excessive disclaimers and qualifiers. Curran leans a bit too heavily on the technique of compiling long lists of relevant considerations to organize his reflections, and thus misses opportunities for even deeper analysis at certain junctures. A few brief passages descend into stale tropes, as if the author has settled for transcribing the rhetorical flourishes he has developed for classroom settings over the years. Aside from these few lapses, this text is eminently readable and quite clearly written.

While it does not break much new ground, Curran's volume provides the insightful and illuminating analysis promised by its title. Even those quite unfamiliar with Catholic social teaching will come away from this work with a solid grasp of the concerns of that teaching, as well as the critical issues facing the Roman Catholic Church as it seeks to hone a clear, faithful, credible and relevant social message in the new millennium. A Catholic church that appropriates the lessons Curran provides in surely emerge as a better dialogue partner in the endeavour of ecumenical social ethics.

Thomas J. Massaro, SJ, is associate professor of moral theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.