The Catholic Church has a tradition of bridge-building, one founded on Christ and that began with the Apostle St. John and the convert St. Paul. It helped bridge the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman worlds. Later, it helped civilize the tribes that overran Europe. Limits appeared in the Church's bridge-building ability when Europe was confronted with Islam, and later with the secular mentality that arose in Western Europe, as well as in its encounters with China, India, and Africa. Steps Toward Vatican III examines the present dilemmas facing the Church and humanity in an age of globalization that daily brings people of various backgrounds into close proximity. It offers a "middle-way" to face such issues. It develops a global ethics and a global spirituality that can be incarnated within alert, loving, small Christian communities, as well as in the larger Church structures directed from the Vatican. It builds on Vatican II to find paths that may help bring peace and understanding in the world by a sympathetic evaluation of different world traditions. Such sympathy must be informed by the conversions that Jesus and the Church have demanded of their followers.

About the Author
Gerald Grudzen earned his Ph.D. in History from Columbia University in New York. John Raymaker received his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Social Ethics from Marquette University.


Book Information
ISBN 9780761840510
Author Gerald Grudzen
Format Paperback
Page Count 222
Imprint University Press of America
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 340g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 154mm * 18mm