Catholic Theologies of Culture

Dear Colleagues,

Catholicism is uniquely situated toward the category of culture for reasons that include its historical lineage in Christendom, its foundational relationship with the classical world, its mutually formative relationship with changing contemporary societies, and primarily its marked global provenance among Christian denominations. This Special Issue aims to provide orientation for relating the fundamental elements at play in Catholic theology and culture. As a discussion of fundamentals, the focus is on how God, humanity, and the Church can be construed as relating to culture in the domains of theology and philosophy. There is a particular concern for situating these discussions in relation to contemporary Catholicism, which includes current ecclesial controversies, the growth of ‘traditionalist’ subcultures (particularly among the young), the present reality of liturgical diversity in certain contexts, the growth of Catholicism in Africa, and the changing political contexts of the West with regard to populism and similar upheavals.

The parameters and means of orientating Catholic theology in relation to culture are many and varied, surrounding such fundamental issues as defining culture (with or without God and/or the Church), considerations of human nature and flourishing, disambiguating the ‘religious’ from the ‘cultural’, situating revelation in relation to history, assessing and grounding appropriate liturgical and devotional traditions, discussions regarding cultural pluralism and multiculturalism, defining/maintaining/challenging European cultural legacies, and evaluating new digital technologies and means of communication in relation to the divine human encounter. This Special Issue will seek to explore issues such as these, providing orientation for relating the fundamental elements at play in Catholic theology and culture in the present world.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it either to the Guest Editor or the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jacob Phillips
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.