The new 2024 collection titled The Moral Vision of Pope Francis: Expanding the U.S. Reception of the First Jesuit Pope, edited by Conor M. Kelly of Marquette University and Kristin E. Heyer of Boston College (Georgetown University Press) arrives in the midst of our current highly polarized American political situation -- and in the midst of the anti-Francis rhetoric of certain conservative American Catholics.

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Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) August 26, 2024: Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) shocked the Roman Catholic world when he resigned as pope in 2013. After his resignation, the Cardinal-electors elected Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (born in 1936), a Jesuit, as the new pope. He took the name of Francis in honor of the medieval Italian Saint Francis of Assisi (c.1181-1226), the founder of the Franciscan order.

Prior to his election, Pope Francis was not well known beyond South America. Consequently, journalists and others went to work to learn more about him, his life, and his views.

The Italian philosopher Massimo Borghesi published the informative book The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio's Intellectual Journey, translated by Barry Hudock (Liturgical Press, 2018; orig. Italian ed., 2017). Among other things, Borghesi tells us that Bergoglio started to work on a doctorate in Catholic theology in Germany, he but did not complete it.

In any event, in 2015, Pope Francis issued his widely read eco-encyclical Laudato Si' - undoubtedly the most widely read encyclical ever written by a pope. (His 2015 eco-encyclical is available in English and other languages at the Vatican's website.)

Now, both in terms of American political views, and in terms of general tendencies in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis' 2015 eco-encyclical would be regarded as liberal.

However, in terms of general tendencies in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis is undoubtedly doctrinally conservative. I have profiled the doctrinally conservative pope in my widely read OEN article "Pope Francis on Evil and Satan" (dated March 24, 2019):

Click Here

Now, at some juncture, certain conservative American Catholics started reacting vociferously against the doctrinally conservative Pope Francis.

For an account of the anti-Francis reaction, see the Italian philosopher Massimo Borghesi's book Catholic Discordance: Neoconservatism vs. the Field Hospital Church of Pope Francis, translated by Barry Hudock (Liturgical Press Academic, 2021; orig. Italian ed., 2021).

In light of the vociferous anti-Francis conservative American Catholics, it is refreshing to see certain other American Catholics write more positively about him and his moral vision in the new 2024 book The Moral Vision of Pope Francis: Expanding the U.S. Reception of the First Jesuit Pope, edited by Conor M. Kelly of Marquette University and Kristin E. Heyer of Boston College (Georgetown University Press).

The most efficient way that I can provide you with an overview of this new 2024 collection of essays by American Catholic authors is to tell you its parts:

"Acknowledgments" (pp. ix-x).

"Introduction" by Conor M. Kelly of Marquette University and Kristin E. Heyer of Boston College (pp. 1-12).

Part I: "Foundations" (pp. 13-114).

Chapter 1: "The Moral Theology of Pope Francis: Contextual, Collaborative, Charitable, and Not Always Clear" by Lisa Sowle Cahill of Boston College (pp. 15-32).

Chapter 2: "Responsive Listening: Giving Recognition and Empowering the voices of Those Long Ignored" by James F. Keenan, S.J. of Boston College (pp. 33-48).

Chapter 3: "Pope Francis: Virtue Ethicist?" by Conor M. Kelly of Marquette University (pp. 49-64).

Chapter 4: "Pope Francis's Ecclesial Ethics: Mercy, Subsidiarity, Justice" by Elyse J. Raby of Santa Clara University (pp. 65-80).

Chapter 5: "Pope Francis's Social Ethics: Advocacy for Economic Justice and Equity" by Thomas Massaro, S.J., of Fordham University (pp. 81-97).

Chapter 6: "The Preferential Option for the Poor: Incarnational Theology in the U.S. Context" by M. T. Davila of Merrimack College (pp. 98-114).

Part II: "Applications" (pp. 115-233).

Chapter 7: "An Ever Wider We: Pope Francis's Migration Ethics" by Kristin E. Heyer of Boston College (pp. 117-132).

Chapter 8: "Pope Francis, antiracist? Revealing the Heart in a Time of Racial Reckoning" by Maureen H. O'Connell of LaSalle University (pp. 133-148).

Chapter 9: "The Twilight of Dissent: Pope Francis and LGBTQ Persons and Morality" by Bryan N. Massingale of Fordham University (pp. 149-165).

Chapter 10: The Work of the Spirit, or Machismo with a Skirt? Feminism, Gender, and Pope Francis" by Megan K. McCabe of Gonzaga University (pp. 166-182).

Chapter 11: "A Discerning Bioethics: Pope Francis's Threefold Approach" by Andrea Vicini, S.J., of Boston College (pp. 183-199).

Chapter 12: "Pope Francis's Peace Ethics: Beginning from the 'Wounded Flesh of the Victims'" by Laurie Johnston of Emmanuel College in Boston (pp. 200-215).

Chapter 13: "Pope Francis's Ecological Ethics: A Constructive Application for a climate 'Revolution' in the U.S. Catholic Church" by Daniel R. DiLeo of Creighton University (pp. 216-233).

"Conclusion" by Conor M. Kelly of Marquette University and Kristin E. Heyer of Boston College (pp. 234-253).

"List of Contributors" (pp. 255-258).

"Index" (pp. 259-269).

Incidentally, Andrea Vicini, S.J., of Boston College is one of three co-editors of the Moral Traditions Series in which this new 2024 collection is published.

The "Notes" appear at the end of each essay. The sheer range of sources cited in each essay is impressive. However, not all of the authors of sources mentioned in the "Notes" are listed in the "Index."

However, because Georgetown University Press also published Anthony Ekpo's 2024 book The Roman Curia: History, Theology, and Organization, I am a bit puzzled as to why no one at Georgetown University Press did not call it to James Keenan's attention in connection with Pope Francis's Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (2022) - which Keenan discusses (pp. 43-45).

In another part of Keenan's essay, he discusses the power of recognition (pp. 36-39). Among other things, he says, "Philosopher like Charles Taylor, Paul Ricouer, Paddy McQueen, Axel Honneth, Nancy Fraser, and Michael Sohn have argued that recognition entails awakening from a tendency to overlook or ignore to an acknowledgment of the rightful dignity of others" (p. 36). That's an impressive list of authors.

I would simply add here that the literary scholar Warwick Wadlington makes recognition and acknowledgment the key terms in his operational definition and explanation of Faulknerian tragedy in his book Reading Faulknerian Tragedy (Cornell University Press, 1987).

In Kelly and Heyer's "Introduction," they say, "Put simply, [Pope] Francis does not operate as a moral theologian, nor does he intend to. More concerned with the 'pastorality of doctrine,' which Elyse Raby emphasizes in Chapter 4 of this volume, Francis has had neither the patience nor the inclination to develop an explicit moral methodology, lest this slow down his efforts to deal directly with the pastoral concerns that demand immediate attention" (p. 3). Briefly stated, Kelly and Heyer have here stated the rationale for this new 2024 collection - and explained the works that each of the contributors has undertaking in his or her essay in the volume.

So what is the moral vision of Pope Francis that the authors in this new 2024 collection are exploring?

For the answer to this crucial question, I turn to Conor Kelly's essay on virtue ethics. Among other things, he says, "The third emphasis of virtue ethics that resonates with [Pope] Francis's approach to moral theology is the stress virtue ethics places on growth. . . . As the Jesuit theological ethicist and biblical scholar Lucas Chan has observed, from the virtue ethicist's perspective, 'our choices and actions help form our tendencies and dispositions, which in turn help inform and direct our subsequent choices and actions'" (p. 55).

Subsequently, Kelly says, "Ultimately, [Pope] Francis's vision for the moral life makes a similar claim. . . . [Pope] Francis employs growth as a critique of the assumption that the call of discipleship equates to a life of [striving for?] moral perfection. . . . [Pope] Francis discusses moral growth as an invitation to maturity in moral matters" (pp. 55-56).

Subsequently, Kelly says, "There are, unsurprisingly, multiple points of tension between [Pope] Francis's unsystematic approach to moral theology and the more carefully delineated method embraced by committed virtue ethicists" (p. 57). But Kelly allows that "one [can] engage him as a virtue ethicist (of sorts)" (p. 57).

Kelly also says, "[Pope] Francis's stress on the relational character of Christian morality amplifies his attention to discernment and growth, creating a difference in degree rather than kind when comparing his approach with that of more traditional virtue ethicists" (p. 57).

In addition, Kelly says, "[Pope] Francis's ready focus on the divine-human interaction in ethics opens another avenue for growth in Catholic ethicists' presentation of the agency involved in the acquisition of virtue" (p. 58).

In Kelly and Heyer's "Conclusion," they say, "Catholics should embrace a hermeneutic of suspicion about any explanation that seems too neat, presuming that reductionistic analyses of moral questions are not laudable for their purported 'clarity' but are potentially damaging as a result of their artificiality. Indeed, [Pope] Francis's tolerance - and occasional preference - for ambiguity demonstrates that the most appropriate Catholic disposition entails searching for ways to complicate the assessment of a contested moral question rather than to simplify it. To be consistent with [Pope] Francis's vision, then, moral theologians should use their work to help the faithful cultivate a new openness to complexity, ideally by pointing out the ways that prevailing discourses fail to account for relevant factors affecting the ethical values at stake" (p. 239).

Subsequently, Kelly and Heyer refer to "the idolization of certainty" (p. 241).

But these last points about Pope Francis bring us back to our polarized American political climate and to the anti-Francis rhetoric of certain conservative American Catholics - and to the subtitle of this new 2024 collection, "Expanding the U.S. Reception of the First Jesuit Pope." I sincerely hope that this new 2024 collection does help "Expand the U.S. Reception of the First Jesuit Pope."

Authors Website: http://www.d.umn.edu/~tfarrell

Authors Bio:

Thomas James Farrell is professor emeritus of writing studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He started teaching at UMD in Fall 1987, and he retired from UMD at the end of May 2009. He was born in 1944. He holds three degrees from Saint Louis University (SLU): B.A. in English, 1966; M.A.(T) in English 1968; Ph.D.in higher education, 1974. On May 16, 1969, the editors of the SLU student newspaper named him Man of the Year, an honor customarily conferred on an administrator or a faculty member, not on a graduate student -- nor on a woman up to that time. He is the proud author of the book WALTER ONG'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CULTURAL STUDIES: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE WORD AND I-THOU COMMUNICATION (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000; 2nd ed. 2009, forthcoming). The first edition won the 2001 Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology conferred by the Media Ecology Association. For further information about his education and his publications, see his UMD homepage: Click here to visit Dr. Farrell's homepage.

On September 10 and 22, 2009, he discussed Walter Ong's work on the blog radio talk show "Ethics Talk" that is hosted by Hope May in philosophy at Central Michigan University. Each hour-long show has been archived and is available for people who missed the live broadcast to listen to. Here are the website addresses for the two archived shows:

Click here to listen the Technologizing of the Word Interview

Click here to listen the Ramus, Method & The Decay of Dialogue Interview