{"product_id":"9780813218656","title":"Apostolic Religious Life in America Today: A Response to the Crisis","description":"\u003cp\u003eApostolic religious life in the United States today is in a state of crisis. Signs of this situation are readily apparent and well-known to all who practice Roman Catholicism. The significant decline in the number of priests and religious and fewer vocations to religious congregations have produced a severe blow to formerly active apostolates and brought grave concern for the future of these ministries. While the reasons for this present situation are complex, interpretation of the documents of Vatican II is clearly one very important factor. Scholars hold two basic interpretations of the Council: the hermeneutic of rupture sees the Council as a revolution which placed the Church on a completely new trajectory. A second hermeneutic, however, views the Council as reform with continuity. While most literature to date has analyzed the hermeneutic of rupture and the consequent transformation of apostolic religious life, this book describes the opposite position.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDivided into two parts, this volume first presents an analysis of the problem and secondly a solution to place apostolic religious life on a positive trajectory in the 21st century. The first section of this book describes how the hermeneutic of rupture is an incorrect reading of Vatican II. Rather, the Council, in addressing numerous issues, did not break from the past, but rather sought to understand Church teaching in more contemporary ways, but with continuity to the Tradition. Essays in this section describe this misreading of Vatican II, the consequent misunderstanding of the evangelical counsels, and the rejection of religious signs. The second section, through an analysis of the writings of Hans von Balthasar, Basile Moreau, Pope Benedict XVI, and a reflection on Perfectae Caritatis, provides a solution of Christian love as the operative way to reform apostolic religious life today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard Gribble, C.S.C., is professor of religious studies at Stonehill College. He has written four critical biographies including American Apostle of the Family Rosary: The Life of Patrick J. Peyton, C.S.C., and An Archbishop for the People: The Life of Edward J. Hanna. He is a frequent contributor to many journals, including The Catholic Historical Review, American Catholic Studies, and the Journal of Church and State. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The Second Vatican Council calls for all Catholics to read the signs of the times. Religious communities that can read the signs of the times and say 'yes' to a new generation of Catholics will have the greatest opportunity to flourish. We must be able to hear and engage constructive criticism, from within our communities and the wider Church. . . . We must recommit ourselves to the mission we professed. Great love and great humility will bring about a renewal, a new springtime, for religious life and for the new generation of Catholics who look to us for leadership.\"—from the Foreword by Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M., Cap., Archbishop of Boston\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Catholic University of America Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47016666595568,"sku":"9780813218656","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780813218656_p0.jpg?v=1763744464","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780813218656","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}