2024 Association of Catholic Publishers First Place Award, Theology

Some are calling the synod on synodality “the greatest consultation effort in human history” and for good reason. It is no small task to listen to the world’s 1.36 billion Catholics, especially when many Catholics have felt marginalized or unwelcome. Taking a cue from this ongoing synodal process, the experts gathered for Reforming the Church: Global Perspectives place the broader issues relating to church reform in their historical context, while exploring themes that have ongoing relevance to the universal church. Topics include ecclesial transfiguration and the episcopacy, clerical sex abuse, globalization of the church, and the theology of synodality. A number of chapters address issues of more local, or culturally-specific, significance, in this way mirroring the results of synodal consultations conducted worldwide.

What emerges is a reflection on the theme of reform within the church: what it has meant in the past, what it means for us now, and what it might mean in the future.

Contributors include:

Christopher M. Bellitto
Shaun Blanchard
Agnès Desmazières
Massimo Faggioli
Francis Gonsalves, SJ
Julia Knop
Bishop Vincent Long, OFMConv
Rafael Luciani
Declan Marmion
Ethna Regan
Pedro Trigo, SJ