New book on Practical Theology

A new volume has just been published in the Biblioteca Teológica Granadina collection, a series of academic books on theology from the University of Loyola and Editorial Sindéresis. The title of the book is “Practical Theology: Perspectives for Theological Practice in Academia, Ministry, and Society”. It is a collective work edited by Prof. Susana Vilas Boas, who has been a professor of pastoral theology at the University of Loyola.

The book aims to compile different current approaches to practical and pastoral theology within the context of Jesuit and related institutions. It is the result of research stays by Professor Vilas Boas at Facultés Loyola Paris (France) and the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Innsbruck (Austria), both Jesuit institutions, where she engaged with teams working on pastoral theology. These stays sought to learn about the very interesting and innovative approaches to this discipline existing in these institutions. In addition, Professor Vilas Boas had dialogues within the Jesuit network with the team working on practical theology at Fordham University (USA) and Comillas University (Spain).

Subsequently, thanks to the contact networks of various participants, four other institutions were added to the project: the Institut Supérieur de Pastorale Catéchétique – Institut Catholique de Paris (France), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal), and the University of Münster (Germany). In this way, a total of 16 researchers from 8 different academic institutions ultimately participated in the book, a significant achievement in terms of theological networking.

The book aims to present the work currently being done in pastoral theology from an Ignatian perspective and an open reading of the Second Vatican Council in dialogue with society. This theological panorama is presented in three parts: academic theology, the question of methodology in practical theology, and the pastoral and applied horizon of pastoral theology.

The essays address topics such as the influence of the thought of Paul Ricoeur or Alasdair MacIntyre on pastoral theology, the proposal of a practical theology that departs directly from the spiritual experience of the poor as proposed by researchers at Facultés Loyola Paris, or the study of the application of pastoral theology in situations of migration or illuminating the transmission of faith in secularized European environments.In short, this book aims to be a step in the development of a more interconnected and shared approach to pastoral theology within the circles of the Society of Jesus and similar Church environments.