Michael Waldstein

Surely it can be said that our current era is marked by unprecedented confusion concerning the nature of man and woman. Dangerous distortions of the foundations of personal identity are spreading and appear to be accelerating, leading to tragic consequences for our culture and our children. Society today lacks an adequate appreciation of what is undoubtedly the fundamental reality at the heart of the human condition: that we are created male and female. We are in desperate need of a robust, coherent, and faithful account of man and woman. That we don’t already have one at this point in the history of our tradition is an unfortunate lacuna. It might have helped humanity resist the madness descending all around us. But we will not put a stop to this onslaught by merely illuminating the evident errors in the ideology behind it. Our response in this present era must also be constructive and doctrinally sound. And the Church has already asked the right questions. The 1987 Synod of Bishops on the Vocation and Mission of the Family put it in the clearest and simplest of terms: How are we to understand the Creator’s purpose, the bishops ask, in determining that human beings would always exist as only either a man or a woman? And what are the consequences of that decision? In October 2024, Franciscan University of Steubenville held a conference titled "Man and Woman in the Order of Creation." Cosponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC, the purpose of the gathering was to take up the critical task of providing a robust, full-throated response to these questions. This collection of papers from the conference reflects the fundamental recognition that what is needed is a comprehensive account of man and woman—one that is faithful, thorough, and grounded not only in theology and philosophy, but also in science. Thus the volume includes the insights of experts from a number of disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, and psychology, as well as those from philosophy and theology. Taken as a whole, the volume reveals that God is indeed the author of all truth.

As Catholic theology emerged from the crisis of modernity, theologians turned to both patristic and medieval sources to recover lost wisdom from the theological tradition, and adapt it to the challenges of an age that separated reason from faith, the practice of theology from the spiritual life. In time, Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar became the patrons of two very different approaches to this challenge. St. Thomas Aquinas offering contemporary theologians an approach rooted in the patristic-medieval Latin synthesis of Augustine and Aristotle that also draws on the East, and von Balthasar offering contemporary theologians a patristic-modern approach rooted in the Eastern theological synthesis of Maximus the Confessor and Erich Pzrywara, that also draws on the West. Although Aquinas and Balthasar, together with their contemporary followers, sought to unite reason and faith, theology and prayer, contemporary Thomists and Balthasarians have tended to diverge widely from one another, often with a polemical spirit. How should one understand the theological genius of St. Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar today? How can two of the greatest theologians in the Catholic tradition be brought together in more fruitful and peaceful dialogue? This edited volume comprises contributions from a range of scholars who elucidate the depth and breadth of two of the most prominent figures of the Catholic tradition today. A scholar from each school of thought contributes an essay on a particular theme: Metaphysics, Trinity, Revelation, Christology, Anthropology, Evil, and Eschatology. By presenting the two essays side by side, this volume provides the contemporary reader with an opportunity to better engage both thinkers and understand disagreements and areas for constructive movement forward. The tone of the volume is intentionally irenic, seeking points of constructive dialogue, and opening new pathways to the renewal of sapiential theology through a fruitful synthesis of Thomistic and Balthasarian thought.

Das Asylgrundrecht aus Art. 16 Abs. 2 Satz 2 GG ist seit Ende der siebziger Jahre zunehmend Gegenstand einer rechtlichen Auseinandersetzung geworden. Mittlerweile zahlt es zu den politischen Themen ersten Ranges. Die Diskussion konzentriert sich vornehmlich auf die Frage einer Neugestaltung des Grundrechts. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt, dass eine zukunftige europaische Harmonisierung des Asylrechts nur durch eine Anderung der deutschen Verfassung realisiert werden kann. Zu diesem Ergebnis gelangt der Verfasser aufgrund einer Analyse der verfassungsrechtlichen Strukturen. Das subjektiv einklagbare Asylrecht ist auch nach der vom deutschen Bundestag im Mai 1993 beschlossenen Grundgesetzanderung erhalten geblieben. Auf dieser Grundlage und im Rahmen des Volkerrechts wird gepruft, inwieweit europaische Harmonisierungsmassnahmen mit der deutschen Verfassung vereinbar sind. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei das Schengener und Dubliner Ubereinkommen sowie die Frage, ob der EG eine Kompetenz zur Regelung des Asylrechts zusteht."