02/07/2026 09:00 - 12:20

HALL: Parenzo - A14

Contact: Smeets A.

Chair: Schelkens K., Van Erp S.

The recent promotion of Cardinal Newman as Doctor of the Church calls for Catholic theology to rethink its position in the Church, the academy, and society. In the past, Catholic thought has proven to widen the scope of culture, sociality and the sciences. Contemporary Catholic theology, however, is as varied and polarised as many other academic disciplines and political spheres, and consequently, the Catholic intellectual tradition seems as scattered and diversified as many other public domains.

What is the contribution a Catholic vision could make in analyses concerning contemporary challenges and questions? Which sources, principles, and styles of thought could it offer to present-day conversations and interventions on economics, politics, ecology, and technology?
Which articulation of Catholic theology offers constructive ideas or a vision to shape an intellectual tradition capable of addressing current challenges and inequalities? Or is there a need for a new paradigm?

This panel invites papers that examine how the concepts of 'catholic', understood in its dual sense as an articulation of the Catholic tradition and as a way of thinking wholeness, is experienced within diverse theologies, spiritualities, political formations and communities.


Presenters are invited to reflect on this in relation to current issues and/or to specific Catholic views on values as sustainability, resilience, social cohesion or in reference to the overarching theme of this conference: (in)equality. We also welcome papers that seek to reformulate the plausibility potentials of theology in conversation with society and the sciences or a need to develop a new paradigm or impulse for the Catholic intellectual (theological) tradition.


The panel is a collaboration of the Catholic Study Network (a network of and for Catholic University Leuven, Tilburg University and Radboud University), and the Toronto School of Theology.