Pastoral Practice and the Paranormal

Fülszöveg

Bonaventure Kloppenburg O.F .M. a dis-
tinguished author, scholar, editor and an active member of various Church committees and groups, including the International Theological Commission, appointed by Popé Paul VL Other works of his are listed below.
ECCLESIOLOGY OF VATICAN II
Vatican II's pragmatic Constitution on the Church offers the world a nevv image of the Church, its nature, its powers, and the place of the hierarchy in it. To resolve many aspects of the present crisis in the Church, the author has made an exhaustive study of the documents to reflect on the nature and mission of the Church. The need todav is for churchmen to meditate on the nature and the mission of the Church and to be consistent in accepting the Church as mystery, sacrament, communion, brotherhood, and the people of God. . $6.95
THE PRIEST:
Living Instrument and Minister of Christ the, Eternal Priest A great deal can be said about the theology of the priesthood as seen in Vatican II. The theology of... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Bonaventure Kloppenburg O.F .M. a dis-
tinguished author, scholar, editor and an active member of various Church committees and groups, including the International Theological Commission, appointed by Popé Paul VL Other works of his are listed below.
ECCLESIOLOGY OF VATICAN II
Vatican II's pragmatic Constitution on the Church offers the world a nevv image of the Church, its nature, its powers, and the place of the hierarchy in it. To resolve many aspects of the present crisis in the Church, the author has made an exhaustive study of the documents to reflect on the nature and mission of the Church. The need todav is for churchmen to meditate on the nature and the mission of the Church and to be consistent in accepting the Church as mystery, sacrament, communion, brotherhood, and the people of God. . $6.95
THE PRIEST:
Living Instrument and Minister of Christ the, Eternal Priest A great deal can be said about the theology of the priesthood as seen in Vatican II. The theology of ministerial priesthood is the object today of doubts and questioning. Priests are asking vvhat they are, how they are to live, and vvhat they are to do as priests of our day. A clear distinction must be made between the very essence of priesthood and the various possible ways of being a minister of the new covenant. The image of the priest will necessarily be different from the one which the past shaped for itself. In the search for the essentials, the author discusses the perennial elements which con-
stitute the being of the priest. $7.95
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THE PEOPLE S CHURCH i
The issues which are dealt with in this book are highly controversial and the author's direction in this matter of contemporary change is well defined. Liberation theology seeks to force a radical break from the Church's traditional role by piacing the Church at the forefront of social and economic change. A clear and concise critique of the nature of liberation theology is presented. Anyone who is interested in the direction of the Church's future as it is seen in contrast with
\ c
the past will find this book most informative $8.95
PA/TORAI PIMICTICC and the
by
Bonaventure Kloppenburg
translated by Dávid Sinith
Pastoral activity often brings us into contact with certain kinds of extra-ordinary, unexpected, frightening and surprising phenomena that we can only classify as "paranormai." The aim of this book is to put forward information, őrien tation, and norms designed to help the formation. of a truly pastoral approach to the whole gamut of doctrines, practices, movements and phenomena categorized here under the generál heading of the "paranormal." By their nature these phenomena concern theology, pastoral practice and the psychological sciences. This is not theory
(cüiitimted oti back flap)'
.F.M. j
(coutiuued from from f'Lip)
without practice, practice without doctrine, a thesis on psychology or parapsychology. The author speaks here as a pastor, a. pastor of the twentieth century, who starts from this century's realities and allows himself to be guided by the sciences, by the teachings of the Church, and by the word of God.
It is not realistic to simply deny the existence of paranormal events, generally presented as "miracles" or "witchcraft." Popular religions welcome them with enthusiasm, whether they are genuine or imaginary, natural or unnatural, angelical or diabolical, within or outside the Church. There is a whole disorderly, fascinating, sensational, out-of-the-ordi-nary world that the Christian today, • guided by his pastors, should be able to approach with a balanced mind without falling into the comfortable and easy extremes of credulity on the one hand and scepticism on the other, without feeding his fantasy and without denying the possibility of the miraculous on principle, without encouraging mytho-mania and without denying the devil.
Faced with all this, it is not easy to keep one's balance. The author offers us a clear, rational analysis of these types of events, illustrating what they may or may not signify, maintaining that when a phenomenon can be explained naturally there is no need to look to a supernatural explanation. Vissza