Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
This article examines the concept of healthy secularity in the thought of Pope Benedict XVI. In developing the idea of healthy secularity, Benedict builds upon longstanding themes in Catholic social thought while also provoking a deeper engagement with western modernity. Rather than placing Christianity and the secular in an oppositional framework, Benedict positions Christianity as the foundation of an authentic secular order. In so doing, he opens up new modes of critical engagement with western legal and political thought. Yet, while the concept offers a creative theological method for addressing contemporary issues, it depends for its realisation on vanishing cultural resources that are being eroded by the very secular order he aims to heal.
Recommended Citation
Zachary R. Calo, The Catholic Modernity of Pope Benedict XVI: Healthy Secularity and Christian Jurisprudence, 4 Austl. J.L. & Religion 1 (2024).
Source Publication
Australian Journal of Law and Religion