The Pandemic and the People of God: Cultural Impacts and Pastoral Responses - Paperback

by Gerald a. Arbuckle (Author)

Winner of the Catholic Media Association Award for Future Church
*Advance Praise & Reviews*
"The best book I have read on the pandemic. After an unflinching diagnosis, the book is a summons to radical, active, transformative hope among those who have the wits and the courage to 'refound' viable community. It is framed according to Catholic Social Teaching, but has a deep appeal for those of us outside that particular frame of reference. In Arbuckle's knowing hands the pandemic becomes a venue for radical restorative hope."--Walter Brueggemann, author, A Gospel of Hope

A noted Catholic theologian and anthropologist weaves together insights from anthropology and theology to provide an analysis of the role of the Church in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award-winning author of Pope Francis and the People of God turns to the crisis of COVID-19, its diverse impacts on people and communities, and how the Catholic Church might respond. First, Arbuckle offers a concise summary of the social, political, and economic impact of the pandemic, and goes on to craft an anthropological model of the global crisis and its consequences for the Church and for ministry. He then clarifies the Gospel's pastoral responses that must guide the way forward for societies and the Church.

With theological reflections and prompts at the end of each chapter, The Pandemic and the People of God provides students, clergy, and pastoral ministers with a way to understand and to implement the pastoral responses that will help heal individuals, communities, and the world.

Back Jacket

RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic
RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues
RELIGION / Christian Theology / Ethics

Author Biography

Gerald A. Arbuckle, SM, is an award-winning author of many books, including five with Orbis--the most recent are Loneliness: Insights for Healing in a Fragmented World and Abuse and Cover-up: Refounding the Catholic Church in Trauma. A noted scholar in both theology and anthropology, he is co-director of Refounding and Pastoral Development, a research ministry, in Sydney, Australia.