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Process Thought and Roman Catholicism: Challenges and Promises

This collection of essays explores convergences and divergences between process thought and Roman Catholicism with the goal of identifying reasons for why process philosophy and theology has not had the same impact in Roman Catholic circles as in Protestantism, and of constructively navigating avenues of promising engagement between Process thought and Roman Catholicism. In creatively considering the Roman Catholic tradition from the vantage point of Process thought, different theoretical perspectives are brought to bear on Catholic characteristics of historical theology, fundamental theology, systematic theology, moral theology, social justice, and theology of religions. While the contributors draw upon a broad range of resources from the disciplines of the physical and social sciences, philosophy, and ethics from a process perspective, the primary methodology employed is theological reflection.

About the Author

Marc Pugliese

Marc A. Pugliese earned his Ph. D. in contemporary systematic theology from Fordham University and is currently the Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Allied Services at Saint Leo University. He is author of The One, the Many, and the Trinity: Joseph A. Bracken and the Challenge of Process Metaphysics (The Catholic University of America Press, 2010), co-author of Beyond Naïveté: Ethics, Economics and Values (University Press of America, 2012), and co-editor of the following volumes: Seeking Common Ground: Evaluation and Critique of Joseph Bracken’s Comprehensive Worldview (Marquette University Press, 2012), Teaching Interreligious Encounters (Oxford University Press, 2017), and Process Thought and Roman Catholicism: Challenges and Promises (Lexington Books, 2022).

John Becker

John Becker, PhD is a Lecturer of Religious Studies at California State University, Long Beach. In 2017, he received the International Process Network’s Young Scholar Award. He is a member of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and a Research Fellow for the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, USA. His research interests include process thought, comparative theology (Buddhism-Christianity), religions and ecology, and religious pluralism. He is co-editor of Process Thought and Roman Catholicism.