Dear Friends,

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

First, I want to recommend to you our Forum contributions this month, most of which are mindful of the upcoming Synod.  There is an outstanding essay by Mary Jo Iozzio celebrating the Solemnity of Mary today, entitled "The Challenge of Women's Consent."  Then there's Julie Clague's " British Catholics and Family Morality: The times they are a-changin'," Sharon Bong's essay, "Religion or Rights: The Higher Moral Ground," Emlice Cuda's "Francisco: ¿Etica, Política o Teología Pastoral?"

Gustavo Irrazabal's "Un sínodo en verdad "extraordinario," and Edwin Vásquez Ghersi's "El sínodo sobre la familia: Aires nuevos en la Iglesia."

See see the news from Asia, the special offer of three years of free access to the journal Political Theology ,  and the announcement and access to the recent issue of the "Jahrbuch für Christliche Sozialwissenschaften."

Next month we will be featuring our Visiting Scholars Program.  Starting this month we are seeing Catholic Ethicists traveling to Nairobi and Manila.  Also, at Boston College, we will be seeing one of the first women PhD candidates from Africa starting her post-doc.  We will feature these colleagues in February.

For now, Happy Feast and Happy New Year!

Jim

News: Asia Region

By: Lucas Chan

India: International Human Rights Day - 2014

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day this year, the Office of Justice, Peace and Development, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (OJPD-CBCI) released a statement to the Press: OJPD-CBCI wishes to compassionately delve into the human rights situation in India, and, at the same time, to urge those who act on behalf of the State to urgently remedy the situation, especially the rights of religious minorities, tribal peoples, women and children.

In their Press release, OJPD-CBCI calls on government authorities to honour their obligation to protect human rights every day of the year and also urges all, especially the people of good will, to seek out more meaningful roles where they can make a difference in their attempt to respect, protect and promote human rights that belong to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values.

For further information on OJPD-CBCI, please contact its Executive Secretary, Rev. Dr. Charles Irudayam, or visit their website http://thejusticeandpeace.org/?p=766

The Philippines: CTEWC Visiting Professorship Program

Gustavo Irrazabal, professor at the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) will be in Manila from January 3 to February 27, 2015, as part of the CTEWC Visiting Professorship Program.  He will team-teach Christian ethics courses at Loyola School of Theology where he will be hosted and at St. Vincent School of Theology.

Announcement: Free access to the last three years of the Political Theology Journal

 Asian Horizons, Dharmaram Journal of Theology

Vol. 9, No. 1, March 2015

Call for Papers

After 50 Years: Ongoing Renewal of Moral Theology

Please send your articles (4500-5000 words, including the footnotes) at the latest by 1 February 2015. Kindly include the abstract of the article in 150-200 words and a short resumè of the author in 100-150 words.