In the fields of pastoral care and pastoral theology, there are times when a book signals a paradigm shift. This is one such book. La Mothe develops a political pastoral theology that is used to examine critically political, economic, and societal structures and practices. In the first part of the book, La Mothe argues that care and pastoral care are political concepts, which, along with the notion of justice, can be used as a hermeneutical framework to assess macropolitical and macroeconomic realities. Included in this section is the notion of civil and redemptive discourse, necessary for the survival and flourishing of persons and polis. The last section of the book examines U.S. Empire, capitalism, class, classism, and other pressing political issues using the hermeneutical lens of care.
Sobre el autor
Ryan La Mothe is professor of pastoral care and counseling at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. He has authored four books and more than 120 journal articles concerning psychoanalysis, pastoral theology, and pastoral counseling.