Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. I holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the University of St. Thomas, Rome, and a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Free University/Amsterdam. I am the author of several books on theology with an ecumenical perspective, including Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II (Lectio Publishing, 2015; e-book with new Epilogue, 2016). Although I am a committed Catholic theologian doing theology within the normative tradition of confessional Catholicism, and thus in the light of Catholic teaching, this study is an ecumenical work, indeed, a work in receptive ecumenism, and hence I am listening attentively to the writings of fellow Christian theologians from other traditions of reflection and argument. Receptive Ecumenism means : “Dialogue is not simply an exchange of ideas. In some way it is always an ‘exchange of gifts’. . . . Dialogue does not extend exclusively to matters of doctrine but engages the whole person; it is also a dialogue of love” (St. John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, 1995, Encyclical, §§28, 47, respectively).
