Following TAN Books’ powerful 2019 release Sermons in Times of Crisis comes this fascinating book by Church historian Fr David Vincent Meconi.
Encyclicals in Times of Crisis presents five magisterial encyclicals that were issued during critical times in world and Church history. Father Meconi provides an insightful analysis of the history and nature of encyclicals. He then looks at five influential papal documents that confronted the spirit of the world,providing a brief biography for each, the historical context in which they were written, as well as howthey clarified Church teaching on the most pressing cultural issues of the time., including: assisting theworking class, calling the human family back to their origins, warning against destructive tendenciesand the thirst for power, sanctifying human sexuality, and championing the Lord of all Truth in an age of moral relativism.
These documents offered guidance, teaching, and support for a flock that was wandering in the treacherous hills of the world, and they offered a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ as an antidote for the world’s ills. Encyclicals in Times of Crisis shows that the Church serves as the voice of Christ, a defender and protector of His truth. This book provides a comprehensive view of the last century as well as a summary of the Church’s most profound teachings.
FATHER DAVID MECONI, S.J., holds a Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University, England and the Pontifical Licentiate in Greek and Latin Patristic Theology from University of Innsbruck, Austria. He currently teaches as Assistant Professor of Patristic Studies at Saint Louis University. His books include Catherine Doherty: Essential Writings (Orbis Press, 2009), Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward: Spiritual Writings (Orbis Press, 2010), and The One Christ: St. Augustine’s Theology of Deification (Catholic University of America Press). He is the editor of Homiletic and Pastoral Review, and his articles have appeared in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Augustinian Studies, International Philosophical Quarterly, and New Oxford Review.
