Objectives: This course pursues three principal objectives. First, it aims to provide students with a solid theoretical and conceptual foundation in postcolonial studies, enabling them to undertake a rigorous and systematic analysis of the challenges facing the Church in the Global South. Second, in the light of the Church’s magisterial literature speaking to the Global Church, it offers a critical socio-anthropological examination of the economic and developmental models within which these churches often operate, frequently under conditions of considerable vulnerability, as they seek to address the difficulties they encounter. Third, Finally, the course will place ethics and Christian social thought at the heart of these challenges.

Learning outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand the Church as a historically situated reality and, more specifically, as a sociological and anthropological phenomenon called to respond to the social challenges it encounters through the resources of the human sciences and the magisterial tradition. They will also be able to analyse the political and economic dimensions of the issues confronting the Church in the pastoral sphere.

Contents: The hopeful expectations often projected onto the Catholic Church in the Global South can obscure the profound challenges it currently faces. Caught between the legacies of colonialism and some of their enduring consequences, including poor governance, as well as the unchecked forces of the liberal market and their cultural threats, the Church in the Global South is called to proclaim the Gospel in contexts of extreme poverty, where Christianity itself is frequently marked by fragmentation. While actively engaged in combating poverty and improving the living conditions of the faithful, these Churches must also confront the effects of climate change on populations whose livelihoods often remain closely tied to seasonal rhythms and the produce of the land. In addition, the persistent marginalization and insufficient recognition of women’s leadership constitute issues that can no longer be overlooked in these contexts. The central question, therefore, is how the Church’s magisterial teaching concerning the Churches of the Global South can be brought into dialogue with the many contemporary challenges they are called to face.

Methodology: in the classroom and supported by slide presentations. Students will be assigned weekly readings and asked to produce written summaries.

Means of evaluation: The final grade will be based on students’ attendance and active participation in class, their summaries of the weekly readings, and a final written examination.