Publications in English Language

Walter Kasper, George Augustin (ed.)
A christian response to covid 19
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-5559-0
A christian response to covid 19

The COVID-19 crisis suddenly changed everything in the world, including the celebration of the Eucharist. This small volume addresses existential questions concerning Christians amid the pervasive threat of COVID-19. Each author shares his personal experience during the crisis while reflecting from a Christian perspective within his personal responsibility—each with a different focus. All four see meaning in the crisis as Pope Francis expresses in the foreword: it has yet again made us aware of our transience, frailty, and mortality. The crisis he says invites us to derive new hope, courage, energy, and happiness from the sources of life and faith, and to stand by those suffering hardship and difficulty. The writings in A Christian Response to Covid-19 speak to the decisions Christians are making in these days to reconcile our lives more fully with God, as we seek solidarity in our common vulnerability as human beings and place our lives into the service of other people.

A christian response to covid 19
Walter Kasper
The message of Amoris laetitia
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-5428-9

The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia (2016) led to a broader and more profound understanding of the many current and pressing issues concerning marriage and family. The great majority of the people of God has enthusiastically welcomed this exhortation as a liberating and good message about experiencing joy in family life. The exhortation, unfortunately narrowed down to one single point, has become the object of severe contention by some people.

In this book the author shows that Amoris laetitia does not represent new teaching, but presents, on the basis of the gospel, a creative renewal of the tradition and completely corresponds to the renewed view of the Second Vatican Council concerning marriage and family. It is also in accord with the teaching of the two previous pontificates, while simultaneously advancing them in a careful way.

Walter Kasper
Martin Luther
An ecumenial perspective
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-5320-6

There are few historical figures in memory even after 500 years, friend or foe, who were as influential as Martin Luther. In the course of 500 years Martin Luther was viewed in many different ways: Luther as a reformer, Luther as a church father of Protestantism, Luther as a champion of reason and freedom, Luther as a brave German national hero, and many other images assigned to Luther.For Catholics, Luther has long been one of the heretics par excellence, and responsible for the split of the Western Church and its consequences-at least up until today. This thinking is now over. The Catholic Luther research in the twentieth century brought a significant shift in understanding Luther. Luther is now recognized for his insights and there is a more equitable judgment on the schism. There is now more of an understanding and ecumenical spirit.Cardinal Walter Kasper carefully presents these themes in his latest work, explores his understanding of Martin Luther and his contributions that could not be imagined 500 years ago, but are now in the forefront of a new ecumenical spirit. Various chapters in this book speak of the end of the confessional age, Luther in the spirit on modern times, ecumenical discovery of catholicity, and an ecumenism of charity.

Walter Kasper
Faith
Practices, Models and Sources of the Spirit
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0627-1
Faith

Faith: Practices, Models, and Sources of the Spirit is comprised of excerpts of homilies and pastoral talks given by Cardinal Walter Kasper. The eight chapters focus on faith which, says Kasper, gives us courage to live. Because God says yes to us, we can say yes back to God in all the challenges and joys of our lives. The title of the first reflection in the book's first chapter is: "God's Yes and Our Yes." The reader will see, time and again in these pages, that God's "yes" to us makes it possible for us to live with courage. To have faith, then, is for us to say yes back to God and to dare to live lives of hope and love. The result here is a collection of spiritual writings that invite us to deeper faith and hope. The collection of texts gives visible witness to how contemplation of faith makes loving and living the gospel possible: "Those who believe do not tremble," was the title that Kasper himself (referring to a statement by Pope Saint John XXIII) gave these reflections. Readers will find this to be an inspiring book of spiritual reading, a book with short and easily accessible texts for renewing and strengthening Christian faith.

Faith
Walter Kasper
Accepting the Mystery
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0638-7

The Christian celebration of Christmas gives language to the message of faith. In the season of Advent, the church reflects both on biblical texts of repentance and judgment, and on the mystery of grace. Because of God's victorious grace we can take up the Christmas message of the angel that night at Bethlehem, and we can follow the star that leads us to worship the Son of God. This book brings together homilies that Cardinal Kasper has given over the years in the Advent and Christmas seasons. They will help strengthen readers' hope, faith, and trust that the future belongs to that child in the manger.

George Augustin
Marriage and family. Relics ot the Past or Promise of the future?
ISBN 9780809149728

With the announcement of the extraordinary synod of bishops, 2014-2015, Pope Francis placed "marriage and family" at the center of ecclesial attention and a somewhat turbulent discussion was ignited. This volume examines the most important issues of this discussion. Edited by George Augustin, there are original contributions from Walter Kasper, Christoph Schoenborn, Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Cathleen Kaveny, Terrence Keeley, Thomas Krafft, Thomas Soeding, Reinhard Marx, and Kurt Koch.

Walter Kasper
Pope Francis' Revolution of Tenderness and Love
Theological & Pastoral Perspectives
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0623-3
Pope Francis

Outlines the significant influences that have led Cardinal Kasper to call Francis a pope leading a radical revolution of tenderness and love-radical because it is rooted in the gospel.

Pope Francis
Cardinal Walter Kasper
The Gospel of the Family
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-15876-8452-4
The gospel of the family

In this thought-provoking address given to the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Walter Kasper, whom Pope Francis has called "a superb theologian," discusses everything that is beautiful about the family without avoiding its problems.
According to Cardinal Kasper, the family functions as a small "domestic church" that can be a privileged route to evangelization. He speaks of this "domestic church" in a broad sense that includes the nuclear family as well as communities, parish groups, and other organizations.
Cardinal Kasper considers the rediscovery of the "gospel of the family," the family's place in the order of creation, and the vision of the family in the Book of Genesis and in God's plan. The cardinal then reflects on the structures of sin within the family, including family problems, tensions between men and women, and the suffering of women and mothers.
Finally, he concludes with a discussion of the family in the Christian order of redemption, drawing from the gospels and other New Testament texts about the family, such as St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. He discusses marriage as a sacrament and its sanctifying grace.
The Cardinal also mentions the issue of those who have remarried after divorce. He stresses the need to unite pastoral care, the words of Jesus, and an understanding of divine mercy in responding to these Catholics.

The gospel of the family
Cardinal Walter Kasper
Mercy
The essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0609-7
Mercy

Pain and suffering have been universal human experiences since our beginning. All religions ask, in one way or another, where suffering comes from, why it exists, and what it means. They ask where we can find the strength to endure. They ask for deliverance from it.
This is no less true today. The twentieth century saw brutal totalitarian regimes; two world wars; as well as the genocide, concentration camps, and gulags all resulting in the death of tens of millions of people. In the twenty-first century we have the threat of ruthless terrorism, outrageous injustice, abused and starving children, millions of people in flight, increasing persecution of Christians, and devastating natural catastrophes. With this in mind, it is difficult for many people to speak of an all-powerful and simultaneously just and merciful God. Why does God permit all of this?
In Mercy, the important new book praised by Pope Francis, Cardinal Walter Kasper examines God's mercy while holding these devastating facts and questions in hand. He looks at empathy and compassion as a starting point for theological reflection on the topic. He continues by reflecting upon the following: What does it mean to believe in a merciful God? How are divine mercy and divine justice related? How can we speak of a sympathetic-that is, a compassionate-God? Can undeserved woe and divine mercy be brought into harmony with one another? He likewise seeks to address the ethical questions that similarly arise: How can we measure up to the standard of divine mercy in our own actions? What does the message of mercy mean for the practice of the church and how can we cause the central message of God's mercy to shine in the life of Christians and the church? What does this message mean for a new culture of mercy in our society?
These considerations of mercy lead to the fundamental questions of theology. In this work, Kasper combines theological reflection with spiritual, pastoral, and social considerations on this essential topic at a crucial time.

Mercy
Walter Kasper
Jesus the Christ
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0617-2

One of initial volumes in The Collected Works of Walter Kasper, this title is a reissue of Kasper's major work with a brilliant new introduction surveying recent developments in christology. Kasper assesses the christological enterprise in the church from the earliest down to the most recent times, which can be recommended without hesitation to teacher and serious student. The book also provides a solid theological basis for preaching. This may also be described as a work of Christian serenity, but one which is not indifferent to current problems. It is the fruit of the deep peace that all men can gain from contemplation of Jesus the Christ. As Karl Rahner has said—this book is "modern" in the very best sense of the word. Synthesizing biblical, philosophical, and traditional material, the book remains essential reading for specialists and is used widely for courses on christology—the very basis of Christian theology itself.

Cardinal Walter Kasper (ed.)
The Petrine of Ministry
Catholics and Orthodox in Dialogue
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-4334-4
The Petrine of Ministry

A unique insight into the contemporary thinking of established Catholic and Orthodox scholars on the theme that is at the heart of the ecumenical dialogue: the ministry of the Bishop of Rome.

The Petrine of Ministry
The God of Jesus Christ
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0632-5
The God of Jesus Christ

Cardinal Kasper calls for a 'theological theology' which makes the explanation of the confession of the triune God its first priority, not only for speculative but also for pastoral reasons.

The God of Jesus Christ
Walter Kasper
The Absolute in History
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0629-5
The Absolute in History

This new volume in the Collected Works of Walter Kasper makes available Kasper’s examination of German Idealism from a theological point of view for the first time in English. Walter Kasper's work on F.W.J. von Schelling informs Kasper’s own philosophy of history and his understanding of God's revelation with respect to God and freedom.

The Absolute in History
Walter Kasper
A Path into Life
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0656-1
A Path into Life

Cardinal Walter Kasper offers here thought-provoking reflections on Lent and Easter, inviting us to ask, "Why and for what am I here? What is the meaning of my life? What is my vocation as a Christian? Where am I going? Have I made a mistake as regards my path and my direction, or am I on the right path?"

Kasper emphasizes that "When we think about our life in this way, each of us has a reason to repent and to direct his and her life anew toward Christ and toward Easter. With this new orientation, contemplating the passion of Christ becomes a path of Easter, a path of transition, of transformation and of grace, a path of hope. On this path, we find life" (from the introduction).

A Path into Life
Walter Kasper
Seasons of Grace
A Spiritual Companion to the Liturgical Year
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-5395-4
Seasons of Grace

This engaging work from Cardinal Walter Kasper guides readers with spiritual reflections through the liturgical year. Kasper shares rich insights on Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and ordinary time meant to sustain and enrich each day.

Seasons of Grace
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Publisher Paulist Press, ISBN 978-08091-0616-5
The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Contains writings from three different stages of Cardinal Walter Kasper's theological journey. They seek to open up the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that is intelligible to today's readers. The works are: "An Introduction to the Faith," "Surpassing All Knowledge," and an original essay on evangelization, "New Evangelization as a Theological, Pastoral, and Spiritual Challenge."

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Walter Kasper
Jesus the Christ
ISBN 978-0567209641

Here at last is a reissue of Kasper's major work with a brilliant new introduction surveying recent developments in Christology. Kasper assesses the Christological enterprise in the Church from the earliest down to the most recent times which can be recommended without hesitation to teacher and serious student. The book also provides a solid theological basis for preaching. This may also be described as a work of Christian serenity, but one which is not indifferent to current problems. It is the fruit of the deep peace which all men can gain from contemplation of Jesus the Christ. As Karl Rahner has said - this book is 'modern' in the very best sense of the word. Synthesising biblical, philosophical and traditional material, the book remains essential reading for specialists and is used widely for courses on Christology - the very basis of Christian theology itself.