Seite - 59 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Band 2:1

59 | www.limina-graz.eu robert J. schreiter | Globalization and Plural theologies larized Marxism of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, one easily per- ceives the Christian eschatological background of sinful humanity moving toward a “new creation.” (2 Cor 5:17). Later scholars of his work have tried to articulate this more clearly into a Christian anthropology that meets the needs of this time (Minch 2018). Catholicity: A Way Forward in Globalization and Plural Theologies I have proposed elsewhere that the theological concept of catholicity might provide a way of making a theological contribution to the situation in which we now find ourselves (Schreiter 1997; 2015). Catholicity has long been considered one of the defining characteristics of the Church of Christ (Con- gar 1972). Historically, catholicity was manifested especially by two inter- connected concepts of the Church: its extension throughout the world (Ig- natius of Antioch) and the living in the fullness of faith (Cyril of Jerusalem). In other words, the Catholic Church’s universality (kat’ holou = throughout the whole) is to be found in each particular instantiation where the peo- ple are gathered around their bishop in the celebration of the Eucharist. At the same time, only those particular churches that profess the fullness of the faith handed down by the apostles can claim to be “Catholic.” Thus, those communities that are selective in their appropriation of tradition en- gage in hairesis. In the course of the early centuries in the West, “Catholic” came to be the name of those particular churches who shared communion with the See of Rome (although “Catholic” remains in the name of many of the Churches of the East to this day). I think that catholicity as a theo- logical concept can illuminate the complexities of the global and the local, the universal and the particular, and the journey together toward a shared humanity. In trying to describe further the characteristics of this (Western) concept of catholicity as it pertains to the churches of the Latin West, I have suggest- Catholicity was manifested by two concepts of the Church: its extension throughout the world, and the living in the fullness of faith. The first discourse: extending throughout the whole world while embracing its diversity and particularity.