The Rev. Dennis D. Kasule recently published a significant contribution to ecclesiology, the study of the nature of the Church. In Tillard and von Balthasar: A Quest for Rapprochement, Fr. Kasule takes two of the most important theologians of the 20th century, who explained and explored the teaching of Vatican II and brings them into dialogue with each other. Each theologian offers a unique perspective which shapes his ecclesiology. Fr. Tillard frames a Eucharistic ecclesiology based in the Son and the Holy Spirit. Fr. Von Balthasar’s system is cruciform, and discovers its ecclesiology in the relationship of the Marian and Petrine dimensions of the ecclesial reality. What Fr. Kasule has done is more than comparison, it is an appreciative inquiry aimed at discovering the strengths of each theology. He moderates the two through the constitution Lumen Gentium.
Publishes by STS Publication, the press of the Pontifical Salesian University in Jerusalem, this text is an important addition to ecclesiology and the ongoing reception of Vatican II.
Father Kasule is a priest of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda and currently serving as assistant professor in the Department of Dogmatic Theology and Associate Dean of Formation at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. A graduate of Mundelein Seminary, Fr. Kasule did doctoral studies at Boston College and USML where he received the doctoral in sacred theology.
