Editorial

Theologica Xaveriana Journal is an organ for the academic and research expression of the theological production being carried out within our Faculty and beyond its institutional borders. As such, it is aware of the consisting demands in national and international contexts for scientifically-oriented indexed publications. Consequently, it has resolutely continued with its affirmation and development process, striving for a better acknowledgement of its academic and editorial quality.

In that sense, during the year 2010, especially during the second semester, we witnessed several achievements which offered clear evidence of the collective work being performed for the last five years. Particularly, it can be mentioned the indexation of Theologica Xaveriana in several prestigious data bases and bibliographical indexes, all of them internationally acknowledged. They are mentioned below, following a chronological order according to the date of acceptance granted to Theologica Xaveriana:

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATABASES:

- Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, CPLI, August 2^nd 2010.

- Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal, REDALYC, September 24^th 2010.

- Citas Latinoamericanas en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, CLASE, November 25^th 2010.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES:

Scientific Electronic Library Online, SCielo, November 18^th 2010.

In addition, in the context of an academic event that took place in the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, October 20^th 2010, the electronic version of Theologica Xaveriana Journal was launched; it is available in http://theologicaxaveriana.javeriana.edu.co

Besides what this portal means in terms of deve lopment and knowledge conveying, from a practical perspective it allows the reader to -among other functions- have access to the articles -their full text- that have been published since the year 2000 until the penultimate number of the Journal; this one will be incorporated into the portal once the last edition has been launched.

These achievements are especially rewarding for the Faculty in this year 2011 as Theologica Xaveriana is celebrating 60 years of continuous publication since its foundation. They mean as well a higher commitment with the place granted to Theology within the interwoven of knowledge and disciplines.

This current number of Theologica Xaveriana for the first semester 2011 presents as its core seven articles as expression of already finished or ongoing research processes. All of them evidence the dynamism of Theology. Three of them were written by professors which are members of our Faculty; the lasting four were submitted by researchers with no affiliation to the Universidad Javeriana. These researchers are from Spain, the United States, and Colombia. In the documents section, it is presented the full text of the Lectio inauguralis, the solemn ceremony with which the annual academic activities of our Faculty of Theology are inaugurated.

Isabel Corpas de Posada, PhD., Colombian theologian and researcher, presents her article "Leadership and service in the Catholic tradition: reading of texts in gender perspective". In it, the author identifies the varied historical forms of ministerial organization in Catholicism, and sets out the methodology used to analyze texts which reflect the historical evolution regarding the exclusion to which women have been subjected to in the hierarchical organization of the Church. Likewise, the author presents some questions born in the social contextualization of these texts and their analysis.

Juan Luis de León Azcárate, PhD., professor of the Faculty of Theology, Universidad de Deusto, Spain, in his article "For I am the Lord, who heals you (Exodus 15,26): illness and health in the Torah " points out to and comments on the difference in meaning regarding health and illness as presented in the first five books from the Bible and the one presented in nowadays culture; in ancient Israel, Yahweh is the main agent of its health and wellbeing; and the fulfillment of the Torah is prophylaxis against all kinds of health problems. This way, the biological dysfunction and other illnesses are the reflection of the three great dimensions of illness: the biological, the subjective, and the social one.

María Isabel Gil, professor in our Faculty, and PhD. in Theology candidate, in her article "Love that sets us free. An approximation to the liberating horizon of moral", attracts our attention to the risk implied when reflecting upon moral life and spiritual life as separate phenomena without acknowledging their mutual implication. The ultimate expression of its consequences in the life of believers is the separation between faith and life, which transforms God into a heavy burden.

Darío Martínez Morales, PhD., professor in our Faculty, in his article "Camilo Torres Restrepo: Christianism and violence", ponders on the particular experience of this Colombian priest, who as Christian and revolutionary, undertook a political ideology which lead him into the armed conflict and to his death. Revising his writings and some interviews conducted then by the media, the author tries to reconstructs his ideological itinerary in order to clarify the implications that Christian faith might have on political action.

Luis Menéndez Antuña, PhD. in Theology candidate, Vanderbilt University, U.S.A.; in his article "Re-readings from the 'next-beyond'. Introducing the post-colonial perspective in the Spanish-speaking biblical outlook", intends to verify that Spanish-speaking biblical hermeneutics has been dominated by an objectivist knowledge paradigm which idealizes their readers as uninterested and homogenous. Post-colonial criticism, incorporating the contributions from the post-structuralist philosophy, proposes a new perspective which questions some methodological and ideological assumptions belonging to traditional models, and allows the incorporation of other hermeneutical approaches such as the theology of liberation and other contextually-situated recent ones.

Germán Neira Fernández, S.J., PhD., also a professor in our Faculty, in his article "Popular Latin American Catholic Religion: dialectics of interpretations 1960-1980", based on the contributions from sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, and theology, identifies three lines of interpretation: modernization, fair social change, and culture. Following the methodical proposal from Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan, the author proposes a critical dialogue with the diverse interpretations and theories regarding popular Latin American Catholic religion between 1960 and 1980.

Lastly, Juan Manuel Torres Serrano, PhD., professor from Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, and director of a program in School Religious Education offered by the same institution, in his article "The correlation method in practical theology: basic principles, objectives, interests, and limits", shows how, taking advantage from the anthropological, hermeneutical, and political turns in modernity and the contemporary world, Catholic theology has come to acknowledge the necessity of connecting human situations and Christian message. It is then when practical theology is presented as reflective consciousness regarding ecclesial action which, as a method, is above all critical, performative, and dialectical correlation between social analysis, theological interpretation of reality, and the transformation of ecclesial practices. From it, the author offers insight regarding some of its assumptions and components based on Marc Donzé's thought.

In the section "Documents" we offer the text of the Lectio Inauguralis 2011, titled as "Local theologies: a way to think about God's", by Ernesto Cavassa, S.J., PhD., professor of Theology, Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Lima, Peru. The Lectio presentation was done on the 10^th February 2011, in the "Félix Restrepo, S.J." Auditorium, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá. Once it is proposed that what defines theology is its ability to relate the Evangelical message with cultural expressions, the author compares several hermeneutical models, bearing in mind the magisterial position, to show that the theological perspective is not merely an option but an imperative for the hermeneutics of reality. Here is then the foundation for the necessary local theologies.

With these theological research and reflection works, we want to contribute to the discernment process and indepth development of our readers offering topics of critical interest for theology and its influence in teaching, research, formation, and pastoral praxis.

José Alfredo Noratto Gutiérrez, PhD.
Editor