FOREWORD A dozen years ago Albert <;:ordinal Meyer wrote the introduction to a new
theological journal that he had helped to found. "Chicago Studies," he said, "will make every effort to brin9 its readers abreast of major developments in the Sacred Sciences." The scholarly Cardinal had for seen the extraordinary development that would take place in the Catholic theological world, and he wanted priests and other religious educators apprised of it. The four thousand pages published since then by Chicago Studies chronicle the many components of this evolving theology: the new centrality
of the human person, a flourishing ecumenical dialogue, the pluralism within the Catholic community, the searching return to the biblical roots of the theological disciplines. All of these factors hove been catalytically at work in all the sacred sciences, but especially in moral theology. The highly juridicized ethic of the "forties" and "fifties" began to assume a new and unfamiliar form as theologians wrestled with questions undreamed of two decades ago. In this issue of Chicago Studies some of the most respected Catholic theologians of the United States and Europe have been invited to acquaint our readers with contemporary ethical thought-no small task when one considers the range of opinion within the Catholic community of scholars. Each of them discusses one of the classical divisions of moral theology from the perspective of the "seventies." While this approach to the subject is perhaps not the ideal one, if has the advantage of leading the reader ' down a familiar path to the present theological moment. The authors have used a question and answer format in their articles, and for this reason we have presumed to call this a Moral Catechism. It is in no sense an "Official Catechism 11 ; it does, however, carry the professional authority of the individual authors. Their sincerest hope is that this little volume will be useful lo priests and religious educators who are entrusted with bringing the good news of the Kingdom to the men and wome.n of our time. This was the task that Cardinal Meyer set for Chicago Studies. We dedicate this is¡sue to his memory.