Charles E. CURRAN. The Catholic Theological Society of America: A Story of Seventy-Five Years. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2021, pp. 200. $19.95 pb. ISBN 978-0-8091-5574-3. Reviewed by Dolores L. CHRISTIE, Cleveland, OH

In the archives of the Catholic Theological Society of America lies a dog-eared photo of corpulent Catholic clergy enjoying a banquet at a New York hotel near the train station. It was 1946. The event was the inaugural meeting of CTSA. Charles Curran has taken on the arduous task of documenting the history of the society from the then until the now. He, of all people, is up to the task.

The first section deals with the society’s inception in the rigid seminary culture of the mid-1900s. The last three are organized by time periods: 1947-1970, 1971-1995, 1996-2020. In each chapter Curran details membership, the internal workings of the society, and the tensions within it and with the existing church culture. He reviews important papers from yearly conventions—the plenaries in particular—to illustrate the changes in thinking and development of today’s Catholic theology.

The book contains some interesting anecdotes that only Curran could recount: a verbal portrait of conservative Protestant theology, Paul Ramsey, pipe in one hand and scotch in the other (certainly something observed in the after-hours gathering known today as “Charlie’s room”); the near exclusion of Elizabeth Farians (the first woman admitted to the society) from the all-male banquet, before women were commonly accepted in CTSA.

Catholic theology has evolved from a rigid apologetic posture to a more personalist and culturally sensitive stance. Likewise, the society has expanded in diversity. Not only has ecumenism been embraced more overtly, but more and more the theological project includes black, feminist, liberation, and Hispanic participation and thought.

Curran offers a dispassionate account of the various positive—and negative—interactions between CTSA and ecclesial authority. He mentions the fruitful outreach to the American bishops. He also recounts the censure of prominent theologians whose work departed from contemporary conservative thinking. Many had their professional lives changed by church action, even as CTSA supported them and their work. Happily, though, the notoriety helped to promote their books!

Seventy-five years of history is difficult to cover in a short volume. Curran includes references to what he summarizes (both internal presentations and relevant church documents) for those who wish to pursue things more deeply. There are lists of members who have led the society and those who have been honored by it. It is notable that the book does not mention why the Cardinal Spellman award was changed in 1972 to the John Courtney Murray award.

Sadly, I do not see a wide audience for this book. It is not a page-turner. Nevertheless, it provides a profitable read for anyone unfamiliar with the backstory of theological advancements from the past century. This is a work of history; it is also a work of love.

For me the book was a trip down memory lane, not only from the many years I spent as Executive Director of CTSA. The book reprised and contextualized my own journey of faith and theological thinking from the rigid rule-based “truth” of the 1950s to the more mature and rigorous theology of the current era. Thank you, Charlie, for continuing to inform and challenge us not only by your meticulous work over the years but for your personal and compassionate presence.