Editorial

The first semester of 2013 has been particularly characterized for the resignation of Pope Benedicto VXI and the election of Pope Francisco. The entire world -not only Catholicism-, could witness, on the one hand, the farewell of a theologian par excellence who had the courage to open the door for resignation, and with it, a space of renovation for the Church. On the other hand, we could also witness the arrival of a Latinamerican pope whose first gesture was also resignation, in this case, to the heavy typical Vatican protocols for the ceremony in which the pope takes office and his call to the Church for being poor and adopting the poor, like Francisco de Asis did.

This double renovating event, "resignation and election", has a profound meaning for the movement and organization of Catholicism and for Theology itself and its diverse and rich expressions. When we celebrate fifty years of the Second Vatican Council, the church sees this as a sign of renewed hope.

Such an ecclesial and theological context constitutes the framework for the first issue of the year for Theologica Xaveriana number 175. Its central part has eight articles of finished or ongoing research projects which -related to the identity of the magazine, show the current theological practices and dynamics. Two of the articles are written by professors from our Faculty, and the other six by external authors from Universidad Javeriana, mainly from Brazil, Chile and Colombia. The section Documents presents the paper originated from the Lectio inauguralis at the School of Theology in charge of Afonso Murad, a Brazilian Marist religious. Finally, the Reviews section depicts the works The true religion: Hume's attempt for naturalizing faith, by Bernardo Perez Andreo, and The Gospel of Mark. Jesus Good News, by Xabier Pikaza.

Hernando Barrios Tao, PhD., professor at Universidad Militar Nueva Granada in Bogota, in his article "Theology of Sacrifice from the Book of Is 52,13-53,12: New Servant; New Choice; New Mission; New Offering", aims at covering novel theological topics addressed in the text from Is 52, 13-53, 12, focusing on his mission, choice and sacrifice as theological categories for Israeli thought, within the framework of exile and its meaning for readers at all times.

William Mauricio Beltran Cely, PhD., professor at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in his article "Pluralization of Religion and Social Change in Colombia", considers that the secularization process in Colombia and the reconstruction of religious affiliations have had paradoxical effects because instead of debilitating religious practices in certain sectors, they have rekindled them, and provoked competition between diverse religious organizations, which need to increase their efforts to satisfy the religious needs of the faithful.

Élio Estanislau Gasda, PhD., from the Jesuits School of Philosophy and Theology at Belo Horizonte (Brazil), in his article "Deliver Them out of the Hand of the Wicked (Sal 82,4): an Ethic-theological View on Human Trafficking", presents human trafficking as a violation of fundamental human rights and a sin of idolatry of wealth. Overcoming this crime against humanity underpins the ethical decision of listening to the victims claims (Lévinas) and supporting those who are neglected and suffer from injustice.

Andrés Hubert Robinet, S.J., professor from Universidad Católica del Norte (Antofagasta, Chile), in his article "From perception to participation. How Theology was Born, According to H. U. von Balthasar and Nicolas de Cusa", studies the diverse quotes by Nicolas de Cusa in the work of Von Balthasar in order to depict the impact of the cusan topics of perception, participation and coincidentia oppositorum to Theology and the theological method.

Alberto Parra Mora, S.J., professor at our School, in his article "On the Way to Theology of Action", aims at ,:j seeking motivations and configurations of Theology of Action in light of the Council in order to specify how human action has become a theological place for the phenomenon of revelation itself to be ascribed, which constitutes the major principle of Theology.

Jorge Alexander Ravagli Cardona, professor at Universidad de La Salle in Bogota, in his article "Pluralism and Traditional Spirituality in Latin America. Fundamentalism and Sacredness in the Modernity of the Subcontinent", states that the subcontinent has shown regular mismatches between its institutional secularized framework and the ancestral world-views that determine new religious proposals. This shows that secularization at any cost, promoted by middle-class sectors inspired by the enlightenment, does not automatically mean pluralization of spiritual attitudes in the culture, as it is evident in the raise of novel religious fundamentalist movements.

Luiz Alexandre Solano Rossi, PhD., professor from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Paraná (Brazil), in his article "Poderes e Solidariedade: Foucault no Colégio Apostólico", covets the text from Mc 10, 32-45 with a theoretical framework based on the biblical Theology and the analytical theory of power by Foucault. Thus, we can conclude that -at the same time that the followers of Jesus aim at reproducing power relations, Jesus proposes a counterargument in order to show power as solidarity in favor of the community. Jesus' intervention will bring a discourse that resigns to power attempts, and will become a fundamental option to service and solidarity.

In the last collective article "Religious Education for Liberation at School: Key Elements", a group of teachers from our School (Gabriel Alfonso Suárez Medina, PhD., José Luis Meza Rueda, PhD., Daniel de Jesús Garavko Villarreal, David Eduardo Lara Corredor, Juan Alberto Casas Ramírez and José Orlando Reyes Fonseca), as a theoretical framework for a proposal of religious education for liberation at school, and from the contributions of Theology and Pedagogy for liberation, present several guidelines that can become key aspects of this subject at school. Such elements will allow us determine if mainstream religious teaching is evangelically emancipatory or not.

In the section Documents, we present the complete text from Lectio inauguralis at our School named "Theology in Latin America 50 years after Vatican II". Its author, Afonso Murad, addressed the academic community of our School on February 28^th at Félix Restrepo, S.J. Auditorium, in Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Clearly, Theology in and from Latin America continues posing huge challenges to Christian faith and to its hermeneutic and social commitment from a perspective of solidarity that renovates the ecclesial community itself, and through it, becomes the ferment of life in society.

To close this issue, in the Reference Section, we offer two reviews on the works The true religion: Humes attempt for naturalizing faith, by Bernardo Perez Andreo, and The Gospel of Mark. Jesus Good News, by Xabier Pikaza.

With these research papers and theological reflection we continue contributing to the understanding and expanding of our readers on topics that are of fundamental interest for Theology and their influence on teaching, research, formulation and pastoral praxis.

José Alfredo Noratto Gutiérrez, Ph.D.
Editor