"A collection of essays designed to promote theological understanding by contextualizing the thought of Pope Francis--from his understanding of history to his theology of mission--within important theological conversations rarely heard in the US Catholic Church"-- The dangerous tendency to reduce theological positions to political ones has always fueled divisions in the Church, and it plagues debates surrounding Pope Francis's teaching today. This collection of essays was born of a landmark international symposium designed to promote theological understanding by contextualizing the thought of Pope Francis—from his understanding of history to his theology of mission—within important theological conversations rarely heard in the US Catholic Church. Its contributors demonstrate decisively that Pope Francis's magisterium is the fruit of a profound and distinctive, yet deeply Catholic, intellectual engagement with the theological and ecclesial traditions of the Church. -- Provided by publisher.