1. The Theological Legacy of Pope Francis

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2025

The pontificate of Pope Francis stands as one of the most significant in the recent history of the Catholic Church. With a theology marked by mercy, synodality, integral ecology, and a spirituality rooted in the life of the people, Francis has proposed new languages and practices that challenge traditional models and provoke fruitful theological debate. This issue of Perspectiva Teológica invites contributions offering critical and constructive analyses of Pope Francis’ theological legacy across its multiple dimensions.

Suggested thematic axes:

• Latin American influences on Pope Francis’ theology
• The centrality of mercy
• Synodality: theological foundations, challenges, and horizons
• Popular spirituality and the “Church that goes forth”
• Integral ecology as a theological category (Laudato Si’)
• Universal fraternity and social friendship (Fratelli Tutti)
• Reforms of the Roman Curia and their theological inspiration
• The role of Francis’ Magisterium in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue
• Can we speak of a “Francis theology”?

We await your contribution to the development of theological science.

2. The Church and Revolutions: From Leo XIII to Leo XIV

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2026

Since Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, the Church has sought to dialogue with major social, cultural, and political transformations of the modern world. Leo XIV stated that he chose this name in view of the changes brought about by Artificial Intelligence. This issue invites theological, pastoral, and institutional reflections on the Church’s response to revolutions from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, including current challenges such as geopolitics and technology (AI). The provocative title “From Leo XIII to Leo XIV” opens space for theological reflection grounded in historical analysis.

Suggested thematic axes:

• Catholic Social Teaching: continuity, ruptures, and updates
• The Church’s relationship with modern political regimes (democracy, authoritarianism, populism)
• The Church and cultural revolutions (sexuality, gender, family)
• The Church’s presence in revolutionary processes (Latin America, Europe, Africa)
• Modernity, secularization, and new evangelizations
• Theological thought facing technological and digital transformations
• Leo XIII and the Church’s modern social engagement
• Leo XIV: geopolitics, technology, and cultural changes
• Can we speak of a “theology of technology,” a “theology of revolutions,” or even a “theology of history”?

We await your contribution to the development of theological science.

3. Lusophone Theology

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2026

Theological production in Portuguese is vast, plural, and often overlooked internationally. This issue aims to value, disseminate, and articulate theological contributions from Lusophone countries—Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Timor-Leste—promoting mutual listening across diverse contexts. We welcome articles that express the richness of local theological traditions, postcolonial challenges, and dialogues between cultures, spiritualities, and theological knowledge.

Suggested thematic axes:

• Theological experiences and expressions in Lusophone countries
• The influence of language and culture on theological production
• Afro-Lusophone theologies and epistemologies of the South
• Theology and coloniality: critique and reconstruction
• Women theologians in Portuguese-speaking countries
• Can we speak of “Lusophone theology”?

We await your contribution to the development of theological science.

1. Two Decades after the Aparecida Document: Spirituality and Dissident Bodies in a Missionary Church

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2026

Two decades after the Aparecida Conference, which presented to the world the project of a “Church in a permanent state of mission,” its call to pastoral conversion and its option for the poor remain. How is this project being reshaped in the face of new contemporary challenges? This call invites a critical rereading of Aparecida from three urgent frontiers: the depth of Latin American spiritual experience; the interfaces between faith and different forms of knowledge to understand processes of meaning-making and resilience; and the theological eruption of dissident bodies that question normative frameworks. We propose going beyond a documentary balance, investigating how the spirit of Aparecida dialogues with subjectivities, affections, and marginalized corporealities that cry out for recognition in the ecclesial community and in the public sphere.

Thematic Axes

• Latin American spirituality and the psyche in a state of mission: investigates the continent’s spiritual experience in dialogue with different fields of knowledge, welcoming studies on affective regulation articulated with the mysticism and pastoral proposals of Aparecida.
• Dissident bodies, normativities, and the ecclesial community: takes the body as a theological and political locus, seeking analyses of how biblical texts and theological traditions have been used to normalize or silence bodily, gender, racial, and sexual experiences, proposing readings that embrace dissidence in light of a Church “going forth” to all peripheries.
• Synodality and participation: structures for a humble Church, exploring participation in light of the Synod on Synodality and investigating how the biblical concept of humility (ταπείνωσις / עֲנָוָה), understood as a justice-oriented virtue, can inspire new structures of listening, co-responsibility, and shared power.

This issue celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate, held in Aparecida in 2007, whose final document profoundly marked the life of the Church in Latin America and the world. Two decades later, this editorial proposes a reflection on the relevance, fruits, and pastoral, social, and missionary challenges that emerge from the Aparecida Document.

2. Populorum Progressio – 60 Years Later: Wisdom, Technology, and the Construction of Peace that Springs from Justice (Is 32:17)

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2027

On the sixtieth anniversary of the encyclical Populorum Progressio, its concept of “integral development of man and of all men” sounds more prophetic and urgent than ever. In a world marked by artificial intelligence, socio-environmental vulnerabilities, fragmented wars, and the crisis of democracies, what responses can the Social Doctrine of the Church offer? This call invites reflection on the legacy of Paul VI from three central axes: critical dialogue between human wisdom and artificial intelligence; ecotheology as an academic discipline and pastoral practice in the face of the climate emergency; and the search for a just peace capable of confronting inequality and the political instrumentalization of faith. At the same time, we celebrate the centenary of Benedict XVI, whose vision, in dialogue with that of Francis and Leo XIV, redefines this field. What new humanism can be built at the current crossroads?

Thematic Axes

• Shalom/Tsedakah: justice and peace embracing one another.
• New frontiers of integral human development: wisdom, technology, and vulnerabilities.
• Ecotheology, justice, and peace: toward an integral socio-ecological conversion.
• Theology and politics in the twenty-first century: Social Doctrine in dialogue (Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV).
• Theology and economics: addressing the relationship between ethics and economics, the theological critique of the ideology of capitalist progress (PP 26), the centrality of labor (PP 27–28), and the relevance of the organization of the poor in building “another model of economy.” “Peoples themselves are the authors and primary subjects of their own development” (PP 77).

3. The Name of God Is Merciful: Interreligious Dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2027

This special issue invites scholars to explore the shared conviction—deeply rooted in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—that God is merciful. In a world marked by polarization and conflict, revisiting the theological foundations of divine mercy can open new paths toward understanding, cooperation, and peace among the Abrahamic traditions. We welcome articles that examine the theme of mercy in sacred texts, theological writings, spiritual practices, and contemporary experiences of interreligious encounter. Contributions may be theoretical, exegetical, historical, or focused on practical initiatives that foster dialogue and reconciliation.

Thematic Axes

• Divine mercy in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures
• Narratives and figures that embody compassion in the Abrahamic traditions
• Mercy as an ethical and social principle: justice, hospitality, care for the vulnerable
• Contemporary challenges and opportunities for interreligious dialogue
• Comparative studies on key concepts such as ḥesed, eleos, and raḥmah

The aim of this issue is to promote rigorous scholarship that strengthens a culture of peace and highlights mercy as a profound point of convergence among the three traditions.