The Second Vatican Council represents a decisive milestone in the relationship between the Church and the world. The pastoral constitution Gaudium et spes proclaims a new spirit of missionary dialogue, openness, and mutual enrichment. The Church endeavored to recognize the genuine “triumphs” of the modern age, and, bearing in mind also the serious “ambiguities” and “tragedies” that characterize our modern culture, sought to present anew the profound beauty of Christian existence.

What then does it mean for the Church to be “open” to the modern world? How can the world be receptive to the novel life the Church offers? How does the Christian navigate this dialogue? The essays gathered in this volume explore the theological anthropology of Gaudium et spes for answers to these questions. They strive to elucidate that only by the light of God’s infinite love incarnate in Jesus Christ does the human person come to perceive the mystery of his own being and the world come to realize itself; only then do the social realities of economy, work, and family take on human form.