Toward a theology and ethics of dialogical leadership in the Roman Catholic Church: An operational perspective

This interdisciplinary dissertation explores the theological grounds for and operational challenges to intra-organizational dialogue as a tool for leadership within the Roman Catholic Church. Presenting a framework for dialogue from the major documents on the Church produced at the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (Vatican II), it examines the vision of full and active participation in the life of the Church by all the baptized proposed by the council and outlines the principles for dialogue that both articulate and uphold that vision. It tweaves this ecclesiological construct with liturgical theology, ethics, and organizational leadership theory to reveal opportunities and impediments to operationalizing system-wide approaches to collaborative leadership. Closely examining four key U.S. initiatives designed to foster dialogue, it assesses structural challenges and impediments.;The work of leading organizational development theorists provides a lens by which the current situation in the Church can be assessed. Methodologies through which organizations can be more horizontal and expertise-driven even as they remain hierarchical are used with the intent of proposing where (and where not) the best practices of dialogical leadership in complex secular institutions can inform the health and vitality of leadership in the Roman Catholic Church. Ultimately, this work suggests how operationalizing dialogical leadership approaches might serve the organizational health of the Roman Catholic Church and is consistent with the self-vision of the church and many elements of its governance. This is done in service of disclosing the value that more inclusive leadership models for Catholic parish and diocesan life in the North American context and beyond.