Date of Award
4-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2024
Degree Name
Doctor of Sacred Theology (STD)
Director
Thomas Cattoi
Abstract
This dissertation explores Gregory the Great’s shepherd of the flock metaphor—a key image in his Pastoral Rule—in its cultural, scriptural, and patristic contexts. It argues that the shepherd metaphor remains relevant in the ongoing conversation on the Catholic priesthood and pastoral leadership. No less Pope Francis himself engages and, in effect, updates the shepherd metaphor in contemporary conversation. This project combines two functional specialties within theology: history and pastoral reflection. It also resorts to the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, establishing the shepherd image as a conceptual construct and a theological model.
The survey of the shepherd of the flock’s origin and meaning shows that it has remained a robust leadership model through time and across cultures, culminating in the metaphor’s established place in the biblical tradition with Jesus the Good Shepherd as the paradigm. Significantly, Gregory the Great, in his Pastoral Rule, revivifies the metaphor and makes it constitutive of his ascetic-pastoral framework. Believing the Church’s survival depends greatly upon virtuous and quality leadership, Gregory uses his Pastoral Rule—a regimen of ascetic practices and moral-spiritual virtues—to recruit candidates equipped for pastoral ministry.
Inspired by the shepherd metaphor as a theological paradigm, the dissertation critically appropriates the Gregorian ascetic-pastoral framework to address the interrelated issues of clerical sexual abuse, clericalism, and flawed theology of the priesthood. It proposes a contemporary pastoral spirituality focusing on recovering the theology of the undershepherd, understanding the spiritual-ascetic-pragmatic nexus of authority, nurturing pastoral hermeneutics, and embracing ongoing accompaniment. The dissertation concludes with a contextualized view of the Church in the Philippines’ pastoral engagement with the current circumstances and ongoing conversation on the Catholic priesthood and exercise of ministry.
Recommended Citation
Cortez, Marcelino C. Jr., "Gregory the Great’s Metaphor of the Shepherd of the Flock as a Pastoral Model for the Contemporary Catholic Priesthood" (2024). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 124.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/124