Hmmm. I'm generally aware of this, but the few people I know who run in reasonably highly placed church circles (Sadly getting even fewer) are decidedly to the conservative side of the ledger. If anyone wants to share the name of one of these theological journals not generally available to the public that leans highly avent-guard progressive or liberal, I could probably arrange to get myself a few random issues through someone. If anyone knows a good one and doesn't want to share the name of the publication publicly, send me a private message (Volume and issue numbers of good ones to try to get are optional). I'm just interested in reading one, obviously I'm the opposite of the type of person who'd complain to the CDF, as folks can see by the opinions I generally express.
It just happens that I have a copy of an old
Concilium next to me now, obtained from my favorite Catholic library, which is a repository of all kinds of subversive and heretical books and journals.
Concilium began in the last year of Vatican II and was founded by Catholic theologians like Rahner, Kung, Schillebeeckx, Metz and Congar. This journal appears to usually do themed issues, and includes articles by non-Catholic theologians as well. I don't subscribe, since I am far from a theologian, but I have borrowed several past issues which featured topics of interest to me. You can check them out online at c
oncilium.in.
I don't read theological journals often, but I do scour the footnotes of books I read where references to various articles and journals can be found. So I get a sampling of what can be found in those journals. Another journal, and there are many, is
Theological Studies, published by Jesuits in the U.S. At their site, one can read older issues as PDF's.
Here is an example of how theologians deal with issues long before they become "public". Pope Francis is having the Church look at marriage and the possibility of divorced and remarried Catholics receiving Communion. Many of us might think he came up with this out of the blue. But a dozen or more years ago,
Theological Studies had some controversial articles discussing the indissolubuility of marriage and a pastoral approach to getting divorced and remarried Catholics back to the Sacraments. The theologians were discussing this while Pope JPII was still in charge. Discussed in a Jesuit theological journal, brought front and center by a Jesuit Pope.
As I wrote in another thread, much of what was condemned 50, 100 or 150 years ago is now part of Church teaching, or at least being openly discussed. Basically, theology can and should deal with ideas that go beyond Church doctrine. Doctrine and theology are not the same. Theological discussion sometimes leads to doctrinal development. Always has, always will, despite the attempts by some to put theology into a confining box.