Marian Profile: in the Ecclesiology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Leahy's Marian Principle in the Ecclesiology of Hans Urs von Balthasar is an original and at the same time faithful exposition of an important aspect of von Balthasar's work. Leahy first sets the stage by tracing the Marian principle from the patristic and medieval periods up to Vatican II and John Paul II's Mulieris dignitatem. Then he gathers together the intuitions, hints, and references to that principle in von Balthasar's works. Leahy explains the relation of the Marian principle to other principles such as the Petrine, Pauline, Johannine, and Jacobine. These are not abstract principles, but 'profiles' or 'dimensions' in the Church, universal experiences built upon concrete persons.