At the Rahner Consultation on June 13, 2026, Robert Lassalle-Klein will present “Homo Sapiens Migrans: Theological Anthropology for a Migrant Synodal Church.” The document relies on a number of sources, among which the following are most important.
- Intellectual Soul. Lassalle-Klein’s paper is grounded in an evolutionary account of the powers of the intellectual soul. See Karl Rahner, “Natural Science and Reasonable Faith,” Theological Investigations, XXI, 28-29.
- History. The paper outlines three theses for a Rahnerian interpretation of migration as a constitutive dimension of God’s great history with humanity and his ecclesia. See Rahner, “History of the World and Salvation-History,” Theological Investigations, V, 98, 109, 110-111.
- Trinity. The central role of migration in human evolution is an action ad extra of the Economic Trinity, which has shaped the synodal Church from its inception. See Rahner, “The Theology of the Symbol,” Theological Investigations, IV, pp. 236-37; and Rahner, The Trinity, 15, 64,76-79, 101-103).
- Holy Spirit. The often life-threatening choices made by migrants for their families sometimes represent the sanctifying impact on intellect and the will of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. See Rahner, “Some Implications of the Scholastic Concept of Uncreated Grace,” Theological Investigations, Vol. I, 319-346.
- Self-Offer. God’s saving self-offer to humanity and the Church is continued today in the call to recognize the suffering Christ in the rejected migrant. See Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of Love of Neighbor and the Love of God,” Theological Investigations, VI, 239; see also Ignacio Ellacuría, “El pueblo crucificado, ensayo de soteriología histórica,” Escritos teológicos, II, 138.