Moral Leadership: A Challenge and a Celebration

Abstract

This article analyses recent writings on moral leadership in politics and society (Part 1), and also in the church (Part 2). Although calls for moral leadership are frequent, only rarely is the substantive issue considered directly in theological ethics. Rather, it is demonstrated in the ethical analyses of and responses to contemporary political, social, and ecclesial challenges, and is captured in reflections on the activism of ordinary citizens around the world who are seizing the moment to protest injustice, to resist violence, and thereby to exercise moral leadership. This article examines moral leadership using Emmanuel Katangole’s analytical framework, assessing moral leadership through the multiple lenses of (i) critique and denouncement; (ii) the annunciation of a new order; (iii) the invitation to a new kind of knowledge; and (iv) the call for bold action.