Catholic Theological
Society of America

Our Covenant With Earth

The Climate Generation Speaks

STUDENT RESEARCH PAPER & ESSAY CONTESTS

Awardees will receive a cash prize
and the opportunity to publicly present their work

The National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue (NCMD) of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) is thrilled to announce the Covenant with Earth research paper and essay competition that explores the topics and concerns raised in Laudato si: Care of our Common Home (https://www.laudatosi.org/the-letter/encyclical-letter/) and Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth (https://www.almizan.earth ). We invite high schoolers, undergraduate students, and graduate students to share your perspective on Catholic and Muslim responses to the ecological crisis and pathways of thought and action toward care for the earth. Essays could include such themes as:

• The Human Legacy of the Ecological Crisis
• Integral Ecology as an Ecological Ethics
• Eco-Justice: A Shared Vision of Muslims and Catholics
• Pathways to Living the Covenant of Earth with Integrity
• Economic and Ecology: Renewed Commitments to the Common Good.
• Ihsan: ‘Doing the Beautiful’
• ‘Care for Our Common Home’
• Living the Covenant
• Lessons Learned from Local Actions
• Best Practices for Communities and Organizations
• Environmental Justice as Intergenerational Justice
• Nurturing an Ecological Culture as Giving Witness to the Goodness of God’s Creation

Research Paper Competition (for Graduate and PhD students)

Eligibility: Students pursuing Master of Arts, Master of Divinity, Ecclesial Degrees (STL, STD), Islamic Ijaza in various fields, Public Health, Public Administration, Business Administration, Political Science, International Studies, Economics, Social Work, or Ph.D students in these and related fields.

Submission Guidelines:

• 2,000 words, Double-Spaced, 12 pt Font
• Microsoft WORD or PDF
• Style: Turabian or Chicago Manual

Prize:

• Cash prize: $750
• Public Presentation: Winner will present their work in a public forum held in Washington, D.C. on September 10, 2025. The National Catholic Muslim Dialogue Group of the Unites Stated Catholic Conference of Bishops and Catholic University of America will host the event.

Essay Competition (for High Schoolers and Undergraduates):

The essay can be non-fiction or fiction (eco-fiction, climate fiction) drawing from the themes suggested or other perspectives raised by the documents Laudato si and Al-Mizan

Eligibility:  High School and Undergraduate College Students (Two separate awards)

Submission Guidelines:

• 450-600 words, Double Spaced, 12 pt. Font
• Microsoft WORD or PDF

Prize:

• Cash prize: $150
• Public Presentation: Winner will present their work in a public forum held in Washington, D.C. on September 10, 2025. The National Catholic Muslim Dialogue Group of the Unites Stated Catholic Conference of Bishops and Catholic University of America will host the event.

All entrees must be original work. All resources used must be properly cited in footnotes or bibliography. Citations are not included in the word count. AI-generated work is not invited to be entered into the contest, and if entered, it will be subject to disqualification

DUE July 18, 2025

Email Entrees to: acirelli@usccb.org
Anthony Cirelli, Ph.D., Associate Director
Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Contest is sponsored by The Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (CEIA) of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), NCMD Muslim Group, Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN.  

Dear colleagues, 

A reminder that the 19th General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS) is meeting June 19-22 at Regis University in Denver, under the theme, "The Calligraphy of Snow and Rock and Sky: Thomas Merton and the Spirit of Place." Early-bird registration ends May 15. ITMS meetings are marked by a wonderful spirit of fellowship, eclectic offerings (scholarship, poetry, journaling, film, prayer) reflecting Merton's capacious spiritual and theological vision. Please consider joining us!  

Chris Pramuk 

https://merton.org/2025/default.aspx

The CTSA remembers and prays for longstanding member Mary Gerhart, who died on Tuesday, April 22.

Eternal rest grant unto Mary, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Mary Gerhart's theological contributions to the Society include the following, which are accessible via the CTSA Proceedings.

M. Gerhart & Allan Melvin Russell. “Metaphoric Process”

“Theology, Science, and Gender: Advances in Feminist Consciousness”

“The Ironic Mode of Religious Imagination in Heinrich Boll”

Mary Jane Gerhart Obituary

The CTSA remembers and prays for longstanding member David W. Tracy, who died on Tuesday, April 29.

David Tracy was awarded the prestigious John Courtney Murray Award in1980.  He served as the CTSA's President in 1976 – 1977 and twice as a member of the CTSA Board of Directors (1974 - 1976 and 1977 – 1979).

Eternal rest grant unto David, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

David Tracy's theological contributions include the following available within the CTSA Proceedings:

Response to “Meaning and Characteristics of an American Theology”

“Evil and Hope: Foundational Systematic Perspectives”

Response to Professor Connelly-II

Presidential Address: “Grace and the Search for the Human: The Sense of the Uncanny”

“A Response to Gregory Baum”

“Why Orthodoxy in a Personalist Age?”

Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals

Life and Love Transfigured: Exploring New Horizons in the Franciscan Tradition

A Conference to Mark the 800^th Anniversary of the Death of St. Francis of Assisi

Tuesday 14^th to Thursday 16^th April 2026, Durham University, UK

To mark the 800^th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the Centre for Catholic Studies (CCS) at Durham University will hold its third international Franciscan Studies conference. The Transitus of Saint Francis in 1226 completed the Poverello’s earthly life. Successive generations have interpreted and carried forward the witness and teachings of the Saint and his early followers. This conference seeks to celebrate and share the fruits of this legacy against new horizons, addressing contemporary challenges and concerns.

The aim of the conference will be to bring together people from different walks of life – academic and non-academic, religious and lay – who have a deep love for St. Francis of Assisi, the Franciscan tradition, and the abiding relevance of the Franciscan charism for the modern world. The conference will be held at locations in Durham itself as well as at Ushaw College, a former Roman Catholic Seminary a few miles outside of Durham.

The conference will consist of academic panels and plenary lectures by world leading scholars of the Franciscan tradition, as well as public talks by those working in contemporary Franciscan evangelisation, workshops on the Franciscan way of life and Franciscan ministry, ecumenical worship, and opportunities for fellowship and communal reflection.

The conference will have three main strands: (1) Franciscan theology and philosophy; (2) Franciscan history; and (3) Franciscan spirituality, aesthetics, and evangelism. The conference organisers welcome papers from researchers in fields including, but not limited to, Franciscan theology, Franciscan history, Franciscan science, Franciscan literary studies, Franciscan philosophy, Franciscan spirituality, the Poor Clare and wider female Franciscan traditions, the Franciscan Tertiary tradition, Franciscan ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, Franciscan art, poetry, and music, Franciscan education, Franciscan liturgical thought and practice, Franciscan economic and political philosophy, as well as Franciscan ministry and Franciscan contributions to peace studies, outreach, and pastoral-social work.

Confirmed speakers include:

Fr Casey Cole, OFM (Digital Evangelist and Creator of Breaking in the Habit podcast).

Prof. Richard Cross (University of Notre Dame, Indiana)

Fr Dr Michael Cusato OFM (Scholar-in-Residence, St. Bonaventure Friary, NY)

Prof. Daniel Horan (St Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana)

Dr William Hyland (University of St Andrews)

Prof. John McCafferty (University College Dublin)

Dr Darleen Pryds (Franciscan School of Theology, University of San Diego)

Prof. Lydia Schumacher (Kings College London)

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers. Panel proposals consisting of three speakers are also encouraged.

We also invite proposals for 90-minute workshops offering a space for delegates to come together to discuss issues or subjects important to Franciscans, e.g. ministry, outreach, issues relation to community life, the Franciscan voice in the church, etc.

Please submit proposals for papers or workshops (c. 200 words) via the form at https://forms.office.com/e/s06nt9CrNW by 30 October 2025 at the latest.

Contact for any queries: Dr William Crozier – william.e.crozier@durham.ac.uk

On May 8-May 9, 2025, The Schreiter Institute at Catholic Theological Union will convene Truth-Telling: Perils and Possibilities for Social Healing-- The Third Annual Symposium on a Praxis of Reconciliation.  The two day Symposium is free and bimodal (in person and on Zoom)  and please register so we can plan accordingly.

Register Here 

PRECIS: Truth-telling is essential for interpersonal and social healing from trauma and moral injury. It also is a perilous endeavor because if the disclosure of truth cannot be heard, believed, or understood by a listener then the wound will become worse and healing nearly impossible. The symposium looks at the perils and possibilities around various kinds of truth-telling in diverse contexts and through several mediums

KEYNOTE: Maka Akan Najin Black Elk (Oglala Lakota)

SYMPOSIUM PRESENTERS: 

• Chioma Ahanihu, SLW
• Kayla August
• timone davis
• David Matz, CPPS
• Karen Ross
• Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM
• Daniel Scheid
• Marvin Wickware

May 8-9, 2025

ONLINE + IN-PERSON
Catholic Theological Union
5416 S. Cornell Ave, Chicago IL 60615

Visit ctu.edu/events to register for this event and to learn more about our other upcoming events and programs.

You can also contact Kevin Considine: kconsidine@ctu.edu

Greetings all. I had this piece come out in America, the national Jesuit magazine. It’s my reflection as a Muslim on the passing of Pope Francis, and I thought you’d like to see it:

 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/04/25/pope-francis-muslim-remembers-250472

 

Our colleague Frank Clooney, SJ, CTSA President during 2022-2023, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in the category of Religious Studies. The Academy was founded in 1780, and its list of members includes presidents, scientists and humanities scholars, artists and musicians. As it says at its website, “the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together ‘to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.’” Frank will be inducted into the Academy at a ceremony in October of this year.

April 24, 2025

Dear CTSA Colleagues and All Who Mourn the Passing of Pope Francis:

CTSA grieves the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis and expresses gratitude for his leadership marked always by dialogue, inclusivity, catholicity, a global vision, synodality, and the enduring communal search for truth. He encouraged a theology of encounter that fosters greater intimacy with the people, taking account of their joys and sorrows. Notably, he invited our particular interest in the condition of people who live amidst the peripheries of our world. Both his annual recent visit to prisoners on Holy Thursday, and his July 2013 trip responding to the cry of refugees in Lampedusa, bookended his ceaseless grace-filled vision, personal character, and spiritual depth. He encouraged theologians to be shepherds who take on the smell of the sheep, and to recognize the need today to envision the church as a “field hospital,” a place of healing for all who are wounded in body, soul, heart, and mind. Indeed, Francis often spoke of the Eucharist as not a prize for the perfect, but, as food and nourishment for those who need it. He envisioned the sacrament of reconciliation as an experience not of desolation but of consolation.

As a leader of theologians, Francis’ 2023 apostolic letter, Ad Theologiam Promovendam (“On Promoting Theology”) urged, “To promote theology in the future, we cannot limit ourselves to abstractly re-proposing formulas and schemes from the past. Called to prophetically interpret the present and to see new itineraries for the future, in the light of Revelation, theology will have to deal with profound cultural transformations, aware that: “what we are experiencing is not simply an era of change, but a change of era.”” (#1) and he further taught us, “A synodal, missionary, and “outgoing” Church can only correspond to an “outgoing” theology” (#3). In more recent remarks addressing theologians, and also signaling his theme for our current 2025 jubilee year, he preached that theology is a “significant and necessary ecclesial ministry . . .because it is part of our Catholic faith to explain the reason for our hope to all those who ask (cf. 1 Pet 3:15). And we know that hope is not an emotion or a feeling, but the very person of Jesus, who is himself “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6).” (Greeting of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Members of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology (INSeCT), Friday, 10 May 2024)

His deep understanding of the ministry of theology again showed a freshness in another recent set of remarks addressing theologians from around the globe. Francis shared “This is a journey you are called to undertake together, theologians of both sexes. Here I think of an episode in the Second Book of Kings. During the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem, a text came to light; perhaps it was the first edition of Deuteronomy, which had been lost. A priest and several scholars read it, as did the king. They sense its importance but did not understand it. So the king decided to give it to a woman, Huldah, who immediately understood its meaning and helped the group of scholars – all men – to grasp it (Cf. 2 Kings 22:14-20). There are things that only women understand, and theology needs their contribution. An all-male theology is an incomplete theology. We still have a long way to go in this direction.” (Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants in the International Congress on the Future of Theology, 9 December 2024)

Francis once remarked that when he thinks about theology, he thinks about light, about light that illuminates faces, people, the color of our world, so that the light of Christ and his Gospel may shine ever more brightly. May his memory continue to light the way.

Rest in peace, Francis.

Y por favor, ruega por nosotros,

Nancy Pineda-Madrid

CTSA President

Sarah and Hagar in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions

From their first appearances in the Hebrew Bible through innumerable (re)interpretations in subsequent millennia, the figures of Sarah and Hagar have provoked reflection on the life cycle, fertility, conception, and childbirth; resource allocation, inheritance, and enslavement; sustaining life in precarious environments; group solidarity and partition; sex, gender, and ethnicity; and imagined relations between human and non-human entities, gods, angels, and demons. Across historical epochs and geographic regions, Sarah and Hagar have been like mirrors in which individuals and communities have found meaning and support.

The project comprises an ongoing series of lectures and discussions, and is expected to culminate in the publication of an edited volume to complement previous work in Claudia D. Bergmann and Thomas R. Blanton IV., eds, Imitating Abraham: Ritual and Exemplarity in Jewish and Christian Contexts (Brill, 2025).

Thomas R. Blanton and Claudia D. Bergmann welcome participation in and contributions to the ongoing lecture series, and proposals for articles to be included in the planned volume. All those interested in the myriad ways in which the legacies of Sarah and/or Hagar are drawn upon in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and in literature, poetry, art, music, and media from antiquity to the present are welcome to participate in the project. To propose a lecture or article contribution for the project, please contact Claudia D. Bergmann (cdb@mail.uni-paderborn.de) or Thomas R. Blanton IV (tblanton@jcu.edu). More information (including Zoom links to upcoming sessions) available at tinyurl.com/sarahagar

UPCOMING SEMINARS:

Hagar in Biblical Texts

April 23, 2025, 1:30-2:30pm ET, Zoom

Papers by Claudia Bergmann and Thomas R. Blanton IV

Hagar in Islam

May 7, 2025, 1:30-2:30 ET, Zoom

Papers by Zishan Ghaffar and Semiha Topal