The CTSA remembers and prays for Gary Riebe-Estrella, SVD, who died on Monday, June 2, 2025.
Eternal rest grant unto Gary, 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.
The following remembrance was provided to the CTSA by member Carmen Nanko-Fernandez, Catholic Theological Union:
On Monday, June 2, 2025, at the Divine Word Residence in Techny, IL, Latino theological educator, theologian, professor, and mentor Gary Riebe Estrella, SVD passed away at the age of 79. A longtime member of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), Gary served as president twice, first in 1996-97 and again in 2009-10.
A member of the Divine Word Missionaries, Gary was one of the first graduates from the Catholic Theological Union. In 1992, he earned his STD in Teología Practica from Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. In 1993 he returned to his alma mater in Chicago assuming teaching and administrative roles. He became the first Latino Dean at CTU and among the first Latin@s in the USA at a theological school to rise to this position. He served as the Vice President and Academic Dean of CTU for twelve years from 1996-2009. During that time, he was instrumental in creating a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse faculty.
Gary’s activism, his early experiences in pastoral work with Latin@ communities, and his decades of scholarship and leadership in theological education resulted in various opportunities throughout his ministry to work with religious orders, organizations, and higher education as a consultant in areas of diversity, formation, and theological education. His publications in the area of Latin@ theologies and ministries are numerous, and establish Gary’s place as one of the first CTU religious alums to make a mark in Latin@ theologies and ministries.
Live funeral coverage on on June 7 via YouTube
