Catholic Theological
Society of America

Fr Joseph Mueller, SJ has passed away peacefully at the Sacred Heart
Jesuit Center after a brief struggle with illness at the age of 63. He
is survived by his father, sisters, brothers, and many nephews and
nieces.

For more than 20 years, he taught theology at Marquette University and
served as associate dean for academic affairs and later the rector of
its Jesuit Community.

In 2020, he was named the dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of
Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. At Santa Clara, Father
Mueller recruited noteworthy theologians whose scholarship will have a
profound impact on the future of the Church and obtained significant
grants to enhance Latinx theology and ministry.

A Detroit native who entered the Society of Jesus in 1982 and was
ordained to the priesthood in 1993, Father Mueller received his
bachelor’s degree from Marquette in 1981 and earned his doctorate in
sacred theology from Centre Sèvres, Paris, in 2005.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m.
at Gesu Parish in Detroit, Michigan.

More information about Fr Mueller can be found in this announcement
from Santa Clara University's president
https://www.scu.edu/president/messages/from-the-president/emails/mueller-rip/

and the GTU's president:
https://www.gtu.edu/news/remembering-joseph-mueller-sj-0

Announcement written by
CTSA member Anh Tran, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University

Congratulations to CTSA member Thomas (Tom) Malewitz on the publication of his newly co-edited volume that has been recently released: Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Film to Teach World Religions (Information Age, 2023).

It is the fifth volume in the Hollywood or History? Series which contains supplemental assignments using films and film clips to help engage junior-high and secondary students with curriculum topics in Social Studies and World Religions. The volume includes 19 chapters with assignments based on common core, state, and USCCB standards for curriculum topics surrounding Christianity, Judaism, Islam, First Nations, Hinduism, Buddhism, and African Tribal rituals.  

The CTSA prays for Marinus Iwuchukwu who died yesterday, Tuesday, January 17th.  

Dr. Kristine L. Blair, Dean, McAnulty College  and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Duquesne University, wrote, "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the death of Dr. Marinus Iwuchukwu, Associate Professor of Theology, who had taught in the Theology Department since 2008. A former Chair of the Department, Professor Iwuchukwu was an internationally recognized expert on interreligious dialogue and inclusive religious pluralism.”

Marinus' contributions to the CTSA include:

Presenter, Professor Elochukwu Uzukwu, C.S.Sp.: Review of His Scholarship and Contributions to African Theology in the Last Twenty Years,2019 CTSA Convention.

Chairperson, Local Arrangements Committee, 2019 CTSA Convention.

Presenter, Latino/a Theology - Consultation (Joint Session with Black Theology Consultation), 2022 CTSA Convention, where Marinus raised the question, "What have Christian churches and their leaders of our age done to ensure that the most outstanding structural, psychological, economic, and institutional recrudesce of slavery are effectively ended, as well as restituted, restored, repaired?"

Convener, Catholicity and Mission Topic Session,2016 CTSA Convention.

Presenter, Spirituality and the Scandal of the Mundane Selected Session: Spirituality and the Scandal of the Mundane: Race, Racism and Religious Identity (2016 CTSA Convention).

Eternal rest grant unto Marinus, 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 family of Marinus has structured a GoFundMe page to assist with funeral expenses and unexpected financial responsibilities.  Here is the link to access the GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/d84c94ba

Dear CTSA Colleagues,

I'm reaching out in my capacity as the current President of the International Thomas Merton Society to ask a favor.  

The ITMS is working hard to get the word out about the Daggy Scholarship Program, which covers registration fees for emerging scholars at the 2023 General Meeting at St. Mary's College in South Bend, June 22-25. If you know of any MA, MTS, MDiv or PhD students - certainly undergraduates as well - that have interest in Merton or the conference theme (Wisdom/Sophia and the Divine Feminine), please share the links below, one of which includes a poster announcement with QR Code that can be posted anywhere visible to students. Inquiries can also be directed to my email below. 

Thanks so much for your help!

Christopher Pramuk / Regis University / cpramuk@regis.edu

http://merton.org/ITMS/scholarships.aspx

http://merton.org/2023/default.aspx

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xCEpeGeeGbNKUy1PkqyXYlh62LefiPkR

Congratulations to member Peter Feldmeier on the publication of his book Wisdom from the World's Religions: A Guide to Basic Human Questions (Orbis Books, Dec. 2022).

Good morning, everyone. I am more than half way through my term as CTSA President, but still not sure what is expected of me beyond my specific duties. But let me take on the role here of official greeter - to wish you all a Happy New Year, and blessings for 2023.

Let us reflect with gratitude mixed with sadness on the many good things of this past year, and also on the horrific news items of 2022. Let us be thankful for all the ways we have tried, in our Society, to think and pray with the Church, for the Church, in today's vast world of many faiths and none. And let us realize how much more we have to do, as best we can.

I would be remiss not to mention the death today of Benedict XVI, retired pope, retired bishop of Rome. We all will have many memories of him, but for now let us simply pray that this good and holy man may now rest in the Lord's peace. See also my personal blog about him, here.

Peace, Frank

Member Joseph Bracken was interviewed on WSET radio and television in St. Louis about his latest book Reciprocal Causality in an Event-Filled World.  Fr. Bracken engaged in conversation about the differences between a fixed hierarchy of beings from God to prime matter in classical metaphysics and an ever-changing hierarchy of incomplete entities in process of becoming more than what they are now. The sponsoring organization was The Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology with Fr. Sebastian Mahfood, O.P., as its current director. View the interview free of charge:

WCAT Radio - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/52191688

WCAT TV - https://youtu.be/814kKBo6ooc

Fordham's Graduate School of Religion has a new Advanced Certificate in Jesuit Studies offering the opportunity to explore the Jesuit tradition in Spirituality, History, and more.  Courses are primarily online with a one-week summer intensive.  For more information visit www.fordham.edu/gre.

The CTSA remembers prays for longstanding member David F. Kelly who died on December 9th.

David F. Kelly attended The College of The Holy Cross and received his PhD from The University of Toronto. He was a Professor of Medical Ethics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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.

My book Moving Into the Ecumenical Future: Foundations of a Paradigm for Christian Ethics, a Pickwick Publication from Wipf and Stock appeared in November. It brings together my backgrounds in moral theology, developmental psychology, and ecumenism. The idea to write came while I was on a retreat at a Trappist monastery. The spiritual thread in the book comes from Saints Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal.