Catholic Theological
Society of America

CFP - due 8/15/20, Newman: Scholar, Convert, Reformer, Cardinal, Saint (Oct. 23), Regis College.

Rev. Valentine J. Peter, “Val
November 20, 1934 – June 30, 2020

Father Valentine J. Peter expanded Father Flanagan’s dream of changing the way America cares for her children and families. He led the growth of Boys Town from the Village of Boys Town, Nebraska, eventually to 19 sites in 14 states and Washington D.C. 

An Omaha native, Father Peter was the fourth executive director of Boys Town. He assumed the post June 15, 1985.  Under his direction, Boys Town grew to provide direct care, including hospital treatment, to more than 43,000 children each year. A million more were helped each year through outreach and training programs. 

Father Peter is on the boards or committees of more than 20 national and local organizations. He has published numerous books and popular and scholarly articles.  Father Peter holds doctorate degrees in both Canon Law and Theology. 

His service to children as a youth advocate, educator, and friend has spanned more than four decades. Father Peter retired as Executive Director of Boys Town on July 1, 2005.  He served as Executive Director Emeritus and Senior Associate Pastor at the Immaculate Conception Dowd Memorial Chapel for a number of years before fully retiring and moving to New Cassel Retirement Home in Omaha.  He continued his mission of working with Boys Town alumni until his passing. 

Father Peter passed away on June 30, 2020 and is buried in his family plot in Omaha, Nebraska.  

Above text was written and posted online by:

Boys Town National Alumni Association, June 2020,  accessed  July 27, 2020 at https://www.boystownalumni.org/article.html?aid=157.

See also: 

https://heafeyheafey.com/rev-val-j-peter/

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

On June 3, 2020, the CTSA Board approved a Statement on Racial Injustice.  The full text of the document is posted at https://ctsa-online.org/BoardStatements.  

Acknowledgements:

The members who contributed to produce this statement include the leadership of the CTSA Committee on Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups (CUERG), Cristina Lledo Gomez and Melissa Pagán-Rubalcaba, with a special intervention by Joseph Flipper in consultation with Bryan Massingale, and Board members María Pilar Aquino, Paul Lakeland, and Kevin Burke. The Board is grateful for their contribution.

Join the conversation by logging into the CTSA website and post a comment.

Fr. Daniel R. Kendall, S.J. passed away at 2:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 26 at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. Please keep him and his fellow Jesuits in your prayers.

Dan's bio listed on USFCA's website:  https://www.usfca.edu/faculty/daniel-kendall

Eternal rest grand unto Dan, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May His soul and the souls of the faithful departed
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.

The CTSA remembers long standing member Sr. Suzanne Noffke, O.P. who died on April 14, 2020.  The following text is from the Dominican Sisters of Racine, Wisconsin (https://oppeace.org/blog/2020/04/15/sr-suzanne-noffke-op/).

Sr. Suzanne Noffke, OP, a Racine Dominican author and linguist, went home to God on Tuesday, April 14 after a long illness. She was 83 years old. Born Ione Noffke, she entered the aspirancy at 15. At 18, she was received into the Congregation received the name Sister Suzanne. A few years later she began teaching and earned a bachelor’s degree from Dominican College and a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

She went on to serve as president of the community, as well as a translator, writer and historian, but was best known as one of the world’s leading experts on Saint Catherine of Siena. She lectured internationally and led numerous retreats based on the life and thought of Saint Catherine. She also published annotated translations of all of Catherine’s extant works (The Dialogue, 1980; The Prayers, 1983; The Letters of Catherine of Siena, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008), and a two-volume thematic Anthology (2011), a book of essays (Catherine of Siena: Vision Through a Distant Eye, 1996, 2006), and numerous articles.

In an interview, Sr. Suzanne said, “Every phase of my ministry has been exciting and filled with meaning for me, but especially meaningful has been my work with making accessible to others our community history and the life and thought of our patron, Catherine of Siena.” She shared her knowledge and wisdom generously throughout her lifetime.

Please hold Suzanne, her family and her many friends in your thoughts and prayers and love. May she rest in peace.

Sr. Suzanne’s body will be cremated. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date.

Eternal rest grant unto Suzanne, 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.

Remembering CTSA member Joseph Martos who died on March 24, 2020.  To date, an obituary has not been posted on the web.  In its place, I provide you with his biography as posted on his website.

BIOGRAPHY

Joseph Martos is a retired professor of religion and philosophy living in Louisville, Kentucky, where he divides his time between writing, social activism, and public speaking. He has held full-time teaching positions in Louisville KY, Allentown PA, Cincinnati OH, and Sioux City IA, and he has taught summer courses in over a dozen universities in the United States, Canada and Australia. Earlier in his career, he was a high school teacher and, before that, a parish religious education director. He did graduate study in philosophy and theology at Gregorian University and Boston College, and he earned a doctorate from DePaul University in Chicago, writing a dissertation on Bernard Lonergan’s theory of transcendent knowledge. Dr. Martos has written seven books on the sacraments, the most popular of which is Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church. He has also co-authored four books on spirituality with Fr. Richard Rohr, and he has co-edited two books on Christian history and church practices with sociologist Pierre Hégy. May God Bless America: George W. Bush and Biblical Morality, written just prior to the 2004 election, was on religion and politics. His book, The Sacraments: An Interdisciplinary and Interactive Study, has an accompanying website, www.TheSacraments.org. Deconstructing Sacramental Theology and Reconstructing Catholic Ritual, written for an academic audience and published in 2015, documents the historical development of Roman Catholic doctrines about the sacraments, proves that they are based on misinterpretations of biblical and early church texts, and shows why they have become disconnected from the lives of Catholics today. Honest Rituals, Honest Sacraments: Letting Go of Doctrines and Celebrating What’s Real, published in 2017, makes the same argument for the general reader, using less technical language and suggesting ways to develop authentic sacramental practices in the future. His current project is reworking a course about Bernard Lonergan’s Insight: A Study of Human Understanding into an online program that can be accessed by people who are interested in learning how the human mind works by becoming familiar with their own cognitional operations. Dr. Martos has a continuing interest in world peace, social responsibility, and ecology. He has taught courses on Christian ethics and he has been a member of local and national organizations such as Pax Christi, Bread for the World, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Amnesty International. As a member of his parish’s social justice committee, he has visited Nicaragua and reported on conditions there, and he has also made trips to rebuild hurricane-damaged homes. He is an avid news reader and distributes internet articles daily to people interested in national and world affairs through his free news service, NewsLinks.Dr. Martos and his wife Arden live in a Victorian house in Old Louisville, where they are active members of the neighborhood association. Both remarried, between them they have eight children, fourteen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren (accessed on 4/7/20 at https://josephmartos.academia.edu/).

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

Long standing CTSA member John Langan, S.J., died on March 20, 2020.  Memorials to his life are found at:

http://www.mdsj.org/news-detail?TN=NEWS-20200322070310&fbclid=IwAR0AR4jkZU5wWQdXYrT2rz5iN2_IWSkQkYWCEzV6mWGyNm-TF8mEnjVZjbY

and

https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/visual_stories/berkley-center-remembers-rev-john-langan-s-j

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

Each year since 1971 the College Theology Society, of which many CTSA members are or have been members, has given awards for a book and article published the previous year. Since 1980, it has also given an award for best unpublished graduate student essay submitted; this is now called the Susan G. Perry Award.

Last year, the CTS board gave me the task of compiling a list of all the awards given.  With the help of CTS members and of our archivists at The Catholic University of America, I more or less completed the job, and you can find the results here: https://collegetheologysociety10.wildapricot.org/Past-Publication-Award-Winners.  But the records are spotty in places--especially the 1990s, as we transitioned from paper to electronic record-keeping--and sometime inaccurate.  

I invite CTSA members to check over the list, especially if you won, or have any idea who won, the student essay award in 1993, the book award in 1996, or any award at all in 1997.  Remember that the awards are for works published or graduate essays submitted during the year prior to the award.

Please send any additions or corrections to me at collinge@msmary.edu.

Bill Collinge

The following text is from "Gerard Sloyan, a symposium and some sad news", PrayTell Blog, Feb. 24, 2020 post (https://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2020/02/24/gerard-sloyan-a-symposium-and-some-sad-news/).

Fr. Gerard S. Sloyan was a priest of the Diocese of Trenton, NJ. He studied at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington, NJ, and The Catholic University of America (S.T.L.; Ph.D.). He returned to CUA in 1950 to teach in the Department of Religious Education, serving as Department Chair between 1957 and 1967, developing courses in religion and theology for religious and lay students. He was subsequently Professor in the School of Religious Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia (1967–1990). Following his retirement from Temple, he returned to CUA as Distinguished Professor in 1994, and became Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University in 1996. Fr. Sloyan’s numerous publications reflect his wide interests and influence. They include Liturgy in Focus (1964), The Passion of the Jews (with L. Swidler, 1984); John: A Biblical Commentary (1988), Catholic Morality Revisited (1990), and Preaching from the Lectionary (2004).

“Gerard S. Sloyan is one of those rare scholars who can claim an expertise in both Bible and theology that enables him to bridge the gap between exegesis and systematic theology” Frank Matera wrote in a publishing endorsement. A description of the full range of his contributions to education and inter-religious dialogue, as well as a bibliography of his numerous published works, can be found here.

About the Symposium in his honor

The Symposium will continue as scheduled and is open to the public. All are welcome. Here are the details:

Scripture, Liturgy, Catechesis, Dialogue:
A Symposium to Celebrate the Legacy of Fr. Gerard Sloyan at 100

March 4, 2020, from 10 AM to 3 PM
Caldwell Auditorium at Catholic University

Speakers and topics:
Philip Cunningham, Gerard S. Sloyan: A Post-Conciliar Polymath
Adele Reinhartz, The Gospel of John and the “Parting of the Ways” Between Judaism and Christianity
Rita Ferrone, Magnum Principium and the Reprioritization of the “Great Principle” of the Liturgical Reform
William Loewe, Erant Gigantes: Father Sloyan At Catholic U.

Sponsored by the Catholic University of American School of Theology and Religious Studies, and co-sponsored by the Diocese of Trenton

RSVP here.  For more information, and to request accommodation for persons with disabilities,contact Roxana Paalvast at paalvast@cua.eduat

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

Fr. Gerard S. Sloyan, distinguished Biblical scholar, teacher, author, and activist in liturgical reform turns 100 years old Dec. 13, 2019! Gerard S. Sloyan, Professor Emeritus of Temple University, was President of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA), from 1993-94. His presidential address to the CTSA was entitled “The Jesus in Whom the Churches of the Apostolic Age Believed.” CTSA Proceedings,49(1994) 65-70.   Fr. Sloyan celebrated the 75th anniversary of his priesthood June 5, 2019.

We invite you to help post memories, congratulatory comments, and meditations on how Fr. Sloyan’s work and person has influenced you.  

Here is a brief account my relationship Fr. Sloyan:

My name is Elizabeth Adams-Eilers. When I moved to Philadelphia to pursue a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Temple University, I sought a place to live.  As it so happens, Fr. Gerard Sloyan had to leave Temple that year because he had reached Temple’s mandatory retirement age.  As he prepared to leave Temple to move to the Washington, DC area, Fr. Sloyan looked for someone to rent his house. For two years, I was delighted to lease Fr Sloyan’s house on Sansom Street in Center City, Philadelphia.   In 1991 “snail mail” was a preferred method of communication, and we wrote quite often to one another.   While employed as an adjunct by Holy Family University in Philadelphia, I used two of his books as textbooks for a course on Catholic doctrine: Catholic Morality Revisited and Why Jesus Died.

Ten years later, the University of Notre Dame Press published a chapter from my dissertation, and Fr. Sloyan was a peer reviewer for this essay.   He sent me scores of notes and notecards in his meticulous handwriting, his wisdom transmitted to this reader through perfectly-formed tiny script.  I have kept some of these notecards as a fond remembrance of our work together.

When my husband, Bob, and I married in 2004, Fr. Sloyan officiated at our wedding, which was held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, St. Anthony’s Chapel.   Fr. Sloyan generously invited us to marry there where he had served the parish for many years. 

I am so grateful for Fr. Sloyan’s generosity, guidance, and love extended to me and to my family in the 29 years we have known him!  Blessings to him on his 100^th!!!

Please respond with your own stories!

Peace and every good,

Elizabeth Adams-Eilers, ofs, Ph.D.

eadams02@temple.edu.

P.S. For an approved version of his life story see https://www.biola.edu/talbot/ce20/database/gerard-s-sloyan

-------------------

CTSA Proceedings' links to Fr. Sloyan's work:

Presidential Address: The Jesus in Whom the Churches of the Apostolic Age Believed

Gerard S. Sloyan

2013-02-01

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/3884    

Orthodoxy and heterodoxy: the situation in the Church today

Gerard S. Sloyan

2012-10-01

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/2683  

The Age of First Confession

Gerard S. Sloyan

2012-10-01

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/2629  

Faith and modern subjective thought

Gerard S. Sloyan

2012-10-01

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/2547