Catholic Theological
Society of America

Christopher Vogt/Kate Ward, eds., Bothering to Love: James F. Keenan's Retrieval and Reinvention of Catholic Ethics

https://orbisbooks.com/products/bothering-to-love-james-f-keenans-retrieval-and-reinvention-of-catholic-ethics?_pos=3&_sid=112a8ff3e&_ss=r

Massimo Faggioli, Theology  & Catholic Higher Education 

https://orbisbooks.com/products/theology-and-catholic-higher-education-beyond-our-identity-crisis?_pos=1&_sid=483410bda&_ss=r

Roger Haight, Facing Race: The Gospel in an Ignatian Key

https://orbisbooks.com/products/facing-race-the-gospel-in-an-ignatian-key?_pos=1&_sid=96de91e2a&_ss=r

The CTSA remembers and prays for M. Kathleen Flanagan, SC, a former member of the Society.

Eternal rest grant unto Kathleen, O Lord
and let perpetual light sine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.

Kathleen was a theology professor at the College (now University) of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ.  As a Sister of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, NJ., she was a member of the group that transcribed, annotated and published the collected writings of (St.) Elizabeth Bayley Seton.  Kathleen died on January 6. (Sister Regina Bechtle, SC, CTSA member, 1/14/25).

Sister Kathleen Flanagan's Obituary

The CTSA remembers and prays for longstanding member Eileen Burke Sullivan.  The CTSA Board of Directors, the membership and I offer our condolences to her brother, Kevin F. Burke, S.J., Regis University, and family.

Eternal rest grant unto Eileen, O Lord
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.

Eileen Burke-Sullivan, S.T.D., professor emerita at Creighton University, died on November 30, 2024, and was buried at St. John's Church on the Creighton campus on December 7th. Eileen was a member of the CTSA during the years after completing her doctorate in 2003 and joining the Creighton theology department. 

Eileen Burke-Sullivan's Obituary

 

Thomas Hughson SJ published Neanderthal Religion: Theology in Dialogue with Archaeology, Foreword by Neil Ormerod (Wipf and Stock Pickwick Publications, 2024)

It is our pleasure to invite you to participate in the next WFTL webinar:

 

Gaza & Middle East: The Theologians’ Global Call and Responsibility

 

January 24th, 2025

11 AM- 1 PM EST

[English-Spanish – translation will be provided)

 

Speakers:
Dr. Kwok Pui-lan (USA)
Dr. Nicolas Panotto (Argentina/Chile)
Dr. Carlos Mendoza Álvarez (Mexico/USA)
Dr. Viola Raheb (Palestine/Austria)

 

The war in Gaza and the Middle East, ignited on October 7, 2023, has global repercussions far beyond geopolitics, intersecting with religion, neocolonialism, and biblical imaginaries. These realities raise urgent theological and ethical questions, demanding a global response.

 

Three non-Palestinian theologians will reflect on how Palestine intersects with their own theological work. Dr. Kwok pui-Lan will discuss the topic from a Asian and American perspective; Dr. Carlos Mendoza Alvarez will do the same, especially from a Mexican perspective; and then Dr. Nicolas Panotto, from an Argentinian and Chilean perspective. How do they figure out their theological responsibility to Palestine, the Middle East, Israel, and justice? In a Liberation perspective, how do they connect Palestine and their own contexts? Then, the Palestinian theologian, Dr. Viola Raheb, will assess what has been presented, exploring its relevancy for the people of Palestine.

 

REGISTER NOW https://bit.ly/GazaWebinarWFTL

 

PLEASE SHARE  https://www.facebook.com/events/770515811926807

 

 

 

Every year, the CTSA invites submissions for the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for the best academic essay by a new scholar.  If you are a new scholar with an important contribution being made (or know of such a new scholar), please make sure the essay is included in the deliberations of the committee.

Submissions are due by midnight (Eastern) time on January 31, via the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award Submission Form.  

More information on the submission process, prize and criteria for selection can be found on the prize web page.  We look forward to reading your work!

Congratulations to CTSA member John Segun Odeyemi on the publication of his book The Mass: Through Him, With Him and In Him (Released 1/7/25).  

John Segun Odeyemi approaches the question of the Holy Mass (Eucharist) by a triadic system; Sacred Scriptures, the catechesis of Pope Francis on the Eucharist, and the voices of the most contemporary theological American minds.  Even though there are many excellent works on the Eucharist from biblical times, through the Middle Ages to our time, his language, style and theological approach gives a fresh way into approaching this great gift.  According to John Segun Odeyemi, at the very heart of the Church's understanding of the Mass is that it points us to heaven and draws heaven down to the world, a prelude to the banquet of life that is promised.  Odeyemi pays particular attention to situating the actions that takes place at the celebration of the Mass, from the beginning to the end within the framework of the biblical understanding, especially from the Old Testament.  this is not just another book on the Holy Mass, it  is a book about the beauty, sanctity and grace of the sacrament which is also known as "the bread of life" and "food for the journey".  (Citi of Books, 2025).

Amir Hussain, CTSA Member
Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University

Lectures in Catholic Experience Presents 
"A Muslim Theologian Teaching at a Catholic University"
Thursday, January 9, 2025, 7:30 p.m. (EST)
Livestream / In person

Amir Hussain, a Canadian Muslim with a dissertation on Muslim communities in Toronto, found himself some twenty years ago teaching at a Catholic university in Los Angeles. In 2009, he became the first non-Christian scholar to be tenured in his department (which was founded with the university almost 100 years earlier). He then served a term as chair of that Department of Theological Studies. In this presentation, Amir will talk about his journey, from graduate work in a secular department for the study of religion, to first teaching in a large public state university, and then seeking out a position in a Jesuit university’s theology department. He’ll also talk about why he, as a Muslim, couldn’t imagine a better place for him to thrive than at a Catholic university, and also about how non-Christians, not to mention non-Catholics, can contribute to the mission of Catholic universities.

Click here for further details on how to register or livestream the event.

UN Security Council Resolution 1325, popularly known as the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda (WPS), was first adopted in 2000, making 2025 its twenty-fifth anniversary. The resolution, later supported by nine additional supporting resolutions, advances four key pillars: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by violent conflict but are generally excluded from peace processes. The WPS resolutions aim to change that. They are good morality, as they expand the aperture for women’s representation and inclusion in peace and security processes. And they are also good policy, as women’s participation creates more constituents for peace and more durable peace.

This special issue of the Journal of Moral Theology invites essays examining the WPS through the perspective of the Catholic Church, in light of the WPS twenty-fifth anniversary. This may include analyses, criticisms, recommendations, connections, possibilities, or mappings, and it may include perspectives that are local, national, regional, or global.

Full information available here: https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/pages/51-call-for-papers 

Write a book review once or twice a year for intellectual growth. Invite your graduate students to write a review under your direction. 

You select the book, I mail it to you, you send me the electronic review, and I post it (about 1,500 to 2,000 reviews posted since 1997). Write to Hegy@adelphi.edu/   Here is the list of books available in January 2025:

REDISCOVERING THE WISDOM OF THE CORINTHIANS. Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy by Timothy Brookins (340 pp – Eerdmans.) [The “wisdom” of 1 Cor 1-4 refers to the Stoic philosophy that prevailed in Corinth; some members considered themselves as “wiser” philosophically and “superior” intellectually; this led to conflictive divisions. Paul refutes this philosophical interpretation of his teachings]

CATHOLIC DOGMATIC THEOLOGY: A SYNTHESIS. Book 3. On the Church and the Sacraments by Jean-Hervé Nicolas, OP (750 pp – CUA Press). [Translated from German. First published in 1985]

NATURE, GRACE AND SECULAR CULTURE.  A Comparative Study of John Milbank and Joseph Ratzinger by Christian Irdi. (320 pp – Pickwick). [Milbank is the founder of Radical orthodoxy which takes a critical view on secularity and raises questions about reason and grace in the interpretation of modernity – as did Ratzinger]

ESSENTIAL VATICAN II. The Council for the Future Church edited by Christopher Bellitto (110 pp – Paulist Press). [An introduction to Vatican II for the younger generation. Each chapter on seven major documents is written by an expert and gives a summary of Vatican II and its aftermath]

MORAL DEBATES IN CONTEMPORARY CATHOLIC THOUGHT: PARADIGMS, PRINCIPLES, AND PRUDENCE BY James Bretzke, S.J. (228 pages -- Sheed and Ward)

Guiding principles to the basic issues of the death penalty, abortion, gender, immigration and border security, welfare, economics, and faithful citizenship.] DIGITAL COPY

WISDOM FROM THE GLOBAL SISTERHOOD edited by Srs. Joyce Meyer et al. (290 pp – Liturgical Press). [Ten years of articles from the Global Sisters Report about the work of women religious all over the world].

                                                                                                                                         

THE WAY OF THE HEART. The Spiritual Experience of André Louf by Charles Wright (290 pp – Cistercian Publications). [A. Louf was the abbot of a Dutch Trappist monastery who chose to be a hermit the last 10 years of his life, after a having played a prominent role in his order and the post-Vatican II church].

THE JESUIT DISRUPTOR. A Personal Portrait of Pope Francis by Michael Higgins (310 pp – Anansi Press). [Higgins was a Vatican reporter for many years. His portrait is descriptive. Two strong chapters on the sexual scandals and on Synodality].

OUR LADY OF LA ANG. History and Theology of a Vietnamese Devotion by Mary Kim Ahn Thi Tran (220 pp – Pickwick). [History and development of the pilgrimage. On inculturation and the title of Mary, Mother of the Church].

HANS KUNG. A REVALUATION edited by Paul Lakeland (200 pp – Paulist Press). [Eleven revaluations from a variety of perspectives: Susan Ross, Francis Clooney, Roger Haight, Mary Ann Hinsdale and others].