STM Faculty News

John F. Baldovin, S.J., professor of historical and liturgical theology, gave a workshop for the deacons of the Sacramento (CA) Diocese on the Eucharistic Revival in March, and the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Lecture on May 10 to the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Seminary (Pittsburgh), entitled “Making the City a Church: Liturgical Processions in Constantinople.” He published “The Liturgy Constitution of Vatican II” in The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, Catherine Clifford and Massimo Faggioli, eds.

André Brouillette, S.J., associate professor of systemic and spiritual theology, published an article on the pneumatology of Louis Lallemant in the Civiltà Cattolica in English and Italian (“Abbracciare lo spirito: Louis Lallemant,” La Civiltà Cattolica, issue 4143 [4/18 febbraio 2023]: 262-272). With regard to his work on pilgrimage, he was a panelist on the webinar “Becoming a Pilgrim People,” hosted by the University of Notre Dame Medieval Institute and the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College on February 10. He also participated in a discussion of his book The Pilgrim Paradigm with Rabbi Neal Gold at the Babson College Catholic Association (March 26). At Boston College, he was the curator of the exhibit Ignatian Pilgrimage Narratives, presented from February to April at the Theology and Ministry Library. It was launched by a panel on pilgrimage as a formative experience on February 1. More recently, Brouillette was invited to Rome to present the perspective of a specialist in spirituality studies on “Bible and Spiritual Theology” at the Exegesis and Hermeneutics Conference 2023: Searching for a Nexus between History, Theology, and Cultures/Contexts, organized by the Pontifical Biblical Institute/Pontifical Gregorian University (May 4-6).

Heather DuBois, assistant professor of peace studies, trauma, and spirituality, presented “Healing Relational Selves with Judith Herman and John of the Cross” at the Schreiter Institute symposium A Praxis of Reconciliation: Trauma, Culture, & Spirituality on May 12-13 at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She also presented “An Appreciative Inquiry” to the Theology of Peacebuilding and Nonviolence Interest Group at the Catholic Theological Society of America conference held in Milwaukee, June 8-11.

Callid Keefe-Perry, assistant professor of contextual education and public theology, delivered a lecture entitled “Imagination and Faithful Practices of Resistance.” That talk was a launch for his new book, Sense of the Possible: An Introduction to Theology and Imagination, which came out in March.

Angela Kim Harkins, professor of New Testament and professor ordinaria, gave a presentation, “A Reappraisal of the Teacher of Righteousness of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” at the Bible and Archaeology Spring Fest, hosted by the Biblical Archaeology Society, on April 22. She also gave the following two presentations on her current sabbatical project. Her chapter, “Constructing the Narrative World of Ancient Apocalypses,” was presented in a workshop funded by the Albritton Fellowship at Wake Forest University on March 13. A second chapter, “The Embodied Seer of Ancient Apocalypses,” was presented to the biblical studies faculty of the University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, on April 27. Harkins published an essay, “Changes in the Study of the Religion, Theology, and Thought in the Second Temple Period,” in Jewish Studies on Premodern Periods: A Handbook, edited by Carl S. Ehrlich and Sara R. Horowitz (De Gruyter, 2023).

Franklin T. Harkins, professor of historical theology and professor ordinarius, presented two conference papers this spring. The first, entitled “Moses Maimonides and Albertus Magnus on Job and Divine Providence,” was presented at this year’s Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning Corcoran Chair Conference, which was on the theme Shared Scripture—Divided Faiths: The Medieval Jewish-Christian Encounter over the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, March 19-20. The second paper, “Show Me if You Have Understanding (Job 38:4): Divine Providence and Human Knowledge in Albert’s Super Iob,” was presented at Albert the Great on the Human Being: An Interdisciplinary Colloquium, convened at Fribourg University in Fribourg, Switzerland, April 28-29.

Richard Lennan, professor of systematic theology and chair of the ecclesiastical faculty, published a book chapter—“Ecclesiology and the Challenge of Ecclesial Failure,” Journal of Moral Theology (CTWEC Book Series No.3), (2023): 281-95—and an article: “The Plenary Council as a Practice of Theology,” Australasian Catholic Record 100 (2023): 3-24.

Rafael Luciani, professor extraordinarious of STM ecclesiastical faculty, continues to serve as an Expert member of the Theological Commission of the General Secretariat for the Synod in the Vatican and the Bishops Council of Latin America and the Caribbean. He is also a member of the theological team of the Latin American Religious Confederation that gathers all congregations of women and men in Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of these global ecclesial services, he has been organizing and participating in conferences in Europe and Latin America, as well in the U.S., on topics related to the Second Vatican II Council, synodality, and Latin American theology. He was a member of the team in charge of drafting the “Document for the Continental Stage” for the Synod on Synodality. Recently, Luciani published a new book in Spain, co-authored with the Italian theologian Serena Noceti: Sinodalmente. Forma y reforma de una Iglesia sinodal, PPC, Madrid 2023, 300 pages. In addition to that, his most recent academic paper is “Towards a Responsible Accountable Bond of the Episcopal Exercise in Light of the Sensus Fidelium of the Whole People of God,” Studia Canonica 56/2 (2022) 509-527.

Hosffman Ospino, associate professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education, published his latest book, Called to Witness Hope: The Ministry of the Catechist (Paulist Press, 2023), also available in Spanish: Llamados a ser testigos de la esperanza. El ministerio del catequista. He was invited by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life to be one of the keynote speakers at the international meeting “Pastors and Lay Faithful Called to Walk Together (February 16-18, 2023). On March 4, 2023, he delivered the keynote presentation, “Synodality as a Continuous Invitation to Renew the Church’s Life: Pastoral Theological Insights,” during the meeting The Way Forward: Pope Francis, Vatican II, and Synodality, hosted by Boston College. On March 30, he delivered the lecture “The Church We Are: How Hispanics Are Building and Rebuilding U.S. Catholicism” at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO. He also gave presentations during the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Archdiocese of New York First Annual Family Life Conference, and diocesan days of formation for the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama.