CSTM Faculty News

John F. Baldovin, S.J.

John F. Baldovin, S.J., professor of historical and liturgical theology, received the Frederick R. McManus Award from the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions on October 3 in Pittsburgh. He gave a presentation on “Liturgical Statement of the Ecumenical Seminar on the Way” at the North American Academy of Liturgy at Valparaiso University on Jan 3. On February 27, he gave the America Media-Fairfield Catholic Studies lecture, “Where Is God in the Liturgy?"

Andre Brouillette

André Brouillette, S.J., associate professor of systematic and spiritual theology, made a presentation on the theology of pilgrimage at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette (Attleboro, MA) on February 1 under the title, “In Motion: Life as a pilgrimage—Pilgrims of Hope in Attleboro and Beyond.” He also published an article on the North American Martyrs for a Spanish journal: “El martirio de los jesuitas de América del Norte: la mística apostólica de san Jean de Brébeuf,” Manresa 96 (2024): 257-266.

Portrait of Assoc. Prof. Daniel "Dan" Daly (STM) for use to accompany a story about his new position at the Catholic Health Association.

Daniel J. Daly, associate professor of moral theology, inaugurated the Center for Theology and Ethics in Catholic Health at the Catholic Health Assembly on June 6, 2024, in San Diego. He is the founding executive director of the center. Although he will run it full time, he will retain his appointment at the Clough School. He published an article, “Exemplarist Medical Ethics,” in the Journal of Medical Ethics 50 (2024): 447-451. Finally, Prof. Daly published a chapter entitled “Pathways of Holiness: Institutions, Moral Formation, and the Virtues” in a festschrift volume for James Keenan, Bothering to Love: James F. Keenan’s Retrieval and Reinvention of Catholic Ethics, eds. Christopher P. Vogt and Kate Ward (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2024), 59-70.

Brian Dunkle

Rev. Brian Dunkle, S.J., associate professor of historical theology, gave a paper, “Tertullian on Scandal,” at the Patristics, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, Villanova University, on Nov 1, 2024. He also contributed commentaries on various ancient hymns for Cantate Domino: A Commentary on the Hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours, vol. 1, eds. Andrew Wadsworth, CO; Nicholas Richardson; Peter Finn; and Maria Kiely, OSB (Catholic University of America Press, 2025).

Rev. Phillip Ganir, S.J.

Rev. Phillip Ganir, S.J., assistant professor of religious education, was invited to deliver the annual Jesuit lecture for St. Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba on November 19, 2024. His lecture, “Musicking in the Missions: The Opera and Living Legacy of San Francisco Xavier,” is based on the premiere he co-produced in the Mission of San Javier, Bolivia, for the 14th Biennial International Festival of Renaissance and American Baroque Music, “Misiones de Chiquitos.” Thanks to the Guggenheim Foundation, which funded the restoration of the opera by the musicologist and Divine Word Priest Piotr Nawrot, the 2024 premiere, sponsored by La Asociación Pro Arte y Cultura and Boston College, marked the first time an all-Chiquito cast had been able to perform the opera in their home mission in two centuries. America magazine published Prof. Ganir’s work as its cover story in last summer’s issue. The Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies will publish Prof. Ganir’s peer-reviewed article later this year. He has also launched a new course entitled Christian Sacred Music, which yielded a fall Vespers liturgy, with Kayla August as preacher (Ph.D. student, theology and education), and a Sacred Music recital, “Be Still My Soul,” featuring the professional violinist (and M.A. student) Alessia Disimino performing works by Hildegard von Bingen, Joelle Wallach, Franz Schubert, Arvo Pärt, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Katharina von Schlegel.

Angela Kim Harkins

Angela Kim Harkins, professor of New Testament and professor ordinaria, announced that her doctoral student, Peter Vale (Ph.D., theology, May 2025), has been awarded a 2025 Verbum Emerging Scholars Fellowship by the Catholic Biblical Association of America. His dissertation is entitled “Echoes of the Exodus in Jerome’s Vulgate Judith.” In the spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Dr. Harkins published an invited essay, “Are We Still Searching for the Teacher of Righteousness?” She will begin her second term on the editorial board of The Journal of Theological Studies (Oxford University Press) this year.

Dr. Franklin T Harkins

Dr. Franklin T. Harkins, professor of historical theology and professor ordinarius, recently published volume 2 of his translation of St. Albert the Great’s commentary On Job (Fathers of the Church Mediaeval Continuation, Catholic University of America Press, 2025). He also published an essay entitled “Was Jesus a Person of Faith? Aquinas and Some Modern Interpreters on Hebrews 12:2” in Reading Hebrews with St. Thomas Aquinas, eds. Matthew Levering, Piotr Roszak, and Jörgen Vijgen (2024).

Richard Lennan

Richard Lennan, professor ordinarius of systematic theology gave presentations on the "Final Document" of the 2021-24 Synod on Synodality to St John's Seminary and the Carmelite Sisters of Boston. He also participated in December 2024 in a conference on the "Future of Theology" the conference was held in Rome, organized by the Dicastery for Education and Culture and included a meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican. He published "On Getting the Synod" in Eureka Street, a journal of the Australian Jesuits and book reviews in The Heythrop Journal and Church History.

Richard Lennan

Rafael Luciani, extraordinary professor of CSTM ecclesiastical faculty, after receiving a Doctor Honoris Causa in theology from the Dominican faculty of theology at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO, continues his global ecclesial leadership as a peritus (theological expert) for several international ecclesial organizations. These include the International Theological Commission of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the Latin American Episcopal Council, and the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious Congregations. During the second session of the XVI General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, he actively contributed and participated in the drafting of the Final Document. Following this, he was invited as one of the few theologians responsible for organizing the third phase of the Synod in the Americas, which will continue through the end of 2025. Prof. Luciani also serves as co-coordinator of the Intercontinental Project Peter and Paul Seminar, which brings together renowned ecclesiologists and canon lawyers from various continents. As co-coordinator, he recently led an international project on Potestas and Laity, now published. Among other recent works, he authored In cammino verso una Chiesa costitutivamente sinodale, featuring a preface by Pope Francis, and The Theology of the Sensus Fidei of the People of God, which was set for release by the end of February. Additionally, he published two more accessible works: “«Formación continua»: A servizio di una Chiesa sinodale e missionaria” and “A Church/People of God: A Communitarian and Historical Subject,” both analyzing the ecclesiology of the Synod’s Final Document. As part of his contributions to the third phase of the Synod, Prof. Luciani edited a volume on the election of bishops, published in Italian and Spanish and presented to the Synod’s study group on that topic at the Vatican. He also organized an international conference on the same subject and also on the theology and practice of pastoral councils in a global Church. Lastly, he published Un cammino che genera un popolo, an international commentary on the synodal process and its ecclesiology.

Richard Lennan

In December, Christopher R. Matthews, David W. Jorgensen, and M. David Litwa published New Testament Abstracts, volume 68, number 1. This issue contains 525 article abstracts and 100 book notices.

David Jorgensen
David Litwa
Catherine Mooney

In September and October, Catherine Mooney, associate professor of Church history, was a resident fellow at the University of Oxford. Hosted by the Jesuits at Campion Hall, Mooney conducted research for her project on Christian saints and Church teachings regarding racial justice. The fellowship was sponsored by BC's Office of Global Engagement.

Jos Moons, S.J.

Jos Moons, S.J., was the Cavelieri Chair Visiting Professor for the spring semester. He researched how scholars deal with Ignatius Loyola’s pneumatological ambiguity in view of a large article. He published a book, The Future of Synodality: How We Move on from Here (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2025), co-authored with Kristin Colberg. He also published the fifth edition of a bibliography of English, French, German, and Spanish scholarly reflections on synodality, “Synodality and the Roman-Catholic Church: An Academic Bibliography 2013-2024,” Cahiers Internationaux de Théologie Pratique.

Theresa O'Keefe

Much of the recent work of Theresa O’Keefe, professor of the practice, religious education, and youth and young adult faith, was related to the October 2024 annual meeting of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators (AYME). AYME is an academic organization composed of faculty from undergraduate and graduate programs for ministry education. Prof. O’Keefe served as the conference coordinator and delivered the first plenary address, entitled “Transformation and the Encounter with Christ.” With Sharon Ketcham of Gordon College, who is a CSTM Ph.D. graduate, she also presented the final plenary, “Designing for Encounter.” Also, with doctoral student Lauren Warner, she presented a research paper on her LAMP project, “A Reframing of Meaning-Making and Its Measurement among College Students.” It was a very busy, but rewarding experience.

Hosffman Ospino

Hosffman Ospino and the team working with him successfully completed the first year of Nuevo Momento, a five-year initiative providing organizational capacity support for 14 ministerial organizations serving Hispanic Catholics. He was invited by the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, gathered in Baltimore in November 2024, to speak about it. He delivered the 31st Annual Christopher F. Mooney, S.J., Lecture in Theology, Religion & Society at Fairfield University. He led a Presidential Seminar for faculty at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Hosffman also participated in several national consultations on religion in public life, including a national leadership convening after the 2024 U.S. presidential election hosted by Georgetown University. He was a keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, gathered in Pittsburgh, PA. Hosffman also gave presentations to groups of Catholic leaders in Stockton, CA; San Antonio, TX; and Washington, D.C.