STM Faculty News

John Baldovin, S.J., professor of historical and liturgical theology, published two articles on Mass intentions in Theological Studies (December 2020 and March 2021): “Mass Intentions: The Historical Development of a Practice – Part One,” Theological Studies 81 (2020), 870-891, and “Mass Intentions: Twentieth Century Theology and Pastoral Reform – Part Two,” Theological Studies 82 (2021), 8-28.

André Brouillette, S.J., associate professor of systematic and spiritual theology, co-organized the (online) International Conference on Pilgrimage as a Spiritual Practice: Toward the publication of “A Handbook for Teachers and Guides,” from April 29 to May 1 with Associate Professor of Philosophy Jeff Bloechl. He also presented his essay “Journey and Body: Theological Reflections from Pilgrimage.” The conference is part of a publication project on the pedagogy of pilgrimage for Fortress Press. Brouillette also presented another communication, “Un pèlerinage théologique ignatien: De saint Ignace de Loyola aux novices jésuites,” at the 1er Congrès biennal de la Société québécoise pour l’étude de la religion (Université Laval, April 22-23, 2021, online). It is drawn from a chapter of the same title published this spring in Pèlerinage, marche pèlerine et marche de longue durée au Québec, edited by Éric Laliberté and Michel O'Neill (Quebec City: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2021).

Daniel J. Daly, associate professor of moral theology, published a chapter, “Social Structures and Public Health Ethics,” in Ethical Challenges in Global Public Health: Climate Change, Pollution, and the Health of the Poor, which was edited by Boston College faculty members Philip J. Landrigan and Andrea Vicini, S.J. His 2020 Health Progress article, “Guidelines for Rationing Treatment During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Catholic Approach,” was reprinted in Japanese in the Shingaku Digest 129, pages 116-124. In February he delivered a lecture titled “The Consistent Ethics of Life” to confirmation candidates at the St. Edward the Confessor Church in Medfield, MA. In March he was a panelist on the “Liberating Passages” webinar, which was organized by the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium.

Thomas H. Groome, professor of theology and religious education, has a new book coming out this fall titled What Makes Education Catholic: Its Spiritual Foundations, (Orbis). Groome has also co-edited a collection of essays on priesthood with Richard Lennan, professor of systematic theology, and Richard Gaillardetz, the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology in the Theology Department, to be published by Orbis in spring 2022. The collection is titled A Possible Priesthood: Horizons of Hope and comes out of the January 2020 To Serve the People of God conference on priesthood and ministry.

As the two-term president of the Association of Professors of Mission, Margaret Guider, O.S.F., associate professor of missiology, will be presiding at this year’s annual meeting in mid-June. The theme she has chosen is “Mission, Persecution, Martyrdom and Meaning-Making: Instructional Strategies and Methods of Interpretation.” The meeting will be held virtually with the participation of professors of mission from around the world representing various Christian traditions.  Among those presenting papers are STM alumni Peter Nguyen, S.J., and Alex Mayfield.  Contributing to the opening reflection are STM graduates and current students JoAnn Melina Lopes, Martin Ngo, S.J., Barnabe Hounguevou, S.J., Chimbuoyim Uzodimma, H.F.S.N., James Antonio, S.J., and Julia Erdlen.

Angela Kim Harkins, associate professor of New Testament, was the 2021 president of the New England and Eastern Canada Region of the Society of Biblical Literature. Her presidential address was given in March and was titled “An Enactive Re-reading of Hermas’s Vision of Rhoda.” In February, she also gave an invited talk at the Biblical and Early Christian Studies Seminar of the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at the Australian Catholic University. Harkins is newly appointed to the editorial board of The Journal of Theological Studies, published by Oxford University Press.

Mary Jo Iozzio, professor of moral theology, published “A Bridge over Troubled Assumptions: Metanoia and Praxes for Disability Inclusion” in An Ethic for Bridge Building: Practical Theologizing in the 21^st Century, Tom Kelly and Robert Pennington, eds., 92-107, New York: Herder and Herder Press, 2020; “Concerns for People with Disability During COVID-19,” Georgetown University, Berkley Center Forum (2020); and “Meek, Meekness” in the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 18 (2020). She showed the poster: “Kaleidoscopic Fecundity: God's Creative Calling Card” at the Society of Christian Ethics Annual Meeting, 2020 and was the respondent to a panel on the work of disability scholar Nancy Eiesland, “Nancy Eiesland Has Died, Even So, She and Her Work Still Inspire,” at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 2020. Iozzio also presented “Thriving Against Whiteness: A discussion on bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress,” Boisi Center Seminar, Boston College (March 2021) and "Theodicy and Disability: Considerations from the Early Christian Tradition” to the Patristics Seminar at Boston College (April 2021).

Richard Lennan, professor of systematic theology, presented, via Zoom, on the topic of Pope Francis's papacy to St. Susannah's Parish, Dedham, MA, in March and on “Synodality” to Concerned Catholics of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn (Australia) in April. In May, he was the theological consultant for the Synod of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle (Australia).

Catherine Mooney, associate professor of Church history, was honored to present a lecture on April 16, 2021, “Seeking the Full Light of a New Day: Francine Cardman’s Contributions to Creating a Just Church,” for the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry’s symposium on the Role of Women in Theological Education. The entire Symposium was a celebration of Professor Cardman’s pioneering contributions to theology and the history of Christianity. In February, Professor Mooney gave a webinar lecture titled “Changemakers: Catholic Women on Racial, Environmental, and Gender Justice” for the Sacred Heart University Center for Catholic Studies Speaker Series. In May, she presented “Clare of Assisi’s Canonization: Witness Clues Regarding a Papal Process” at the 56th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University. At this same conference as president of the Hagiography Society, she chaired the annual business meeting for this scholarly society.

Theresa O’Keefe, associate professor of the practice of youth and young adult faith, presented a paper in April 2021 with Larry Ludlow, professor and chair, Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics & Assessment in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting (AERA 2021) on a new assessment tool to measure the presence of meaning and purpose in college students. Since 2018, O’Keefe has been working with Ludlow and Henry Braun from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, as well as Christina Matz from the Graduate School of Social Work and Burt Howell, director of Intersections, to build a series of tools for assessing the presence and growth of meaning and purpose in college students (the BC-LAMP Portfolio). Purpose is a very complex concept, which makes it difficult to measure accurately. This year’s presentation reported on the success of the development and administration of LAMP-B, which is a sophisticated tool that uses Rausch/Guttman methodology. O’Keefe and the team hope colleges and universities might use LAMP-B as a reliable assessment of formative education efforts.

O’Keefe was also elected to the board of the scholarly association of Youth Ministry Educators (AYME) for a three-year term.

Hosffman Ospino, associate professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education, assumed the presidency of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), as reported in this article in National Catholic Reporter.  He will serve in this capacity for one year. He also planned and convened the 2021 ACHTUS Colloquium in May 2021, bringing theologians from the U.S. and Latin America in conversation for two days. He gave the 2021 Landregan Lecture at the University of Dallas. He also gave a lecture at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development on practical theology and migration experiences. Ospino gave presentations at the Mexican American Catholic College and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX, was the inaugural speaker for a series on Hispanic Catholic Theology sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute (Chicago, IL), joined a panel on the changing landscape of theological education at the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship (Grand Rapids, MI), and was a panelist at a conversation hosted by the Hispanic Theological Initiative at Princeton University. He was the featured speaker for this year’s two-day Priest Convocation in the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida and he gave presentations at ministerial meetings organized by the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Boston. 

Andrea Vicini, S.J., professor of moral theology, the Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics, and an affiliate member of the ecclesiastical faculty, published the book Ethics of Global Public Health: Climate Change, Pollution, and the Health of the Poor (Wipf & Stock), co-edited with Philip J. Landrigan, and he contributed to the volume with two chapters: “Global Public Health and the Promotion of the Common Good” and “An Ethical Agenda for Global Public Health” (co-authored with Paul Farmer). He also published the following peer-reviewed articles: “COVID-19: A Crisis and a Tragedy–What’s Next?” in Theological Studies; “Posthumanism in Popular Culture, Ongoing Challenges” in Concilium: Posthumanism and the Incarnation and its translation: “Il postumanesimo nella cultura popolare: sfide attuali,” in Concilium: Postumanesimo e l’Incarnazione; “La Colaboración y la Promoción del Bien Común como Estilo de Vinculación de los Eticistas Teológicos en América Latina” (“Collaboration and Promotion of the Common Good as a Linking Style of Theological Ethicists in Latin America”), in Journal of Moral Theology; and a popular article: “COVID-19 and the Swiss Cheese Model” in the BC Global Public Health newsletter.

Vicini also gave the following lectures: “The Coronavirus Pandemic: Ethical Challenges in Global Public Health” at the annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics; and “Caring for the Earth,” at Fairfield University; “Sustainable Care for Our World” at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, MA. As a panelist, he presented “The COVID-19 Global Pandemic: What We Are Learning Today and for the Future” for COVID-19: Perspectives from Theology, Bioethics, and Population Health at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA; and “Reflecting Ethically on the Coronavirus Global Pandemic” in Muslim-Christian Dialogue, organized by the National Council of Churches and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations. Finally, he joined the editorial board of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought and of the journal Charity in Truth: A Journal of Ethics, Religion, and Culture.