Photo by Caitlin Cunningham
Vicente Chong, S.J., a Jesuit priest and scholar from Ecuador who was among the first graduates of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, has returned to Simboli Hall as the inaugural Henry R. Cavalieri Visiting Jesuit Professor for 2021-22.
The Cavalieri Professorship is intended for a Jesuit theologian from outside the United States to come to the STM for one semester or an entire academic year. The visiting theologian has access to the resources of Boston College to advance his scholarship, teaches a course per semester for his area of specialization at the STM, and lives in the Saint Peter Faber Jesuit Community.
“I foresee the Cavalieri Professor having a great impact at the STM,” said School of Theology and Ministry Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J. “His international perspective will serve our students in the classroom and make him a valuable conversation partner at the Faber Jesuit Community.”
Fr. Chong’s area of expertise is the intersection of theology and
aesthetics, and the arts as a source of a spiritual or faith experience.
“Coming to BC as the Cavalieri Chair has been wonderful,” said Fr. Chong. “It has opened my horizons and been a time of creativity.
“The resources of Boston College are amazing,” added Fr. Chong, citing specifically BC’s libraries and the McMullen Museum of Art. “And the STM faculty are wonderful.”
Fr. Chong said he has been especially gratified by the teaching experience at STM. During the fall semester, he taught Fundamental Theology; he will teach a seminar on theological aesthetics in the spring.
“The students are exploring theological questions and trying to find meaning in our faith. All the conversations in the classroom have been very stimulating.”
The houses of the Faber Jesuit Community were under construction when Fr. Chong was last at BC. He now is living there with other Jesuit priests and scholastics from STM.
“There are Jesuits from all around the world here. We are united by the same Ignatian spirituality, but it’s an opportunity to open your mind to other perspectives, other cultures.”
The endowed Cavalieri Chair was made possible through a bequest from Henry R. Cavalieri, a 1950 Boston College alumnus who died in 2017 at age 91. The bequest also supports a scholarship fund for Jesuit students from outside the U.S. who pursue studies at STM.
Through an introduction provided by Jack MacKinnon '62, Fr. Stegman worked directly with Cavalieri’s cousin, Marie McCarthy, a 1965 graduate of the Connell School of Nursing, to ensure that the gift would honor Cavalieri’s wishes. “His desire was to support the Society of Jesus in the formation of good priests,” said Fr. Stegman.
Fr. Chong joined the Society of Jesus in 1993 and was ordained a priest in 2009. After earning a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, he came to the U.S. to study theology. He graduated with a M.Div. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. When Weston Jesuit reaffiliated with Boston College, he continued his studies in the newly established STM, graduating with a S.T.L. in 2010.
He returned to Ecuador to gain some pastoral experience before continuing with his education, working in campus ministry and teaching at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. He later earned a Ph.D. from Heythrop College at the University of London
Reflecting on his time so far as the Cavalieri Chair, Fr. Chong said, “I have so much gratitude. It’s been like coming home.”
Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | January 2022