The Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) is a

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologians founded in 1946 to promote studies and research in theology within the Catholic tradition. Its members are primarily in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Role and activities

The CTSA provides a forum for the exchange of ideas relating to theology, problems, and how to develop a more effective educational approach. The society also tries to foster within the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

community a better understanding of their faith. It advances its work through annual June conventions, scholarly publications and committees that work throughout the year. The

John Courtney Murray Award The John Courtney Murray Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Catholic Theological Society of America, named after John Courtney Murray, the great American theologian known for his work on religious liberty. Winners * 2021: Susan K. Wood, S ...

is the highest honour bestowed by the Catholic Theological Society of America, named after a theologian known for his work on

religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. Several members of the society have been criticized by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from Heresy in Christianity, heresy and is ...

or US Bishops' Conference Committee on Doctrine, including

Roger Haight Roger Haight (born 1936) is an American Jesuit theologian and former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is regarded as a knowledgeable and pioneering theologian, whose experiences with censorship have led to widespread de ...

, Richard McBrien, Elizabeth Johnson, Peter Phan,

Margaret Farley Margaret A. Farley (born April 15, 1935) is an American religious sister and a member of the Catholic Sisters of Mercy. She was Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics at Yale University Divinity School, where she taught Christian ...

. and Charles Curran. An internal report of the society, dated May 15, 2013, and released in October of that year, stated:

Women's ordination

In response to ''

Ordinatio sacerdotalis ''Ordinatio sacerdotalis'' ( en, Priestly Ordination, italic=yes) is an apostolic constitution issued by Pope John Paul II on 22 May 1994 in which he discussed the Catholic Church's position requiring "the reservation of priestly ordination to men ...

'', the Catholic Theological Society of America set up a task force to study the question. The task force produced a report, "Tradition and the Ordination of Women", which said that ''Ordinatio sacerdotalis'' is mistaken with regard to its claims on the authority of this teaching and its grounds in

Tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

Presidents

The following have served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America: #

Francis J. Connell Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

(1946–1947) # James E. O'Connell (1947–1948) # Eugene M. Burke (1948–1949) #

Gerard Kelly Gerard Kelly (born Paul Kelly; 27 May 1959 – 28 October 2010) was a Scottish actor who appeared in many comedies, including '' City Lights'', ''Rab C Nesbitt'', '' Scotch and Wry'' and '' Extras''. He had more serious roles as well, includ ...

(1949–1950) # John J. Galvin (1950–1951) # Edmond D. Bernard (1951–1952) # John M. A. Fearns (1952–1953) #

Gerard Yelle Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

(1953–1954) # William R. O'Connor (1954–1955) # Augustine P. Hennessy (1955–1956) # George W. Shea (1956–1957) # John F. X. Sweeney (1957–1958) # Michael J. Murphy (1958–1959) # Lawrence J. Riley (1959–1960) # Thomas W. Coyle 1960–1961) #

Aloysius McDonough Aloysius ( ) is a given name. Etymology It is a List of Latinised names, Latinisation of the names Alois, Louis (given name), Louis, Lewis (given name), Lewis, Luis, Luigi (name), Luigi, Ludwig (given name), Ludwig, and other cognates (traditio ...

(1961–1962) # Ferrer Smith (1962–1963) # Richard T. Doherty (1963–1964) # Gerald Van Ackeren (1964–1965) # Eamon R. Carroll (1965–1966) # Paul E. McKeever (1966–1967) # Walter J. Burghardt (1967–1968) #

Austin B. Vaughan Austin Bernard Vaughan (September 27, 1927 – June 25, 2000) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1977 to 2000. Biography Born in New York City ...

(1968–1969) #

Charles E. Curran Charles E. Curran (born March 30, 1934) is an American moral theologian and Catholic priest. He currently serves at Southern Methodist University as the Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values. Biography Curran grew up in Roches ...

(1969–1970) #

Richard A. McCormick Richard A. McCormick (1922 – February 12, 2000) was a leading liberal Catholic moral theologian who reshaped Catholic thought in the United States. He wrote many journal articles on Catholic social teachings and moral theory. He was an ex ...

(1970–1971) # Carl J. Peter (1971–1972) #

John H. Wright John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(1972–1973) # Richard P. McBrien (1973–1974) # Luke Salm (1974–1975) #

Avery Dulles Avery Robert Dulles (; 1918–2008) was an American Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Dulles served on the faculty of Woodstock College from 1960 to 1974, of the Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988, a ...

(1975–1976) # David W. Tracy (1976–1977) # Agnes Cunningham (1977–1978) # Kenan B. Osborne (1978–1979) # William J. Hill (1979–1980) # Thomas F. O'Meara (1980–1981) # Leo J. O'Donovan (1981–1982) #

Bernard J. Cooke Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brave ...

(1982–1983) # Michael Fahey (1983–1984) # Patrick Granfield (1984–1985) # Francis S. Fiorenza (1985–1986) #

Monika Hellwig Monika Konrad Hildegard Hellwig (10 December 1929 – 30 September 2005) was a German-born British academic, author, educator and theologian, who spent much of her life in the United States. A former Religious Sister, she left her community to p ...

(1986–1987) # Michael J. Scanlon (1987–1988) #

John P. Boyle John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1988–1989) # Anne E. Patrick (1989–1990) # Walter H. Principe (1990–1991) # Michael J. Buckley (1991–1992) # Lisa Sowle Cahill (1992–1993) # Gerard S. Sloyan (1993–1994) #

(1994–1995) # Elizabeth Johnson (1995–1996) # William Thompson-Uberuaga (1996–1997) # Mary Ann Donovan (1997–1998) # Robert Schreiter (1998–1999) #

(1999–2000) #

Kenneth R. Himes Kenneth R. Himes (born 1950) is an American Roman Catholic theologian, currently teaching at Boston College. His most recent book is the coedited work, with Conor M. Kelly, ''Poverty: Responding Like Jesus''. Personal life Kenneth Himes was born ...

(2000–2001) # Peter Phan (2001–2002) # Jon Nilson (2002–2003) # M. Shawn Copeland (2003–2004) # Roberto S. Goizueta (2004–2005) # Mary Catherine Hilkert (2005–2006) # Daniel Finn (2006–2007) # Margaret O'Gara (2007–2008) # Terrence W. Tilley (2008–2009) # Bryan N. Massingale (2009–2010) #

Mary Ann Hinsdale Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

(2010–2011) # John E. Thiel (2011–2012) # Susan A. Ross (2012–2013) #

Richard Gaillardetz Richard R. Gaillardetz (born 1958) is an American theologian specializing in questions relating to Catholic ecclesiology and the structures of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. For his dissertation he researched ‘the Theology of the Ordinar ...

(2013–2014) # Susan K. Wood (2014–2015) # Bradford E. Hinze (2015–2016) # David Hollenbach (2016–2017) # Mary E. Hines (2017–2018) #

Paul Lakeland Paul Lakeland is the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Professor of Catholic Studies and Chair of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and was the 2005 Fairfield University Teacher of the Year. Lakeland was ...

(2018–2019) # Maria Pilar Aquino (2019–2020 & 2020-2021) # Christine Firer Hinze (2021–2022)

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Catholic lay organisations Catholic theology and doctrine Christian organizations established in 1946 Ordination of women and the Catholic Church Theological societies