Beauty and Justice in the City: the Restoration of St. Adalbert's, in Pilsen
Michelle Gonzalez MaldonadoUniversity of Scranton
Juan SotoGamaliel
Peter J. CasarellaDuke Divinity School
Free and open to the public. This event was held online through Zoom and live-streamed to YouTube. This event is part of a webinar series on Hispanic Theology. This event and series are made possible by a generous grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.
Latinx Theology has always had a dual focus on the beauty of the symbols of Popular Catholicism and the cry of the poor in urban settings. In this session, one of the premier Latina voices on beauty and justice, Dr. Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado, will have a discussion with a long-time community activist in Chicago about the application of this dyad to the concrete setting of Latinx Catholic life in the city of Chicago. The ongoing discussion of the proposed restoration of St. Adalbert’s will serve as a case study for thinking about how “God lives in the city” (Pope Francis).
Spring 2021 Hispanic Theology Series
In the last half century, the demographics of Catholicism in America has shifted dramatically as Latino Catholic communities continue to grow. Today, nearly 50 percent of American Catholics are Latino. What are the trends and currents of Hispanic theology in the US? How does it draw from the deep wells of polyglot Catholic Intellectual tradition and from the experience of Catholics on the ground? How is Hispanic theology a resource today not only for Latino communities, but also the broader Church?
Join Tuesdays this Spring as the Lumen Christi Institute presents some of the top Latino/a scholars in the United States for an introduction to Hispanic Theology.
This series and event is made possible by a generous grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute and cosponsored by ACHTUS: The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the US , La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion, Corazón Puro, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, Saint Benedict Institute, the Nova Forum, Calvert House Catholic Ministry, Dominican University Ministry Program, the Ecclesia in America Network, the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, the Óscar Romero Scholars Program at Catholic Theological Union, Iskali, Commonweal Magazine, and America Media.
Upcoming events in our series:
May 18 Latino Christology, with Roberto Goizueta (Boston College) and Neomi de Anda (University of Dayton)
May 25 The Ethics of Immigration, with Victor Carmona (University of San Diego) and Nichole Flores (University of Virginia)
June 1 Future Directions of Hispanic Theology with Peter Casarella (Duke University) and Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado (University of Scranton)
Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Scranton. She received her Ph.D. in Systematic and Philosophical Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Dr. Maldonado’s areas of specialization include Latino/a and Latin American theology; Afro-Caribbean and Latino/a studies; U.S. minority, Third World and feminist theologies; and constructive and cultural theologies. Among her many publications are Sor Juana: Beauty and Justice in the Americas (Orbis Books, 2003), Afro-Cuban Theology: Religion, Race, Culture and Identity (University Press of Florida, 2006), Caribbean Religious History (co-authored with Ennis Edmonds, NYU Press, 2010), and A Critical Introduction to Religion in the Americas: Bridging the Liberation Theology and Religious Studies Divide (NYU Press, 2014).
Juan Soto is the Director of Gamaliel of Illinois, including overseeing Pilsen Neighborhood Council Council (PNCC) and Gamaliel of Metro Chicago (GMC). He also directs Gamaliel’s Civil Rights of Immigrants campaign (CRI).
Peter J. Casarella is Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School. He received his PhD in Religious Studies at Yale University. Casarella previously served as professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame and as director of the Latin American North American Church Concerns (LANACC) project in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Casarella has served as president of The American Cusanus Society, The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the U.S. (ACHTUS), and the Academy of Catholic Theologians (ACT). He is currently serving a second five-year term on the International Roman Catholic-Baptist World Alliance Ecumenical Dialogue and served also on the Roman Catholic-World Communion of Reformed Churches Dialogue. He has authored or edited several books, including: Cuerpo de Cristo: The Hispanic Presence in the U.S. Catholic Church (1998), A World for All? Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (2011), and most recently, Word as Bread: Language and Theology in Nicholas of Cusa (2017)
