The Ethics of Immigration
Nichole FloresUniversity of Virginia
Victor CarmonaUniversity of San Diego
Free and open to the public. This event will be held online through Zoom (registration required) 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.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops have lobbied for and spoken eloquently about the need for a comprehensive immigration reform and have done so over the course of multiple administrations. These Latino/a experts in moral theology will not only speak to the fact that this call to action remains unheard, even by some Catholics, but to the question of the principles in the Catholic tradition and beyond that can serve as resources for a Latino theology of migration. Carmona has looked to St. Thomas Aquinas as a starting point and Flores to the Latino experience of being familia. A rich conversation will ensue.
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:
June 1 Future Directions of Hispanic Theology with Peter Casarella (Duke University) and Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado (University of Scranton)
Nichole M. Flores is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. Her scholarship focuses on the significance of Catholic ethics in plural social, political, and ecclesial contexts—particularly in Catholicism’s contributions to public conceptions of justice, emotion, and aesthetics in the life of democracy. She has been published in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Journal of Religious Ethics, and Modern Theology and is a contributing author at America Magazine. Her forthcoming book is titled The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy, an exploration of the relationship between religious aesthetics and justice in the pursuit of the societal common good. Professor Flores earned an AB in government from Smith College, an MDiv from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in theological ethics from Boston College.
Victor Carmona is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego (Ph.D. Moral Theology and Christian Ethics, Notre Dame). Before becoming a moral theologian, he served migrants and urban communities with the Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops (CEM-Movilidad Humana) and the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. His research engages Catholic social thought, immigration ethics, and theologies of migration. His dual aim is to draw from the wisdom the Catholic tradition offers to create more just immigration systems and to nurture its ability to do so in increasingly pluralistic and interdependent societies. Recent publications include chapters on immigration in Value and Vulnerability: An Interfaith Dialogue on Human Dignity (University of Notre Dame Press, 2020), and in Sex, Love, and Families: Catholic Perspectives (Liturgical Press, 2020).
