THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY INVITED POLITICAL THEORISTS, THEOLOGIANS, AND WRITERS TO ADDRESS THE LEGAL, POLITICAL, AND THEOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF LIBERTARIANISM from a Catholic context at its fourth annual Dean’s Colloquium on Religion and Public Culture. Cosponsored by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, the April 6 conference began with a keynote address by Alan J. Ryan (pictured above), the William H. Bonsall Visiting Professor at Stanford University, on libertarianism as an issue in political philosophy. The event included two panel discussions as well as a talk by Boisi Center Director Alan Wolfe, a professor of political science.

“In the past few election cycles,” said STM Dean Mark Massa, S.J., “libertarianism has emerged as an issue that has generated a great deal of discussion among religious leaders, political pundits, and public intellectuals.” The colloquium “continued that tradition with an array of very smart individuals focused on the issues that surround the libertarian impulse as a religious, political, and social stance.”

READ A RECAP BY MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS » 
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UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT WILLIAM P. LEAHY, S.J., RECENTLY APPOINTED THOMAS H. GROOME, a professor of theology and former chair of the STM's Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (DREPM), as director of Boston College's Church in the 21st Century Center. Groome (pictured left) assumed his duties on July 1 and will continue to teach at the STM.

Jane E. Regan (pictured right), STM director of continuing education and associate professor of theology and religious education, has been elected to replace Groome as DREPM chair. She will also now serve as director of STM summer initiatives.

BOSTON COLLEGE CONFERRED ADVANCED DEGREES ON 119 STM STUDENTS during the 2014–15 academic year. Graduates celebrated May 18 at the University’s 139th Commencement, where Chicago Archbishop Blase Joseph Cupich (pictured above), leader of the country’s third-largest Catholic diocese and a champion for the economically and socially disenfranchised, addressed the graduates. He encouraged them to “speak for those who have no voice” and said that the world “needs the hope of those who know and are inspired by the givenness of life, the grace of life.”

VIEW VIDEO OF THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS »

HEAR FROM SOME OF OUR NEWEST ALUMNI about how their studies at the STM prepared them for their current work. Kristi Haas, M.T.S. ’15 (pictured left), now serves as a research associate at the Catholic Peacebuilding Network at the University of Notre Dame.

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STM Assistant Professor Hosffman Ospino's article “The Church’s Changing Face,” published by OSV Newsweekly, won second place in the Catholic Press Association (CPA)’s annual awards for “In-Depth News/Special Reporting.” 

The CPA also honored Jeremy Zipple, S.J., ’00, M.Div. ’13, S.T.L. ’14, who served as director, producer, and cinematographer for America Media’s video Jesuit and Lakota: Graduation at Red Cloud. The short film won first place in the “Best Freestanding Online Presentation of Video” category.

Read “The Church’s changing face” »
View Jesuit and Lakota: Graduation at Red Cloud »