Editor's note: NCR is reporting on the ground at this year's Catholic Theological Society of America conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Keep checking our feature series page CTSA 2016 for our coverage.
Paul Lakeland of Fairfield University in Connecticut was elected as vice president of the Catholic Theological Society (CTSA) at the organization’s annual conference June 10 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After a year as vice president, Lakeland will become president of the organization.
Two new board members also were elected at the CTSA business meeting: Susan Abraham of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and Mark Fischer of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. The new treasurer is John Dadosky of Regis College in Toronto, while Natalie Kertes Weaver of Ursuline College in Ohio was elected to a second term as secretary.
Although no formal resolutions were proposed or passed, the CTSA is working on a proposal regarding investment in fossil-based fuels for its more than $500,000 in investments. Current President Bradford Hinze of Fordham University has convened a task force, which will meet during the conference, to develop guidelines for the CTSA that can be used by other Catholic organizations as well. "If we’re going to put a fair amount of time in this project, we should do so in a way that’s helpful for other institutions too," Hinze said.
Two younger scholars, Benjamin Durheim of the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University in Minnesota and David Turnbloom of Boston College, received the CTSA's Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for their article "Tactical Ecumenism," in "Theological Studies." The award is for the best essay by a graduate student in theology or by a scholar who has held his or her doctoral degree for fewer than five years. It is named for the feminist theologian who died of cancer in 1997.
[Heidi Schlumpf teaches communications at Aurora University, outside Chicago.]