Concilium

Actual board

Susan Abrahampresident (Berkeley-USA); Michel Andraos (Ottawa-Canada); Antony John Baptist (Bangalore-India); Michelle Becka (Würzburg-Germany); Sharon A. Bongdirector (Bandar Sunway-Malaysia); Bernardeth Caero Bustillos (Cochabamba-Bolivia); Stan Chu Ilodirector (Chicago-USA); Catherine Cornille (Boston-USA); Geraldo Luiz De Mori, S.J. (Belo Horizonte-Brasil); Anne-Béatrice Faye, CIC (Dakar-Sénégal); Margareta Gruber, O.S.F. – director (Vallendar-Germany); Huang Po-Ho (Tainan-Taiwán); Stefanie Knauss director (Villanova-USA); Gustáv Kovács (Pécs-Hungary); Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez, O.P. – director (Ciudad de México-Mexico); Esther Mombo (Nairobi-Kenya); Gianluca Montaldi, F.N. – managing secretary (Brescia-Italy); Daniel Franklin Pilario, C.M. (Quezon City-Philippines); Carlos Schickendantz (Santiago-Chile); Stephan van Erp O.P. (Leuven-Belgium).

Susan Abraham, Berkeley (USA)
President

She is Associate Professor of Theological Studies and Chair of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. Her teaching and research explores postcolonial and feminist theological practices. She is the author of Identity, Ethics, and Nonviolence in Postcolonial Theory: A Rahnerian Theological Assessment (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) and co-editor of Shoulder to Shoulder: Frontiers in Catholic Feminist Theology (Fortress, 2009). Her publications and presentations weave practical theological insights from the experience of working as a youth minister for the Diocese of Mumbai, India, with theoretical perspectives from postcolonial theory, cultural studies, and feminist theory. Ongoing research projects include issues in feminist theological education and formation, interfaith and interreligious peace initiatives, theology and political theory, religion and media, global Catholicism, and Christianity between colonialism and postcolonialism.

Michel Andraos, Ottawa (Canada)

He is Associate Professor of Intercultural Theology and Ministry, Catholic Theological Union, A native of Lebanon, Michel has been teaching at Catholic Theological Union since 2000 and spends his time between Chicago and Montreal, where he lives with his family. Michel’s areas of research and teaching include religion, violence and peace, theologies of interreligious dialogue, and intercultural theology. The focus of his current research is on the reconciliation of the church with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and the developments among the Christian communities of the Levant since the European colonial period.

Antony John Baptist, Bangalore (India)

Currently Executive Secretary of the CCBI (Conference of Catholic Bishops of India) Commission for Bible (Bengaluru, India) he is a catholic priest of the Diocese of Vellore, Tamilnadu, India. He has masters in History and Education. He has also earned a Licentiate at Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He holds a Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Department of Christian Studies, Madras University, India. He has served as the professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart College, Chennai. He taught as a Guest Faculty at Department of Christian Studies, (Madras University), Arul Kadal (Jesuit Regional Theologate, Chennai) and Khrist Premalaya Regional Theologate-Ashta in Madhya Pradesh, India. Presently he teaches as a guest faculty at Vidya Deep College (Bengaluru), Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK, Bengaluru) and St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, (Bengaluru). His areas of study include Old Testament Exegesis, Narrative Criticism, Feminist Biblical Interpretation, Dalit and Subaltern Reading of the Bible. Some of his recent publications include:Together as Sisters: Hagar and Dalit Wome (Delhi: ISPCK, 2012); Unsung Melodies from Margins (Delhi: ISPCK, 2014); Thus Spoke the Bible: Basics of Biblical Narrative (New Delhi: ISPCK, 2016); Planted by the Spring: Biblical Themes for Today (Bengaluru: ATC, 2018) and a number of articles in the national theological journals.

Michelle Becka, Würzburg (Germany)

She was born in 1972, doctorate in Theology at the university of Tübingen; professor for Christian Ethics in the faculty of Catholic Theology of Würzburg University. Her primary research interests lie in the fields of social ethics, ethics and law; ethics in prison and prison chaplaincy and theological ethics and interculturality.

Sharon A. Bong, Bandar Sunway (Malaysia)
Director

 is Associate Professor of Gender Studies at the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Religious Studies (2002) and M.A. in Women and Religion (1997), University of Lancaster, UK. She has authored Becoming queer and religious in Malaysia and Singapore (2020) and The Tension Between Women’s Rights and Religions: The Case of Malaysia (2006) and co/edited Gender and sexuality justice in Asia (2020), Trauma, Memory and Transformation in Southeast Asia (2014) and Re-imagining Marriage and Family in Asia: Asian Christian Women’s Perspectives (2008). She is former coordinator and consultant to the Ecclesia of Women in Asia, forum writer for the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church and member of the Concilium Board of Editors.

Bernardeth Caero Bustillos, Cochabamba (Bolivia)

She is born in 1973, Doctorate in Theology at the Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg in Austria. Lecturer at the Instituto Superior de Estudios Teológicos (2008–2011) and Professor at the Facultad de Teología “San Pablo” (2012–2014) of Old Testament in Bolivia. Since 2015 research at the Universität Osnabrück in Germany as a scholarship holder of the Stipendienwerk Lateinamerika– Deutschland e.V. Research interests: Biblical Theology, Biblical Hebrew, Interdisciplinary Theology, Teología India.

Stan Chu Ilo, Chicago (USA)
Director

He is a research professor of World Christianity and African studies and the coordinator of the African Catholicism Project at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, DePaul University, Chicago, U.S.A. He is also the Alan Richardson Fellow for 2019/2020 at Durham University, U.K where he is working on a book project, God in Africa: Modernity, Christianity and Africa’s Futures. He is the principal convener of the Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society and Pastoral Life.The central concern of his research is on reform and renewal in the Roman Catholic Church, especially guided by the call of Pope Francis for a missionary conversion. He also researches on social issues with regard to poverty, development, ecology, human rights, leadership, governance and cultural and religious change as well as on best practices in faith-based social ministry.Some of his recent works include: Love, Joy and Sex: African Conversation on Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia and the Gospel of Family in a Divided WorldA Poor and Merciful Church: The Illuminative Ecclesiology of Pope FrancisChurch and Development in AfricaThe Church as Salt and Light: Path to an African Ecclesiology of Abundant LifeWealth, Health and Hope in African Christian Religion: The Search for Abundant Life.He is the 2017 winner of the AfroGlobal Excellence Award for Global Impact in recognition of his work with African women in seven countries through the Canadian Samaritans for Africa, a Catholic charity working with rural women in asset development and in the protection of women’s rights.Stan Chu Ilo is a research professor of World Christianity and African studies and the coordinator of the African Catholicism Project at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, DePaul University, Chicago, U.S.A. He is also the Alan Richardson Fellow for 2019/2020 at Durham University, U.K where he is working on a book project, God in Africa: Modernity, Christianity and Africa’s Futures. He is the principal convener of the Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society and Pastoral Life.The central concern of his research is on reform and renewal in the Roman Catholic Church, especially guided by the call of Pope Francis for a missionary conversion. He also researches on social issues with regard to poverty, development, ecology, human rights, leadership, governance and cultural and religious change as well as on best practices in faith-based social ministry.

Catherine Cornille, Boston (USA)

She is the Newton College Alumnae Chair of Western Culture and Professor of Comparative Theology at Boston College. She is currently Chair of the Department of Theology. She obtained her PhD from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, where she taught from 1990 until 2000. Her teaching and research focus on theoretical questions in Theology of Religions, Comparative Theology and Interreligious Dialogue. She has authored or edited 16 books in the area of Interreligious Dialogue, most recently The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue (2008), Criteria of Discernment in Interreligious Dialogue (2009), Interreligious Hermeneutics (2010), The World Market and Interreligious Dialogue (2011) Interreligious Dialogue and Cultural Change (2012), Women and Interreligious Dialogue (2013) The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue (2013), and with J. Bloechl, Christianity Between Secularity and Plurality (2015). She is founding editor-in-chief of the book series “Christian Commentaries on non-Christian Sacred Texts”.

Geraldo Luiz de Mori, Belo Horizonte (Brasil)

He was born in 1960 in Cachoeiro in Itapemirim, in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, and he currently lives in Belo Horizonte. Geraldo is a Jesuit professor of Systematic Theology in the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy (FAJE). He earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Theology from the Jesuit Faculty in Paris. Currently he serves as the Dean of the Department of Theology of the FAJE. His areas of interest include Theological Anthropology, Christian Eschatology, Pastoral Theology, Latin American Theology, mysticism, as well as the philosophical fields of Phenomenology and Hermeneutics. Geraldo served as the vice president of the Theological and Religious Sciences Society (SOTER) from 2010-2013, and he has been a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and the Jesuit Faculty in Paris. He is currently the general editor of the Digital Encyclopedia of Latin American theology www.theologicalatinoamericana.com He exercises pastoral ministry in the parish St. Francis Xavier.

Anne-Béatrice Faye, Dakar (Senegal)

She is religious of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres. She studied philosophy at the Catholic Faculties of Kinshasa from 1991 to 1995. Doctor of Philosophy at the Cheik Anta Diop University of Dakar in Senegal since 2005. Professor of philosophy at the Saint Augustin Center in Dakar and at the Grand Séminaire Interdiocésain in Brun. Member of the ATA (Association of African Theologians). Interested in the question of the promotion of women in the African context. Coordinator of the African Group for Research in Intercultural Philosophy (GARPI) Since 2012 is a member of the Academic Council of the Ecumenical Institute Al mowafaqa in Morocco – Rabat. She is also a professor of philosophy in the same Institute. After 5 years of mission in Rome as a member of the General Team of her Institute, she is since October 2013 in mission in Burkina Faso for the formation of young people. Member of the African Academy of Religious, Social and Political Sciences. Since June 2021, member of the Commission of Theologians for the synod 2023.

Margareta Gruber OSF, Vallendar (Germany)
Director

She was born 1961 in Germany. She did her studies in Tübingen, Jerusalem and Frankfurt/Sankt Georgen. Since 2008 she holds the Chair of New Testament Exegesis and Biblical Theology at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Vallendar (Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vallendar, Germany), where she is presently the Dean. From 2009-2013 she held the Laurentius-Klein-Chair of Biblical and Ecumenical Theology in the German Academic Program at the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. Her field of research covers the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, Biblical Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Exegesis and Biblical Spirituality. Since her time in Jerusalem her field of interest is also Bible in interreligious contexts; she is engaged in academic interreligious exchange. She is a Franciscan sister.

Huang Po Ho, Tainan (Taiwan)

He is currently professor of Theology and vice president of Chang Jung Christian University in Taiwan. He is the founding chairperson of Formosa Christianity and Culture Research Center. He served as President of Tainan Theological College and Seminary, Associate General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and Moderator of Council for World Mission, London and is now the Dean of PTCA (Programme for Theology and Cultures in Asia), and also Moderator of The Asian Forum for Theological Education (AFTE), and Co-moderator of Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS). Dr. Huang Po Ho is a Taiwanese theologian deeply involved in contextual theological construction and ecumenical ministries. His numerous books include , A Theology of Self-determination; From Galilee to Tainan; No Longer a Stranger; Mission from the Underside and Embracing the Household of God.

Stephanie Knauss, Villanova (USA)
Director

She studied theology and English language and literature at Freiburg University (Germany) and Manchester University (UK). She is now an Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at Villanova University (USA). Her research focuses on media (especially film) and religion, issues of gender and sexuality in theology, body in religion. Recent publications include: Religion and Film: Representation, Experience, Meaning (Brill Research Perspectives in Theology, 2020), and a co-authored introduction to religious studies through visual media (Sichtbare Religion, De Gruyter 2018). She is also a co-editor of the Journal for Religion, Film and Media.

Gusztáv Kovács, Pécs (Hungary)

Born 1980 in Hungary, he is the rector of the Episcopal Theological College of Pécs and the head of the Department for Human Dignity and Social Justice. He has degrees in English Language and Literature and Religious Education from the University of Pécs, the Episcopal Theological College of Pécs, and the University of Vienna, where he gained his Th.D in 2008.Professor Kovács received his habilitation in philosophy at the University of Pécs in 2015. Since 2016 he has been teaching bioethics at the Medical School, since 2019 at the Faculty for Health Sciences of the University of Pécs. Leader of the MTA-PPHF Religious Education Research Group of the Content Pedagogy Research Program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His field of research covers topics from philosophical ethics, social ethics and bioethics.

Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez, Città del Messico (Mexico)
Director

Born in Mexico in 1961, he is a member of the Dominican Order. He did his post-graduate doctoral studies in theology at the University of Friburg, Switzerland. He completed also post-doctoral Studies (Habilitation) at the same University. He is professor of Fundamental Theology at the Instituto de Formación Teológica Intercongregacional de México (IFTIM), México. He has been a visiting research scholar at Fordham University, New York. He was the chief editor of the review Justicia y Paz. He has several publications to his credit. His doctoral thesis was published under the title Deus Liberans.La revelación Cristianaen diálogo con la Modernidad: loselementos fundacionales de la estética teológica. The following is his most recent work: Deus ineffabilis.Una teología posmoderna de la revelación del fin de los tiempos. His academical and publishing work is focused on a specific theological challenge: a new interpretation of Christian experience coming from a critical dialogue with modernity and postmodernity.

Esther Mombo, Nairobi (Kenya)

She associate Professor in the faculty of theology at St. Paul’s University in Limuru Kenya and served in the management of the university as Academic Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor academics. Her research and teaching interests span the fields of Church history, with a focus on Mission history, interfaith relations, African women’s theologies, Gender and HIV and AIDS. She hold a honorary doctorate by Virginia Theological Seminary for her work in bringing to the fore issues of gender disparities and gender justice in church and society.

Gianluca Montaldi, Brescia (Italy)
Managing secretary

Born in 1966 in Varese Ligure (Italy), obtained a PhD in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University with a research on the concept of faith in Vatican II. He worked in both the educational and the pastoral fields. He published: In fide ipsa essentia revelationis completur, EPUG, Rome 2005, and, together with F. Bosin, Ridire il credo oggi. Percorsi, sfide, proposte, EDB, Bologna 2015. He also edited the general index of Concilium 1965-2016.

Daniel Franklin Pilario, Quezon City (Philippines)

He is a professor and present Dean of the Saint Vincent School of Theology, Adamson University, Manila. He received his licentiate and doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 1998 and 2002 respectively. His recently published book, Back to the Rough Grounds of Praxis: Exploring Theological Method with Pierre Bourdieu (Leuven, 2005) explores into the possibilities of contemporary theological methods beyond liberation theology and radical orthodoxy. His field of research covers fundamental theology, theological anthropology, inculturation, interreligious dialogue, grassroots organizing, theological methods and political-social theory. He is also a founding member and former president of DAKATEO (Catholic Theological Society of the Philippines).

Carlos Schickendantz, Santiago (Chile)

He was born in Córdoba, Argentina (1957). He is doctor in Theology from the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany. He was dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina (2002-2005) and academic vice-rector of the same University (2006-2011). He was professor of Systematic Theology of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina (1998-2011). He has been a visiting research scholar at Boston College STM (Boston, USA) and visiting professor at different universities. Since 2011 he works as professor and researcher at the Manuel Larraín Theological Center of the Jesuit Alberto Hurtado University (Santiago, Chile). Research Interest: Systematic Theology; Vatican II; Ecclesiology; Reform of the Church; Theology of Karl Rahner & Johann Baptist Metz; Latin America Theology; Theology of the Signs of the Times; Theological methodology.

Stephan van Erp, Leuven (Belgium)

Stephan van Erp is professor fundamental theology and the coordinator of the Research Unit Systematic Theology and the Study of Religions. He is also the coordinator of the Research Group for Fundamental and Political Theology and of the Interfaculty Centre for Catholic Thought. He studied theology at the Theological Faculty of Tilburg and philosophy at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. His dissertation was on fundamental theology and aesthetics, and was entitled The Art of Theology: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theological Aesthetics and the Foundations of Faith (Studies in Philosophical Theology, Vol. 25, Leuven, Peeters 2004). He has been a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford and King’s College London. In Oxford, he was a tutor in Philosophy of Religion and Doctrine and Interpretation. He has taught Fundamental Theology, Dogmatic Theology and Ethics at the universities of Tilburg, Nijmegen, and Groningen. His research interests concern the fields of philosophical and fundamental theology, in particular the relationship between faith and reason, the concept of catholicity and the role of theology in the academy. He explores the connection between these methodological issues with political theology, in particular the challenges of global catholicism for faith and theology. His specific expertise concerns 20th and 21st-century systematic theology, especially the theologies of Edward Schillebeeckx, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, and Rowan Williams. He also has an interest in Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology, especially in the work of Giordano Bruno, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and Ernst Cassirer. Currently he is working on research projects on the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx, on political theology, and on the concept of catholicity.Stephan van Erp is the Managing Editor of Tijdschrift voor Theologie, Editor-in-chief of Brill Research Perspectives in TheologySeries Editor of T&T Clark Studies in Edward Schillebeeckx (Bloomsbury Press) and of Studies in Philosophical Theology (Peeters Publishers), and on the eitorial boards of Philippiniana Sacra and of Crossing: The INPR Journal. He is also Chair of the jury of the Edward Schillebeeckx Essay Prize, and organiser of the annual Edward Schillebeeckx Lecture.