People
Richard P. McBrien
Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology
(A.A., St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, CT, 1956; M.A., St. John Seminary, Brighton, MA, 1962; S.T.D., Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1967)
Profile
McBrien's scholarly interests are in the areas of ecclesiology, the relationship between religion and politics, and the theological, doctrinal, and spiritual dimensions of the Catholic tradition.
The first is reflected in almost all of his writings, including some of his earliest books, such as Do We Need the Church? (1969), Church: the Continuing Quest (1970), and The Remaking of the Church (1973); the second area is reflected in his Caesar's Coin: Religion and Politics in America (1987); and the third in his Catholicism (1980; rev. ed., 1994), Lives of the Popes (1997), and Lives of the Saints (2001), as well as The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (1995), of which he was general editor.
He has been president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (1973-74) and winner of its John Courtney Murray Award "for outstanding and distinguished achievement in Theology" (1976). He has written a syndicated weekly theology column for the Catholic press since 1966, and is a frequent on-air network commentator for Church-related events. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut. He is on sabbatical leave during the current academic year writing a one-volume ecclesiology, which will be published by HarperSanFrancisco in early 2008.
Contact
281 Decio Hall
574-631-5151
rmcbrien@nd.edu