Todd Walatka
Teaching Professor
Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies
Kellogg Faculty Fellow
Primary Area: Systematic Theology
Biography
Todd Walatka grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Dayton. After an M.T.S. and Ph.D. from Notre Dame, he took up his current position as the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies in Theology in 2011. Specializing in contemporary Catholic systematic theology, his research includes work on Hans Urs von Balthasar, Latin American liberation theology, Archbishop Óscar Romero, and the interpretation and reception of Vatican II. He also works in the field of pedagogy and pedagogical formation. His current research focuses the theological witness of Óscar Romero in the context of the Salvadoran Church and post-Vatican II Catholicism. He also serves as the chair of the "Romero Studies Working Group" at the Kellogg Institute. His most recent courses taught include: Foundations of Theology, The Church in the Modern World, Eschatology, Theology en español, Óscar Romero and the Salvadoran Martrys, Theological Pedagogy, and the MA Capstone.
Research Interests
Catholic systematic theology, Óscar Romero, Hans Urs von Balthasar, the history and reception of Vatican II, liberation theologies, Catholic social teaching, pedagogy and pedagogical formation
Selected Publications
Óscar Romero and Catholic Social Teaching, Editor (University of Notre Dame Press, 2024).
Von Balthasar and the Option for the Poor: Theodramatics in the Light of Liberation Theology (Catholic University of America Press, 2017).
“Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Meaning of Christmas.” Theological Studies 81/4 (December 2020): 929-950.
“The Principle of Mercy: Jon Sobrino and the Catholic Theological Tradition.” Theological Studies 77/1 (March 2016): 96-117.
“The Church as Sacrament: Gutiérrez and Sobrino as Interpreters of Lumen Gentium.” Horizons 42/1 (June 2015): 70-95.
Education
- PhD, University of Notre Dame
- MTS, University of Notre Dame
- BA, University of Dayton