Bridge Building across the World Church

Kristin E. Heyer

Recognizing the need to dialogue from and beyond local culture and interconnect within a world Church, Boston College Canisius Professor of Theological Ethics James Keenan, S.J., co-founded Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) with Professor Linda Hogan of Trinity College Dublin. Fr. Keenan was later named Boston College Vice Provost for Global Engagement and is now leading efforts to enlarge BC’s international presence and impact. Continuing Fr. Keenan’s work, BC ethicists Professors Kristin Heyer and Andrea Vicini, S.J., currently co-lead CTEWC along with a colleague at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India, Shaji George Kochuthara, C.M.I.

Bborn of a desire to connect Catholic ethicists and to amplify the work of colleagues in the Global South, Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church is now concluding its 15th year of vital bridge-building initiatives. Spanning 80 countries, the network fosters cross-cultural, interdisciplinary conversations about critical ethical issues that impact the world Church. It does so by cultivating the exchange of ideas via its online platforms and book series and supporting new as well as isolated scholars in theological ethics. Through its monthly newsletter and its visiting professors program, CTEWC supports colleagues who have been marginalized and expands the traditionally Western focus of the field of theological ethics. It has helped center and empower the voices of those in the Global South via its African and Asian scholarship programs along with regional and international conferencing (in Padua, Manila, Trento, Nairobi, Berlin, Krakow, Bangalore, Bogotá, and Sarajevo).

As founder James Keenan, S.J., puts it, “Our network is based on the simple assumption that we ethicists need to be better connected. We also realized during our years of work that we had to extend our network to those literally on the margins, to those whose voices have not been heard, and whose insights have not been recognized.” For example, given the noticeable absence of

trained women in the fields of fundamental and applied theological ethics across the continent of Africa at the start of the millennium, key issues had been given little attention (e.g., the feminization of poverty, the impact of HIV/AIDS on women) and the distinctive perspectives of women overlooked. CTEWC perceived this as an ecclesial loss but also a matter of serious concern for Catholic moral theologians worldwide. Through its African scholarship program, CTEWC granted scholarships to eight women who went on to complete their doctorates in Kampala, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Yaoundé, and Trinity College, Dublin; today they are at work in universities and seminaries or in leadership positions within their orders. An annual postdoctoral program hosted by Boston College’s Jesuit Institute has helped the scholars to receive mentorship in publishing and transitioning into the theological guild; the program’s graduates have already begun to transform moral theology on the continent. Moreover, today there are more than 24 African women with doctorates in the field.

During its audience with Pope Francis in March of 2017, CTEWC’s planning committee emphasized its method of prioritizing personal encounter and the exchange of ideas in order to foster harmony in diversity. Members underscored their attempts to serve and empower those on various peripheries of the field by reprinting books in its series at lower costs (the network has since moved to online publishing to further expand access) and connecting one another via its website and The First, an online monthly newsletter. The pope was quite supportive of the network’s initiatives, sending a letter encouraging its passion for dialogue and accompaniment to open its 2018 international conference in Sarajevo.

The 2018 Sarajevo conference was CTEWC’s third global conference, focused on promoting bridge building in a world in urgent need. Its program moved from forging academic contributions and relationships alone toward more practical responses to pressing social issues. In particular, the conference issued a call to action in addressing the climate crisis and its impact on the environment and marginalized populations alike, and the tragic banality of contemporary political leadership in many countries. The conference underscored the need to address these challenges in solidarity, so it incorporated opportunities for interpersonal encounter, worship, media training, and informal networking alongside academic presentations. Vibrant Sarajevo—neither developed world nor developing world—offered three relevant contexts: inter-religious

and cross-cultural dialogue; peace building and ethnic conflict; and resistance and economic struggle. For the first time, at this conference colleagues from the Global South were the majority of the participants, and 30 percent represented the field’s rising generation. Three cardinals, Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Peter Turkson, then head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, took part in the conference as well. We also realized In Sarajevo, the founding cochairs, Keenan and Linda Hogan, … that we had to extend our stepped down and the “next generation” of leaders, Shaji George Kochuthara, C.M.I., of Dharmaram network to those literally on the College in Bangalore, and Andrea Vicini, S.J., and Kristin Heyer, both of Boston College, assumed their margins, to those whose voices roles. Following Sarajevo the net work has launched eight internation al “Virtual Tables,” convening mem have not been bers on topics ranging from global health to nonviolence to the sexual heard, and whose abuse crisis. The tables presently eninsights have not gage over 100 ethicists from more than 30 countries, yielding forthbeen recognized. coming publications and cross-regional events, not to mention new perspectives and moral support. The network is launching a multiyear initiative to train ethicists on how to do more public-facing scholarship in the years ahead as well, including an international seminar to be hosted at Boston College in July 2023. Its monthly online newsletter connects participants in an ongoing way, keeping voices and perspectives from each region and from junior scholars on the collective radar. To that end, its Forum features regional contributors regularly reflecting on urgent moral questions, whether nationalizing the mines of South Africa or ending corruption in India. Beyond its thriving international book series, the network continues to find new ways to connect and respond to the emerging signs of the times, most recently sharing resources treating COVID-19, Fratelli Tutti, and racism. CTEWC’s virtual and in-person initiatives continue to bridge build in an often-siloed academy in light of the gifts and needs of the global Church. ■ Kristin E. Heyer is a professor of theological ethics and the director of graduate studies in the Boston College Theology Department. She serves as co-chair of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church and vice president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. photo credit: https://photodune.net/user/merc67