DePaul Catholic Studies

03/16/2026

Attend DePaul's Study Abroad Showcase to meet Faculty Program Directors, study abroad alumni and to explore study abroad programs that will run during December 2026, Winter Quarter 2027 and Winter-Spring 2027. Learn how study abroad counts toward graduation and how scholarships and financial aid apply.

DePaul Study Abroad

09/03/2025

READ NOW: Catholic Studies professor, Stan Chu Ilo, writes a commentary on the current crisis regarding the CDC and public health.

During the pandemic, the world saw the consequences of politicizing medicine. That same destructive logic now drives the hollowing out of the CDC.

04/25/2025

Congratulations to Professor Paula McQuade for her insightful exploration of the intersection of faith, literature, and personal belief for the Catholic Studies lecture Series, “Faith Unfiltered.”

For further reading, please refer to “The DePaulia, Religious Issue.” Karidja Monjolo, a contributing writer for DePaulia, offers an inspiring article that encapsulates the key takeaways from McQuade’s presentation.

Paula McQuade, anEnglish Renaissance literature and early modern women writers professor at DePaul, spoke candidly about her own faith journey, addressing questions of doubt, resilience and the role of spirituality in everyday life at “Faith Unfiltered: Why I Still Believe in God,” an event host...

03/05/2025

Read up on "‘Let mutual love continue’: Revisiting my Catholic upbringing through the Sanctuary Movement" from DePaulia, with a section featuring an interview with Dr. William Cavanaugh to discuss "sanctuary," its root meaning, and its place in the Christian tradition.

My best friend and next-door neighbor, Amelia, and I rode our ripsticks in our white dresses the day of our First Communion. Some years later in eighth grade, we ate chicken parmesan and talked about boys after our confirmation. Those memories with Amelia are the parts of being raised Catholic that....

03/04/2025

Want to know more about the legacy and role Pope Francis took up? Read this article by Stan Chu Ilo, Associate Professor in Catholic Studies, "Pope Francis: Why his papacy matters for Africa – and for the world’s poor and marginalised."

https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fpope-francis-why-his-papacy-matters-for-africa-and-for-the-worlds-poor-and-marginalised-251059%3Futm_source%3Dsfmc%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3DNewsline%2BWeekly%252c%2BMarch%2B3%252c%2B2025&data=05%7C02%7CMCANETE%40depaul.edu%7Ca5cbb9d2d73346d937ef08dd5b6397a3%7C750d3a3f1f464da28a647605e75ea2f9%7C0%7C0%7C638767205474397106%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Hq8BMtKOAZTe9%2FJJ%2FBprz2ld%2FH7BAUQwaHxsH%2B8atWw%3D&reserved=0

02/10/2025

The Dialogue Collaborative invites you to join us for an evening of dialogue with members of the Parents Circle - Families Forum, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 6 – 8 p.m. at St. Vincent’s Church. Registration is required.

With its first meetings between Palestinians and Israelis taking place in Gaza in 1998, the Parents Circle - Families Forum (PCFF) is an organization led by people devoted to dialogue, collaboration and reconciliation. The PCFF seeks no new members; to join the group, one must have lost a family member to the conflict.

This event invites us to look through the eyes of grassroots activists whose courage and vision allow us to see the world we want to live in.
Join us!
RSVP link: https://parentscircle.eventbrite.com

01/22/2025

Interested in learning more about the Vincentian mission? Read the new issue of Vincentian Heritage journal:

"Becoming a Church of the Poor: The Vincentian Charism and Reform"

Pope Francis wrote in 2013: “I want a Church which is poor and for the poor.” He implies that being for the poor is only one part of what is necessary; the other part is that the Church itself must be poor. Thus does Francis link the transformation of the world to the reform of the Church.

Facing an “economy of exclusion” leading to “inequality which spawns violence”, we have to address these structural issues that trap so many of the world’s people in a desperate cycle of deprivation and hopelessness. But the Church cannot contribute to the reparation of the world without losing its worldliness and entering into solidarity with those most neglected. The Church cannot be in solidarity with the marginalized if it constantly seeks to reclaim the center of the social order. The Church can only fulfill its mission to the world if it, like and in Christ, pours itself out.

Based on a collaboration between DePaul’s Division of Mission and Ministry, the Holtschneider Chair in Vincentian Studies, and the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, this issue features scholars from the Philippines, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Nigeria, Argentina, the U.S., and Europe. It aims to offer a global reflection from a historical, theological and more practical points of view.

Edited by William T. Cavanaugh, director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology and Matthieu Brejon de Lavergnée, Holtschneider Chair of Vincentian Studies.

Click here to read!!
https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol38/iss1/

01/13/2025

As the Church reforms and includes more laypeople in its power structure, a similar movement for inclusion should be made among the people who are considered for sainthood. In the past, most saints have been European men who led consecrated lives or who were martyred. This reflected the Church’s previous priorities, ideals, and demographics. But clericalism does not guarantee holiness, as recent sexual abuse revelations have shown, and martyrdom is an uncommon experience. Pope Francis and others have recognized that laypeople can lead extremely holy lives on both a small and large scale. Even the fulfillment of ordinary duties of daily life, if done with love, can be considered holy work. The recognition of the holiness of lay life would also allow for greater gender parity among future canonizations. As the number of clerics decreases and the number of Church members in the Global South increases, more non-European laypeople should be put forward as saints. This would be more representative of the Church’s contemporary makeup and would reflect the common life experiences of its members. This article also explains Vincentianism’s role in the lives of saints and in the lives of people who should be made saints.

Read this thought-provoking journal article by Prof. Matthieu Brejon de Lavergnée, the new Holtschneider Chair of Vincentian Studies at DePaul University.

Click the link to read now:
https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol38/iss1/7/

11/12/2024

Need one more class for the Winter Quarter? Be sure to consider "Early Catholic History: Origins and Expansion."

This course explores the birth of Christ and Christianity within a great Empire, and how Christianity emerged within an ancient pagan order that it at once accommodated, challenged, and transfigured. The course presents the history of Catholicism through its growth in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The final weeks of the course set out upon the ways of life, questions, and controversies attending Catholicism in the Middle Ages.

This course meets in the Lincoln Park Campus and fulfills religious dimensions and historical inquiry. If you have any questions, please email Maguire at [email protected]

07/05/2024

Congrats to our William Cavanaugh, the subject of a feature story in 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦! Read “Sustenance for Hungry Hearts.”

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳) 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘊𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 ’84 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘌𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

Prolific theologian (and home brewer) William Cavanaugh ’84 offers a Eucharistic antidote to the false idolatries and disunities of an all-consuming culture.