The Synod as a Kairos for Theology: Opportunity for a New Reception of Lonergan’s Thought?

The Synod on Synodality, held from 2021-2024, promoted a notion of “ecclesial discernment” that promises to introduce new ways of doing theology into the heart of the church, opening a variety of questions that might be explored both in future synods and amongst theologians at large. One such question is how to better relate the principle of ecclesial discernment to the method of academic theology, clarifying “theological criteria and synodal methodologies” that will improve our ability to overcome disagreements on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues.”

The Jesuit Bernard Lonergan, born in Buckingham, Quebec, has been described as one of the greatest philosophical and theological minds of the twentieth century. In Method in Theology (1972) Lonergan described theological method as a systematic pattern of collaboration between experts—engaged in diverse “functional specialties”— that is grounded in the conversion of the theologian, and that reflects the desire of the post-conciliar church to develop a theology that can “mediate between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religious tradition within that matrix.”

The Lonergan Centre at Saint Paul University is honoured to host the Reverend Dr. Gerard Whelan, Professor of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, to speak about the Synod. Father Whelan will suggest that this may be an historic opportunity—a kairos—for a new reception of Lonergan’s thought in the church, and will discuss how emergent scholars have expanded Lonergan’s method to address key questions for church mission, including the role of women in the church, ecology, and the importance of indigenous epistemologies and spiritualties.

Gerard K. Whelan, SJ

Father Whelan is Chair of the Fundamental Theology Department at the Jesuit Gregorian University in Rome. He holds an MA in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD in Systematic Theology from the Toronto School of Theology. He lived for twelve years in Kenya and two in Zambia. He specialises in the thought of Bernard Lonergan and Robert M. Doran, applying the methodical thinking of these to a variety of contextual issues in culture and the church. Rev. Dr. Whelan has studied and published extensively on the theology of B. Lonergan, the Church in a changing world, and the Pontificate of Pope Francis. Recent books include A Discerning Church: Pope Francis, Lonergan, and a Theological Method for the Future (G&B Press 2019) and Redeeming History: Social Concern in Bernard Lonergan and Robert Doran (Paulist Press, 2013).