Theology Without Borders

Celebrating the Legacy of Peter C. Phan

World-renowned Georgetown professor Peter Phan has spent his career exploring a range of theological questions, and the two-day “Theology Without Borders” event will celebrate his influence and legacy. Featured panelists will address some of the most significant challenges Phan’s scholarly work has examined: How should we understand religious pluralism and how does it benefit society? How do we best live out our religious identities and beliefs while engaging in interreligious dialogue and cooperation? What have been the historic contributions of Catholicism to social justice and what are the most pressing challenges facing Church and world alike today? How does religion treat matters of death and the soul? How should we best understand how Christian communities across the globe have emerged as a truly global church of diverse churches? 

Phan was born in Vietnam and emigrated as a refugee to the United States in 1975. Presently, he is Ignacio Ellacuría Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University and is the founding director of the Graduate Studies Program in Theology and Religious Studies. Prior to his role at Georgetown, he served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and taught at a variety of universities. In 2010, Phan was awarded the John Courtney Murray Award for outstanding achievements in theology, and in 2015, he was elected president of the American Theological Society. To date, Phan has authored and edited over 30 books. A range of expert panelists at the “Theology Without Borders” event will discuss this impressive body of work, and the conference will conclude with a response from Peter Phan, followed by audience Q&A.

SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 30

4:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Welcome and Introduction
Thomas Banchoff, Georgetown University

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. | Being Religious Interreligiously: Religious Pluralism and the Wider Ecumenism
John Borelli, Georgetown University
Chester Gillis, Georgetown University 
Debora Tonelli, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy
Keith Ward, Oxford University and Heythrop College, London 
Gerard Mannion, Georgetown University (moderator) 

5:45 p.m. | Reception

Friday, March 31

9:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Matters of Life and Death: Social Thought and Eschatology
Christina Astorga, University of Portland
Brian Doyle, Marymount University
David Hollenbach, S.J., Georgetown University
Alan Mitchell, Georgetown University
Julia Lamm, Georgetown University (moderator)

11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. | Coffee Break

11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. |  | World Christianities: the Emergence of a Truly Global Church 
José Casanova, Georgetown University 
Dale T. Irvin, New York Theological Seminary
Jonathan Tan, Case Western Reserve University 
Anh Tran, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University 
Brian Flanagan, Marymount University (moderator)

1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | Lunch 

2:15 p.m. – 3:34 p.m. | Peter C. Phan and Debates within Contemporary Catholicism 
Charles E. Curran, Southern Methodist University 
Brian Flanagan, Marymount University
Daniel Madigan, Georgetown University
Gerard Mannion, Georgetown University 
John Borelli, Georgetown University (moderator)

3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Coffee Break

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Theology Without Borders: Assessing the Legacy of Peter Phan
John O’Malley, Georgetown University
William Loewe, Catholic University of America
Leo Lefebure, Georgetown University
Gerard Mannion, Georgetown University (moderator)

5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. | Response and General Q&A with Peter C. Phan

5:45 p.m. | Reception