The Rev. Francis J. Moloney Named
School of Theology Dean
WASHINGTON:
17th October -- Just today the CUA Website made the following
announcement: The Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., president of The
Catholic University of America, has announced the appointment of the Rev.
Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B., as dean of the university’s
School of
Theology and
Religious Studies.
A
professor of New Testament studies since 1999, Father Moloney holds the
Katharine Drexel Chair of Religious Studies. Pope John Paul II appointed Father
Moloney to the International Theological Commission to the Holy See in 1984, and
he remains on that important advisory body to the
Vatican as one
of its longest-serving members.
In
announcing the appointment, Father O’Connell praised the dean’s international
reputation, “both as a scholar and a professor-mentor.”
"I have
great personal and professional respect for him and his ability to lead CUA's
School of
Theology and
Religious Studies forward, especially now that its long-anticipated
reorganization is fully implemented,” Father O’Connell said. “Despite
the burdens of a demanding schedule, Father Moloney has generously agreed
to serve as dean. I am grateful to him for his generosity and I offer him
my support and prayerful best wishes."
Father
Moloney replaces Monsignor Stephen P. Happel, who died suddenly on
Oct. 4,
2003. He
will serve as dean through the 2004-05 academic year.
Born in
Melbourne,
Australia, and
educated by the Christian Brothers at St. Bernard’s College, Father Moloney
joined the Australian
Province of the
Salesians of Don Bosco in 1960. He pursued graduate studies in theology in
Rome,
earning a license in sacred theology from the
Salesian
Pontifical
University and a
license in sacred scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He earned a
doctorate of philosophy from Oxford
University in
1976.
Father
Moloney returned to his native Australia to
serve as professor of New Testament at Catholic
Theological
College, within
the ecumenical Melbourne College of Divinity. In 1992 he was elected a fellow of the
Australian
Academy of
Humanities – the first theologian to be given recognition by this body. In 1994 he was made a member of the
Order of Australia, a
state honor in recognition of his services to Australian religion and
culture. In 1994 he was appointed
the foundation professor of theology at Australian
Catholic
University, a
national Catholic
University.
Father
Moloney joined The Catholic University of America faculty in 1999, and in August
2001 was elected president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, the
first non-U.S. citizen ever to hold the position.
A
founding editor of the Australian theological journal
Pacifica and an
associate editor of The Catholic Biblical
Quarterly, Father Moloney is the author of 38 books and a large number of
articles, both scholarly and popular, in journals from all parts of the
world.
____________
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