About the Keynote

Keynote Address: Massimo Faggioli, Ph.D.

Dr. Faggioli received his PhD in Religious History from the University of Turin in 2002. His dissertation discussed the history of the appointment of bishops after the Council of Trent. He has studied theology at the Karl-Eberhards-Universität Tübingen (1999-2000) and has been invited to work as a post-doctoral researcher in the Faculté de Théologie et Sciences Religieuses at the Université Laval, Québec (Spring 2002).

Dr. Massimo Faggioli, a regular contributor to the magazine “Il Regno” and to the newspaper “Europa”, worked in the “Bologna school” for the history of Vatican II between 1996 and 2008 and received his PhD from the University of Turin in 2002. Since September 2009, he is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN, USA).

Among other essays and articles, Dr. Faggioli is the author of Il vescovo e il concilio: Modello episcopale e aggiornamento al Vaticano II, Il Mulino, Bologna 2005 [The Episcopal Office at Vatican II]; Breve storia dei movimenti cattolici, Carocci, Roma 2008 (Short History of the Catholic Movements – Spanish translation, Historia y evolución de los movimientos católicos. De León XIII a Benedicto XVI, Madrid: PPC, 2011. English translation forthcoming by Palgrave Macmillan); Vatican II: The Battle for Meaning, Mahwah NJ/New York: Paulist Press, 2012.

Book forthcoming: Reforming the Liturgy – Reforming the Church at Vatican II: The Profound Implications of “Sacrosanctum Concilium,” Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012.

Respondent: Maria Teresa Davila, Ph.D.

María Teresa Dávila is a native of Puerto Rico. MT earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Brown University (1993). She pursued her Master of Theological Studies at the Boston University School of Theology (1999). MT completed her doctoral studies at Boston College in the area of Theological Ethics (2007). The title of her dissertation, A Liberation Ethic for the One-Third World: The Preferential Option for the Poor and Challenges to U.S. Middle-Class Christians, points to MT’s academic and spiritual passion to explore the intersections and contrasts between authentic Christian discipleship and the socio-cultural, political, and economic contexts of the United States. Her recent publications include contributions to the series Preaching Social Justice Through the Lectionary, Years A, B, and C (WJK Press); Wading Through Many Voices (Rowman & Littlefield); and Keeping the Light (Palgrave Press), and the recent volume Catholic Theological Ethics: Past, Present, and Future: The Trento Conference (Orbis Press). MT is a member of the planning committee for the future of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, in which she chairs the committee for initiatives in Latin America.

MT’s full time occupation is being mother of 4 children, ages 9, 6, 4, and 3. In her spare time, however, she is assistant professor of Christian ethics at Andover Newton Theological School, where she has taught a range of topics including introductory courses on Christian ethics, immigration and race, public theology, and the ethics of the use of force. MT, her husband Rob, and her family are members of St. Joseph’s Parish in Malden, MA, where they reside.

A webcast of the keynote and response can be viewed at the Boston College Church in the 21st Century Center’s website