2006 Santa Clara Lecture

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Most Roman Catholic clergy and bishops receive little if any professional ethical training. While they are taught how to govern and make ethically accountable the members of their congregations, they are not taught by what reasoning, insights, or norms, they should govern themselves ethically.

James Keenan, S.J., has been a Jesuit in the New York Province since 1970, and an ordained priest since 1982. He holds Boston College’s GassonChair and is professor of moral theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, his master’s of divinity from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, in Cambridge, MA, and his licentiate in sacred theology and doctorate of sacred theology from Gregorian University, Rome. He is the author and/or editor of numerous books, including Virtues for Ordinary Christians, and Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition. His research interests include fundamental moral theology; history of theological ethics; Thomas Aquinas; virtue ethics; HIV/AIDS; Genetics; and church leadership ethics.