Award-winning ethics scholar to speak on HIV/AIDS for the 2006 Bellarmine Lecture at Fairfield University | Press Releases

The Rev. James Keenan, S.J., professor of Theological Ethics at Boston College, will present the 2006 Bellarmine Lecture, "Listening to the Voices of HIV/AIDS," on Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the dining room of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University.

The Bellarmine Lecture series brings distinguished Jesuit scholars in a variety of disciplines to deliver public lectures at Fairfield, providing the community with a chance to hear and interact with Jesuit scholars. The series is part of programming sponsored by the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield.

Fr. Keenan has written extensively on Catholic morals and virtues, most recently in his latest book, "The Works of Mercy: The Heart of Catholicism" (Sheed and Ward, 2004). In this compelling book, Fr. Keenan considers mercy as God's principal way of loving people and as our way of loving one another. He explores this concept through several works of mercy from praying for others to visiting prisoners.

His other books include "Virtues for Ordinary Christians" (Sheed and Ward, 1999), "Commandments of Compassion" (Sheed and Ward, 1999), and "Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition" (Sheed and Ward, 2004). He is currently at work on a book about HIV/AIDS and the Catholic Church with Dr. Jon Fuller, S.J., and another on the Apostle Paul and virtue ethics with Daniel Harrington.

Fr. Keenan won the Catholic Press Award for Best Work in Pastoral Theology for editing "Practice What You Preach: Virtues, Ethics and Power in the Lives of Pastoral Ministers and their Congregations" (Sheed and Ward, 2000). He also edited "Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS Prevention" (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000), a collection of essays that looks at Catholic efforts to deal with the epidemic in a compassionate way.

Called insightful, powerful and unsettling by reviewers, the latter book won Best Work in Ethics from Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society.

Fr. Keenan has published more than 200 essays, articles and reviews in international journals. He is a fellow at both the Institute of Advanced Studies at The University of Edinburgh and the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton University. He has been an adjunct professor at Gregorian University in Rome and Loyola School of Theology in Manila and he held the Tuohy Chair at John Carroll University in Cleveland and the Gasson Chair at Boston College.

Fr. Keenan entered the New York Province of the Society of Jesus in 1970 and was ordained in 1982. He holds a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy from Fordham University and a master's of divinity from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Fr. Keenan returned to teach at both institutions before he was appointed to Boston College.

In addition, Fr. Keenan has long been involved with both Church and secular initiatives involving health and healthcare. He was a consultant to the National Catholic Conference of Bishops for the Revision of the "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Institutions," and he was a group leader of the United States' Surgeon General's Task Force on Responsible Sexual Conduct.

He has served on the editorial board of Theological Studies since 1991 and he was a member of the board of directors of the Society of Christian Ethics from 2001 through 2005. He edits the series "Moral Traditions" at Georgetown University Press and the Boston College Church 21 series at Crossroads/Herder and Herder.

Admission to the lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2492.