Upcoming San Diego Event: Gutierrez and Gonzalez

From my friend Eric:

The University of San Diego's
Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism
announces its first
Annual Lecture on Latino/a Religion

The inaugural speaker will be Prof. Gustavo Gutierrez, of theUniversity of Notre Dame. Professor Gutierrez is widely regarded as thefounder of Latin American liberation theology. Author of over a dozenbooks and hundreds of articles (many of them groundbreaking in the theological disciplines), Gutierrez has earned numerous awards and recognition from theological faculties and universities in every continent, and is considered one of the most important theologians in the world today. In his lecture Gutiérrez will address U.S. Latino/a theology's contributions to worldwide theology.

Prof. Virgilio Elizondo, also of the University of Notre Dame, and Prof. Justo Gonzalez, of Columbia Theological Seminary (emeritus) willpresent major responses to Gutiérrez's lecture. Elizondo and Gonzalez are the founders of U.S. Latino/a theology (Catholic and Protestant, respectively).

Elizondo founded San Antonio's Mexican American Cultural Center and has been recognized for his groundbreaking work on mestizajeas theological category, and for his several books on Catholicism and culture. Gonzalez founded the Hispanic Theological Initiative and the Hispanic Summer Program (highly successful ecumenical programs for the theological education of U.S. Latinos/as), and has published numerous books and articles in theology and church history (his three-volume History of Christian Thought is a classic in the field). Both Elizondo and González have received numerous national and international awards and recognition for their scholarly contributions and for their promotion of U.S. Latino/a theologies and theologians.

Every Fall henceforth the Center's Annual Lectures on Latino/aReligion will bring to the USD campus renowned scholars from across the nation and the world, and from various disciplines, to address important issues related with U.S. Latino/a theology and religion, and the latter's place in Church and society.

The first Annual Lecture on Latino/a Religion will take place
at USD's Shiley Theater on October 30, 2006, at 7:00 p.m.
Admission is free and open to the public.