Thomas Peter Rausch (born 1941) is the T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology and professor of theological studies at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, having received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. A systematic theologian specializing in the areas of

Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...

, and

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

, he has published 22 books and over 280 articles and reviews. His book, ''Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to His Theological Vision'', examines the theology of

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

, Pope Emeritus. He has taught at Loyola Marymount since 1976. In addition to his current endowed professorship at LMU, Fr. Rausch has also served as the Director of Campus Ministry, Chair of the Theological Studies Department, Associate Dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, and Rector of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Community. He has held visiting professorships throughout the world. Beyond studying and writing about ecumenical theology, Fr. Rausch has also been an active participant in the ecumenical movement. In 1983–1984 he was appointed by the Secretariat for Christian Unity as Catholic Tutor to the Ecumenical Institute, the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

study center at Bossey,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He was a member of the U.S. Catholic/Southern Baptist Conversation 1994–2001 and one of the signatories of the Richard John Neuhaus/Charles Colson Evangelicals and Catholics Together 1997 document, "The Gift of Salvation." In 2001 he was appointed to the Roman Catholic/World Evangelical Alliance Consultation and serves as co-chair of the Los Angeles Catholic-Evangelical Committee. He presently is a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation, USA. He also co-chairs the Theological Commission of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is frequently quoted on programs for the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

and other similar television channels. His writing has been heralded by fellow theologians across theological disciplines. As Peter C. Phan, the Chair of Catholic Social Thought at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, has observed, "With his trademark clarity, accessibility, and depth, omRausch helps us understand the essentials of our Christian faith in a church and world marked by polarization and conflict."

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rausch, Thomas 1941 births Living people 20th-century American academics 20th-century American Jesuits 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American academics 21st-century American Jesuits 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians American male non-fiction writers American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers Catholics from California Christologists Duke University alumni Loyola Marymount University faculty Writers from Los Angeles