Tracey Rowland (born 1963) is an Australian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

theologian and professor at the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of me ...

. She was appointed to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

International Theological Commission The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church; it advises the magisterium of the church, particularly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Its me ...

in 2014 and in 2020 became the first Australian, and third woman, to be awarded the

Ratzinger Prize The Ratzinger Foundation, also known as The Pope Benedict XVI Foundation, is a charitable organization whose aim is "the promotion of theology in the spirit of Joseph Ratzinger." which it achieves by funding scholarships and bursaries for poorer ...

for theology.

Life and career

Tracey Rowland was born in 1963 and educated by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They ...

in Ipswich, Queensland, and at

The Range Convent and High School The Range Convent and High School is a heritage-listed private school at 263 Agnes Street, The Range, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c.1880s to 1930s. It is also known as Our Lady of Good Counsel C ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of ...

. She initially studied law and government at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = ...

and earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

in 1989. She then studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

, where she obtained a Bachelor of Letters in philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in political philosophy in 1992, as well as a graduate diploma in German language and the Goethe Institute's Certificate of German as a Foreign Language the following year. After winning a Commonwealth doctoral scholarship Rowland attended the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where she completed her PhD in 2001. Her doctoral dissertation was on twentieth century theological engagements with the idea of culture, with reference to the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre and the theology of Henri de Lubac and Joseph Ratzinger. In 2001 she became the inaugural

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the

Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences is a Roman Catholic pontifical institute of theological studies on marriage and family with affiliated campuses around the world. History In 1981, Pope John P ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, a role she held until 2017. During this period she continued her theological studies at the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

, where she obtained her

Licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theolo ...

and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology. In 2010 she also graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

with a degree in education. In 2017, Rowland was appointed as the St John Paul II Research Professor at the

. She is a dame of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

and a dame of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem,

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, commonly known as the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

. In 2014 she was appointed as a member of Pope Francis'

. In 2016 she delivered the prestigious Cardinal Winning Memorial Lecture at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. In 2020 Rowland won the

for Theology, making her the first Australian and only the third woman to ever receive this award. An annual award to two individuals, and coming with AUD$125,000 prize money,

announced in October 2020 that Rowland would share the award with French philosopher

Jean-Luc Marion Jean-Luc Marion (born 3 July 1946) is a French philosopher and Roman Catholic theologian. Marion is a former student of Jacques Derrida whose work is informed by patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy.Horner 2 ...

. A reviewer of her second book, ''Ratzinger's faith'', notes that the volume "is an important contribution to understanding not only Ratzinger the theologian but also the Roman Catholic Church after Vatican II--and the challenges and opportunities the church specifically and the Christian faith generally face in the early 21st century". Reviewers of her book ''Catholic Theology'' have said that it is "a work which deserves wide readership" and that "we are indebted to Tracey Rowland for this significant theological achievement and valuable teaching resource". Rowland has published over 150 articles in all and has edited a collection of essays on Anglican patrimony for publication with Bloomsbury, a collection of essays on the subject of healing fractures in fundamental theology (with Peter McGregor) and a book on early to mid-20th-century German theology with a special focus on the mentors of the Ratzinger generation, ''Illuminating Hope: Defenders of Christian Humanism after Kant and Nietzsche'' (London: Bloomsbury, 2021). In 2023 Rowland was appointed to the

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences ( la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum Socialium, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operat ...

, an internationally renowned research academy established by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1994. This is a ten-year appointment and Rowland is the second Australian to receive the honour.

Awards

* 2009: Archbishop Michael J Miller Award for the Promotion of Faith and Culture from the University of St. Thomas in Houston * 2012: Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

* 2020: Joseph

Select publications

* * * * * * *

References

External links

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Tracey Living people Australian Roman Catholic theologians University of Notre Dame Australia people Officers of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Ratzinger Prize laureates 1963 births University of Queensland alumni University of Melbourne alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Pontifical Lateran University alumni Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences