As the Catholic Church faces significant challenges, including the clergy sexual abuse crisis and parish closures, new theological perspectives on local belonging are increasingly needed. Susan Bigelow Reynolds, PhD, an award-winning Catholic theologian at Emory University, will address these issues when she presents “Theologizing the Local After Clergy Abuse and Parish Closure,” the 24th Annual Anne Drummey O’Callaghan Lecture, on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. at Alumni House. The lecture will invite attendees to rethink local belonging through feminist and postcolonial lenses.

Dr. Reynolds, a Catholic theologian and ethnographer, specializes in the intersection of ecclesiology and lived Catholicism. Her recent monograph, People Get Ready: Ritual, Solidarity, and Lived Ecclesiology in Catholic Roxbury (Fordham University Press, 2023), provides an in-depth examination of community within a diverse church in Boston, advocating for solidarity as an ecclesial virtue. Her research covers a range of topics, including public ritual, urban Catholic practices, and responses to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Dr. Reynolds’ work has been featured in respected journals and public forums such as American Catholic Studies, New Theology Review, and The Atlantic. She frequently contributes to national conversations on Catholicism and public life through media outlets like NPR, PBS NewsHour, NBC, and CNN.

With over a decade of experience in teaching, campus ministry, and liturgical music, Dr. Reynolds is a member of several academic societies, including the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Academy of Religion. She also serves on various boards and committees dedicated to theological education and Hispanic scholarship.

Join us for the 24th Annual Anne Drummey O’Callaghan Lecture with Susan Bigelow Reynolds, PhD, at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, at Alumni House. This event is free and open to the public. Please register to attend at fairfield.edu/cs.