Morality Truly Christian, Truly African:
Engagements with the Theology of Paulinus Odozor
Co-organized by Maurice Agbaw-Ebai and Matthew Levering
Mundelein Seminary– November 2-4 2023
All Sessions held in the Conference Center Room 101
Thursday November 2
[Dinner available at the Refectory from 5-6:00 PM]
7:00-8:30 PM Keynote
Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai (St. John’s Seminary) – “Ratzinger’s Theological Anthropology in Conversation with Aspects of Paulinus Odozor’s Understanding of the Human Person in Christ”
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Friday November 3
Mass (optional): 7:30 AM in Conference Center chapel
Breakfast served in Refectory: 8:00-8:45 AM
9:00-9:50 AM
Dennis Kasule (Mundelein Seminary) – “The Challenge of Moral Formation in ‘Missionary’ and ‘Post-Missionary’ Catechumenates”
10:00-10:50 AM
Jana Bennett (University of Dayton) — “Moral Life and the Importance of Anamnesis”
11:10 AM-12:00 PM
David Clairmont (University of Notre Dame) – “Catholic Comparative Theological Ethics: Imagining a Dialogue between Francis Clooney and Paulinus Odozor on Culture, Religion, and Tradition”
Lunch served in Refectory: 12:00-1:00 PM
1:10-2:00 PM
Melanie Barrett (Mundelein Seminary) – “Aquinas, Balthasar, and African Tradition: Christian Conversion of Individuals and Cultures”
2:10-3:00 PM
Raymond Olusesan Aina, M.S.P. (National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul, Abuja, Nigeria) – “The Unfinished Task of Constructing a Truly African and Christian Moral Theology of Marriage in the Thought of Paulinus Ikechukwu Odozor”
3:20-4:10 PM
Emmanuel Ojeifo (University of Notre Dame) – “African and Christian: Black Sanctity and the Future of Contemporary African Catholicism”
4:30-5:20 PM
Matthew Levering (Mundelein Seminary) – “Paulinus Odozor, Bénézet Bujo, and Stephen L. Brock on the Place of Natural Law in Catholic Moral Theology”
DINNER for all speakers and participants, at Matthew and Joy Levering’s house (1129 S. 4th Ave, Libertyville) at 6:15-8:30 PM *** Chicago-style pizza; note that we have a golden retriever dog
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Saturday November 4
Mass (optional): 7:30 AM in Conference Center chapel
Breakfast served in Refectory: 8:00-8:45 AM
9:00-9:50 AM
John Cavadini (University of Notre Dame) – “Augustine on the Inculturation of Doctrina”
10:00-10:50 AM
John Berkman (University of Toronto) – “Abominations and Moral Absolutes: Killing the Innocent according to Anscombe and Odozor”
11:10 AM-12:00 PM
Bede Ukwuije, C.S.Sp. (Duquesne University) – “Trinitarian Conception of God as Basis for a Morality Truly Christian and Truly African”
Lunch served at Refectory: 12:00-1:00 PM
1:10-2:00 PM
David Elliot (Catholic University of America) – “The Legacy of the African Church Fathers to Medieval Theories of Virtue Growth and Spiritual Practice”
2:10-3:00 PM
Tegha Nji (University of Notre Dame) – “Paulinus Odozor in Conversation with Joseph Ratzinger on the Question of Ethical Objectivity: A Morality Truly African and Truly Christian?”
3:20-4:10 PM
Paulinus Odozor, C.S.Sp. (University of Notre Dame) – Respondent at end of event
[[Also writing for the volume: Anthony Akinwale, O.P. (Dominican University, Ibadan, Nigeria) – “Politics and the Common Good”]]