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Professor of moral theology gets seminary’s first endowed chair
By Julie Filby
The first endowed chair in the 11-year history of Denver’s St. John Vianney Theological Seminary was awarded last week.
On Jan. 28 the James Francis Cardinal Stafford Chair of Moral Theology was given to E. Christian Brugger, Ph.D., professor of moral theology at the seminary since 2008.
An endowed chair, or endowed professorship, is a position permanently paid for with revenue from a donor, specifically set up for that purpose. Chairs are held by faculty members who have distinguished themselves in their field.
“An endowed chair is among the most important gifts to higher education, a vital tool to ensure faculty excellence,” said academic dean Father Andreas Hoeck at the faculty appreciation luncheon when introducing the chair. “Holding such a chair is considered to be an honor in the academic world.”
Brugger’s areas of scholarly interest are bioethics, marriage and sexual ethics, natural law and the integration of psychology and philosophy. Before coming to Denver, he taught moral theology and philosophy at Loyola University New Orleans, the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Va., and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
“Dr. Brugger has distinguished himself as a leader in his academic field,” said seminary rector Msgr. Michael Glenn. “He is an exceptional faculty member, a master teacher, and has contributed in a stellar fashion to the advancement of the science of Catholic morals by his research and publications.”
Brugger is the author of “Capital Punishment and Roman Catholic Moral Tradition” and has published widely on topics in moral theology and philosophy in journals such as the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, National Review On-Line and First Things.
In addition to forming new priests, the chair establishes the seminary as an effective contributor in debates over ethical issues.
“It’s an important voice in the public square so the Church can more effectively accomplish her mission in the world,” said Msgr. Glenn.
Among the responsibilities of the newly seated chair are organizing a lecture in moral theology to the seminary community once every two years, and serving as an advisor for the Denver Archdiocese and the Catholic Medical Association in all matters pertaining to bioethics.
“I’m honored to be appointed as the first holder of the J. Francis Cardinal Stafford Chair in Moral Theology,” Brugger told the Denver Catholic Register. “Cardinal Stafford is a fitting model for a moral theologian. Perhaps more than other areas of Catholic theology, moral theology is called to engage culture especially in our day, the culture of death.”
Brugger said there are five groups that will benefit from the establishment of a chair in bioethics: seminary faculty, seminarians, the wider Denver Catholic community, the benefactors and the chair-holder.
“Establishing the seminary as a public voice for the rapidly advancing field of bioethics could be a great service not only to the Denver Catholic community, but to the entire community,” said Brugger, who holds master’s degrees in moral theology and moral philosophy from Seton Hall, Harvard and Oxford universities and received his doctorate of philosophy in moral theology from Oxford in 2000.
He serves on the board of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, editorial board for the Center for Morality in Public Life, Ethics Review Board for the Denver Archdiocese’s Catholic hospitals and is an ethics advisor to the Colorado Catholic Conference, the state level, public policy arm of the Church.
The seminary hopes to also endow a chair in philosophy in the future, a spokesman said.
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