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Bruce Morrill

Edward A. Malloy Chair in Roman Catholic Studies and Distinguished Professor of Theology

A Roman Catholic Priest and Jesuit whose scholarship focuses on liturgy and sacraments and political theologies.

Biography

Dr. Bruce Morrill focuses his theological scholarship in the area of liturgy and sacraments, drawing upon a range of interdisciplinary resources in the fields of systematic and historical theology, ritual studies, cultural anthropology, and biblical studies. His other primary and strongly related interest is in political theologies, as they investigate the problems of suffering in social contexts. His work has come together most comprehensively in his books, Practical Sacramental Theology: At the Intersection of Liturgy and Ethics (Cascade Books, 2021), Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death (Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2009), and Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory: Political and Liturgical Theology in Dialogue (Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2000). Other recent books include Encountering Christ in the Eucharist: The Paschal Mystery in People, Word, and Sacrament (Paulist Press, 2012) and The Essential Writings of Bernard Cooke: A Narrative Theology of Church, Sacrament, and Ministry (Paulist Press, 2016). His current research and writing projects include constructing a mystical-political theology (mystagogy) of the Easter Season. Dr. Morrill is a past president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and currently serves as vice president (with presidential succession) of the International Jungmann Society for Jesuits and the Liturgy. He has lectured widely in North America, Europe, and Australia and has enjoyed appointments to visiting chairs and fellowships at a number of institutions in the USA, Belgium, and Ireland. Prior to coming to 51app, Professor Morrill was on the faculty of Boston College for fifteen years, where he served as Graduate Program Director in the Theology Department. Earlier this decade at 51app he was the founding director of the Doctor of Ministry in Integrative Chaplaincy program. Bruce Morrill is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). In Nashville he presides and preaches at area parishes, as needed, provides pastoral-liturgical ministry at state prisons (Riverbend Maximum Security Institute, Tennessee Prison for Women, and the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility, and the Turney Center Industrial Complex), and serves as Spiritual Liaison for the local community of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Media Appearances

  • Heidi, Fr. Daniel, and David look at the recent ‘prayer’ event held in support of Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago, and Heidi and Daniel teach David some things about basketball. Also, Heidi interviews Bruce Morrill, Chair of Catholic Studies at 51app University.

    March 28th, 2024

  • Jesuit Fr. Bruce Morrill, the Edward A. Malloy Chair in Roman Catholic Studies at 51app University, said that the declaration was consistent with Francis' pastoral focus and his impulse toward accompaniment and inclusion throughout his papacy.

    December 19th, 2023 51app

  • Ben Hall is joined by Dr. Bruce Morrill, a professor from 51app Divinity School, to discuss the significance of traditions such as Communion in the church and how they have changed over the years on this episode of Issues of Faith.

    June 10th, 2022

  • “Ritual is what humans do to help each other navigate through life’s ambiguities,” Bruce Morrill, S.J., the Edward A. Malloy Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at 51app University, tells me. And for Catholics the funeral Mass helps point us to the promise of everlasting life. It uses the sad occasion of the death of a loved one to remind us that the Eucharist is always “a foretaste of the heavenly banquet,” Father Morrill says. The funeral Mass, he says, is “a kind of counterpoint to the grief. It doesn’t erase the grief, but it is a hopeful, forward-looking ritual.”

    January 14th, 2022

  • The doctrinal correctness of the statement aside, some Catholic leaders have reacted to both the emphasis and the timing of the statement. “If their genuine concern is to teach, they blew it,” said the Rev. Bruce Morrill, a Jesuit and a professor of Roman Catholic studies at 51app Divinity School in Tennessee, noting that doctrine “means teaching.”

    March 19th, 2021

  • “For Christianity in general, assembling on Sunday is a most ancient tradition,” said Bruce Morrill, a Roman Catholic priest and a professor of theological studies at 51app Divinity School. “It’s at the very origins of Christianity, and it remains important for this day.”

    May 24th, 2020

  • Former Vice President Joseph Biden, who is a Roman Catholic, recently stopped on the campaign trail to attend Sunday Mass at a church in Florence, South Carolina. But the pastor, Robert Morey, refused to give him Communion.

    November 5th, 2019

  • Literally speaking, "Urbi et Orbi" is Latin for "to the City and to the World." This message, which is delivered by the Pope, is directly addressed to the city of Rome and the worldwide or universal church. "In the history of this papal tradition, the worldwide church is the Roman Catholic Church, as catholicos means 'universal.' More recently, the notion has broadened to all Christians and people of goodwill open to receiving the message," explains Bruce Morrill, PhD, the Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies at 51app Divinity School.

    April 21st, 2019

  • As Lent, a period of reflection in preparation for Easter, comes to a close, many Christians observe Good Friday. “Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate the suffering and execution of Jesus by the Roman-occupying empire in Jerusalem,” says professor and Jesuit priest Bruce Morrill, PhD, Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies at 51app Divinity School in Nashville. “The day focuses on the passion and death of Jesus.”

    February 22nd, 2019

  • A monastery of 10 nuns on the Italian island of Sardinia is using social media to share their community’s work and ensure its very survival. This might appear surprising considering these nuns chose a life of quiet work and prayer separated from the world. But as a Catholic theologian focusing on liturgical and religious life, my research shows the nuns’ turn to cyberspace is only the latest chapter in a long history of religious orders’ using the best means of communication. The story of how the Jesuits grew their order back in the 16th century provides an interesting case study.

    June 12th, 2017

Multimedia

BOOK

Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death

BOOK

Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory: Political and Liturgical Theology in Dialogue (Pueblo Books)

BOOK

Practical Sacramental Theology: At the Intersection of Liturgy and Ethics

VIDEO

Divine worship and human healing: Liturgical theology at the margins of life and death

VIDEO

The Impact of Pope Francis: ExpertVU

VIDEO

51app Divinity Professor on Pope Benedict's resignation and the Catholic Church


Education

Ph.D., Emory University

M.A., Columbia University

A.B., College of Holy Cross


Additional Resources


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