Curran, Charles E. 1934-

PERSONAL:

Born March 30, 1934, in Rochester, NY. Education: St. Bernard's Seminary and College, B.A., 1955; Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy, S.T. D., 1957, S.T.L., 1959, S.T.D., 1961; Academia Alfonsiana, Rome, S.T.D., 1961.

ADDRESSES:

Office—317 Dallas Hall, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750317, Dallas, TX 75275-0317.

CAREER:

Ordained Roman Catholic priest, 1958. St. Bernard's Seminary, Rochester, NY, professor of moral theology, 1961-65; Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, assistant professor, 1965-67, associate professor, 1967-71, professor of moral theology, 1971-89; Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values, 1991—. Senior research scholar, Kennedy Center for Bioethics, Georgetown University, 1972; external examiner in Christian ethics, University of the West Indies, 1982-86; visiting Kaneb Professor of Catholic Studies, Cornell University, 1987-88; University of Southern California, visiting Brooks Professor of Religion, 1988-89, visiting Firestone Professor of Religion, 1989-90; visiting Goodwin-Philpott Eminent Scholar in Religion, Auburn University, 1990-91.

MEMBER:

American Society of Christian Ethics (president, 1971-72), American Theological Society (vice president, 1988-89; president, 1989-90), Catholic Theological Society of America (vice president, 1968-69; president, 1969-70), College Theology Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

"Man in the News" citation, New York Times, 1967; faculty fellowship, American Association of Theological Schools, 1971; John Courtney Murray Award, Catholic Society of America, 1972, for distinguished achievement in theology; "Person of the Week," American Broadcasting Company (ABC), August, 1986; honorary doctorate, University of Charleston, 1987, and Concordia College, 1992.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; THEOLOGY

Christian Morality Today: The Renewal of Moral Theology, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1966.

A New Look at Christian Morality, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1968.

(Editor) Absolutes in Moral Theology?, Corpus Books (Washington, DC), 1968.

(With Robert E. Hunt and others) Dissent in and for the Church: Theologians and Humanae Vitae, Sheed & Ward (New York, NY), 1969.

(With others) The Responsibility of Dissent: The Church and Academic Freedom, Sheed & Ward (New York, NY), 1969.

(Editor) Contraception: Authority and Dissent, Herder & Herder (New York, NY), 1969.

Contemporary Problems in Moral Theology, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1970.

(Editor, with George J. Dyer) Shared Responsibility in the Local Church, Catholic Theological Society of America, 1970.

Catholic Moral Theology in Dialogue, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1972.

The Crisis in Priestly Ministry, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1972.

Politics, Medicine, and Christian Ethics: A Dialogue with Paul Ramsey, Fortress (Philadelphia, PA), 1973.

New Perspectives in Moral Theology, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1974.

Ongoing Revision: Studies in Moral Theology, Fides (Notre Dame, IN), 1975.

Themes in Fundamental Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1977.

Issues in Sexual and Medical Ethics, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1978.

Transition and Tradition in Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1979.

Moral Theology: A Continuing Journey, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1982.

American Catholic Social Ethics: Twentieth-Century Approaches, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1982.

Critical Concerns in Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1984.

Directions in Catholic Social Ethics, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1985.

Directions in Fundamental Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1985.

Faithful Dissent, Sheed & Ward (Kansas City, MO), 1986.

Toward an American Catholic Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1988.

Sexualitaet und Ethik, Athenaum (Frankfurt, Germany), 1988.

Tensions in Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1988.

Catholic Higher Education, Theology, and Academic Freedom, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1990.

(Editor) Moral Theology: Challenges for the Future; Essays in Honor of Richard A. McCormick, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1990.

The Living Tradition of Catholic Moral Theology, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1992.

The Church and Morality: An Ecumenical and Catholic Approach, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

History and Contemporary Issues: Studies in Moral Theology, Continuum (New York, NY), 1996.

(Contributor) Feminist Ethics and the Catholic Moral Tradition, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1996.

The Origins of Moral Theology in the United States: Three Different Approaches, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 1997.

(Coauthor) John Paul II and Moral Theology, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1998.

The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 1999.

Moral Theology at the End of the Century, Marquette University Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1999.

Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present: A Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2002.

(Editor) Change in Official Catholic Moral Teachings, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor) Conscience, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 2004.

The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul II, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2005.

Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2006.

Catholic Moral Theology in the United States: A History, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2008.

EDITOR, WITH RICHARD A. MCCORMICK; "READINGS IN MORAL THEOLOGY" SERIES

Readings in Moral Theology Number 1: Moral Norms and Catholic Tradition, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1979.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 2: The Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1980.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 3: The Magisterium and Morality, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1982.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 4: The Use of Scripture in Moral Theology, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1984.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 5: Official Catholic Social Teaching, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1986.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 6: Dissent in the Church, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1988.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 7: Natural Law and Theology, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 8: Dialogue about Catholic Sexual Teaching, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Margaret A. Farley) Readings in Moral Theology Number 9: Feminist Ethics and the Catholic Moral Tradition, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 10: John Paul II and Moral Theology, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Readings in Moral Theology Number 11: The Historical Development of Fundamental Moral Theology in the United States, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1999.

The Historical Development of Fundamental Moral Theology in the United States, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1999.

OTHER

Contributor to books, including Ecumenical Dialogue at Harvard, edited by S.H. Miller and G.E. Wright, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1964; Law for Liberty, edited by James E. Biechler, Helicon (La Jolla, CA), 1967; and The Situation Ethics Debate, edited by Harvey Cox, Westminster (Philadelphia, PA), 1968. Contributor to periodicals, including Jurist, Commonweal, and Homiletic. Member of editorial board, International Christian Digest, Eglise et Theologie, and Horizons.

SIDELIGHTS:

In April 1967, Charles E. Curran became a cause célèbre for priestly academic freedom when he was fired by Catholic University of America, supposedly (although the university gave no reasons for the dismissal) for his liberal views on birth control. The popular teacher chose to fight the ouster, and the Catholic University faculty voted four hundred to eighteen not to hold classes until he was reinstated. The boycott closed the university for three days before Curran was rehired with the announcement that he would be promoted from assistant to associate professor the following semester.

In the summer of 1968, Curran was, he once told CA, "the organizer and chief spokesman of a group of American Catholic theologians, ultimately totaling about six hundred, who dissented from the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae," which reaffirmed the church's traditional stand against artificial birth control. "The day after the encyclical was issued in Rome, I spoke for eighty-nine Roman Catholic theologians … indicating that one could be a loyal Roman Catholic and still disagree with this particular teaching. This dissent was widely carried in the newspaper and television accounts of those days…. These events are recorded in … Dissent in and for the Church: Theologians and Humanae Vitae."

In 1989 Curran explained further to CA about his difficulties with the Catholic University of America and the Vatican: "The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [declared] that I was no longer suitable nor eligible to teach Catholic theology at Catholic University of America. Subsequent to that, the university said that I could not teach Catholic theology there and had to sign a statement saying I would agree with the Vatican declaration. I refused to do so, on the grounds that it was a violation of my academic freedom. I took the case to court in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, but the judge ruled that Catholic University did not always have to come down on the side of academic freedom and that I had no case against them. However, a committee of the American Association of University Professors has concluded that Catholic University has violated my academic freedom and my tenure rights."

Banned by the Vatican from teaching moral theology at the University, Curran left the Catholic University of America in 1989. He has been the Elizabeth Scurlock Professor of Human Values at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, since 1991. A prolific writer and editor, Curran focuses his work on the moral theology of the church, including the "Readings in Moral Theology" series he coedits with Richard A. McCormick.

Curran is generally lauded by critics for his scholarly analyses and balanced reasoning on issues of moral theology, despite the Church's position that he is unfit to teach moral issues. Lawrence Cunningham wrote in Commonweal of Curran's The Origins of Moral Theology in the United States: Three Different Approaches: "Curran analyzes in some depth the writing of all three men [Aloysius Sabetti, Thomas Boquillon, and John Hogan] as well as offers a concise and illuminating history of the development of moral theology…. Though scholarly, this study should be of interest to anyone concerned with theology."

Curran's Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present: A Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis was also hailed as a major achievement. Curran emphasizes the historical development of the Church's social teachings, which traditionally focus on social, economic, and political matters and not subjects relating to women's rights, family, or environmental responsibility. He examines the influence of major documents, including the papal encyclicals Dignitatis humanae from the second Vatican Council, and The Challenge of Peace and Economic Justice for All, from the U.S. Catholic bishops. Indeed, in the view of National Catholic Reporter contributor Andrew Skotnicki, Curran's analysis of the disagreements and compromises that shaped the creation of these documents is one of the particular strengths of the book. According to Church History contributor Debra Campbell, Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present is a "major milestone in Catholic intellectual history." David Hollenbach, writing in Theological Studies, called it "the single best analysis of the modern tradition of Catholic social teaching to be found in one place."

In The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul II, Curran analyzes the foundations of John Paul's ethical teachings. The book "rightly notes that the key concern and unifying theme of John Paul's ethics is the truth about the human person, disclosed in and by Jesus Christ," wrote Darlene Fozard Weaver in Commonweal. In Curran's view, however, John Paul's focus on duty, obedience, and the common good "cannot deal adequately with the concrete realities of each individual called in a unique way to respond to the gift of God and the needs of others in our complex world." According to Theological Studies critic Mark J. Allman, the book "reconfirms [Curran's] well-earned reputation as one of the most intelligent and consistently progressive voices in Catholic moral theology."

Curran's exploration of his own development as a moral thinker, Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian, received significant attention. Curran describes his call to the priesthood, his moral studies in seminary, and his early clash with church authorities on teachings about sexual morality; he also discusses how the consequences of his choices to confront the church hierarchy have affected him. Writing in America, Maura Anne Ryan observed that "the virtue of Loyal Dissent … is its ability to place [Curran's] public choices, and ultimately their costs, in the context not only of deeply held theological convictions, but also of his vocation as a priest-theologian." As a result, Ryan added, the book "is more than a reflection on Charles Curran's life. It is also a reflection on the American Catholic Church in the aftermath of Vatican II." Library Journal reviewer John-Leonard Berg admired the book's bluntness and honesty, writing that Curran challenges established teachings "with the brilliance of a scholar and the sensitivity of a seasoned pastor."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Curran, Charles E., The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul II, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2005.

Curran, Charles E., Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2006.

PERIODICALS

America, July 31, 2006, Maura Anne Ryan, "Search and Witness," p. 34.

Church History, March 1, 2005, Debra Campbell, review of Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present: A Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis, p. 210.

Commonweal, November 21, 1997, Lawrence S. Cunningham, review of The Origins of Moral Theology in the United States: Three Different Approaches, p. 27; December 16, 2005, Darlene Fozard Weaver, "How to Be Good," p. 27; September 8, 2006, J. Peter Nixon, "Loyal Dissent," p. 30.

Conscience, summer, 2007, Rosemary Radford Ruether, "For the Good of the Church."

Ecumenical Review, July 1, 2004, Thomas J. Massaro, review of Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present, p. 378.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, April 1, 2003, review of Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present, p. 69.

Library Journal, May 15, 2006, John-Leonard Berg, review of Loyal Dissent, p. 106.

National Catholic Reporter, February 1, 2002, Andrew Skotnicki, review of Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present, p. 27.

New York Times Book Review, March 19, 1989, John Garvey, review of Tensions in Moral Theology, p. 11. October 24, 1999, John T. Noonan, Jr., review of The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis.

Science & Sprit, May-June, 2006, review of Loyal Dissent.

Theological Studies, June 1, 2003, David Hollenbach, review of Catholic Social Teaching, 1891-Present, p. 437; September 1, 2006, Mark J. Allman, review of The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul II, p. 695; June 1, 2007, Joseph A. Selling, review of Loyal Dissent, p. 468.