Skip to main content

Visiting Scholar 2015-2016

Emmaus O’Herlihy

Emmaus O’Herlihy is an Irish Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey, Ireland, solemnly professed in 2014. Trained in graphic design he worked as an Art Director in Los Angeles, U.S.A., after receiving his BDes from National College of Art and Design, Ireland. Currently a student at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto, Canada, he is enrolled in the Master of Theological Studies program.

Exhibitions include ‘CORPUS I’ at the New Camadoli Hermitage of Camaldolese Benedictine Hermits, Big Sur, California, USA (2008); ‘CORPUS II’Glenstal Abbey, Ireland (2011); Archangel included in Regis Easter Exhibition (2014).

Works in Toronto include: The Kiss of Judas (2015) presently on display at Alumni Hall, Faculty of Theology, St. Michael’s College, Toronto; Apostola Apostolorum, (2015) on display during the Vatican II, Promise of Renewal conference held at Faculty of Theology, St. Michael’s College, Toronto, in 2015.

Recent work includes commissions for: Mary Immaculate Institute, Limerick (Immaculate Conception, 2016), and Christ the King University Chapel, Kings University, Ontario (Christum Regem, 2014).

Several paintings can be seen in Glenstal Abbey, Ireland, including those presently on display at the Glenstal Abbey Library.

Works in print include: Spiorad (Spring 2012), biannual journal produced by and for the Trinity College Dublin community (by the Church of Ireland Chaplaincy at TCD) that “explores the sacred in words and images.”

Thomas O'Meara, O.P

The name of eminent theologian Thomas O’Meara, O.P. is familiar to countless theology students and others engaged in ministry, as his book Theology of Ministry, first published in 1983 and still in wide use, is considered a classic in the field, used in classrooms around the world. He has published an additional 14 books, and has made numerous contributions to academic journals .

Fr. O’Meara did his doctoral studies at the University of Munich with Heinrich Fries and Karl Rahner. His teaching positions have included work at Aquinas Institute in Missouri and Notre Dame University in Indiana. Today, he teaches part-time at Notre Dame, as well as at Catholic Theological Union and Loyola University, both in Chicago. He is currently teaching a class entitled Theology of the Church at the University of St. Michael’s College Faculty of Theology.

Roger Houngbedji, o.p (visiting scholar: October 1, 2015- April 30, 2016)

Originally from Benin, Fr. Houngbedji recently competed a second mandate as Prior Provincial of the Dominican Vice-Province of West Africa in Cote D’Ivoire. Fr. Houngbedji also serves as President of the Major Superiors of Cote d’Ivoire. He has also served as Socius to the Master of the Oder of Preacher for Africa (1999-2005). In these capacities Fr. Houngbedji has become very familiar with the African ecclesial context.

Dr. Houngbedji holds a degree in philosophy (Kinshasa), bachelor’s degree in theology (Lyon), Licentiate in Theology (l’Institut Catholique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest), and a doctorate in biblical studies from the Université de Fribourg.

In addition to regular teaching at the Catholic University of West Africa (UCAO) in Cote d’Ivoire, he also teaches at the Institut Dominicain Saint Thomas d’Aquin de Yamoussoukro and the Ecole de la foi de Yamoussoukro.

Fr. Houngbedji has published in Pentecôte d’Afrique, Eglise d’Afrique, and Lumière et vie and is the author of the books: L’Eglise-Famille de Dieu en Afrique. Selon Luc 8,19-21. Problèmes de fondements, La radicalité de la vie religieuse en contexte africain.

Dennis Halft

Dennis Halft was born in Bonn, Germany and currently lives in Mainz. He joined the Northern German province of Dominican Friars in 2008 and is a member of the Institut dominicain d’études orientales in Cairo. He is a graduate of the Free University in Berlin, having specialized in Islamic, Iranian, and Comparative Religious Studies. His current research focuses on the reception of Arabic Bible translations by Twelver Shiite scholars in Safavid, Persia. He has several publications on medieval and pre-modern Muslim polemical works against Judaism and Christianity.