Francis Xavier Clooney

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Weston School of Theology
  • University of Chicago
    • Academic work
    DisciplineTheology
    Institutions
    Main interestsComparative theology

    Francis Xavier Clooney

    priest and scholar in the teachings of Hinduism. He is currently a professor at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1]

    Career

    A native of

    Society of Jesus in 1968 and was subsequently ordained in 1978.[2] Following that, he earned his bachelor's degree at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York
    .

    After earning his doctorate in South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago in 1984, Clooney taught at Boston College until 2005, serving also as the Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (a recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford), when he became the Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School. In 2010, he became the Director of Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions but is no longer in that role. [3] That same year he was named a Fellow of the British Academy.[4]

    His primary areas of scholarship are theological

    Hindu India, and the developing field of comparative theology, a discipline distinguished by attentiveness to the dynamics of theological learning deepened and enriched through the study of traditions other than one's own.[5] He has also written on the Jesuit missionary tradition, particularly in India, and the dynamics of dialogue in the contemporary world.[2]

    Clooney sits on editorial boards, was the first president of the

    Jesuit spirituality.[6]

    In 2010, he was the recipient of Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, awarded by the Association of Theological Schools.[7] In 2017, he was nominated as the winner of the John Courtney Murray Award. As of 2023, he still teaches courses in comparative religion at Harvard Divinity School but is planning his retirement. He is not currently taking any additional doctoral students. His courses are taught lecture style with a heavy emphasis on exegesis. His approach to comparative theology is textually based and confessional, and he defers making normative truth claims. [8]

    Works

    Hindu Wisdom for All God's Children

    Hindu Wisdom for All God’s Children is an introduction to

    Indian culture to understand and therefore provides a good initial introduction to comparative theology and Clooney. It also shows what one can learn about God from the Hindu religious tradition by taking a look at various Hindu gods. Hindu Wisdom for All God's Children began first as a series of lectures given at John Carroll University
    in 1996 and was later developed into a book.

    The book's introduction is significant to understanding Clooney's interest in eastern religions. As part of his early Jesuit training, Clooney was expected to teach high school. He chose to travel to Kathmandu, Nepal, and teach 9th-grade boys at St. Xavier’s High School. Looking for a way to teach moral values to his students, Clooney turned to the Bhagavad Gita. This was the first time that Clooney had studied the Bhagavad Gita. Similarly, he also used the stories of the Buddha's life and teachings to relate to the Nepali boys he was teaching.

    Hindu God, Christian God

    In Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions, Clooney compares

    Hindu theology in four areas: the existence of God, what is the true God, divine embodiment, and the revelation of God. Clooney considers the similarities between Christianity and Hinduism's theological answers to these topics. Clooney then draws four major conclusions about God: the world is complex and there is a God who created the world, this God can be further identified by drawing reasonable conclusions about who God is and how He will likely act, God is not limited to the restrictiveness of a body but can choose to assume this limited form, and there is divine revelation. This book is helpful in seeing how Clooney's ideas about God develop through his studying of the theology of religions outside of Christianity.[9]

    Major publications

    Personal life

    As a Jesuit, Clooney observes vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He regularly celebrates Mass at a local parish in Sharon, Massachusetts. Most of his free time is spent writing and presenting his work in academic circles domestically and abroad. [10][11]

    Clooney became a vegetarian in 1974 as part of his spiritual practice. [10][12][13]

    References

    1. ^ "Meet the Faculty - Francis X. Clooney, S.J." Harvard Divinity School.
    2. ^ a b "I Am Evangelising Christians — Francis X Clooney, S.J." Frontline. 22 (19). 23 September 2005. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
    3. ^ "Francis X. Clooney", America Magazine
    4. ^ Center for Indic Studies - Harvard Divinity School Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
    5. ISSN 0971-751X
      . Retrieved 2020-07-03.
    6. ^ "HDS - Faculty - Francis X. Clooney". www.hds.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
    7. ^ "Henry Luce III Fellowships | The Association of Theological Schools". www.ats.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
    8. ^ "Catholic Theological Society of America - Awards". ctsa-online.org. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
    9. ^ Clooney, Francis X., S.J. Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions. New York: Oxford UP, 2001.
    10. ^ a b Jenna Alatriste; Laura Krueger; HDS communications office (2016-08-12). "Francis X. Clooney, S.J." humansofhds. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
    11. ^ "Leadership". Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
    12. ^ Clooney, Francis X. (1979-02-24). "Vegetarianism and Religion". America: 133–134. Reprinted in Kerry Walters; Lisa Portmess, eds. (2001). Religious Vegetarianism. SUNY Press.
      ISBN 9780791490679
      .
    13. ISBN 978-0-8126-9393-5
      . Retrieved 2018-08-30.

    External links

    External videos
    video icon Why Comparative Theology Works Interreligiously (2016)
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