Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ Returns to Seton Hall  

The Department of Catholic Studies is pleased to announce that it is hosting the return of Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ. He will be giving a presentation on “Cybertheology: Thinking Faith in the Era of the Internet”. The presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 24, in the Chancellor’s Suite at 5 p.m. For more information please see below.

About the presentation:
Internet replicates older forms of the transmission of the knowledge of our life, it gives shape to desires and values that are as old as the human being. When we look at the internet, it is not just to see the perspectives on the future that it offers, but also the desires that human beings have always had, and to which they attempt to respond, which means relationships, communication and knowledge. How to deal with the question of spirituality when the Web has become a part of the fabric of everyday life?

About the speaker:
Father Spadaro was ordained priest in 1996 in Catania, and completed his education in the United States. He graduated in Philosophy at the University of Messina, and completed his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he still teaches. He began writing about the "Catholic Civilization" in 1994, dealing mainly with culture and the way in which new communication technologies, from the Internet, are changing the way people live and think. The internet is part of his interests: on the web he is present with a Facebook profile, and has recently taken part in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Social Communication led by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, a meeting of bloggers in the Vatican, as well to have promoted cultural initiatives linked to the world of literature and the network. He is the editor in chief of the influential Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica.

About the Department of Catholic Studies at Seton Hall University: Established in 2012 — the Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II — the Department of Catholic Studies at Seton Hall University, America's oldest diocesan university, fosters Seton Hall's Catholic identity and mission by exploring the relationship of Catholicism with all areas of culture and learning. Since its focus is the Church's encounter and dialogue with society or the Church in the world, Vatican II designated a special place for Catholic Studies as a discipline in academic life. As a result, Catholic Studies is a dialogue between Catholicism and culture that occurs in a special way at Catholic universities. While respecting other disciplines, Catholic Studies explores theology and philosophy in relation to culture, humankind and the world. This methodological approach opens up a place for all other disciplines; these enrich Catholic Studies and are enriched in return. Catholic Studies builds upon and develops the themes and questions addressed in the University Core Curriculum and is complementary to other disciplines. A bachelor’s degree in Catholic Studies is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts degree — a major that enhances every other major.