June 27, 2014
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Rev. John T. Ford, C.S.C., professor of theology and religious studies and coordinator of Hispanic/Latino Studies, received the Paul Wattson Christian Unity Award last week from the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at the conclusion of the order's 17th General Chapter Meeting in Washington, D.C."Father Ford's commitment to ecumenism and ardent involvement in the Church's grass-roots efforts serve as a witness and challenge for each of us to live out these principles in our own lives," says Very Rev. Mark Morozowich, dean of theology and religious studies. "The Catholic University of America community joins in congratulating him for his outstanding achievements that embody the goals and aspirations of the faculty."At the meeting on June 17, Father Ford gave a talk on Paul Wattson and Ecumenism, which will be included in an upcoming issue of Ecumenical Trends, a journal published by the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, a ministry of the friars.Father Ford, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, received a master's degree in theology from Holy Cross College (Washington, D.C.) and a licentiate and doctorate in theology at the Gregorian University (Rome). His areas of teaching and research include contemporary ecumenism, Hispanic/Latino theology, and 19th-century theology with emphasis on the writings of Blessed John Henry Newman.A past president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, Father Ford has participated in the United Methodist Roman Catholic Dialogue and the Reformed Roman Catholic International Dialogue. He has also been an observer consultant at the Consultation on Church Union/Churches Uniting in Christ and served as a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches.Currently, as the chair of the Ecumenism Committee of the Washington Theological Consortium, he has published ecumenism-related articles in Call to Unity, The Christian Century, Ecumenical Review, Ecumenical Trends, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, and Religious Studies Review, and is a co editor of Twelve Tales Untold: A Study Guide for Ecumenical Reception (Eerdmans, 1993).Past recipients of the Paul Wattson Christian Unity Award have included distinguished ecumenists Cardinal Jan Willebrands, Rev. John F. Hotchkins, and George A. Lindbeck, the Pitkin Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at Yale University.