Edward Hahnenberg, PhD

Edward P. Hahnenberg, Ph.D. is the Breen Chair in Catholic Theology and Chair of the Department of Theology & Religious Studies. 

Dr. Hahnenberg’s research explores 20th-century Catholic theology, with particular attention to developments in the understanding of church and ministry, the Second Vatican Council, theology of vocation and discernment, and lay ecclesial ministry. A popular speaker, he is a past delegate to the U.S. Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue and former theological consultant to the U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee on Lay Ministry in its preparation of the document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord.

Dr. Hahnenberg is the author or co-editor of seven books—including Theodore Hesburgh: Bridge Builder (Liturgical Press, 2020) and Theology for Ministry: An Introduction for Lay Ministers (Liturgical Press, 2014)—and numerous articles in academic and pastoral journals. In 2019 he received the Called and Gifted Award from the Association of Graduate Programs in Ministry in recognition of his contributions to the church’s ministerial life.

Selected Courses

• TRS 2300: Contemporary Catholic Theology
• TRS 2320: Jesus: History and Theology
• TRS 2355: Saints and Society
• TRS 3126/5126: Jesus in Film
• TRS 3320/5320: Christ and the Pascal Mystery
• TRS 3338/5338: Catholicism in a Digital Age
• TRS 3340/5340: Church and Sacrament
• TRS 4300/5300: Theological Methods

Selected Publications

• Transforming Ministry Formation, co-edited with Marti Jewell and Theodore Whapham (Paulist Press, 2021).
• Theodore Hesburgh: Bridge Builder (Liturgical Press, 2020).
• “A Patient Firmness: The Beginnings of Lay Ecclesial Ministry in the United States, 1967-1987,” U.S. Catholic Historian (2017).
• A Church with Open Doors: Catholic Ecclesiology for the Third Millennium, co-edited with Richard Gaillardetz (Liturgical Press, 2015).