The Lonergan Institute Appoints New Director, Jonathan Heaps

The Center for Catholic Studies is pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Heaps, Ph.D. as Director of the Lonergan Institute and editor of The Lonergan Review.

A prolific scholar specializing in Catholic philosophy and theology, Jonathan Heaps has been serving the Seton Hall community and the Lonergan Institute since 2020, when he began working as The Lonergan Review’s associate editor. Since then, Heaps has immersed himself in the vibrant life and mission of the university. In 2023 he spoke at the spring Lonergan lecture and joined the department of the CORE this fall. Heaps recently led a faculty discussion on the meaning of “wholeness” in life at the Kata Holos event for Seton Hall’s Contemplative Community week, and he is slated to teach “Christianity and Culture in Dialogue” for the upcoming spring semester.

Prior to his work at Seton Hall, Heaps was awarded the 2022–23 Lonergan Fellowship at The Lonergan Institute of Boston College and was the recipient of the 2020 Dolores L. Christie Scholarship from the Catholic Theological Society of America. He completed his Ph.D. program, Religious Studies, interdisciplinary track: philosophy and systematic theology, at Marquette University in 2019. His first book, The Ambiguity of Being: Bernard Lonergan and the Problems of the Supernatural, is forthcoming from the Catholic University of America Press. 

Patrick Manning, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Catholic Studies, expressed his full support for Heaps in this new role: "I am thrilled to welcome Jonathan Heaps to our team at the Center for Catholic Studies. He is a highly gifted scholar, teacher, and communicator at the forefront of a new generation of Lonergan scholars. We are very fortunate to have found such an ideal person to serve in this challenging role, and I have no doubt that he will help the Seton Hall community to reap the fruit of Lonergan's thought in new and creative ways."

In addition to his many academic publications, Heaps has produced numerous works for popular audiences, and his content spans every media platform from scholarly journals to blogs and podcasts. The topics of his writings are equally wide-ranging, exploring themes such as embodied cognition; contemplative methodology; grace, freedom, and culture; and historical soteriology, in relationship to 20th century Catholic thought. Heaps’s ample teaching experience in philosophy, theology, and religion (including at St. Edwards University, the University of the Incarnate Word, Mexican American Catholic College, Greenville College and Marquette University) further demonstrates his commitment to engaging both the university and the wider culture in dialogue on fundamental questions of knowledge and faith. 

Heaps looks forward to building on the Lonergan Institute’s foundation a thriving community of thought and action: “I am honored and grateful for this opportunity to help support the special place that Fr. Lonergan's thought has had at Seton Hall. It is deeply important for Lonergan Studies at large that this legacy not only continues, but flourishes. I think Fr. Lonergan would be gratified to see how his thought is not only still being studied here, but especially how it is helping the community to work together more intelligently, responsibly, and lovingly. I am very excited to be joining that collaboration through the Institute and its partners on campus.”

The Bernard J. Lonergan Institute at Seton Hall University, launched in 2006 by the Center for Catholic Studies, is dedicated to studying and promoting the work of Bernard Lonergan, a Canadian Catholic philosopher of the 20th century whose (GEM) seeks to understand the methods of both empirical sciences and human studies and theology, and its application to contemporary culture. In addition to ongoing research, the Institute focuses on faculty development and sponsors lectures and conferences, faculty and student mentoring programs and reading groups, and the publication of the acclaimed journal, The Lonergan Review.

The work of the Lonergan Institute, in its multifaceted initiatives and interdisciplinary scholarship, aligns perfectly with Heaps’ versatile capabilities and experience, and the Center for Catholic Studies anticipates his fruitful leadership. He can be contacted at Jonathan.heaps@shu.edu. 

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