Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J.

Fr. Fitzgerald was born in Burbank, California. He earned a B.A. in History from Santa Clara University (1980), and entered the Society of Jesus two years later. After first vows he went to Germany for studies, earning a Ph.B. in Philosophy from the Hochschule für Philosophy, Munich (1986) before returning to the States for two years of high school teaching in Sacramento. Then, he pursued studies for the M.Div. degree at the Weston School of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts (1991), and remained there to complete an S.T.L. with an emphasis in Ecclesiology (the study of the church). He was interested in how God draws people into faith through faith communities. If God interacts with the faithful, both immediately as persons and through communities, then religious experience and corporate discernment can and perhaps should cohere. He explored this thesis at the University of Paris IV - La Sorbonne, where he earned a D.E.A. in the History of Religions (1994), and a D. ès L. in the Sociology of Religion (1997). Concurrently he worked towards an S.T.D. in Ecclesiology from the Institut Catholique de Paris (awarded in 1999).

Since he joined the faculty in 1997, Fr. Fitzgerald has taught courses in both Systematic Theology and Practical Theology. He also directs the interdisciplinary Catholic Studies minor.