Joseph Capizzi, Ph.D.

Joseph E. Capizzi, Ph.D. is the McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. He holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology. He teaches in the areas of social and political theology, with special interests in issues in peace and war, citizenship, political authority, and Augustinian theology. He has written, lectured, and published widely on just war theory, bioethics, the history of moral theology, and political liberalism.

Prior to joining the McGrath Institute, he served as dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies and ordinary professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America. He also served as the executive director of Catholic University’s Institute for Human Ecology from its founding in 2016 until 2023.

He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia, his Master's in Theological Studies from Emory University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He lives in South Bend, Indiana, with his wife and six children.

Publications

• Politics, Justice, and War: Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
• A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions and Insights from Catholic Teaching, with Andrew Abela, The Catholic University of America Press, March, 2014, and third edition in 2021.