John C. Cavadini, associate professor and chair of the theology department and McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI a member of the Order of the Knights of St. Gregory the Great.
Cavadini received the papal honor at the request of Bishop John M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who praised Cavadini “for his study of Catholic theology, his recruiting of outstanding theologians for the theology faculty at Notre Dame, and his assistance to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Established in 1831, the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great honors its recipients for service to the church, support of the Holy See, and for witnessing to the Catholic faith in their country and communities.
As a theologian, Cavadini specializes in patristic and early medieval theology, the theology of Augustine and the history of biblical and patristic exegesis, but he has lectured and written about all aspects of religious belief in general and the Catholic Church in particular.
Often and widely consulted by Church leaders, ministers and teachers, Cavadini recently has become deeply interested in and active on behalf of the development of theological education in the Catholic Church of Africa. In September he was appointed by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, as co-chair of a new campus Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life.
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on November 19, 2009.