Faculty

Joseph M. Arias, Associate Professor of Theology, Dean of Students
S.T.D., The Catholic University of America                
S.T.L., S.T.B., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies
J.C.L., The Catholic University of America
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Loyola Marymount University
jarias@christendom.edu

Dr. Arias is the faculty advisor for students concentrating in moral theology.   He has presented scholarly papers at meetings of The Research Center for Biblical Thomism at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland, the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht, Netherlands, the Mariological Society of America, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, among others. Dr. Arias has published articles in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, The Linacre Quarterly: The Journal of the Catholic Medical Association, Marian Studies, Homiletic & Pastoral Review, and Crisis Magazine.

Salvatore J. Ciresi, Lecturer in Theology
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Strayer University

Professor Ciresi is the founder and director of the St. Jerome Biblical Guild, an educational apostolate that promotes the study of Scripture within a theological and practical framework.  He is also the publisher of Veritas Scripturae, an international online Scripture journal. He was a diocesan consultant for the revision of the National Directory for Catechesis, and he writes a regular Scripture column for The Latin Mass magazine.  Ciresi is a former host of the Catholic radio show CrossTalk and has a special interest in the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.

Stephen A. Hipp, Professor
STD, STL, Pontifical Faculty of Theology, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)                      MA, University of Notre Dame.                                   BA, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN) stephen.hipp@christendom.edu

 Professor of theology and philosophy at the Graduate School, Dr. Hipp has taught at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He is internationally recognized for his work on the metaphysics of personhood and subsistence, the author of numerous scholarly articles and several books, including The One Church of Christ: Understanding Vatican II (Emmaus Academic, 2018), and a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology and the American Catholic Philosophical Association.

Robert J. Matava, Associate Professor of Theology, Dean of the Graduate School
Ph.D., University of St. Andrews, Scotland
M.A., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies (Washington, DC)
B.A., Mount St. Mary’s University
rmatava@christendom.edu

Dr. Matava’s work lies at the juncture of Christian doctrine, philosophical theology, and moral theory. He is the author of Divine Causality and Human Free Choice: Domingo Báñez, Physical Premotion and the Controversy de Auxiliis Revisited (Brill, 2016). He was the Liddon Fellow in Theology at Keble College, University of Oxford, and a fellow of the Center for Medieval Philosophy at Georgetown University. He received the Founder’s Award from the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy in 2009. Dr. Matava has published essays in Studies in Christian Ethics and Cuadernos de pensamiento Español. He has delivered scholarly papers at Oxford, Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Navarre, and Notre Dame.

Andrew Montanaro, Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
M.A., The Catholic University of America
B.S., Rochester Institute of Technology
andrew.montanaro@christendom.edu

Dr. Montanaro’s research interests center on biblical theology, the internalization and textual transmission of Sacred Scripture, and its use in pedagogy and formation. At Christendom, he teaches classes in Sacred Scripture. He has facility in Greek, Hebrew, and Akkadian, as well as other ancient languages. Dr. Montanaro has published in Novum Testamentum. He has also presented scholarly papers at the Universidad Católica Argentina, The Catholic University of America, and the University of Toronto. His dissertation explored models of family and formation in Sirach. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association.

Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P., Lecturer in Theology
S.T.L. and S.T.D., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
M.A., B.A., St. Albert’s College, Oakland, CA
frbmullady@aol.com

Fr. Brian Mullady is an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, one of the founders of their Distance Learning program, and a retreat and mission preacher.  He is a specialist in Moral Theology and has written three books and has numerous CD lectures.  He is a regular on EWTN and writes the question and answer column in Homiletic and Pastoral Review.  He is a specialist on questions of nature and grace and in the thought of Thomas Aquinas.  He is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and an academician in the Catholic Academy of Sciences as well as staff theologian for the Institute of Religious Life.

Rev. Thomas W. Nelson, O.Praem.,  Lecturer in Theology of Consecrated Life
S.T.L., M.A., S.T.B., Ph.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome

Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem.,  is a Norbertine priest of St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange, California. He is the Director of Formation at St. Michael’s Abbey and a lecturer in philosophy and spirituality in their Studium. He is the National Director of the Institute on Religious Life, and the Director of the Vita Consecrata Institute.

Donald S. Prudlo, Associate Professor of Theology and Church History
Ph.D., University of Virginia
M.A., B.A., Christendom College
dprudlo@christendom.edu

David Wallace, Lecturer in Evangelization and Catechesis
M.A., B.A., Christendom College
david.wallace@christendom.edu

Professor Wallace has been involved in various educational and catechetical apostolates in the Diocese of Arlington since 2007, including curriculum development, course writing, and serving as a parish director of religious education. He has lived abroad, studying in Germany and Italy. His academic interests include liturgical theology, early patristic catechetical writings, and Sacred Scripture.

Steve Weidenkopf

M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Syracuse University
steve.weidenkopf@christendom.edu

Professor Weidenkopf is the author of The Church and the Middle Ages: Cathedrals, Crusades, and the Papacy in Exile (1000-1378) (2020), Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church (2019), The Real Story of Catholic History: Answering Twenty Centuries of Anti-Catholic Myths (2017), The Glory of the Crusades (2014), and The Reformation (2017): A Catholic Answers “20 Answers Series” booklet. He is the creator, co-author, and presenter of Epic: A Journey through Church History – a 20 session parish-based study published by Ascension Press (2009) and the author and presenter of The Early Church, a 10 session program on the first 500 years of Church history also available from Ascension Press (2012). He is a member of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East – an international academic group dedicated to the field of crusading history and is also a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Prof. Weidenkopf has appeared as a guest to discuss Church History on numerous national Catholic radio and television programs including EWTN Live and Catholic Answers Live.

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