Faculty of Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary attend CTSA

(L to R), Hansol Goo, PhD, Deepan Rajaratnam, PhD, Shawn Colberh, PhD, Kristin Colberg, PhD, Michael Rubbelke, PhD, Ben Durheim, PhD, Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, PhD. Not pictured: Fr. William Orbih

The 80^th Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) took place from June 11-14, 2026. This year’s gathering centered around the theme, “Theology in a Synodal Church.” We are excited to share the work that faculty members from the School of Theology and Seminary presented on throughout this conference.  

Kristin Colberg, PhD spoke as a panelist for the opening plenary session, Voices from the Synod: Challenges to Theology at the Service of a Synodal Church on Thursday, June 11^th. Colberg, a professor of theology at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, was one of three panelists chosen because of their participation in the International Synod. Colberg specifically delivered remarks on The Role of the Theologian in the Synodal Process. Reflecting on her experience, Colberg said, “the CTSA was a wonderful gathering this year focused on the important topic of synodality. We thought about building a synodal church from a wide variety of perspectives. It was fun to be there with so many SOT colleagues.” 

Numerous faculty members from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary delivered remarks on their publications and served in various roles (administrative team member, convener, moderator, respondent) during concurrent sessions on a variety of synodal-oriented theological topics.  

Fr. William Orbih, PhD, Rector of the School of Theology and Seminary. presented a paper, served as an administrative team member and respondent on Christ Topic Session: Migration and Christ, and was convener for the African Theology, Church, and Synodality Invited Session. 

Deepan Rajaratnam, PhD, Director of Ministerial Formation at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, presented a paper and served as a moderator for the Asian and Asian American Theology Consultation session. 

Michael Rubbelke, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology and Academic Dean at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, served as an administrative team member and convener for the Spirituality Topic Session.  

Hansol Goo, PhD, Director of the Diekmann Center at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, served as an administrative team member for the Spirituality Topic Session and moderator for the African Theology, Church, and Synodality Invited Session.  

Faculty members Ben Durheim, PhD, and Daniella Szupan-Jerome, PhD were also attendants of this year’s gathering.  

We celebrate the accomplishments of our faculty and are thankful for a robust experience at this year’s gathering of The Catholic Theological Society of America! We look forward to having our faculty continue to participate in these important conversations in the Church.