We sat down with for an interview with Peter Casarella, professor of theology at Duke Divinity School and longtime friend of the Lumen Christi Institute. Casarella has been involved with the Lumen Christi Institute (LCI) since its founding over twenty-five years ago. We asked him more about LCI’s history, as well as where thinks institutes for Catholic thought at non-Catholic universities need to go in the future.
LCI: You’ve been involved with the Lumen Christi Institute for a long time. What’s the history of your involvement with LCI?
PC: I first became involved in the early stages when I helped Thomas Levergood organize a panel on theology that included Cardinal George and David Tracy. I think that event took place almost twenty-five years ago. After that I consulted with Thomas, and he consulted with me about events, figures, and ideas. From 2007-2013 I taught at DePaul University in Chicago while living in Hyde Park and had more opportunities to attend events sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute (LCI). In sum, LCI has had a big influence on me both as an organizer of events (especially when the pivot to on-line events took place during COVID) and as a participant. During all those diverse activities, I never lost sight of the fact that Thomas and Paul Griffiths began Lumen Christi with a simple invitation to graduate students at the Divinity School to participate in the liturgy of the hours. At its core, LCI is a fellowship that includes equal measures of friendship, intellectual debate, and prayer.
