Fordham University Professors Explore Deconversion In Catholicism

Fordham University professors Tom Beaudoin and Patrick Hornbeck will present Help My Unbelief! Exploring Deconversion in Catholicism as part of the Maryknoll Speakers Series at the Maryknoll Mission Center, 55 Ryder Road, Ossining, on Sunday, May 6, at 2:30 p.m.

Many Catholics are redefining their relationship with the Catholic Church and some are leaving it. Why are Catholics facing this dilemma about their faith? Fordham’s professors will explore this issue and related questions as they lead a discussion on “deconversion,” or change in religious affiliation in American Catholicism.

The professors will provide insight about who is making this change, what is involved in the process and how a person can re-imagine his or her relationship with Catholicism. They also will address the implications for the Church, for theology and for society.

The presentation is free and open to the public.  Reservations are requested and can be made by contacting Colleen Brathwaite at cbrathwaite@maryknoll.org or 914-941-7636, extension 2445. Additional information and directions can be found at the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers website.

Fordham Grad And Undergraduate Professors

Tom Beaudoin is associate professor of theology in the Graduate School of Religion at Fordham University, teaching courses in practice-based theologies for graduate students and undergraduates. He also has taught at Boston College (2001-2004) and Santa Clara University (2004-2008).

Mr. Beaudoin’s research and teaching circulate around the coordinates of theology, culture and practice, focusing on the constitution of spiritual and religious experience, identity, and practice in the contemporary world. He has written Witness to Dispossession: The Vocation of a Postmodern Theologian (Orbis Books, 2008), Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy (Sheed and Ward/Rowman and Littlefield, 2003) and Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Jossey-Bass/Simon and Schuster, 1998).

J. Patrick Hornbeck II is assistant professor and associate chair for undergraduate studies in the theology department at Fordham University. His work focuses on the history of medieval and early modern Christianity along with contemporary American Roman Catholicism.

Mr. Hornbeck holds a doctorate in theology from Oxford University. He is the author of What Is a Lollard? Dissent and Belief in Late Medieval England (Oxford University Press, 2010) and co-editor of Wycliffite Controversies (Turnhout Brepols Publishers, 2011).