Melanie Barrett, Ph.D., S.T.D.
Chairperson and Professor in the Department of Moral Theology
(847) 837-4523
B.A. (Political Science and International Studies), Northwestern University. M.A. (Divinity) and Ph.D. (Religious Ethics), University of Chicago Divinity School. S.T.L., University of St. Mary of the Lake. S.T.D. (Moral Theology), University of Fribourg. Author of “Co-Creating With the Creator: A Virtue-Based Approach,” in Science, Faith, & Human Fertility: The Third Conference on Ethical Fertility Health Management. Author of “Doctrine and Praxis in Pope Francis’s Approach to Evangelization,” in Pope Francis and the Event of Encounter. Author of Love’s Beauty at the Heart of the Christian Moral Life: The Ethics of Catholic Theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. Currently completing a second book on suffering and the moral life in the work of Thomas Aquinas. Member of editorial board, Chicago Studies. Member of the Society of Christian Ethics, the American Academy of Religion, and the Academy of Catholic Theology
Books
Science, Faith and Human Fertility
Science, Faith and Human Fertility: Third Conference on Ethical Fertility Health Management
Edited by Richard Fehring and Theresa Notare
Dr. Barrett contributed the chapter, Co-Creating with the Creator: a Virtue Ethics Based Approach
Marquette University Press, 2012, 421 pages
Love’s Beauty at the Heart of the Christian Moral Life
Love’s Beauty at the Heart of the Christian Moral Life develops the ethical theory implicit in the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar, a prominent 20th century Swiss Catholic theologian, attempting to retrieve the concept of beauty for Christian theology and yielding important ethical insights, culminating in an aesthetic and dramatic theory of ethics: one in which the perception of the beauty of God’s love in Christ becomes a foundational experience for moral formation and ongoing ethical discernment.
Edwin Mellen Press, 2009, 317 pages
Papers & Presentations
- “Personal Faith Journey.” Interview for “Winds of Change” radio show, 750 AM Chicago. Episode #1679, hosted by Mary Hallan Fiorito, May 8, 2017
- “The Moral Obligation to Speak and Reflect the Truth in Society.” Catholic keynote address for 2017 Muslim-Catholic Iftar at Islamic Foundation North. Sponsored by CIOGC (The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago), June 12, 2017
- “Why Does God Allow Violence to Exist in the World?” Interview, Catholic New World (now Chicago Catholic), June 26, 2016
- “How Clergy Are Called to Understand and Respond to the Evils of Porn.”, Conference presentation for “Create a Clean Heart: Defeating the Poison of Pornography in our Parish and in our Culture.” Sponsored by the Respect Life office of the Archdiocese of Chicago, St. Luke’s parish, and Relevant Radio. , April 1, 2016
- “Five Building Blocks for a Sound Moral Theology”, Chicago Studies, 2012
