Graduate School Faculty & Administration
The mission of the Christendom Graduate School is to educate men and women in accord with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, so that they can teach effectively and bear witness to the Catholic faith. Faculty are chosen for their commitment to this mission, and for the excellence of their teaching, scholarship, and pastoral work.
Joseph M. Arias, Lecturer in Theology
S.T.D. (Candidate), The Catholic University of America
S.T.L., S.T.B., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Loyola Marymount University
Professor Arias is the librarian at the Christendom Graduate School. In addition to teaching here, he is an adjunct member of the undergraduate faculty at Christendom College. He also teaches occasionally for the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program of the Diocese of Tulsa, OK. He has published in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly.
Kristin Popik Burns, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dean of Graduate School
Ph.D., Ph.L., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
M.A., Niagara University
B.A., University of Dallas
Dr. Burns was the first woman to earn the doctorate in Philosophy at the Angelicum, and was a founding faculty member of Christendom College. She is a former Richard Weaver Fellow. She specializes in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
Sebastian Carnazzo, Lecturer in Sacred Scripture
Ph.D., Catholic University of America
M.A., Christendom College
B.S., California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, CA
Professor Carnazzo is a full-time Instructor in Sacred Scripture and Biblical Languages at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is also the Academic Director of the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program of the Diocese of Tulsa, OK. He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
Salvatore J. Ciresi, Lecturer in Theology
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Strayer University
Rev. Paul F. deLadurantaye, Assistant Professor of Theology
S.T.D., S.T.L., John Paul II Institute, Washington, DC
S.T.B., Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Rome
B.A., St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
Fr. DeLadurantaye serves the Arlington Diocese as Judge of the Tribunal, Secretary for Religious Education, Secretary for Sacred Liturgy, and Director of Studies for the Permanent Diaconate Program. He is a member of the boards of the Catholic Distance University and the Natural Law Study Center. He has written and spoken extensively on the human person, bioethics, marital love, and the natural law.
Rev. Rodger Hunter Hall, Assistant Professor of Theology
S.T.D. candidate, S.T.L., M.A., S.T.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
B.L.S., St. Edwards University, Austin, TX
Fr. Hunter Hall is a priest of the Archdiocese of LAquila in the Abruzzi region of Italy, and a librarian specializing in religion and philosophy at the Library of Congress. He is a former editor of Crisis Magazine and a contributor to its online successor, Inside Catholic.
Colette Ellis Lienhard, Lecturer in Catechetics
Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma, Christendom College
M.A., Christendom College
H.B.A., University of Western Ontario
Professor Lienhard is the Director of the Catholic Education Center, LLC, which offers on-line catechist certification courses and web-based resources for all who minister in Catholic Education. She is the author of the newly revised Faith and Life series, published by Ignatius Press, having revised the texts, and written the Teachers Manuals and Activity books for grades 1-8. She was a diocesan consultant for the revision of the National Directory for Catechesis, and is a frequent lecturer on catechetics. She is a consultant on catechetical matters to various dioceses, and is active in the training of catechists.
Robert J. Matava, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Theology
rmatava
christendom.edu
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
Dr. Matava was the Liddon Fellow in Theology at Keble College, Oxford University before coming to Christendom. He won the Founder’s Award of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy in 2009 for his paper “Domingo Báñez on Auxilium: An Early Modern Conception of Divine-Human Cooperation.” Dr. Matava has delivered scholarly papers at the University of Oxford, the University of Aberdeen, the University of St. Andrews, the University of Navarre, and Notre Dame University.
William E. May, Professor of Moral Theology
Ph.D., Marquette University
M.A., B. A., Catholic University of America
A well-known Catholic moral theologian, Dr. May is the author of more than 200 essays and a dozen books, among them An Introduction to Moral Theology, Catholic Sexual Ethics, Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life and Standing with Peter: A Lay Theologian’s Reflections on God’s Loving Providence. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II to serve on the International Theological Commission from 1986-97 and to serve as peritus for the 1987 Synod of Bishops. Dr. May taught at Catholic University for twenty years and is now Emeritus Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. He is the recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal, the Cardinal Wright Award, the Thomas Linacre Award, and the St. Dominic Medal. In 2007 he was awarded the Paul Ramsey Award for outstanding contributions to bioethics. He is now Senior Fellow at the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington, D.C., an organization that gave him the “William E. May Award for Promoting Ethics and the Human Person” in September 2008.
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
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.
Rev. Mark Pilon, Associate Professor of Theology
S.T.D., Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome
S.T.L., Pontifical Lateran University, John Paul II Institute
M.A., Catholic University of America
B.A., University of Detroit
Fr. Pilon is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington who has taught at Mt. St. Mary Seminary, at Christendom College, at the Christian Commonwealth Institute in Escorial, Spain, and at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of Magnum Mysterium: The Sacrament of Matrimony, and the translator of Candido Pozo's Theology of the Beyond.
Stephen Pimentel, Lecturer in Sacred Scripture
M.A., Christendom College
M.S., B.S., The Johns Hopkins University
Stephen Pimentel is a writer and lecturer on Catholic biblical theology. He is the author of Witnesses of the Messiah: On the Acts of the Apostles 1-15 and Envoy of the Messiah: On the Acts of the Apostles 16-28. He is also a contributor to Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass, and Catholic for a Reason IV: Scripture and the Mystery of Marriage and Family Life. He has written popular articles on Scripture for Lay Witness, Homiletic & Pastoral Review, and Inside the Vatican magazines. His papers on Thomistic philosophy have been published in theProceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.
Donald S. Prudlo, Assistant Professor of Theology and Church History
Ph.D., University of Virginia
M.A., B.A., Christendom College
Dr. Prudlo is Associate Professor of Ancient and Medieval History at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Previously, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Liberty Fund in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also serves as a professor of Theology and Church History for Catholic Distance University. He is the author of The Martyred Inquisitor: The Life and Cult of Peter of Verona (†1252) (Ashgate:2008) and The Origin, Development, and Refinement of Medieval Religious Mendicancies, (Brill: 2011), and several articles on such topics as hagiography, scriptural theology, and Church history. He is currently working on the history and theology of sainthood, especially in the Medieval Church and on the history of the Mendicant orders. His specialties include Church History, Hagiography, and Historical and Sacramental theology.
Rev. Michael J. Roach, Lecturer in Church History
M.A., The Catholic University of America
B.A., Loyola College, Baltimore
Rev. William P. Saunders, Professor of Catechetics and Theology
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
M.A., St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
B.B.A., College of William and Mary
A priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Fr. Saunders is the founding pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish. He served as President of the Notre Dame Institute and Dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School from 1992 to 2002. For over ten years he authored the popular weekly column “Straight Answers” in the Arlington Catholic Herald and has published two books of the collected articles. He has also written articles in Catholic Answers, Linacre Quarterly, and Lay Witness. He is an expert on colonial American Catholic history.
Jeremy Sienkiewicz, Lecturer in Theology
Ph.D., M.A., The Catholic University of America
B.A. Notre Dame University
Dr. Sienkiewicz has taught at the Catholic University of America, the Saint Meinrad Archabbey Permanent Deaconate Formation Program, John Paul the Great Catholic High School, and the Bishop Helmsing Institute, where he was Associate Director. He was also a Project Specialist for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Steve Weidenkopf, Lecturer in Church History
M.A., Christendom College
B.A., Syracuse University
Professor Weidenkopf is the author of Epic: A Journey through Church History, and the forthcomingThe Early Church: An Epic Journey Through Church History Time Period Study. He has written commentaries on Familiaris Consortio, Lumen Gentium, and Humanae Vitae, and various articles/talks on Christian marriage, human sexuality, and family life. He served as the Director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese of Denver (2001 - 2004) and was a theological advisor to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. He teaches marriage preparation classes in the Diocese of Arlington. His interests include the Crusades and the Reformation.
Rev. Norbert J. Wood, O.Praem., Lecturer in Theology of the Consecrated Life
M.Ed.Admin., University of San Francisco
3 years post-graduate liturgical studies, Pontificio Istituto Liturgico di Sant'Anselmo, Rome
S.T.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
Fr. Norbert is the Rector of St. John the Baptist Parish Elementary School in Costa Mesa, CA, and Sunday chaplain to the boys at Joplin Juvenile Detention Center in Trabuco Canyon, CA. He has spent twenty-five years in Catholic education, primarily on the secondary level, as teacher, principal and administrator. He is a summer professor at the Vita Consecrata Institute, and he preaches retreats to priests, religious and laity in the US, Canada, India, Australia and the Philippines.
Administrative Staff
Dean of the Graduate School: Kristin P. Burns, Ph.D.
Registrar/Business Officer: Heidi M. Kalian, M.B.A.
Administrative Assistant: Virginia Norris, B.A.
NDGS Librarian: Joseph Arias, M.A., S.T.B.