Featured Content
The Institute for Communication and Religion focuses on exploring how communication and religion are integrally connected, seeking to ensure the University's students and broader community are informed and equipped to communicate about religious topics with responsibility, passion, and excellence.
Christian Unity & 2025 Easter Celebration
ICR steering committee member and Professor of Religion Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., has recently published an article in The Catholic World Report discussing Christian unity and the convergent 2025 Easter celebration.
Work that demonstrates how faith communities engage with public health challenges.
Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., Professor of Religion and Director of Catholic Studies Program, recently wrote two essays which share important historical and theological perspective on how the Church has engaged past public health challenges:
- Cura corporis and cura animae: The Church and the Coronavirus Crisis
- Pope Francis, the coronavirus, and a famous 200-year-old Italian novel
These essays appeared in Catholic World Report, a leading online magazine providing full coverage of the news and events affecting the Church around the world, offering in-depth analysis published by Ignatius Press. Both essays were also translated into Italian.
Dr. Muzaku's post on the theology of a smile during COVID-19, The Masked But Unconquered Smile, also appeared in Catholic World Report.
In addition, Murzaku authored the blog post Coronavirus: How Lenten Kenosis Prepares Us for Easter for the National Catholic Register, in which she wrote:
The all-surrounding Lenten emptiness and nakedness, busy cities reduced to ghost cities, are acts of kenosis. It is through emptiness that humankind comes to know God and the existence of God. Ascetical theology, which focuses on how one comes to know God, might be helpful as we seek to unpack the emptiness related to COVID-19.
Spiritual support from all religious and spiritual traditions.
ICR collaborator Dr. Heidi Campbell is doing important research on how faith communities use communication technologies to respond to COVID-19. She hosted a free webinar called “Doing Religion Online in a time of Pandemic” for the Christianity & Communication Studies Network, a free, interactive community of scholars, teachers and others interested in exploring questions at the intersection between Christianity and communication. The recording is available here.
Five Tips for Finding God Amidst the Coronavirus Crisis
Student journalist Evando Thompson interviewed Patrick R Manning, Ph.D., assistant professor of pastoral theology, about his article "Five Tips for Finding God Amidst the Coronavirus Crisis." View the transcript.