Our programs
Making the Catholic intellectual tradition a vital part of the Church and the academy in Milwaukee
Fides Patrum
Fides Patrum (“The Faith of the Fathers”) is a seminar series dedicated to exploring the rich and extensive theology of the Church Fathers. Each fall and spring we run a new five-part series. Past series have explored such texts and topics as St. Irenaeus’ Against Heresies; Origen’s On First Principles; St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation; St. Gregory the Theologian’s Five Theological Orations; Asceticism; and the Holy Spirit.
Upcoming events
The Thought of St. Augustine
This coming year (2024-25) Fides Patrum will be exploring the theology of St. Augustine in two parts. The Fall series will proceed topically: (1) Faith and Reason (2) The Church and Sacraments; (3) Nature and Grace (4) Politics and the City; and (5) The Trinity. The Spring series will be a reading, over five meetings, of St. Augustine’s Confessions. The dates for our fall meetings are: August 31, September 21, October 19, November 16, and December 7. Fides Patrum meets on Saturday mornings at the UWM Panther Newman Center at 10:30AM, following 9:00AM Mass and 9:30AM coffee hour.
The Legacies of Nicaea I and Vatican II: An Inheritance Unfolding
The Legacies Conference, scheduled for September 4-7, 2025 in Milwaukee, will commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325) together with the 60th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council (1962-5). In doing so, it will reflect on the Church’s rich conciliar tradition as a whole. The conference will gather prominent scholars and Catholic clergy, along with students, seminarians, and lay participants, to reflect on these significant events and their legacies in a context aimed at benefiting both the Church and the academy.
Event details
Two prominent bishops will deliver keynote addresses each evening, and additional papers and lectures will be delivered during the days by esteemed scholars of Nicaea I and Vatican II.
The St. Irenaeus Lecture in Patristics
The annual St. Irenaeus Lecture in Patristics is delivered each January by an esteemed patristics scholar. It aims to provide a high-level and stimulating orientation to the text, topic, or figure under discussion in the Spring Fides Patrum series. The lecture, which is free and open to the broader public, also serves as the kick-off event for the Spring Fides Patrum series. Past lectures have been delivered by Marcus Plested (on Origen’s On First Principles) and Fr. Andrew Summerson (on St. Gregory’s Theological Orations).
Early Christianity / RELIGST 309
In conjunction with Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, the St. Irenaeus Institute is working to establish a course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that students can take for credit as an elective through the UWM Religious Studies Program. The course will be focused on the development of Christian thought, practices, and institutions over the first five to eight centuries of the common era. The course is free for UWM students, with the opportunity for an optional pilgrimage to Rome after the semester. Projected for Spring 2025, pending final approval.
Other events
