Donald Senior, CP
President Emeritus, Chancellor, Professor of New Testament
1940-2022
Education
STL, University of Louvain, Belgium
STD, University of Louvain, Belgium
About
Rev. Donald Senior, CP was President Emeritus and Chancellor of Catholic Theological Union (CTU) where he was also a member of the faculty as Professor of New Testament. Born in Philadelphia, he was a member of the Passionist Congregation and ordained a priest in 1967. He received his doctorate in New Testament studies from the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1972, with advanced studies at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and Harvard University. He served as President of CTU for 23 years.
Father Don was a frequent lecturer and speaker throughout the United States and abroad. He served on numerous boards and commissions and was actively involved in interreligious dialogue, particularly with the Jewish and Muslim communities. Fr. Don published extensively on biblical topics, with numerous books and articles for both scholarly and popular audiences. He led numerous study tours in the lands of the Bible for CTU students and since 1988, he guided countless board members, religious, and other friends and supporters of CTU through Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey helping them to learn more about the Scriptures, find spiritual nourishment, a greater love for the Bible, and a deeper appreciation of our Jewish ancestors in the faith and the person of Jesus and his followers.
Father Don was the recipient of the National Catholic Library Association’s 1994 Jerome Award for Outstanding Scholarship and the 1996 National Catholic Education Association’s Bishop Loras Lane Award for outstanding service to Catholic education. In 2013, he received the O’Connell-Douglas Award for his contribution to interreligious and ecumenical harmony as well as the Gutenberg Award for biblical scholarship. In 2014, he was granted by the Governor of Illinois the Order of Lincoln Award, the State’s highest honor for public service. He served as President of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (1997-1998), of the Association of Theological Schools of the United States and Canada (2007-2009), and of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago (2012-14). He served the last three Popes as the American representative on the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
The Passion Series (Collegeville: Liturgical Press)
The Gospel of Matthew at the Crossroads of Early Christianity (Leuven University Press, 2011)
Why the Cross? (Nashville: Abingdon, 2014)
The Gift of Administration: New Testament Foundations for the Vocation of Administrative Service (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2016)
Composing the Bible: How the Scriptures were Formed. (Chicago: LTP, 2016) [General Editor]
The Catholic Study Bible. 3rd fully revised edition. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016).
The Gospel of Matthew (Now You Know Media)
The Gospel of John (Now You Know Media)
The Jesus of the Gospels (Now You Know Media)
The Holy Land: A Pilgrimage Through the Footsteps of Jesus. (Now You Know Media)
“Jesus at Table,” The Priest Magazine, (73) August 2017, pp. 10-15
“Praying with the Gospel of Matthew,” in R. Wicks (ed.), Prayer in the Catholic Tradition: A Handbook of Practical Approaches (Cincinnati: Franciscan Media, 2016) pp. 117-128.
“History and Theology in the Johannine Presentation of the Causes for the Death of Jesus: John 11:45-53 as Convergence Point,” in Paul Anderson and Felix Just, S.J., (eds.), John, Jesus, and History.
“History and theology in the Johannine presentation of the causes for the death of Jesus: John 11:45-53 as convergence point,” in John, Jesus, and History. Vol. 3, Glimpses of Jesus through the Johannine Lens (Atlanta/Leiden, SBL Press/E.J. Brill, 2016).
“Preaching the Mystery of Faith and the New Evangelization,” in Michael E. Connors (ed.), To All the World: Preaching and the New Evangelization (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2016), pp. 75-86.
“How Do I Love Thee? – A Biblical Reflection,” Human Development, Autumn 2016 issue; pp. 16-25.
Fr. Senior is the General Editor of the journal, The Bible Today and writes a weekly syndicated column for The Chicago Catholic newspaper entitled, “Perspectives on Scripture.”
