Department of Religious Studies
Edward Bennett Williams Fellow
Professor of Roman Catholic Systematic Theology
Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
Fields: Catholic systematic theology (especially the theology of Karl Rahner, SJ), modern Christian history, theological aesthetics, theology and visual art, critical responses to neoliberal capitalism
Email: pfritz@holycross.edu
Office Phone: 508-793-3501
Office: Smith 434
PO Box: Religious Studies
Office Hours: Spring 2025: by appointment only.
Biography
Peter Joseph Fritz has been involved with Jesuit education since 1995, from his first days at St. Xavier High School (Cincinnati) through his Honors BA in studio art and theology at Loyola University Chicago and MA in theology at Boston College up to his years teaching at Holy Cross (2011–present). He holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame, where he wrote his dissertation on the twentieth-century German Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner. At Holy Cross he teaches a wide variety of courses in Catholic and Protestant theology, modern history of Christianity, Catholic social thought, and reaching back to his studio art roots, courses in theological aesthetics and theology and contemporary art.
Peter has many scholarly projects. The first is a body of scholarship on Karl Rahner, which includes two published monographs (Karl Rahner's Theological Aesthetics and Freedom Made Manifest), with a third in progress (Love's Terrible Radiance), on Rahner and theological aesthetics; an edited volume of Rahner's spiritual writings (now under contract with Paulist Press in the Classics of Western Spirituality series); and a variety of articles and book chapters. Another is a multi-volume, co-authored project with Holy Cross colleague, Matthew Eggemeier, which uses the theological category of mercy to critique neoliberal capitalism (the books, Send Lazarus and The Politics of Mercy). A new book project adapts the framework of just peace to critique political violence in the United States and abroad. Relatedly, Peter co-edited, with Matthew Eggemeier and Karen Guth, Religion, Protest, and Social Upheaval (Fordham University Press, 2022). Peter is also currently editing, with Prof. Mark Freeman (emeritus, psychology), a volume of essays on psychology, philosophy, and theology on anxiety and care. A final long-term scholarly project, which so far has yielded a peer-reviewed article and public-facing scholarship in America and Church Life Journal, is a monograph on Catholic theology, contemporary art, and communication.
Peter considers greater Cincinnati his first home, but for the past many years, he and his wife, Rochelle (a clinical psychologist), have made a new home in southern New England with their four young children.
Recent and Upcoming Courses
- God in the World (Fall 2024)
- Introduction to Theology (Fall 2024)
- Theology & Art (Spring 2024)
- War, Prisons, & Theology (Spring 2024; co-taught with Prof. Matthew Eggemeier)
- Capitalism in Context (Fall 2023)
- Play+Work: God/Art/Corita (Fall 2023; co-taught with Prof. Rachelle Beaudoin)
Peter is on research leave during the spring 2025 semester.