Inspiration and Affirmation in Hard Times – St Oscar Romero to Pope Leo
Leeds Trinity University
Wednesday, March 11 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm
How does the life of St Oscar Romero inspire us today?
This is the title of the 2026 Romero Lecture, organised by the Romero Trust. They organise a short speaking tour each year with a guest speaker.
This year the talk will be given by Todd Walatka, Teaching Professor at Notre Dame University in Illinois.
The event is free to attend and doors will open at 6:30pm with the lecture starting at 7pm.
Although free, please register as spaces are limited.
Todd Walatka is director of LANACC at the Kellogg Institute and a teaching professor in the Department of Theology, where he specializes in contemporary Catholic systematic theology. His research focuses on influential Latin American thinkers including Gustavo Gutiérrez, Jon Sobrino, Juan Luis Segundo, and Archbishop Óscar Romero, as well as the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the most influential European theologians of the 20th century.
Much of Walatka’s work seeks to build bridges across theological divides and create dialogue between differing theological approaches. He has been a Kellogg Institute faculty fellow since 2019. He took up his current position as the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies in Theology in 2011.
Walatka’s other research interests include ecclesiology, eschatology, theology and racism, and Jewish-Christian relations. He also works in the field of pedagogy and pedagogical formation. Two ongoing book projects explore the theme of mercy in liberation theology and the theological witness of Archbishop Romero.
Walatka received the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, CSC, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University of Notre Dame in 2018, and has been active in Latin American/North American Church Concerns (LANACC). He earned an MTS in the history of Christianity and a PhD in systematic theology from Notre Dame.
This book explores the life, mission, and writings of martyred Salvadorian archbishop St. Óscar Romero in the light of contemporary work for justice and human development.
Many historians, theologians, and scholars point to St. Óscar Romero as one of the most perceptive, creative, and challenging interpreters of Catholic social teaching in the post–Vatican II period, while also recognizing the foundational importance of Catholic social teaching in his thought and ministry.
Editor Todd Walatka brings together fourteen leading scholars on both Romero and Catholic social teaching, combining essays that contextualize Romero’s engagement historically and focus on the challenges facing Christian communities today. The result is a timely, engaging collection of the most rigorous scholarly engagement with Romero and Catholic social teaching to date.
Contributors: Ana María Pineda, R.S.M., Michael E. Lee, Matthew Philipp Whelan, Jon Sobrino, S.J., Edgardo Colón-Emeric, David M. Lantigua, Leo Guardado, Stephen J. Pope, Kevin F. Burke, S.J., José Henríquez Leiva, Meghan J. Clark, Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo, Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, Peter Casarella, and Todd Walatka