Fr. Andrea Vicini, S.J.

Ordination Date: 1996

Fr. Andrea Vicini, S.J. was born in Italy, joined the Jesuits in 1987, was ordained priest in 1996, and now is an American citizen. He is a moral theologian. He is also a physician and pediatrician trained at the University of Bologna, which was founded in 1088 and is the first and oldest university.

During his Jesuit training, he earned doctoral degrees in moral theology at Boston College and in Italy, at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy in Naples. After teaching in Italy as well as in Albania, Mexico, Chad, and France, he returned to Boston College in 2009, first as Gasson Professor, then teaching at the School of Theology and Ministry and, since 2019, in the Theology Department, where he is the Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics and teaches undergraduate and graduate students.
  
With two colleagues, he is co-chair of the international network of Catholic moral theologians Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, which creates global opportunities for collaborations and interactions among colleagues, publishes a monthly newsletter and books, and organizes regional and global conferences in the various continents. He is also a lecturer and member of associations of moral theologians and bioethicists in Italy, Europe, and the U.S. His research interests and publications include theological bioethics; ethical issues regarding global public health, new biotechnologies, and the environment; and fundamental moral theology.

He enjoys helping local Catholic communities and he is grateful for the opportunity of celebrating with the parishioners of the Holy Rood Collaborative. He loves nature, from oceans to mountains. He is passionate about justice, health, education, and learning. He hopes humankind will be able to address the many injustices that burden too many people, families, communities, and countries, by helping who is poor and in need, promoting human and social development, fostering social engagement and participation, and caring for our planet. Care for our common home could help us to preserve and protect the quality of life on Earth, for our generation and future generations–as Pope Francis strives to achieve.

Among the many Christian spiritualities, Andrea greatly appreciates the spirituality inspired by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), who, with a few companions, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and is centered on a personal and communal relationship with Jesus nourished by prayer and discernment. He loves the diverse ways of being Jesus’ disciples of many saints–women and men, lay and religious–and finds each saint inspiring and challenging, capable of recognizing the signs of their times and able to respond, animated by the Holy Spirit. He also longs to discover many persons and Christian communities who, today and in the past, in simple and humble manners lived the Gospel in saintly ways by showing to us how we too can do the same today in our multicultural, pluralist, and multireligious world.