Pope Leo XIV appointed Notre Dame professors Father Emmanuel Katongole and Clemens Sedmak as consultors to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on August 18.
The dicastery, created by Pope Francis in 2016, focuses on “overcoming the many obstacles to people’s integral human development. Among others, these include violence and war, human rights violations, humanitarian emergencies, environmental degradation, unemployment, inaccessible healthcare and forced migration,” according to the dicastery’s website.
Sedmak, Professor of Social Ethics and Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, told the Rover, “The dicastery deals with all matters relating to, you could say, enacting Catholic Social Teaching globally.”
According to Sedmak, the dicastery is “a two way street of communication” between ecclesial authorities and local dioceses. “On the one hand, the dicastery would listen to what’s happening on the ground, especially through dioceses and universities and bishops’ conferences. On the other hand, they would bring the concerns of Pope Leo XIV, for example, to those places.”
Sedmak, originally from Austria, holds doctoral degrees in philosophy, theology and social theory. Along with positions at the University of Salzburg and Kings College London, he has been a visiting professor at multiple other international universities.
Fr. Katongole is a Professor of Theology and Peace Studies and serves as a full-time faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Kampala in Uganda and founded the Bethany Land Institute, an organization that employs integral ecology to help young people in Uganda learn regenerative agriculture and economic innovation.
Fr. Katongole did not respond to the Rover’s request for comment.
Professor Suzanne Shanahan, Leo and Arlene Hawk Executive Director of the Institute for Social Concerns, where both Fr. Katongole and Sedmak are faculty fellows, wrote to the Rover, “We are thrilled and deeply honored by the appointment of Fr. Emmanuel Katongole and Clemens Sedmak as consultors. … Their appointment is a testament to their profound scholarship and lived commitment to marginalized communities.”
Professor William Mattison, the Wilsey College Professor of Theology and Chair of the Theology Department, warmly praised both professors. “[They work] at the highest level of intellectual rigor, and deeply in service, deeply animated by the Faith, both the Catholic intellectual tradition and the faith lives of each of those people. They’re both scholars who are deeply faithful, and who engage broader audiences too.”
As consultors, the professors will offer the dicastery research and insight from their academic expertise. Sedmak explained, “Consultants tend to be more on the academic side because they are experts in a certain field. But … it’s a mix of practitioners, dignitaries of the Church, and academics, which is also part of the beauty of the Catholic Church.”
Prof. Sedmak and Fr. Katongole join Father Daniel Groody, C.S.C., Vice President and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education at Notre Dame, who serves as a member of the dicastery. Fr. Groody did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked how their work intersects with the dicastery topic, Sedmak’s and Fr. Katongole’s colleagues noted the resonance between Notre Dame’s mission and the promotion of integral human development.
Shanahan said the dicastery’s work is similar to the mission of the Institute for Social Concerns. “The work of the dicastery is rooted in Catholic social tradition, which the institute animates by connecting faculty and student research with vulnerable communities across the globe,” she commented.
Professor Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs and a professor of global affairs, wrote to the Rover, “At Notre Dame, we think about development broadly, not simply in terms of economic growth, but in terms of the dignity and flourishing of the whole person and the communities in which people live.”
Sedmak noted that his time at Notre Dame has given him unique insights to contribute to the dicastery. “One thing I think I could bring as a Notre Dame person [is] having interactions with students, [with] whom we talk about issues of Catholic Social Teaching, who themselves are not Catholic.”
A second way Notre Dame has enhanced Sedmak’s potential contributions, he said, is that “the Congregation [of Holy Cross] is the animating force behind our university, and that makes a big difference, also in terms of how visible Catholicism is lived on campus, because it’s lived through a congregation that is not only about academia; it’s also about mission.”
Mattison said that these professors’ appointments reflect on Notre Dame as an institution. “It says a lot about them that they were chosen, but also a lot about them that they were willing to, with all the commitments they have, to do this work in service to the Church, and it tells a lot about Notre Dame, that it’s our people who are being picked for this, so thanks be to God.”
Clare Hettich is a sophomore from Potomac, Maryland studying theology and the Program of Liberal Studies. According to Google Calendar Time Insights, she spends 70% of her time reading, 20% chatting, and 10% sending emails. She welcomes more emails at chettich@nd.edu.