Born in Burbank CA in 1958, Paul earned a B.A. in History from Santa Clara University in 1980. Two years later he entered the Jesuits at Montecito CA. He studied at the Hochschule fuer Philosophie in Munich, Germany, from 1984-1986, earning a Ph.B. and then taught French and German as a regent at Jesuit High School, Sacramento.
He earned an M.Div. degree (1991) and a Licentiate at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge MA (1993). After a short stint as an adjunct lecturer at SCU, he attended the University of Paris IV - La Sorbonne - for a Docteur ès Lettres in the Sociology of Religion and simultaneously earned a Pontifical Doctorate in Ecclesiology at the Institut Catholique de Paris.
He served as an Assistant, then Associate Professor, Associate and then Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at Santa Clara (1997-2008). He was Provost and Professor at Fairfield University, Connecticut for five years. He was USF 28th president, serving from 2014 to 2024.
Currently he is a faculty member at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. His areas of research and teaching include Practical Theology, Historical Ecclesiology, Theology of the Laity, Catholic Social Doctrine, and other questions of Contextual and Systematic Theology.
- Karl Rahner’s
- Theological Project
Book:
L'Église comme lieu de formation d'une conscience de la concitoyenneté. Lille, France: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1999.
Refereed Journal Articles and Book Chapters:
“Private property, the market, and the common good – The Global Financial Crisis seen through the lens of Catholic Social Doctrine,” in The Global Financial Crisis: Values, Behavioral Finance, Social Justice, Oxford University Press, 2016, 399–412.
“Finding God in All Things: an Ignatian Environmental Ethos,” in Habiter le monde selon le désir de Dieu - Melanges Medevielle. Desclee de Brouwer: Paris, 2015, 181-194.
“Married in the Eyes of God: a Spirituality for Inter-faith Marriage” in INTAMS Companion to Marital Spirituality. Peeters: Leuven 2008, 327-342.
“Seduction” in The Encyclopedia of Love in the World Religions. Ed. Yudit Kornberg Greenberg. ABC-Clio (2007), II, 539-542.
“Cathédrales des temps presents: San Francisco” Etudes 4,024 (April 2005) 520-522.
“Arnold au pays des merveilles.” Projet 279 (March 2004) 77-78.
“The Americanization of Europe?” “Amerykanizacja Europy?” Horyzonty Wychowania 14 (2/2002) 195-223. Reprinted as a book chapter entitled “Amerykanizacja Europy?” in Czlowiek w jednoczacek sie Europie. Krakow: Ignatianum, 2004, 103-114.
"Aux USA, la culture populaire des jeunes." Mission de l'Eglise - Le Supplément 136 (July-September 2002) 36-39.
"Quand la doctrine sociale Catholique rencontre la religion civile Nord-Américaine sur l'économique." Revue d'éthique et de théologie morale- Le Supplément 220 (March 2002) 79-99.
"Santa Clara University and the Jesuit Tradition of Education." In Telling the Santa Clara Story: Sesquicentennial Voices (ed. Russell Skowronek; Santa Clara: City of Santa Clara and Santa Clara University, 2002) 105-118.
With Kieran Sullivan, "Preparing for Marriage: What Pastoral Marital Counselors Should Know About Religious Belief, Psychological Health, and Marital Outcome." International Academy for Marital Spirituality (INTAMS) Review 7 (2001) 68-77.
"Doing Theology in the City." Crosscurrents 51 (2001) 83-94.
"Faithful Sociology: Peter Berger's Religious Project." Religious Studies Review 27 (2001) 10-17.
"La spiritualité des jeunes Américains: Culture pop et quête religieuse." Christus 187 (2000) 375-82.
"Zonder Dialoog Geen Communio - Een Initiatief Van Kardinaal Bernardin." Streven 67 (4 2000) 312-20.
"A Christian Ethos for Multicultural Marriage." International Academy for Marital Spirituality (INTAMS) Review 5 (Spring, 1999) 27-35.
"A Model for Dialogue: Cyprian of Carthage on Ecclesial Discernment." Theological Studies 59 (1998) 236-53.