Jesuit philosopher, theologian and author. Bernard Joseph Francis Lonergan was born in Buckingham, Quebec, Canada on December 17, 1904, entered the Society of Jesus in 1922, and was ordained a priest in 1936. He received his B.A. from University of London, England in 1930, and his S.T.L. and S.T.D. from Gregorian University, Rome in 1937 and 1945 respectively.

Lonergan wrote numerous articles and a dozen books including Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (1957) and Method in Theology (1972). Over the course of his career, he taught at L'Immaculee-Conception, Regis College, Gregorian University, and Harvard Divinity before his final faculty position at Boston College, where he worked from 1975 until his retirement in 1983.

The Catholic Theological Society awarded Lonergan its Spellman award in 1949 and its John Courtney Murray Award in 1973. In 1970 he received the Aquinas Award from the American Catholic Philosophical association and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Lonergan died in 1984.

Sources:

Paolino, Jim. "Theologian to Teach at BC." The Heights. Volume LVI, Number 3 — 15 September 1975.

"Funeral Mass to be held today for theologian Fr. Lonergan." Boston College Biweekly. Volume 5, Number 7 — 29 November 1984.

The Lonergan Institute at Boston College began as a collaborative effort between the Boston College Departments of Philosophy and Theology. The Lonergan Workshop was established in 1973 as a week-long summer series by Professor Frederick Lawrence. The Workshop later expanded to include fall and spring term lectures. In 1986, the Lonergan Center opened, housed within Bapst Library, to serve as a reference center for Lonergan’s published and unpublished writings, house secondary materials and reference works, provide a space for the Lonergan Workshop, and publish The Lonergan Workshop journal.

In 1992, the Institute was revamped and formalized, including the addition of a Board of Directors. Joseph Flanagan, SJ, former chair of the Department of Philosophy led the reorganized Institute. By the 2020s, the Institute's offerings included public lectures, departmental courses, reading groups, and interdisciplinary seminars on Lonergan, his principal writings, and subjects which those writings illuminated; sponsoring Visiting Fellowships and Graduate Scholarships; publication of METHOD: Journal of Lonergan Studies; and hosting a regular "Wednesday Seminar" for Fellows and BC Faculty with a committed interest in Lonergan studies.

Sources:

"About" web page, The Lonergan Institute, accessed on January 4, 2024. https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/academics/sites/the-lonergan-institute/about.html

"Fr. Flanagan to Head Revamped Institute." Boston College Chronicle. Volume 1, Number 7 — 25 November 1992.

Lonergan Center inauguration invitations and program, Shared box 2515, Folder 4, Boston College Lonergan Institute records, BC.2003.052, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.