Rev. Professor Hector Scerri, was the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Theology from 2015 to 2019. He has been lecturing in the Department of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology since 1998. He was Head of this Department from 2001 to 2016. After his university studies in Malta (1984-93), he defended his doctoral thesis, summa cum laude, at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome in 1998. He has published articles in Melita Theologica, Seminarium, Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, Studia Patristica, Nicolaus, Irish Theological Quarterly, ET Studies, Journal of Ecumenical Studies and other peer-reviewed journals. He has delivered papers at academic institutions in Rome, Oxford, Leuven, Helsinki, Durham, Strasbourg and Heidelberg.
His main areas of interest are christology, sacraments and sacramental orthopraxis, eschatology, patristics, ecumenism and the history of theology. He is the founder-president of the Maltese Patristics Society since 2015.
He was Vice-Rector of the Archbishop's Major Seminary (1998-2008). Since 2008, he has been a visiting lecturer at the Sacred Heart Seminary, Gozo which is affiliated to the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum), Rome. In September 2008, he was appointed President of the Malta Theological Commission, later the Doctrinal Commission of the Maltese Episcopal Conference, and also President of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission. Since 2000, he has occupied the post of censor theologus of the Archdiocese of Malta. He was the Chairperson of Christians Together in Malta (Malta Ecumenical Council) from 2014 to 2022. In July 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Consultor to the Pontifical Council (now Dicastery) for the Promotion of Christian Unity. He was reappointed to the same post in 2020. In 2017, the Holy See appointed him Ecclesiastical Assistant to the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (Malta).
Professor Hector Scerri is a member of Societa` Italiana per la Ricerca Teologica (SIRT), Association Internationale Cardinale Henri de Lubac, the European Society of Catholic Theology (ESCT), Societas Oecumenica and the Association Internationale d'Etudes Patristiques.
He has authored, co-authored and co-edited fourteen books, and published over 400 articles in various academic journals and non-academic venues in Malta and internationally.
THL3161 - Synoptic Study-Unit Paper 3 - Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology
Currently working on a five-volume work, Cor ad Cor Loquitur. The first volume was published in May 2018, the second volume in two parts was published in December 2019. Vol. 3 is due by the end of 2023 or early 2024.
Preparation of a second and updated edition of the book "The Gentle Breeze from the Peripheries" (first edition was published in 2018).
Collaboration with the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity of the Holy See. Collaboration with the Ut Unum Sint Ecumenical Institute, Peter Pazmany University, Budapest, and the Italian Ecumenical Institute, based in Firenze.
Member of the following international theological associations: European Society of Catholic Theology Societas Oecumenica Association Internationale d'Etudes Patristiques Association Internationale Cardinale Henri de Lubac Societa` Italian per la Ricerca teologica Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain
Recent participation in International Conferences: Societas Oecumenica International Consultation held in Malta, in May 2022.
Plenary meeting of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity, in May 2022.
BOOK LAUNCH: H.Scerri delivered one of the speeches at the official launch of the book by John Anthony Berry, Love Alone. Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Trinity and the Paschal Mystery (Malta: Horizons, 2023). The event was held in the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix, St Paul's Cathedral, Imdina, 28 March 2023.
PUBLICATIONS IN PROGRESS 1) Book review of the book by Lino Bianco, The Ring Metaphor and the Spirit of Sofia and Other Essays (Malta: Kite, 2022). The review is featuring in Melita Theologica 2023, no.1
2) A peer-reviewed article in Melita Theologica 2023, no.2 on re-imaging the Church, based on a church which is being reassembled. The image takes its cue from the texts of the books of Esdras and Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
3) An article on the Church as a field-hospital. This is being prepared in honour of a colleague. The project is still under wraps!
