About
Susan K. Wood, SCL, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas, is Professor of Systemic Theology at Regis College in the Toronto School of Theology, Canada. She received her doctorate in systematic theology from Marquette University.
Very active in ecumenical work, she has served on the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue (1994-present), the North American Roman Catholic-Orthodox Theological Consultation (2005-present), the International Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue (2008-2019), and the conversation between the Baptist World Alliance and the Roman Catholic Church (2006-2010, 2017-2022). She serves on the editorial advisory board of the journal Ecclesiology and the Toronto Journal of Theology. She served as President of the Catholic Theological Society of America 2014-2015 and received the John Courtney Murray Award in 2021. She is co-moderator of the Peter and Paul Seminar, member of the St. Irenaeus Working Group, member of the task force writing an international commentary on Presbyterorum Ordinis, and member of Study Group #11 on the liturgy from a synodal perspective for the Synod on Synodality. Most of her writing explores the connections between ecclesiology and sacramental theology.
In addition to numerous articles, she has published Spiritual Exegesis and the Church in the Theology of Henri de Lubac (Eerdmans, 1998), Sacramental Orders (Liturgical Press, 2000), which has also been translated into Spanish, One Baptism: Ecumenical Dimensions of the Doctrine of Baptism (Liturgical Press, 2009), and A Synodal Church: The Christian Faithful on Pilgrimage (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025). She co-authored with Timothy J. Wingert, A Shared Spiritual Journey: Lutherans and Catholics Traveling toward Unity (Paulist Press, 2016), and is the editor of Ordering the Baptismal Priesthood (Liturgical Press, 2003) and is co-editor with Alberto Garcia of Critical Issues in Ecclesiology (Eerdmans, 2011).
Selected Publications
Books
A Synodal Church: The Christian Faithful on Pilgrimage. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2025.
A Shared Spiritual Journey: Lutherans and Catholics Traveling Toward Unity. Co-authored by Susan K. Wood and Timothy J. Wengert. New York: Paulist Press, 2016.
One Baptism: The Ecumenical Implications of the Doctrine of Baptism. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009.
El Sacramento del Orden: Una Visiόn Teolόgia desde la Liturgia. Trans. Jordi Guàrdia. Biblioteca Litúrgica 33. Barcelona: Centre de Pastoral Litúrgica, 2008. Translation of Sacramental Orders, see below.
Sacramental Orders. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000.
Spiritual Exegesis and the Church in the Theology of Henri de Lubac. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998; Wipf & Stock, 2010.
Edited books
Critical Issues in Ecclesiology: Essays in Honor of Carl. E. Braaten, Alberto L. Garcia and Susan K. Wood (eds). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.
Ordering the Baptismal Priesthood: Theologies of Lay and Ordained Ministry. Editor. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003.
Articles in Journals
“Baptismal Communion and the Spirit: Reimagining the Church in the Third Article of the Creed,” Touchstone: Heritage and Theology in a New Age, 43/3 (October 2025): 35-43.
“Response to ‘Apostolicity — Sacramentality —Visibility: Building Blocks for a Consensus on the Fundamental Truths of Ecclesiology,’” Ecclesiology 21/3 (2025): 282-307.
“Unitatis Redintegratio Sixty Years Later: New Perspectives,” Ecumenical Trends, 53/6 (2024): 19-22.
“Christifideles Within a Baptismal Ecclesiology: Reframing the Question of Participation in Leadership and Mission,” Studia Canonica 58 (2024): 79-101.
“Reflexiones sobre el papel de la teologia en la Universidad jesuita actual,” co-authored with James Hanvey, Hille Haker, Dominic Tomuseni, Gerry Whelan, Bagus Lakana, Luis Felipe Navarette, Joseph Mueller, James McCartin, Peter Folan, Miriada 15/19 (2023) 273-287.
“Francis’s Church Reform Focused on the Proclamation of Mercy: The Ignatian Influence,” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, 55/3 (Autumn 2023): 1-45.
“‘Ordered Ministries for a Missionary and Global Church: The Contribution of Richard R. Gaillardetz,” Ecclesiology 19 (2023): 280-295.
“Sorores in Spe: How to Resolve the Remaining Issues,” Centro Pro Unione Bulletin, Spring 2022: 48-52. https://www.prounione.it/bulletin/web-n101-spring2022/.
“Editorial: Fresh Challenges and Possibilities in Lutheran-Roman Catholic Ecumenical Relations,” Ecclesiology 17 (2021): 318-314.
“Assessing Artificial Intelligence,” Toronto Journal of Theology, 36/1 (2020): 87-89.
“Questioning Authority Examined through the Lens of Receptive Ecumenism” Anglican Theological Review, 102/4 (2020): 607-614.
“Editorial: Thinking and Feeling with the Church (Sentire cum Ecclesia), Ecclesiology 15 (2019): 3-6.
“Pope Francis and Ecumenism,” One in Christ 52/1 (2018): 3-16.
“Walter Kasper on the Church,” Ecclesiology 14 (2018): 203-211.
“The Shifting Ecumenical Landscape at the 2017 Centenary,” Theological Studies, September 2017.
“The Correlation between Ecclesial Communion and the Recognition of Ministry,” One in Christ 50/2 (2016): 238-249.
“Ecclesiological Issues in the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue: The Recognition of Lutheran Communities as Churches,” Centro Pro Unione Semi-Annual Bulletin, No. 88 (Fall 2015): 16-21.
“Is Baptism Complete or Part of a Larger Christian Initiation? A Dialogue with Lutheran Sacramental Theology,” Seminary Ridge Review 17/2 (2015): 35-48.
“Editorial: A Parable for the Ecumenical Movement Today,” Ecclesiology 10 (2014): 285-291.
“Eucharist and Society,” Modern Theology 30/2 (April 2014): 357-365.
“Die Eucharistie: Ökumenische Errungenschaften und bleibende Unterschied,” Ökumenische Rundschau 61/4 (October-December 2012) 389-410.
“Continuity and Development in Roman Catholic Ecclesiology,” Ecclesiology 7/2 (May 2011): 147-172.
Chapters in multi-author volumes
“The Magisterial Responsibility to ‘Teach According to the Scriptures’,” in Holy Scripture in the Catholic Church: Ecclesial Dimensions of Biblical Exegesis (Die Heilige Schrift in der katholischen Kirche: Ekklesiale Dimensionen biblischer Exegese), ed. Aaron Pidel, Thomas Söding, and Aleksandra Brand, Herders Biblische Studien, Vol. 102 (Herder, 2025), pp. 289-304. Peer reviewed.
“Baptismal Waters: Bookends of Life and Mission,” The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Liturgical Theology, ed. by Porter Taylor (forthcoming, June 2025).
“Reception of Baptized Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church: A Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Commentary,” Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, Theological Commentary (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, forthcoming).
“Reception of the Decree on Ecumenism in the U.S. Context,” in Vatican II: Legacy and Mandate, continental volume on North America, Australia, and the Pacific, edited by Massimo Faggioli, Catherine Clifford, Ormand Rush and Richard Lennon. Tubingen University Press. (Forthcoming)
“The Prophetic Ministry to the Word, in Priestly Ministry and the People of God: Hopes and Horizons, Richard R. Gaillardetz, Thomas H. Groome, Richard Lenan (New York: Orbis Press, 2022), 177-184.
“Baptism,” in Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies, ed. By Paul McPartlan (Oxford University Press, Published online March, 2017. Hard copy, 2020. https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199600847.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199600847 ISBN 9780199600847
“Eucharistic Sacrifice in Ecumenical Dialogue,” in ‘Ecclesia semper reformanda”. Renewal and Reform beyond Polemics, ed. by De Mey, P. and François, W. Series: Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 306. (Leuven: Peeters, 2020), 237-252. ISBN 978-90-429-4142-7.
“Ecumenism,” in Cambridge Companion to Vatican II, ed. by Richard R. Gaillardetz, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 282-302. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-vatican-ii/ecumenism/7F1C0CE9B6161E820CDC0577F3530E69
“Holy Orders.” The Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology. Lewis Ayres and Medi Volpe, eds. London: Oxford Handbooks Online, Oxford University Press, 2016. Print edition, March, 2019. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566273.013.30.
“Pope Francis and the Ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac, in Discovering Pope Francis: The Roots of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Thinking, edited by Brian Y. Lee and Rev. Thomas L. Knoebel (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2019), 130-149.
“The Ecumenical Imperative after Vatican II: Achievements and Challenges,” in Catholicism Opening to the World and Other Confessions: Vatican II and its Impact, ed. By Vladimir Latinovic, Gerard Mannion, Jason Welle, O.F.M. (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), 309-325.
“The Dialogue between Faith and Reason in a Catholic University,” in Fidelity and Freedom: “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” at Twenty-Five, Stephen M. Hildebrand and Sean O. Sheridan TOR, eds., (Steubenville: Franciscan University Press, 2018), 114-129.
“From Conflict to Communion?” Signs of Forgiveness – Paths of Conversion – Practice of Penance, Theodor Dieter, Andrea Grillo, James Puglesi, eds., (Peter Lang, September, 2017).
“’Return to Your Baptism Daily:’ Baptism and Christian Life,” in Luther Refracted: The Reformer’s Ecumenical Legacy, ed. by Piotr J. Malysz and Derek R. Nelson (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015), 193-214.
“Liturgical Ecclesiology,” in A Church with Open Doors: Catholic Ecclesiology for the Third Millennium, ed. by Richard Gaillardetz and Edward Hahnenberg (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2015), 138-158.
“Henri de Lubac and the Church-World Relationship in Gaudium et Spes,”in The Legacy of Vatican II, ed. by Massimo Faggioli and Andrea Vicini, S.J. (New York: Paulist Press, 2015), 226-247.
“The Church: A People Sent in Mission,” in The New Evangelization: Faith, People, Context and Practice, ed. by Paul Grogan and Kirsteen Kim (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2015), 65-78.
“Unity at the Table,” in The Theology of Cardinal Walter Kasper, ed. by Kirsten M. Colberg and Robert A Krieg (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2014), 189-202.
“The Sacramental Foundations of Ecclesial Identity: Barrier or Passageway to Ecumenical Unity?” in Believing in Community, ed by P. de Mey, P. de Witte and G. Mannion (Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2013), 455-476. (Juried)
“Henri de Lubac,” in The Routledge Companion to Modern Christian Thought, ed. by Chad Meister and James Beilby (London: Routledge, 2013), chapter 16. (Invited)
“Unity in the Sacraments and Unity in Ethics,” in The Morally Divided Body: Ethical Disagreement and the Disunity of the Church, ed. by Michael Root & James J Buckley (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 61-76. (Juried)
“A Case Study of Ecclesial Exclusion: Eucharistic Sharing,” in Ecclesiology and Exclusion: Boundaries of Being and Belonging in Postmodern Times, ed. by Dennis M. Doyle, Timothy J. Furry, Pasal D. Bazzell (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2012), 255-264. (Juried)
“Two Phases of Baptist-Roman Catholic International Theological Conversations,” in Celebrating a Century of Ecumenism: Exploring the Achievements of International Dialogue, ed. by John A. Radano (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2012), 264-282. (Invited)
“A Theology of Authorization of Lay Ecclesial Ministry,” in In the Name of the Church, ed. by William J. Cahoy (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2012), 99-116. (Invited)
Research & Teaching Focus
- Systematic Theology
- Ecclesiology
- Ecumenism
- Sacramental Theology
