Gerard Whelan grew up in Dublin, Ireland. He attended Trinity College Dublin and was awarded an M.A. in Economics in 1982 and then entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. After receiving abaccalaureate in philosophy in Dublin, he next worked in Zambia and Kenya, completing a basic degree in theology and being ordained priest in 1992. He pursued graduate studies in theology first in Boston and then in Toronto. In 1994 he was awarded an STL, Summa Cum Laude, by Regis College, Toronto and in 1996 he was awarded a PhD in systematic theology from St. Michael’s College, the Toronto School of Theology for a dissertation: “The Development of Bernard Lonergan’s Notion of the Dialectic of History: A Study of his Writings 1938-1953.” In the period 1996-2006 Gerard returned to work in Kenya. He taught practical, systematic, and fundamental theology in Hekima College, The Jesuit School of Theology, in Nairobi and during 2000-2006 was Parish Priest of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in a poor area of Nairobi. During these years served as a member of the Commission on Ecumenism for the Kenyan Episcopal Conference, and functioned as an advisor to the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya in representing the Holy See to activities of the United Nations centred at Nairobi. In 2007 Gerard was assigned to teach in the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. There he taught Pastoral Theology at STB level and Fundamental Theology at STL level until 2010, after which he taught only Fundamental Theology. In 2010 he was appointed Director of the “Lonergan Project” at the Gregorian. In 2015, he was nominated a Proffessore Straordinario. In 2021 he was appointed Director of the Department of Fundamental Theology, of the Theology Faculty. In 2023, he was appointed Moderator of the Licentiate in Comparative Christian Traditions and Ecumenical Studies. Other commitments include the following. He is a member of the Laudato Si’ Observatory in the Gregorian University and in June 2022, helped to organize an international conference, “Transitioning to Integral Ecology? Transdisciplinary Approaches for the Grounding and Implementation of a Holistic Worldview.” In 2012 he was appointed Ecclesiastical Assistant to the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, a position he held until 2022.
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