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{{Short description|American Roman Catholic theologian and priest (born 1939)}}
{{Infobox theologian <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox theologian/doc]] -->
{{Infobox person
| name = David Tracy
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| image =
| alt =
| name = David Tracy
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|01|6}}
| birth_place = [[Yonkers]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| caption =
| death_date =
| birth_name = David W. Tracy
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|01|6}}
| death_place =
| titles = [[Theologian]]
| birth_place = [[Yonkers]], [[New York (state)|New York]], US
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1967|8|31|1908|2|28}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
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| notableworks = ''[[Blessed Rage for Order]]''; ''[[The Analogical Imagination]]''; ''[[Plurality and Ambiguity]]''
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| death_place =
| tradition_movement= [[Roman Catholicism]]
| module = {{Infobox clergy |child=yes
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| main_interests = [[Hermeneutics]], theological method
| religion = Christianity ([[Roman Catholic]])
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| notable_ideas =
| church = [[Latin Church]]
| ordained = 1963 (priest)
| congregations =
| offices_held =
}}
}}
| module2 = {{Infobox academic |child=yes
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'''David Tracy''' (b. January 6 1939) is an American theologian and [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]]. He is Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at the [[University of Chicago Divinity School]]. In 2020 he was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2020</ref>
| alma_mater = [[Pontifical Gregorian University]]
| thesis_title =
| thesis_year =
| school_tradition = [[Liberal Christianity|Theological liberalism]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Bernard Lonergan]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|p=1}}
| academic_advisors =
| influences = {{flatlist|
* [[Mircea Eliade]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|p=8}}
* [[Hans-Georg Gadamer]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|pp=i, 11}}
* [[Bernard Lonergan]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|p=179}}
* [[Karl Rahner]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|p=8}}
* [[Paul Ricœur]]
* [[Paul Tillich]]{{sfn|Palfrey|2013|p=8}}
}}
| discipline = [[Theology]]
| sub_discipline = <!--academic discipline specialist area – e.g. Sub-atomic research, 20th-century Danish specialist, Pauline research, Arcadian and Ugaritic specialist-->
| workplaces = [[University of Chicago]]
| doctoral_students = <!--only those with WP articles-->
| notable_students =
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| main_interests = {{hlist | [[Hermeneutics]] | theological method}}
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| notable_works = {{ubl | {{nowrap|''Blessed Rage for Order'' (1975)}} | ''The Analogical Imagination'' (1981) | ''Plurality and Ambiguity'' (1987)}}
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| notable_ideas =
| influenced = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source-->
}}
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| signature =
| signature_alt =
}}
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'''David W. Tracy''' (born 1939) is an American theologian and [[Roman Catholic]] [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]]. He is Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at the [[University of Chicago Divinity School]]. In 2020 he was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{cite web |date=May 5, 2020 |title=The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020 |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2020 |url-status=live |publisher=American Philosophical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105072416/https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2022}}</ref>


== Early life and education ==
== Early life and education ==
David Tracy was born in 1939 to John Charles Tracy and Eileen Marie Tracy (née Rossell) in Yonkers, NY. He had two brothers, John Jr., and Arthur. His father was a union organizer who loved to read [[Henry Adams]] to his children.
David Tracy was born on January 6, 1939, to John Charles Tracy and Eileen Marie Tracy (née Rossell) in Yonkers, New York. He had two brothers, John Jr. and Arthur. His father was a union organizer who liked to read [[Henry Adams]] to his children.


Feeling an intense call to the priesthood as an adolescent, Tracy started attending the Cathedral School in 1952. The Cathedral School served as a high school and minor seminary for the Archdiocese of New York. In 1960, he left New York for Rome to study at the [[Pontifical Gregorian University|Gregorianum]]. His vocation to study theology was profoundly encouraged by the Second Vatican Council taking place at that time. He was ordained in Rome on December 18, 1963, and served in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport|diocese]] of [[Bridgeport, CT|Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]] in 1963. Tracy received his [[Licentiate of Sacred Theology]] from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1964, after which he spent one year working at a parish in Stamford, CT. Tracy has said that he had always wanted to work in a parish, but during his one year of doing so, he felt a strong call to the academic life. He returned to Rome and received his doctorate from the Gregorian University in 1969.<ref>http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/david-tracy</ref>
Feeling an intense call to the priesthood as an adolescent, Tracy started attending the Cathedral School in 1952. The Cathedral School served as a high school and minor seminary for the Archdiocese of New York. In 1960, he left New York for Rome to study at the [[Gregorianum]]. His vocation to study theology was profoundly encouraged by the Second Vatican Council taking place at that time. He was ordained in Rome on December 18, 1963, and served in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport|diocese of Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]], in 1963. Tracy received his [[Licentiate of Sacred Theology]] from the Gregorianum in 1964, after which he spent one year at a parish in Stamford, Connecticut. He has said that he had always wanted to work in a parish, but during his one year of doing so, he felt a strong call to the academic life. He returned to Rome and received his doctorate from the Gregorian University in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/david-tracy|title=David Tracy|date=August 18, 2014|website=The Gifford Lectures}}</ref>


== Career ==
== Career ==
Tracy's first academic teaching appointment was a lectureship at the [[Catholic University of America]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], where he began in 1967. In 1968, Tracy joined with [[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]] and twenty other professors at CUA in rejecting [[Pope]] [[Paul VI]]'s encyclical [[Humanae Vitae]]. He and the others were tried by CUA's faculty senate and summarily fired. They sued the university, were represented by [[ACLU]] lawyers, and ultimately won their case.<ref>Tracy, David. "Tribute to Bernard McGinn." Criterion 42 (Autumn, 2003): 41-42.</ref>
Tracy's first academic teaching appointment was a lectureship at the [[Catholic University of America]] in [[Washington, DC]], where he began in 1967. In 1968, Tracy joined with [[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]] and twenty other professors at CUA in rejecting [[Pope]] [[Paul VI]]'s encyclical ''[[Humanae vitae]]''. He and the others were tried by CUA's faculty senate and summarily fired. They sued the university, were represented by [[American Civil Liberties Union]] lawyers, and ultimately won their case.<ref>{{cite journal |author=David Tracy |date=Autumn 2003 |title=Tribute to Bernard McGinn |journal=Criterion |volume=42 |pages=41–42}}</ref>


In the midst of this trial, [[Jerald Brauer]], then Dean of the [[University of Chicago Divinity School]], convinced Tracy (as well as McGinn) to come to the University of Chicago. In 1985, Tracy was named a Distinguished Service Professor there, and in 1987, a Distinguished Service Professor of Roman Catholic Studies. Tracy also held the Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Professorship in Roman Catholic Studies, which was established in 1984 by sociologist and novelist [[Andrew Greeley]]. He also served on Chicago's [[Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Methods]] and the [[Committee on Social Thought]]. Tracy remained at the Divinity School until his retirement in late 2006.
In the midst of this trial, [[Jerald Brauer]], then dean of the [[University of Chicago Divinity School]], convinced Tracy (as well as McGinn) to come to the University of Chicago. In 1985, Tracy was named a Distinguished Service Professor there, and in 1987, a Distinguished Service Professor of Roman Catholic Studies. Tracy also held the Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Professorship in Roman Catholic Studies, which was established in 1984 by Roman Catholic priest, sociologist and novelist [[Andrew Greeley]]. He also served on Chicago's [[Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Methods]] and the [[Committee on Social Thought]]. Tracy remained at the Divinity School until his retirement in late 2006.


Tracy served as President of the [[Catholic Theological Society of America]] from 1976-1977. In 1980, that organization awarded him the [[John Courtney Murray Award]], the highest award of the society. In 1982, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Tracy served as president of the [[Catholic Theological Society of America]] from 1976 to 1977. In 1980, that organization awarded him the [[John Courtney Murray Award]], the highest award of the society. In 1982, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


In 1999-2000, Tracy gave the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. The title of his lectures was ''This Side of God''. The Gifford Lectures are widely considered to be the highest honor for those working in theology and religious studies.
In 1999–2000, Tracy gave the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. The title of his lectures was ''This Side of God''. The Gifford Lectures are widely considered to be the highest honor for those working in theology and religious studies{{According to whom|date=June 2023}}.


In 2018, Tracy contributed an essay to the catalog of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] exhibition ''Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination''. Tracy was described by [[Andrew_Bolton_(curator)|Andrew Bolton]], the curator of the exhibition, as "the [[J. D. Salinger]] of the theological world."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/fashion/heavenly-bodies-met-gala-vatican.html| title = How the Met Got the Vatican’s Vestments|author = Horowitz, Jason|date = May 3, 2018|accessdate = May 11, 2018| publisher = The New YorkTimes}}</ref>
In 2018, Tracy contributed an essay to the catalog of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] exhibition ''[[Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination]]''. Tracy was described by [[Andrew Bolton (curator)|Andrew Bolton]], the curator of the exhibition, as "the [[J.&nbsp;D. Salinger]] of the theological world."<ref>{{cite news |date=May 3, 2018 |author=Jason Horowitz |title=How the Met Got the Vatican's Vestments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/fashion/heavenly-bodies-met-gala-vatican.html |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511220049/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/fashion/heavenly-bodies-met-gala-vatican.html |archive-date=May 11, 2018}}</ref>


== Writings ==
== Writings ==
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* ''A Catholic Vision'', with Stephen Happel (1984)
* ''A Catholic Vision'', with Stephen Happel (1984)
* ''Plurality and Ambiguity'' (1987)
* ''Plurality and Ambiguity'' (1987)
* ''Dialogue with the Other: The Inter-Religious Dialogue'' (1990)
* ''Dialogue with the Other: The Inter-religious Dialogue'' (1990)
* ''On Naming the Present: God, Hermeneutics, and Church'' (1994)
* ''On Naming the Present: God, Hermeneutics, and Church'' (1994)


== References ==
== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite thesis
|last=Palfrey
|first=Barnabas
|year=2013
|title=Theology as Dialogue and Fragment: Saying God with David Tracy
|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:112f83cb-3d10-43b5-acc4-e23ba2a4df8a
|degree=doctoral
|location=Oxford
|publisher=University of Oxford
|access-date=December 22, 2022
}}
{{refend}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104012912/http://divinity.uchicago.edu/faculty/tracy.shtml David Tracy's Faculty Profile at the University of Chicago Divinity School]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104012912/http://divinity.uchicago.edu/faculty/tracy.shtml David Tracy's Faculty Profile at the University of Chicago Divinity School]
* {{BCEWT|id=tracy|title=David Tracy}}
* {{BCEWT|id=tracy|title=David Tracy}}
* [http://www.crosscurrents.org/Tracyspring2002.htm This Side of God: A Conversation with David Tracy]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021202002805/http://www.crosscurrents.org/Tracyspring2002.htm This Side of God: A Conversation with David Tracy]

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Taylor (philosopher)|Charles Taylor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Gifford Lectures|Gifford Lecturer]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]]|years=1999–2000}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Onora O'Neill|The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve]]}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bernard Cooke]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[John Courtney Murray Award]]|years=1980}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Gerard S. Sloyan]]}}
{{s-end}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, David}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, David}}
[[Category:Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians]]
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[[Category:American theologians]]
[[Category:University of Chicago Divinity School faculty]]
[[Category:University of Chicago Divinity School faculty]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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[[Category:People from Yonkers, New York]]
[[Category:People from Yonkers, New York]]
[[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]]
[[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]]
[[Category:Gifford Lectures]]
[[Category:Public theologians]]
[[Category:Public theologians]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Catholic Theological Society of America]]
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[[Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians]]

Latest revision as of 18:42, 25 October 2023

The Reverend
David Tracy
Born
David W. Tracy

(1939-01-06) January 6, 1939 (age 85)
Yonkers, New York, US
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionChristianity (Roman Catholic)
ChurchLatin Church
Ordained1963 (priest)
Academic background
Alma materPontifical Gregorian University
Doctoral advisorBernard Lonergan[1]
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineTheology
School or traditionTheological liberalism
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago
Main interests
Notable works
  • Blessed Rage for Order (1975)
  • The Analogical Imagination (1981)
  • Plurality and Ambiguity (1987)

David W. Tracy (born 1939) is an American theologian and Roman Catholic priest. He is Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. In 2020 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[5]

Early life and education

[edit]

David Tracy was born on January 6, 1939, to John Charles Tracy and Eileen Marie Tracy (née Rossell) in Yonkers, New York. He had two brothers, John Jr. and Arthur. His father was a union organizer who liked to read Henry Adams to his children.

Feeling an intense call to the priesthood as an adolescent, Tracy started attending the Cathedral School in 1952. The Cathedral School served as a high school and minor seminary for the Archdiocese of New York. In 1960, he left New York for Rome to study at the Gregorianum. His vocation to study theology was profoundly encouraged by the Second Vatican Council taking place at that time. He was ordained in Rome on December 18, 1963, and served in the diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1963. Tracy received his Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Gregorianum in 1964, after which he spent one year at a parish in Stamford, Connecticut. He has said that he had always wanted to work in a parish, but during his one year of doing so, he felt a strong call to the academic life. He returned to Rome and received his doctorate from the Gregorian University in 1969.[6]

Career

[edit]

Tracy's first academic teaching appointment was a lectureship at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he began in 1967. In 1968, Tracy joined with Bernard McGinn and twenty other professors at CUA in rejecting Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae vitae. He and the others were tried by CUA's faculty senate and summarily fired. They sued the university, were represented by American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, and ultimately won their case.[7]

In the midst of this trial, Jerald Brauer, then dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School, convinced Tracy (as well as McGinn) to come to the University of Chicago. In 1985, Tracy was named a Distinguished Service Professor there, and in 1987, a Distinguished Service Professor of Roman Catholic Studies. Tracy also held the Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Professorship in Roman Catholic Studies, which was established in 1984 by Roman Catholic priest, sociologist and novelist Andrew Greeley. He also served on Chicago's Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Methods and the Committee on Social Thought. Tracy remained at the Divinity School until his retirement in late 2006.

Tracy served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America from 1976 to 1977. In 1980, that organization awarded him the John Courtney Murray Award, the highest award of the society. In 1982, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1999–2000, Tracy gave the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. The title of his lectures was This Side of God. The Gifford Lectures are widely considered to be the highest honor for those working in theology and religious studies[according to whom?].

In 2018, Tracy contributed an essay to the catalog of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. Tracy was described by Andrew Bolton, the curator of the exhibition, as "the J. D. Salinger of the theological world."[8]

Writings

[edit]
  • The Achievement of Bernard Lonergan (1970)
  • Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology (1975)
  • Toward Vatican III: The Work that Needs To Be Done, with Hans Küng and Johann Baptist Metz (1978)
  • The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism (1981)
  • Talking About God: Doing Theology in the Context of Modern Pluralism, with John Cobb (1983)
  • Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible, with Robert Grant (1984)
  • A Catholic Vision, with Stephen Happel (1984)
  • Plurality and Ambiguity (1987)
  • Dialogue with the Other: The Inter-religious Dialogue (1990)
  • On Naming the Present: God, Hermeneutics, and Church (1994)

References

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Palfrey 2013, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c Palfrey 2013, p. 8.
  3. ^ Palfrey 2013, pp. i, 11.
  4. ^ Palfrey 2013, p. 179.
  5. ^ "The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020". American Philosophical Society. May 5, 2020. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022.
  6. ^ "David Tracy". The Gifford Lectures. August 18, 2014.
  7. ^ David Tracy (Autumn 2003). "Tribute to Bernard McGinn". Criterion. 42: 41–42.
  8. ^ Jason Horowitz (May 3, 2018). "How the Met Got the Vatican's Vestments". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Academic offices
Preceded by Gifford Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh
1999–2000 		Succeeded by
Awards
Preceded by John Courtney Murray Award
1980 		Succeeded by
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