Elena G. Procario-Foley, Ph.D.

At Iona University, Dr. Elena Procario-Foley holds the positions of Brother John G. Driscoll Professor of Jewish-Catholic Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, and Director of the Core Curriculum. She chaired the Religious Studies Department from 2008-2015. Procario-Foley holds the Ph.D. and MA degrees in theology from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago and the BA in theology and philosophy from Fordham University. Her dissertation explored the Christology of the Flemish Dominican Edward Schillebeeckx.

Procario-Foley’s research and teaching focuses on systematic theology and Jewish-Christian Relations. She has served on several boards of directors including serving as chair of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (2006-2011), secretary of the College Theology Society, and as an at-large board member of the Catholic Theological Society of America. As a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Procario-Foley has twice chaired their Consultation on Christianity and Judaism as well as chairing the Women’s Seminar in Constructive Theology and the Nominations Committee. She has served as the chair of the board of consultors of the Manhattan College Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Center since 2014 and, since 2007, Procario-Foley has served on the board of the Stimulus Foundation of Paulist Press, a publishing imprint focused on supporting scholarship in Jewish-Christian relations. She has also served on the board of Theta Alpha Kappa: National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology.

Procario-Foley developed the undergraduate courses “Jesus and Judaism” and “The Holocaust and the Churches.”  Each spring semester for ten years before the Covid-19 pandemic blocked travel, Procario-Foley took her Holocaust course students to Poland during spring break to the Center for Dialogue and Prayer in Oswiecim so they could study with scholars at the memorial site of the former Auschwitz death camp, learn from Jagiellonian University professors in Krakow, and understand the Jewish-Catholic world of Pope John Paul II in Wadowice.

Books

“You Say You Want a Revolution?” 1968-2018 in Theological Perspective, co-edited with Susie Paulik Babka and Sandra Yocum, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2019)

Righting Relations After the Holocaust and Vatican Two: Essays in Honor of John Pawlikowski, co-edited with Robert C. Cathey, (Mahwah, NJ and New York, NY: Paulist Press, 2018)

Frontiers in Catholic Feminist Theology: Shoulder to Shoulder, co-editor Susan Abraham, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2009)

Journals

Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society

• Editor 2016–present
• Associate Editor 2013–2015
• Assistant Editor 2009–2012

Selected Articles and Chapters

February 2021: “Dabru Emet and the Era of Respect”

“The Refugee Status: Political Ethics and Moral Politics,” CrossCurrents (Fall 2018); Article DOI: 10.1111/cros.1227.

Fulfillment and Complementarity: Reflections on Relationship in “Gifts and Calling” in Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations Vol 12, No 1 (2017): 1-12.

“Teaching for the Future: Nostra Aetate and the Holocaust” in Carol Rittner, R.S.M., ed., The Holocaust and Nostra Aetate: Toward A Greater Understanding. (Greensburg, PA: Seton Hill University, 2017).

“The Blessing of Sitting Together,” in Interreligious Friendship After Nostra Aetate, eds. James Fredericks and Tracy Tiemeier (New York: Palgrave, 2015).

“Teaching, Learning, and Relationships: Nostra Aetate and Education” in A Jubilee for All Time: The Copernican Revolution in Jewish-Christian Relations, ed. Gilbert S. Rosenthal (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications/Wipf and Stock, 2014).

“Heir or Orphan? Theological Evolution and Devolution Before and After Nostra Aetate” in The Church of the Future, Annual Volume 51 of the College Theology Society ed., William Madges (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 2006).

“Christology as Introduction” in Christology: Memory, Inquiry, Practice, eds. Anne M. Clifford and Anthony J. Godzieba (New York: Orbis Books, 2003) 250-264.

“Institutions of Higher Education: Cornerstones in Building Ethical Organizations,” with David F. Bean, Teaching Business Ethics 6: 101-116 (2002).

Dr. Procario-Foley's early research focused on the christology of Flemish Dominican theologian Edward Schillebeeckx. She is interested in the various branches of systematic theology, their conversations with both pastoral practice and Christian feminism, and Catholic theology after Vatican II. Procario-Foley currently focuses work in the field of Jewish-Catholic relations.

• Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA)
• College Theology Society (CTS)
• Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations
• (CCJR) Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations
• (CSG) American Academy of Religion (AAR)

Current Board Memberships

• Manhattan College Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Center
• Stimulus Foundation/Paulist Press
• Theta Alpha Kappa, National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology

• Br. William H. Barnes Memorial Award for Service to the College, Iona College, 2022 and 2017
• Jean-Claude Lovinsky Memorial Award, 2019
• Faculty Speaker of the Year, Iona College, May 2017
• Yitzak Rabin Peacemaker Award of the New Rochelle Coalition for Mutual Respect, 2015
• Sapientia et Doctrina Award for Service to the renewal of the Church; presented by Fordham University, October 21, 2011
• Iona College Woman of Achievement Award, 2010
• Hugh McCabe Award for Social Justice, Iona College, 2006.
• Iona College Dean’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship, May 2000 and May 2006.

Academic Honor Societies

• Phi Beta Kappa
• Alpha Sigma Nu
• Phi Kappa Phi
• Delta Epsilon Sigma