Todd Walatka

Todd Walatka is a teaching professor and the assistant chair for graduate studies in the Department of Theology, where he specializes in contemporary Catholic systematic theology. His research focuses on influential Latin American thinkers including Gustavo Gutiérrez, Jon Sobrino, Juan Luis Segundo, and Archbishop Óscar Romero, as well as the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the most influential European theologians of the 20th century. Much of Walatka’s work seeks to build bridges across theological divides and create dialogue between differing theological approaches. He has been a Kellogg Institute faculty fellow since 2019.

Walatka’s other research interests include ecclesiology, eschatology, theology and racism, and Jewish-Christian relations. He also works in the field of pedagogy and pedagogical formation. Two ongoing book projects explore the theme of mercy in liberation theology and the theological witness of Archbishop Romero.

Walatka received the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, CSC, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University of Notre Dame in 2018, and has been active in Latin American/North American Church Concerns (LANACC). He earned an MTS in the history of Christianity and a PhD in systematic theology from Notre Dame.