INSeCT President's Message on the Election of Pope Leo XIV

Photo from Vatican News

Dear Most Holy Father, 

The International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology (INSeCT) extends our heartfelt congratulations to you on your election to the papacy. We send our prayers and blessings as you begin your time as our faithful leader. 

INSeCT is a network of theologians, scholars, academics, and faithful who study, reflect, and write in the area of Catholic theology. It comprises 22 societies and 12 affiliations from around the world. We were blessed in May 2024 when the Board met personally with the late Pope Francis to share our work and offer ourselves as a resource to him (and future pontiffs) for whatever they may need from the Catholic Theological Societies around the world. Also, in December 2024, we met him again at a conference hosted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education on the future of theology. We were encouraged by Pope Francis to uphold the significance of theology in our schools, churches, and society. We welcome the opportunity to engage more firmly with the Holy See, and we also hope that we can continue this trajectory to collaborate and work closely with the Holy See in bringing forth the fruits of theology as well as encourage our world to reflect and theologize more deeply on the message of the Gospel. 

After we attended the conference, we convened our general assembly in Rome at the Australian Catholic University. There, we met to review our mission and mandate as a global network. We also elected new board members and officers for the next three years. The network also heard from members about the past research project, and we then discussed a new research project for the next three years. We took the encouragement of the Holy See and entitled our research project: The Future of Theology: Disrupting the Past and Generating a New Vision. We hope that the network, as well as all who are concerned with theology, will engage with us in this project. 

We know that you have lots of requests and demands on your shoulders, and we just wanted to send our support as you faithfully lead with the help of the Holy Spirit, the people of God. We also welcome an opportunity to meet you in person at one of our meetings.

Peace and good, 

Linh Hoang OFM

President, INSeCT