Rev. John McNerney

M. Litt, S.T.B., Ph.D.
Director of Basselin Scholars

Father John McNerney joined the Theological College community in 2022 as a member of the formation faculty and Director of Basselin Scholars, after serving at The Catholic University of America as visiting research scholar in the department of politics and the first Distinguished Michael J. Novak Scholar.  At Catholic University, he was also a Fellow at the Art and Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship and accompanying scholar for the Röpke-Wojtyła Fellowship, as well as a faculty scholar at the Institute for Human Ecology.

His expertise and research areas are in the development of a philosophy of the human person and its consequences for business life and in Catholic social thought. He is author of Wealth of Persons: Economics with a Human Face (2016) and John Paul II: Poet and Philosopher (2004). His next  books are titled Myself as Another: A Journey to the Heart of Who We Are (to publish in March 2024) and Crossing the Threshold: Philosophical-Esthetic Elucidations on the Human Person (scheduled for publication in 2025) . He has authored numerous essays and articles illuminating the interplay between community and business, entrepreneurship and human fulfillment, fraternity and multifaith collaboration, art and truth, grace and humanity, and other profound themes. An acclaimed speaker, he has been a presenter at engagements on campuses and venues around the world, including several universities in China.

A native of Ireland, Father McNerney earned his B.A., M.Litt., and Ph.D. (Philosophy) degrees at University College in Dublin. He earned his S.T.B. at the Gregorian University in Rome. Ordained for the Diocese of Dublin, his first ministry was as a high school Religion and Theology teacher, then as chaplain and student advisor, and later the head of the chaplaincy department at Dublin University College. There he was also lecturer in business ethics and philosophy, organizing major international conferences and events exploring religious, esthetical, and philosophical topics.