Dr. Joseph Vercruysse has been Professor of Theology at the Pontifica Universitas Gregoriana in Rome since 1979. He is a member of the Society of Jesus and adviser to the Rev. Rather General, S.J. on ecumenical matters.
Born in Belgium, Dr. Vercruysse received his secondary education at Sint Jan Berchmanscollege, Brussels. He earned licentiates in philosophy (1957) and in theology (1962) at the Jesuit Scholasticate, Leuven. He graduated from the Pontifica Universitas Gregoriana, Rome (1966), with a doctorate in theology.
Dr. Vercruysse began teaching dogmatic theology to Jesuit scholastics in 1965. Four years later, he joined the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, where he specialized in ecumenism and Protestant theology. Occasionally, he has been invited to take teaching positions at the University of San Francisco Summer School, (1977); at the Istituto Ecumenico in Verona, Italy (1980); and at the Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi, Rome (1988).
Dr. Vercruysse has held a number of significant responsibilities. From 1968 to 19 79, he was secretary of the doctrinal commission of the National Ecumenical Commission to the Episcopal Conference in Belgium. From 1982 to 1986, he was president of the Societas Oecumenica (the European Society for Ecumenical Research). At present, he is a member of the Academie Internationale des Sciences Religieuses in Brussels.
Dr. Vercruysse has written his doctoral thesis on the ecclesiology of Martin Luther. His articles on ecumenical theology have appeared in many important English, German and Italian journals and magazines. In 1988, he wrote a formal Roman Catholic response to the World Council of Churches document, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. This formal response has been published in Gregorianum, Vol. 69, 1988. His other writings reflect a wide knowledge of ecumenical trends among the Christian Churches.
January 1990