Our programs

Each year, the St. Irenaeus Institute, in partnership with the UWM Newman Center and the Panther Catholic Student Organization, hosts a public lecture which takes place at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It is delivered by a noteworthy Catholic scholar on a pressing question that calls for robust engagement between Catholic and secular learning. The inaugural lecture was given by Jennifer Frey on "The Life of the Mind: Intellectual Virtues and Human Flourishing."

We are pleased to announce that this winter, the lecture will be delivered by nationally-renowned political philosopher and public intellectual Patrick J. Deneen (University of Notre Dame), who will wrestle with the question: What does ancient Athens have to do with contemporary America? Digging deeply into Plato's foundational text, he will extract its key ideas and bring them to bear on the current state of our own American republic. The lecture is free and open to the public. It will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 26 in the Golda Meir Conference Center at UW-Milwaukee.

The St. Irenaeus Lecture in Patristics, which takes place at Marquette University, is delivered each January by an esteemed patristics scholar. It aims to provide a clear and thought-provoking introduction to the text or topic under discussion in the Spring Fides Patrum series. Past lectures have been delivered by Marcus Plested (on Origen’s On First Principles), Fr. Andrew Summerson (on St. Gregory’s Theological Orations), and John Cavadini (on Augustine's Confessions).

We are pleased to announce that this year the St. Irenaeus Lecture in Patristics will be delivered by our very own Jeanne-Nicole Saint-Laurent (Syriac Studies, Marquette University) on "The Harp of the Holy Spirit: St. Ephrem the Syrian's Theological Poetics." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2026 in the beautiful Eisenberg Reading Room at Marquette University's Sensenbrenner Hall. It will be followed by a light reception. Registration kindly requested.

This spring, St. Irenaeus Scholar-in Residence Dr. Joshua Hren will be teaching a for-credit seminar at UW-Milwaukee entitled, "Introduction to Catholic Studies" (RELIGST 250). The course will explore the rich Catholic vision of the world, investigate the interplay of faith and reason, and engage the eternal questions of human and divine life through great works of art, theology, philosophy, and film. The course meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-3:45 p.m. in Curtin Hall B13 at UW-Milwaukee. It is open to non-degree-seeking students.

To learn more about the course, contact Dr. Joshua Hren (joshuahren@gmail.com).

Fides Patrum (“The Faith of the Fathers”) is a seminar series dedicated to exploring the rich and extensive theology of the Church Fathers. Each fall and spring we run a new five-part series. Past series have explored such texts and topics as St. Irenaeus’ Against Heresies; Origen’s On First Principles; St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation; St. Gregory the Theologian’s Five Theological Orations; St. Augustine's Confessions; Asceticism; the Holy Spirit; and the theology of St. Augustine.

Doctores Ecclesiae is an ongoing project of the St. Irenaeus Institute focused on the 38 Doctors of the Catholic Church and their distinctive contributions to the Church's understanding of her faith. The Doctors are the preeminent "teachers" (Latin: doctores) of the Catholic faith and, therefore, should have a normative role in teaching that faith to the Church. The first phase of the project involves an extended study of each of the Doctors and their writings so as to identity their defining insights and teachings. The second phase of the project will organize these insights into a comprehensive curriculum for the study of theology and catechesis. The goal is to tailor this curriculum for use in the Church at various levels, whether lay education, seminary formation, or advanced academic study. If you wish to support or participate in this project, please contact us at aaron.ebert@st-irenaeus.org