Chester L. Gillis

Chester Gillis

Amaturo Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University.

"On Faith" panelist Chester Gillis is the Amaturo Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University where he has served on the faculty since 1988. He was chair of the Department of Theology from 2001 to 2005. He holds degrees in philosophy and religious studies from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. His research interests include comparative religion and contemporary Roman Catholicism. He is the author of "A Question of Final Belief: John Hick’s Pluralistic Theory of Salvation" (1989), "Pluralism: A New Paradigm for Theology" (1993), "Roman Catholicism in America" (1999), "Catholic Faith in America" (2003) and editor of "The Political Papacy" (2006). He is co-editor of the Columbia University series Religion and Politics. He is a Fellow in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown, and is the Director of Georgetown’s Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue. Close.

Chester Gillis

Amaturo Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University.

"On Faith" panelist Chester Gillis is the Amaturo Chair of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University where he has served on the faculty since 1988. He was chair of the Department of Theology from 2001 to 2005. more »

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You are Criminals, Not Martyrs

Those of you who take innocent lives in the name of religion neither do justice nor represent a merciful God. Your words and actions misrepresent and dishonor your religion. If you intend to do violence, do not wrap it in the cloak of religion. You only betray that which you say motivates you. God does not bless your actions; God despises them. Your rhetoric, hatred, and destruction do not serve your religion; they make people fear it. You may gain infamy, but you do not gain God’s favor. You are not martyrs; you are criminals.

Cease your terrorist activity; join the constructive dialogue of religions, cultures, and civilizations. Stop perpetrating violence falsely in the name of religion. Follow religious leaders who seek dialogue and peace, not violence and murder.

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