Editor’s Note

Paul Lakeland’s many and significant contributions to the church and theological scholarship cannot be underestimated. His retirement at the end of the 2022–2023 academic year was, therefore, an occasion to be marked. On April 27, 2023, Fairfield University colleagues from a variety of departments, students (former and current), colleagues from various institutions, friends, and family gathered at Fairfield University to celebrate and congratulate Paul Lakeland not only for his forty-plus decades of teaching, scholarship, and service for the Fairfield University community but also for his remarkable career, which has nourished and challenged his theological colleagues and the church. This editor was present for part of the retirement festivities. With his signature warmth and theological precision, John Thiel, Lakeland’s long-time Fairfield colleague and friend, presided over the panel that is the basis for this roundtable. In his introductory remarks, he said that he “must begin with the in-house testimony that Paul has always been a very fine teacher. For the past forty-two years, he’s nurtured a couple of generations of students, many of whom have become trusted friends, grateful for his wisdom and guidance when they were undergraduates and even thereafter.” Thiel recounted only a small portion of Lakeland’s achievements, keeping his remarks brief to maximize time for the panelists. From being voted “Teacher of the Year” by Fairfield students in 2005 to his several book awards to his 2020 ACCU Monika Hellwig Award for advancing Catholic intellectual life, Paul Lakeland keeps writing, teaching, and working for a church that begins and ends with the dignity of the baptized, a kenotic church that honors the human dignity of every person on the planet and acts on their behalf for justice and the common good. To preserve the atmosphere of professional admiration, affectionate tone, and palpable friendship evident during the presentations, the remarks of the speakers have been only lightly edited for clarity and the texts retain their first-person address and spoken tone. This editor wishes Paul Lakeland many more years of writing, congratulates him on his retirement, and thanks him for his vision of a fully participatory and engaged laity.