Portrait of Richard Lennan
Boston College teaching record

Richard Lennan

Professor of Systematic Theology

Theology and Ministry

Official BC profile

Biography

Richard Lennan is a priest of the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, ordained in 1983. After graduate studies at the University of Oxford and the University of Innsbruck (Austria), where he wrote his dissertation on Karl Rahner’s ecclesiology, he taught from 1992-2007 at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. During this time, he was a member of the Australian Anglican-Catholic dialogue and served as President of the Australian Catholic Theological Association (2005-07) Richard moved to the United Sates in 2007 to teach at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA, and is currently Professor of Systematic Theology in the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, where he also chairs the Ecclesiastical Faculty. Richard’s research and teaching focus on ecclesiology, ministry, and the theology of Karl Rahner. He has authored or edited nine books. He was an editorial consultant for Theological Studies between 2008-2023 and served as a theological advisor to the preparation of Light from the Southern Cross (2019), a document on reforming governance in the Catholic Church in Australia. Most recently, Richard was a member of the theological panel for the Plenary Council of Australia (2021-22).

Official evaluation summary

4.81 / 5

Based on 112 aggregate responses from BC Avalanche/Blue evaluations.

Courses taught

Ratings are this instructor’s response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations, on a scale of 1 to 5.

  • TMST7020 The Church
    Instructor rating 4.81 / 5 · Course rating 4.69 / 5 · 89 responses
    Taught Fall 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021
  • TMST8017 Ecclesial Ministry
    Instructor rating 4.88 / 5 · Course rating 4.88 / 5 · 8 responses
    Taught Spring 2025, Spring 2023
  • TMST8529 S.T.L. Thesis
    Instructor rating 5.00 / 5 · Course rating 4.33 / 5 · 8 responses
    Taught Fall 2022
  • TMST8530 S.T.L. Continuation
    Instructor rating 4.50 / 5 · Course rating 4.00 / 5 · 7 responses
    Taught Fall 2022

Data freshness

Profile and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. See Data Sources for provenance and limitations.