Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF
Chair & Professor-Department of Spirituality Studies
Director of Franciscan Studies
BS DeSales University
MS Seton Hall University
PhD University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Graduate
School
MA Fordham University
PhD Fordham University
Biography
Ilia Delio is a Franciscan sister who resides in Washington, DC. She holds a doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and a doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham University. She has written extensively in the area of Franciscan theology, with a particular emphasis on the theology of Bonaventure. She lectures nationally and internationally in Franciscan theology/spirituality with a particular focus on integrating Franciscan theology and contemporary questions. As Director of the Franciscan Center at the Union, she organizes the Franciscan lecture series and the annual Franciscan symposium. She is a member of the Commission for the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition that is sponsored by the English Speaking Conference of Friars Minor.
Professional Activities
Dr. Delio is actively engaged in the religion and science dialogue. She is a recipient of the Templeton Course Award in Science and Religion (2000) and has participated in Science and Religion workshops at Washington Theological Union as well as in Europe. Her research interests in Religion and Science include questions of divine action, emergence, and artificial intelligence. She has served on the board of directors of Metanexus, the Advisory board of AAAS-DoSER (Dialogue on Sciences Ethics and Religion) as well as on the editorial board of New Theology Review. Dr. Delio is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.
Selected Recent Publications
Books
Delio, Ilia, O.S.F. Franciscan Prayer. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004.
Delio, Ilia, O.S.F. The Humility of God: a Franciscan Perspective. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2005.
Delio, Ilia, O.S.F. Clare of Assisi: A Heart Full of Love. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2007.
Delio, Ilia, Warner, Keith and Pamela Woods. Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2008.
Delio, Ilia, O.S.F. Christ in Evolution. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2008.
Articles
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Does God ‘Act’ in Creation? A Bonaventurian Response,” Heythrop Journal 44.3 (July 2003): 328 – 44.
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Identity and Difference in Bonaventure’s Legenda maior.” Studies in Spirituality 13 (2003): 199 - 211.
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Brain Science and the Biology of Belief: A Theological Response,” Zygon 38.3 (September 2003): 373 – 85.
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Evangelical Life: Living in the Ecological Christ.” Franciscan Studies 64 (2006): 475 – 506.
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Theology, Metaphysics and the Centrality of Christ” Theological Studies 68.2 (June 2007): 254 – 73.
Delio, Ilia O.S.F. “Christ and Extraterrestrial Life,” Theology and Science 5.3 (November 2007): 249 – 265.
