HTI Alumni
Antonio (Tony) Alonso
Aquinas Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture and Director of Catholic Studies
Field of Study: Practical Theology and Theology
Antonio (Tony) Eduardo Alonso is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture and Director of Catholic Studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. In 2019 he was awarded the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award for new scholars for the best academic essay in the field of theology within the Roman Catholic tradition from the Catholic Theological Society of America for his essay “Listening for the Cry: Certeau Beyond Strategies and Tactics” (Modern Theology, 2017). Alonso’s first book, Commodified Communion: Eucharist, Consumer Culture, and the Practice of Everyday Life (forthcoming, Fordham University Press) offers a theological account of contemporary consumerism and its relationship to the Eucharist. His current research, funded by a Teacher-Scholar Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute for Worship, focuses on the theological significance of the transformation of Catholic material culture in the wake of the Second Vatican Council’s liturgical reforms. In addition to his scholarly work, Dr. Alonso is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer of sacred music. The author of over 200 published compositions and arrangements, he was commissioned to compose the responsorial psalm for the first Mass Pope Francis celebrated in the United States in 2015. Alonso currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Aquinas Center for Theology, the treasurer for La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars, and the liturgical liaison for the Catholic Theological Society of America.