Rev. Chris Arockiaraj P.S.S.
About Chris Arockiaraj
Chris Arockiaraj, P.S.S., is a native of Chennai, India. He studied Philosophy, Theology and Psychology in Chennai. He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Madras in India. He holds a Ph.L. from Institut Catholique de Toulouse, France, a D.Min. with a concentration in Pastoral Counseling from San Francisco Theological Seminary, CA, and a Ph.D. in Pastoral Psychology from Graduate Theological Foundation, IN. He had previously served as an associate professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University, CA, as well as Sacred Heart Seminary, India, for 15 years. He has taught several academic courses in philosophy, theology and psychology. He has expertise in positive psychology, personality psychology, strength psychology, spirituality and pastoral theology.
Dr. Arockiaraj has held various positions, including those of pastor, hospital chaplain, formation advisor, and spiritual director. Chris has served as an academic dean and director of pastoral formation program for several years. Currently he teaches at The Catholic University of America and serves as a coordinator of clinical placements for Supervised Ministry Program. As a certified Pastoral Counselor with an additional certificate in Spiritual Direction and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Chris has years of clinical experience working with families and individuals.
Languages: Tamil, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German
Education
- D.Min., San Francisco Theological Seminary
- Ph.D. in Pastoral Psychology, Loyola University
- MD, Graduate Theological Foundation
- Ph.L., Catholic University of Toulouse
- STB., Pontifical Urban University through S.H. Seminary
- M.S., in General Psychology, University of Madras
- C.P.E., John Hopkins Hospital
Experience
EXPERIENCE IN PRIESTLY FORMATION:
• Lecturer, School of Theology and Religious Studies—The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC., 2017-present.
• Assistant Professor of Pastoral Studies, Formational Director, Co-Director of Pastoral Year Formation, Formation Faculty, Spiritual Director—St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, 2010 - 2017.
• Graduate Assistant—San Francisco Theological Seminary, CA, 2014.
• Formation Faculty, Dean of Men, Academic Dean, Director of Pastoral Formation—Sacred Heart Seminary, Chennai, 1997-1999, 2002-2005.
• Formation Faculty, Director of Pastoral Formation Program—The Catholic University of America, School of Theology and Religious Studies, 2017- present.
• Vice-Rector—Theological College, 2020 - present.
• Member of Washington Area Formators Network (WAFN), 2017 - present.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
• Director of Pastoral Formation—Theological College, Washington, DC, 2018- present.
• Coordinator of Clinical Placements, Supervised Ministry Program—Catholic University of America, 2018-present.
• Co-Director of Pastoral Year Students—St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, 2016 - 2017.
• Member of Finance Committee—Sulpician Province of USA, 2015 - 2017.
• Member of Admission Committee—Sulpician Province of USA, 2015 - present.
• Member of Strategic planning Committee & Liturgical Committee—St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, 2012-13.
• Academic Dean, Dean of Men, Director of Pastoral Formation Program—Sacred Heart Seminary, Chennai, 1997-1999, 2002-2005.
PASTORAL EXPERIENCE
• Prison Ministry, Diocese of San Jose, 2014-2017.
• Chaplain, St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD , 2005-2010.
• Spiritual Director, Bay Area Tamil Catholic Community and Tamil Ministry, CA, 2012- 2017.
• Spiritual Director, Capital Area Tamil Catholic Association, VA, 2018- present.
• Pastor, Sacred Heart Church, Chennai, 2004 -2005.
• Associate Pastor, Santhome Cathedral & Our Lady of Fatima, Chennai, 1995-1997.
SUMMER PASTORAL ASSIGNMENTS (Supply Pastor):
• Sacred Heart Church, Wasilla, Archdiocese of Anchorage, 2012, 2013 & 2014.
• St. Denis Church, Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA, 2012.
• St. William Church, St. Teresa Co-Cathedral, Diocese of Honolulu, 2015.
• St. Anselm Church, Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA , 2015.
• Immaculate Conception church, Archdiocese of Miami, 2007.
• Catholic Hospital, Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, 2003.
• St. Jeanne of Arc Church, Verdun sur Garonne, Diocese of Montauban, France, 2002.
• Our Lady of Victory Church, Diocese of Meaux, France, 2000.
• Retreat Preacher for Confirmation Candidates, St. Anselm Church, Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA, 2015, 2016.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
• Clinical Counseling internship, Marriage and Family counseling Centre, Baltimore, MD, 2005-2007.
• Pastoral Counselor, Inter-Faith Counseling Centre, San Anselmo, CA, 2013-2015.
• Pastoral Counselor at Parishes of Nativity (Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Diocese of San Jose, CA), 2016 - 2017.
• Spiritual Director: Sacred Heart Seminary, Chennai, 1997-1999, 2002-2005.
• Spiritual Director, St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, 2010-2017.
• Spiritual Director, Theological College, Washington, DC, 2017– present.
USCCB POSITION
• Adviser to the USCCB Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs for the Indian Roman/Latin Rite
Publications
Books
• Faces of Aesthetics (Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics in Tamil), Editor, Chennai, 2005.
• To be with God, (Liturgy in Tamil), co-Editor, Chennai, 2005.
• Youth ministry, Editor, (Tamil), 1989.
• Contract with USCCB Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs to write a book on Indian-American Catholics and their traditions and transitions (proposal time: December, 2020).
Articles
• “50 Years of Excellence in Pastoral Formation: 1971-2021”, Crossroads, TC, Washington DC., 2020.
• “Excellence in Supervision: Theories of Supervision”, (co-authored) Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, Vol.40, 2020.
• “Spiritual formation/reflective practice under the cloud of Pandemic” Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, Vol.41 2020 (to be published).
• “Shepherding in a time of Traumatic stress and Anxiety”, Crossroads, TC, Washington DC., 2020.
• ‘Self-care for Priests”, Crossroads, TC, Washington DC., 2019.
• ‘Healthy Living’, Crossroads, TC, Washington DC., 2019
• “Art and Emotions”, Faces of Aesthetics, Chennai, 2005.
• “Hindus Experience the Solicitude of the Virgin Mary: Mary in Inter-religious Relations”, Lourdes, 97, (109), Lourdes, 2002, (Published in French, German, Spanish, English and Portuguese).
Invited Presentations
• Identity of Priesthood, Small Group Formation, Theological College, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
• Workshop on Catechetical Ministry and Service with the Poor, Theological College, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
• Theological Refection on Pastoral Experience in Small Groups, Theological College, 2018 and 2019.
• Building Resilience in Catholic Seminarians to Cope With Potential Burnout issues as New Priests, presentation at the Seventeenth World Summit on Positive Psychology and Psychotherapy, Toronto, Canada, May, 2017.
• Building Resilience in Seminarians and Young Priests, Ongoing Formation for Priests, West Coast Regional Meeting held at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, October, 2016.
• Addictive Behavior and Formational Issues, Presentation to Pre-theology Students, St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, CA, 2016.
• Anxiety and coping strategies, Health Care Lecture Series, St. Patrick’s Church, Menlo Park, CA, 2015.
• Positive Psychology: a Coping Tool for Depression, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Annual Regional Conference, November 2013.
• Stress and Subjective Well-being, Health Care Lecture Series, St. Patrick’s Church, Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA, 2013.
• Transcendence and Mind-Body-Spirit Health (Subjective Well-Being), Pastoral Care Department In-service, St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD, 2008.
• Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics, Key note speaker at Philosophy Annual Symposium, Sacred Heart Seminary, Chennai, September, 2003.
• Blessed Virgin Mary and Hinduism, Marian Colloquium at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, Lourdes (France), 2002.
• Catholic Tradition Practice in India, University Lecture Series at Catholic Institute of Toulouse (France), 2001.
Affiliations
• Board Certified Pastoral Counselor, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, 2015.
• American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Member, 2013- present.
• Society of Pastoral Theology, Member, 2015 - present.
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Member, 2007-2009.
• American Psychological Association, member, Division 36, Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2005-2008.
• Ordained Roman Catholic Priest, 1995 and Member of Society of St. Sulpice.
• Priest in good standing since 1995.
Awards, Honors, Grants
- The Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers, 2014-2015
- American Academy of Religion Individual Research Grant, 2013
- Banta Center for Business Ethics and Society Research Grant, 2013
- Proposal Writing Faculty Fellow, 2013
- Dan and Sandra Bane Fellow, The Huntington Library, 2011
- John Topham and Susan Redd Butler Faculty Research Award
(Charles Redd Center for Western Studies), 2011 - LENS Fellowship (G.I.S/Spatial Learning), 2011
- The Louisville Institute Summer Stipend, 2009
- University of Redlands Summer Faculty Research Grant, 2009
- Banta Center for Business Ethics and Society Research Grant, 2008
- American Academy of Religion Individual Research Grant, 2007
- University of Redlands Summer Faculty Research Grant, 2007
- University of Redlands Faculty Award for Outstanding Research, 2006
- Young Scholars in American Religion Program, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, IUPUI, 2005-2006
- Wabash Center For Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, Summer Fellowship, 2006
- Wabash Center Workshop on Teaching and Learning for Pre-Tenure Faculty at Colleges and Universities, 2005-2006
- NEH Summer Seminar: “Roots: African Dimensions of the Early History and Cultures of the Americas,” University of Virginia, 2005
- University of Redlands Summer Faculty Research Grant, 2005
- Kenyon College Dissertation Fellowship, 2000-2001
- University of North Carolina Tanner Teaching Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1999
- Graduate Student Merit Fellowship, The Graduate School, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994-1997
Invited Presentations
- “Competing for California: Contested Religious Space Among Nineteenth-Century Black Churches,” November 2017, Western History Association, San Diego, CA
- “Sacralizing the Land: The Nineteenth-Century Expansion of the AME Church in the American West,” November 2016, American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, Texas
- “Nineteenth-Century Black Print Culture and the American Bible Society,” November 2016, American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, Texas
- “Public Opinion, Social Issues, and the African American Religious Press,” November 2014, Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
- “Sacred Not Secret: Esoteric Knowledge in the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors,” November 2014, American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA
- “Polygamists or What Not, One Wife or Forty: Ambivalent Attitudes Toward Mormonism in Nineteenth-Century AME Church Print Culture,” November 2013, American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, Maryland
- “Historical Narrative in the AME Church,” April 2012, Loma Linda University,
Loma Linda, CA - “Writing the Scholarship of Teaching” (workshop), November 2011, American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, CA
- “Confronting Confusion: The Perils and Prospects of New Assignments,” November 2010, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia
- “Should ‘African’ Remain in Our Title?: Responses to Darwinism in the Nineteenth-Century AME Church,” January 2010, American Society of Church History, San Diego, California
- “Defending the Faith from Darwin: Evolutionary Theory in the Nineteenth-Century Black Church,” February 2009, National Association of African American Studies, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Chair, “Diasporic Networks” Session, October 2008, American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- “‘Too Light to Lead’: Daniel Coker and Racial Liminality in the Early African Methodist Episcopal Church,” March 2008, Biennial Boston College Conference on the History of Religion ‘Religious Identities,’ Boston, Massachusetts
- “Should ‘African’ Remain in Our Title?: The Americanization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1868-1884,” February 2008, National Association of African American Studies, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- “Imagining the American West: Benjamin T. Tanner and the Politics of Racial Destiny in the AME Church,” November 2007, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting,
San Diego, California - “‘That Hardy Race of Pioneers’: Constructions of Race and Masculinity in AME Church Histories, 1865-1900,” November 2005, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- “Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and the Racial Dimensions of Motherhood,” March 2004, American Academy of Religion/Western Region, Whittier, California
- “Benjamin T. Tanner and the Creation of the AME Church Newspaper the Child’s
Recorder, 1868-1884,” November 2002,
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada - “Around the Domestic Altar: Nineteenth-Century African-American Family Religious Life, 1865-1890,” March 2000, American Academy of Religion Southeastern Regional Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia
- “Sculpting the Future: Nineteenth-Century African Methodist Episcopal Church Histories,” March 2000,
Indiana Association of Historians Twentieth Annual Meeting, New Harmony, Indiana - “The Problem of ‘We’: Pedagogical strategies for the Multicultural Classroom,”
April 1999, 3rd Annual Celebration of Teaching Conference, Chapel Hill, North Carolina - “Religion and the Moral Dilemma in the Slave/Master Relationship,” March 1999, 10th Annual Conference on African-American Culture & Experience,
Greensboro, North Carolina - “Religion and Race in America: A Response to Michael Eric Dyson,” April 1998, 50th Anniversary Symposium, Religion and Society in the 21st Century: A View From The Public University, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Affiliations
- University of North Carolina Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars
- American Academy of Religion
- American Historical Association
- American Philosophical Association
- American Society of Church History
- Organization of American Historians
- American Studies Association
- National Association of African American Studies