Fr. Chase Pepper is a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He earned his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Cambridge (St. John’s College) in 2023 as a Gates Scholar and has since been a postdoctoral research associate of the Von Hügel Institute for Critical Catholic Inquiry at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge. He writes on the theology and poetry of Dante Alighieri. Prior to studying at Cambridge, Fr. Chase served at King’s College for three years (2014 to 2017) in the departments of Campus Ministry, Residence Life, and Theology. He was ordained a priest in 2015, a year after earning his Master of Divinity Degree (M.Div.) from the University of Notre Dame (2014). He has his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Catholic Studies from Seton Hall University (2007), and he served as a FOCUS missionary at Temple University in Philadelphia from 2007 to 2009. Fr. Chase is from Huntsville, Ala.
Education
B.A., Political Science and Catholic Studies, Seton Hall University
M.Div., Theology, University of Notre Dame
Ph.D., Theology, University of Cambridge
Publications, Presentations, and Conferences
"From Misery to Happiness: Literary Purpose in Dante's Commedia," chapter in What Is Literature For? Literary, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives, forthcoming
"Prayer, Participation, and Perfection in Dante's Commedia," article for Modern Theology, July 2025
"Stronger Than the Stars: Intercessory Prayer in Dante’s Theology of Beatitude," research seminar paper for Von Hugel Institute, June 2024
"Dante the Theologian," book review for The Heythrop Journal, November 2023
"Pope Francis’s Candor lucis aeternae and Its Implications for Engaging with Dante from Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Perspectives," A Centenary Celebration of New Voices in UK and Irish Dante Studies conference paper, November 2021
"The Consecrated Life in the Light of Dante's Sun: On the Occasion of Pope Francis's Candor lucis aeternae," Review for Religious online essay, May 2021
