Pacific School of Religion congratulates doctoral student Dr. César A. Cruz on receiving Third Place in the 2025–2026 Blessed Solanus Casey Essay Prize, a national competition recognizing outstanding graduate scholarship on the life, ministry, and contemporary significance of Blessed Solanus Casey. The competition, hosted by the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph, awards essays that offer original scholarship grounded in historical research and pastoral relevance.
Cruz’s award-winning essay, The Porter and the Prisoner: Francis Solanus Casey, Israa Ja’abis and the Theology of the Door, explores the ministry of Blessed Solanus Casey alongside the testimony of Israa Ja’abis, a Palestinian Muslim woman and former political prisoner whom Cruz heard speak in 2026. Drawing on Christian theology, Islamic understandings of sabr (patient endurance), frameworks of lament and counterstory, and his own experience as an undocumented immigrant and the son of a deported mother, Cruz argues that Casey’s ministry as a monastery porter takes on renewed meaning through the lives of those who continue to experience exclusion.
Reflecting on the recognition, Cruz shared that the essay represents the culmination of a year of intensive learning across several communities, including Pacific School of Religion, the Graduate Theological Union, East Bay Meditation Center, New College Berkeley, and Braided Wisdom.
“Theological writing is a new area for my formation,” Cruz said. “I’m grateful for what I’m learning at PSR, GTU, Braided Wisdom, New College Berkeley, East Bay Meditation Center, and beyond. More than a personal honor, this is a chance to keep insisting that the door—the threshold where the excluded are received—still has everything to teach us.“
Cruz also credits his coursework at the Graduate Theological Union, particularly classes taught by Dr. Dhala and Dr. Green, as foundational to the essay’s development. Throughout the work, he intentionally weaves together insights from his studies and formation across multiple learning communities while identifying himself as a Pacific School of Religion student.
The essay was selected through a blind review process by a jury of clergy, religious, and lay scholars chaired by Fr. Edward Foley, OFM Cap., vice-postulator for Blessed Solanus Casey’s canonization cause. In announcing the winners, the jury noted that this year’s essays demonstrated “fresh insights” into Casey’s life and ministry, highlighting the enduring relevance of his witness for contemporary faith and society.
Along with receiving a cash prize, Cruz’s essay is among three works the Capuchin Franciscan Province hopes to publish together in a future volume.
Pacific School of Religion celebrates César’s accomplishment and the thoughtful scholarship he continues to bring to conversations at the intersection of theology, justice, and lived experience.
Read the award-winning essay: The Porter and the Prisoner: Francis Solanus Casey, Israa Ja’abis and the Theology of the Door by Dr. César A. Cruz.
View the announcement of the 2025–2026 Blessed Solanus Casey Essay Prize winners.