Monsignor John A. “Jack” Radano, Ph.D., was a distinguished priest, noted scholar, and passionate advocate for Christian unity. His legacy spans nearly six decades of service to academia, the Church, and ecumenical dialogue.

He earned a B.Sc. in American History from St. Peter’s College in 1959, followed by three successive theology degrees: an S.T.B. from Catholic University in 1965; an M.A. from the University of San Francisco in 1968; and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in 1971. Ordained in 1965 for the Archdiocese of Newark, Msgr. Radano immediately joined Seton Hall’s faculty at the Department of Religious Studies. He served there until 1984, including as department chair from 1977-1984, with a focus on ecumenical studies.

Appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) in 1984, he became head of its Western Section in 1985. For more than two decades at the Vatican, Msgr. Radano was deeply involved in international bilateral dialogues between the Catholic Church and Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Mennonite, Pentecostal, and Evangelical Christians. From 1988, he also served as liaison to the World Council of Churches’ Commission on Faith and Order and on the Joint Working Group.

A prolific writer, Msgr. Radano’s works include Lutheran and Catholic Reconciliation on Justification (2009) and Celebrating a Century of Ecumenism (2012), among others. He was the editor of the PCPCU Information Service (1985–2008) and contributed to key theological reference works. A 2017 Festschrift, Towards Unity: Ecumenical Dialogue 500 Years After the Reformation, honoured his lifelong ecumenical contributions.

Upon returning to New Jersey in 2008, he remained an active voice in interreligious dialogue and Catholic education. He taught at Seton Hall’s Seminary, St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie), the Angelicum in Rome, the University of St. Thomas (MN), and St. Paul Seminary.