I’m Dr. Ish Ruiz, and I serve as the Assistant Professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. I am a queer Puerto Rican Catholic theologian who is passionate about the intersection of queerness, Latinidad, and Catholicism.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I faced many challenges reconciling my Catholic faith, queer identity, and Latinx heritage. After years of spiritual direction, therapy, and advanced theological education, I am grateful for my queerness because it has taught me to navigate spaces where I didn’t fit the mold and to disrupt oppressive norms by simply being true to who I am. Similarly, I cherish my Latinidad for fueling my decolonial attitude, and I embrace my Catholic faith, which gives me a transcendental perspective that inspires my work toward justice. Through my vocation, I seek to create the Kingdom of God on Earth by bringing forth a world of justice, inclusivity, and compassion for all.

I’m the author of LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools: Embracing Inclusivity, Synodality, and Justice (Rowman and Littlefield), a co-editor of Cornerstones: Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions (New Ways Ministry), and I’ve written several academic articles exploring topics like queerness, Latinidad, and synodality. I hope to contribute to a Catholicism (and broader Christianity) that fully embraces the diversity of gifts people from all racial and sexual identities bring to the table.

Before my current role, I was a post-doctoral fellow at Candler School of Theology at Emory University and an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton. I’ve also spent 11 years working in secondary education, and I have ministered in various settings, including leading the Marianist LGBTQ+ Initiative team, serving as a young adult ministry coordinator in the historic LGBTQ+ parish Most Holy Redeemer (in the Castro district of San Francisco), designing LGBTQ+ inclusion workshops for Catholic schools, and advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ Church employees through union activism.

You can view my Curriculum Vitae here.

If you’re interested in workshops or collaborations, please reach out below.