Dr. Mary Beth Yount is a professor of theology and the Irene S. Taylor Endowed Chair for Catholic and Family Studies at St. Vincent College. In addition to courses in theology and religious studies, her interdisciplinary doctoral/master’s level courses include research methods and ethics courses in education, counseling and nursing.
Administrator of more than 20 research dissertations, Yount is editor of the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling. Her broad ministerial experience includes roles as executive director of a Catholic nonprofit organization, an interfaith trauma hospital chaplain, and a co-planner of a papal visit.
Pope Francis awarded Dr. Yount a Benemerenti Medal, which honors the laity for service to the Catholic Church. She is a consultor for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Vatican dicasteries (administrative offices that are part of the Roman Curia). She has been featured by hundreds of media outlets, including TIME Magazine and Rome Reports, an independent TV news agency that covers the Vatican.
Dr. Yount’s academic publications in 2020-2025 include seven articles, six editorials, five collected volume contributions, and four book reviews on topics including lay ecclesial ministry, synods, formation of church members and families, and power dynamics in worship. She enjoys eating pizza in the park with her four children.
Education
PhD, Theology, Duquesne University MA, Theology, St. Mary’s University (TX) BA, Theology (Philosophy minor) University of St. Thomas (TX)
Courses
TH 280 Catholic Bioethics
TH 340 Basics of Catholic Faith
CORE 3400 Loving Seminar
Selected Publications, 2020-2025
Articles
Academic
Yount, Mary Beth. “Uplifting Voices for Transformation and Tilling the Church” Philosophy & Theology, ed. James B. South, 35, 1/2 (2023): 335-343 DOI: 10.5840/philtheol202448169
Yount, Mary Beth. “History and Horizons of Lay Ecclesial Ministry in the United States Catholic Church” in Theological Roundtable entitled “Claiming Voice: Ordained and Lay People Co-Creating the Church.” Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society, 49, 1 (2022): 174-227. DOI: 10.1017/hor.2022.5
Jobe, Sarah, and Nathaniel Grimes, Vincent Lloyd, Jason S. Sexton, Kathryn Getek Soltis, and Mary Beth Yount. “Top 10 Tips to De-Carcerate Your Theology, Ethics, or Religion Classroom.” Political Theology, 23, 3 (2022): 1-9. DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2022.2079238
Yount, Mary Beth. “Fraternity, Human Community, and Migration: Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb.” Critical Theology, 4, 3 (2022): 2-8.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Ruether, Rosemary.” American Religious History: Belief and Society through Time, vol 3 (ency. article), ed Gary S. Smith. California, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2020: 278-279.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Ryan, John A.” American Religious History: Belief and Society through Time, vol 2 (ency. article), ed Gary S. Smith. California, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2020: 243-245.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Privilege, Power Dynamics, and Radical Particularity” in collected essay entitled “Ethnography and Theology in the World-Church: Reflecting on Vocation, Liturgy and Ethics with Selva J. Raj.” Sixty-Fifth Annual Volume of the College Theology Society: All the Ends of the Earth: Challenge and Celebration of Global Catholicism, Orbis Books (Maryknoll, NY: 2020): 218-225.
Yount, Mary Beth and Michael Canaris. “Sharing the Dream: Higher Education Funding for the Undocumented,” America Magazine (March 23, 2021)
Book Chapter Contributions
(forthcoming 2026) Yount, Mary Beth. “Lay Ecclesial Ministry: Already and Not Yet” in Harvesting and Sowing: Laity, Ministry, and Protagonism in a Time of Epochal Change, Paulist Press, eds, Michael Canaris & Maureen O’Brien.
Yount, Mary Beth. “The Synods on the Family” in Catholic Family Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations, Georgetown University Press. Volume editors, Jacob M. Kohlhaas & Mary M. Doyle Roche, 2024.
Yount, Mary Beth. “The Undomesticated Church: Inspiration and the Mission of the Family” in The Survival of Dulles: Reflections on a Second Century of Influence. Edited by Michael Canaris. NY: Fordham University Press, 2021.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Hospitality and Disruption: The Church as Sanctuary” in Global Indifference? The Church and Migration, eds Darren Dias, Gerard Mannion, Michael Attridge, and Jerry Skira. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
Yount, Mary Beth. “‘Shared Responsibility’: Practical Involvement of the Laity” in Full, Conscious and Active: Lay Participation in the Church’s Dialogue with the World. Edited by Donna L. Orsuto and Robert S. White, Preface by Seán Patrick Cardinal O’Malley. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2020.
Editorials
Yount, Mary Beth. “100th Anniversary of Chaplaincy: Roots and Horizons.” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, Vol. 79 No. 3-4 (2025): TBD.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Providing Spiritual Support During Anxious Times.” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, Vol. 79 No. 1-2 (2025): TBD.
Yount, Mary Beth. “Tools and Training for Providing Spiritually-Informed Care,” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, Vol. 78 No. 3-4 (2024): 65. https://doi.org/10.1177/15423050241278041
Yount, Mary Beth. “Trauma and Healing: Theoretical and Practical Responses Within Helping Professions” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, Vol. 78 No. 1-2 (2024): 3-4. https://doi.org/10.1177/15423050241278041
Yount, Mary Beth. “Centering Neuro-Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Professional Fields of Care,” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, Vol. 77 No. 2 (2023): 79-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/15423050231180788
