Bishop Flanagan Lecture

The annual Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan Lecture on Religion and Public Affairs will take place on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 519 of the Hogan Campus Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo of Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and Ana Maria Diaz-Stevens of Union Theological Seminary will give this year's lecture entitled, "Merging Public Policy and Pastoral Praxis: The Intellectual Agenda of Latino Catholicism."

Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo is a prominent social scientist whose works include "Cave of the Jaguar" (1983), "Prophets Denied Honor" (1980) and, with Diaz-Stevens,"Recognizing the Latino Resurgence" (1998). He is co-founder of the Program for the Analysis of Religion Among Latinas/os (PARAL).

Ana Maria Diaz-Stevens is an historian and theologian who has written "Oxcart Catholicism on Fifth Avenue: The Impact of Puerto Rican Migration Upon the Archdiocese of New York" and "An Enduring Flame: Studies of Popular Religiosity Among Latinos." She is co-founder of PARAL.

There will be an interfaith prayer breakfast the following morning, Friday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 a.m. in Room 402 of the Hogan Campus Center, at which the two speakers will report on the changing religious world of Latinos in the United States. They will be commenting on the results of a major study on Latino religious experience. The breakfast is open to the public; please contact Patricia Hinchliffe at 508/793-3869.

The Bishop Flanagan Lecture series was started in 1991 in an effort to build a relationship between the Diocese of Worcester and Holy Cross on social justice and peace issues. It is named in honor of the late Bishop of Worcester, a member of the Holy Cross Class of 1928, who was known for his lifelong dedication to peace, social justice and ecumenism.