Experts Available for Commentary on Pope John Paul II

MEDIA ADVISORY

WORCESTER, Mass. – Faculty experts in a wide range of disciplines from the College of the Holy Cross are available to offer distinctive perspectives on the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II.

Contact information is provided; for more information on these or other experts from Holy Cross faculty, please contact Nikolas Markantonatos at 508-793-2419.

Michael C. McFarland, S.J., President McFarland is marking his fifth year as president of the College of the Holy Cross, the oldest Catholic college in New England with an enrollment of 2,700 exclusively undergraduate students. He is an experienced media guest, most recently commenting on Pope John Paul II’s legacy and on Catholicism on college campuses on MSNBC with Chris Matthews.

Please contact Ellen Ryder, Director of Public Affairs (eryder@holycross.edu or 508-793- 2419), to discuss interviews, comment, or media appearances by Rev. McFarland.

Rev. William Clark, S.J., Assistant Professor, Religious Studies Wclark@holycross.edu (508) 793-2717 Clark has a particular interest in questions of pastoral practice and community at the local level of the Church, and has been called upon by the media to discuss recent Boston-area church closings. He is trained in systematic theology and specializes in Roman Catholic ecclesiology.

David O’Brien, Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies, history 508-793-2775 (office), 508-829-9759 (home) dobrien@holycross.edu O’Brien specializes in Catholic social and political thought, the history of American Catholicism, and religion and politics. He can comment on questions regarding the contemporary life and work of the Church in the United States, as well as Catholic intellectual life and Catholic higher education. O’Brien frequently provides expert commentary for the media; he has been quoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Associated Press, and has appeared on NPR and WCVB-TV (Boston).

Rev. William Reiser, S.J., Professor, Religious Studies 508-793-3413 (office) wreiser@holycross.edu Reiser specializes in contemporary Jesus research and Christian spirituality. He is also knowledgeable about the spirituality of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and the theology underlying the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola.

Mathew Schmalz, Assistant Professor and E.B. Williams Fellow, Religious Studies (508) 793 2557 mschmalz@holycross.edu Schmalz is an expert in Indian culture and specializes in Catholicism in the non-Western world, including India and Africa. His field research has included work among Catholics in North Indian villages, and he can comment on how villagers viewed their relationship with Pope John Paul II.

William Shea, Director, Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture Wshea@holycross.edu 508-793-3735 (preferred) Shea, widely published and author most recently of Lion and the Lamb: Evangelicals and Catholics in America (Oxford University Press), is a frequent media commentator. Shea is an expert on the history of American religion, with a special interest in evangelical and Catholic relations. Before joining the faculty of Holy Cross to direct the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture in 2003, he taught at Catholic University of America, the University of South Florida, and Saint Louis University.

Rev. Thomas Worcester, S.J., Associate Professor of History (508) 793-2784 tworcest@holycross.edu (preferred) Worcester has taught courses in the history of the papacy. His other interests include the Catholic and Protestant Reformations, France and Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries, and religion and art in the Reformation era. He is one of the curators of a major new exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum, Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague, 1500-1800 — the first exhibition in North America to examine the response of visual art to the plague.