Holy Cross Alumna to Lecture on Catholic Mysticism in America

Paula M. Kane ’80, a Holy Cross alumna and former trustee, will return to the College for a lecture titled “Stigmata on the Hudson: The Strange Tale of Sister Thorn,” on Wednesday, November 12, at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library. The lecture is free and open to the public.

As detailed in her recent book “Sister Thorn and Catholic Mysticism in Modern America” (University of North Carolina Press, 2013), Kane will talk about the case of Sister Thorn, a woman who entered the convent after claiming to exhibit the wounds of Christ on her skin in 1917, and about Catholic mysticism in the context of post-World War I America. Sister Thorn's life, Kane asserts, marks the beginning of a transition among Catholics from a devotional, Old World piety to a newly confident role in American society.

Kane is associate professor and the John and Lucine O'Brien Marous Chair of Catholic Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also the author of “Separatism and Subculture: Boston Catholicism, 1900-1920” (University of North Carolina Press, 1994) and co-editor of the volume, “Gender Identities in American Catholicism” (Orbis Books, 2001). A Fenwick Scholar at Holy Cross, she has gone on to publish dozens of articles on American Catholic culture and history.

Her lecture at Holy Cross is co-sponsored by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the Alexander F. Carson Lecture Series. Learn more and watch lectures online at www.holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.