New pope selected

Holy Cross experts available to comment

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, of Germany has been selected by the Roman Catholic Church as the new pope. Taking the name Benedict XVI, he becomes the 265th pope of the Church.

Holy Cross experts from the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, as well as scholars from the departments of religious studies and history, have been called upon by the members of the press to comment on both the new pope and John Paul II’s life and work.

Among them:

Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., President
Father McFarland recently spoke about Pope John Paul II’s legacy and on Catholicism on college campuses on MSNBC with Chris Matthews.

Rev. William Clark, S.J., Assistant Professor, Religious Studies
With a special interest in questions of pastoral practice and community at the local level of the Church, Father Clark has been frequently called upon by the media to discuss recent Boston-area church closings.

David O’Brien, Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies, history
Professor O’Brien specializes in Catholic social and political thought, the history of American Catholicism, and religion and politics. 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).

Mathew Schmalz, Assistant Professor and E.B. Williams Fellow, Religious Studies
Professor Schmalz is an expert in Indian culture and specializes in Catholicism in the non-Western world, including India and Africa. He has been interviewed by WCVB-TV (Boston), New England Cable News (NECN), and many other print and broadcast media outlets.

William Shea, Director, Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture
Professor Shea, widely published and author most recently of Lion and the Lamb: Evangelicals and Catholics in America (Oxford University Press), 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
Father Worcester has taught courses in the history of the papacy. His other interests include 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.