McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture

In This Section

Dedicated to enabling a deeper understanding of the ways that religion, ethics and culture are interwoven.

The McFarland Center helps foster a vibrant intellectual community at Holy Cross and shares what we learn with scholarly and public audiences worldwide.

Through powerful lectures, thought-provoking discussions, conferences and support for innovative faculty scholarship, the McFarland Center is a place where Catholic and Jesuit perspectives interact with other traditions to create spirited, respectful dialogue.

The McFarland Center’s programs address a wide range of religious and ethical issues while providing thought leadership in two specific areas: global Catholicism and Jewish-Christian understanding.

Explore Past Events on YouTube

Upcoming Campus Lectures & Conferences

The McFarland Center is currently scheduling lectures & conferences for Fall 2025, and events will be added here as they're confirmed. 

Mission Statement

The Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross derives its mission from the College’s conviction, that "the search for meaning and value is at the heart of the intellectual life." The McFarland Center ensures that exploration of the complex interrelationships among religion, ethics and culture plays a vital role in the life of the Holy Cross community. It provides a forum for intellectual exchange and multidisciplinary inquiry that respects people of all faiths, cultures and nationalities while working to enhance awareness of injustice and the conditions that foster human wellbeing.

Global Catholicism

The McFarland Center is among the world’s leading resources for helping students, scholars and the general public understand the diversity and context-specificity of Catholic practice in a Church whose greatest vitality is increasingly found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Through multimedia web resources, a scholarly journal, lectures, conferences and book projects, the Center promotes scholarship on global Catholicism both on and off campus.

  • Catholics and Cultures

    Catholics and Cultures provides a first-hand look at contemporary forms of lived Catholicism across the world. This dynamic resource currently features scholarship, images, videos and data from more than 40 countries and regions.

    Catholics and Cultures

  • The Catholic World

    The Catholic World, an upcoming volume set to be published in the Routledge Worlds Series, aims to be a comprehensive resource for scholars and students who wish to engage with Catholicism not as a monolith, but as an ever-evolving and locally instantiated lived religious tradition.

  • Journal of Global Catholicism

    The JGC is an open-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to fostering the understanding of diverse forms of lived Catholicism with attention to their significance for theoretical approaches within and across multiple academic disciplines. The Journal invites submissions from scholars across the globe.

    Read the Latest Issue

Jewish-Christian Understanding

The McFarland Center is committed to interreligious dialogue, with a special emphasis on Jewish-Christian understanding.

  • Readings from the Roots

    By sponsoring Readings from the Roots, a historically sensitive translation of the Revised Common Lectionary, the McFarland Center helps Christians engage in scripture readings that are true to their original contexts and free of anti-Jewish sentiment.

    Readings from the Roots

  • Kraft-Hiatt Program for Jewish-Christian Understanding

    Funded by the College and the Kraft-Hiatt family, the program sponsors opportunities that impact students, faculty and the campus community as a whole. The initiative includes lecture series, conferences, visiting scholars and support for faculty and students to study abroad.

    Learn More

  • Study & Research Opportunities

    The Kraft-Hiatt Fund has enabled Holy Cross faculty to attend seminars at Yad Vashem, the world's Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, as well as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and has supported students' study abroad at Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

    Learn More

Rehm Library

The McFarland Center's primary public space is the Rehm Library, an elegant and modern venue for lectures, forums and information sessions with state-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities. Located in Smith Hall, it also provides quiet space for study and reflection, enhanced library resources on religion and spirituality and primary texts on an array of religious traditions.

Learn More About Libraries

Our Staff

  • Thomas M. Landy

    Director of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture

  • Brent Otto, S.J.

    Global Catholicism Pre-Doctoral Fellow, McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture
    Areas of Expertise Colonial and post-colonial South Asia, Social histories of race and caste difference, Indian Christianity, Missionaries and education

  • Sarah Potter

    Assistant Director for Communications, McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture

  • Ruby Francis

    Program Coordinator, McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture

  • Fr. Bryan Lobo, S.J.

    International Visiting Jesuit Fellow
    Areas of Expertise Theology of religions, Theological aspects of Christian proclamation and mission that consider the unique insights of Christian theology in a religious and culturally pluralistic world
Contact Us

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

Location
College of the Holy Cross
1 College Street
Worcester, MA 01610-2395
Phone
508-793-3869
Email
mcfarlandcenter@holycross.edu
Office Hours
Monday-Friday
9 a.m.-5 p.m.