Holy Cross to Host Series of Events to Honor the Pope’s Historic U.S. Visit

Crux columnist and WGBH host Margery Eagan to moderate panel on pontiff’s address to Congress

Read Time

3 Minutes

Pope Francis, the world’s first Jesuit pope, will make his first visit to the U.S. Sept. 22–27, 2015. To celebrate and honor the pope’s historic visit, the College of the Holy Cross will host a series of events. The College will host a live viewing party of the pope’s address to Congress on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 9:45 a.m. in Rehm Library. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 9:15 a.m. and coffee and bagels will be served. Holy Cross is also participating in the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s watch party, with nearly two dozen Catholic institutions around the country watching the address to Congress. Participants are encouraged to use the hashtag #POPE2CONGRESS.

After the event, there will be a wide range of Holy Cross scholars that will suggest themes from the address that warrant further discussion. “It will put both Catholic Republicans and Democrats in a pickle, the Pope is going to challenge them both,” says Mathew Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies and an expert on the papacy.

On Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. in Rehm Library the College will host a panel focusing on the pope’s address to Congress. Crux spirituality columnist and WGBH radio host Margery Eagan will moderate the panel. The panel will be streamed live over the web.

Participants include Caner Dagli, associate professor of religious studies and an expert in Islamic studies; Frank Kartheiser ’88, co-founder of the Mustard Seed and founder of and lead organizer at Worcester Interfaith; Daniel Klinghard, associate professor of political science; Sara Mitchell, geologist and director of environmental studies; Emily Muldoon ’16, who recently returned from a semester in El Salvador; and Rev. David Dae An Rynick, a Zen Buddhist priest at the Boundless Way Temple in Worcester.

Eagan will moderate the panel and participants will explore and reflect on the themes they heard in the address as well as the significance of the address.

Eagan is a long-time writer and commentator on current affairs, politics, women’s issues, and Catholicism. She co-hosts “Boston Public Radio” with Jim Braude on 89.7 WGBH in Boston. Eagan started at the Boston Herald in 1981 and was named a columnist in 1984; after leaving for a stint at Boston Magazine, she returned to her Herald column until the Globe hired her to be the spirituality columnist for Crux in July 2014.

Holy Cross has also partnered with the 28 Jesuit schools across the U.S. to help educate the public on what it means to be Jesuit educated. Learn more about the project on Inside Higher Ed  or read a reflection by Aimee Bell ’88, deputy editor of Vanity Fair. What makes you proud to be #JesuitEducated? We invite you to share your story using the hashtag #JesuitEducated

Schedule of papal related events on campus:

On Monday, Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Rehm Library the McFarland Center and Environmental Studies will host a panel titled “Pope Francis on the Globalization of Environmental Responsibility: Perspectives from Holy Cross Faculty.” Loren Cass, professor of political science, will moderate a faculty discussion of the pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, featuring panelists Matthew Eggemeier, assistant professor of religious studies; Daina Harvey, assistant professor of sociology; Kathy Kiel, professor of economics; Rev. Thomas Worcester, S.J., professor of history; and Kelly Wolfe-Bellin, director of biology laboratories and lecturer.

Related Information & Select Media Coverage



More Stories

View All Stories