TheSocialEdge.com

by Gerry McCarthy

Dr. Sallie McFague is currently Distinguished Theologian in Residence at Vancouver School of Theology. She recently retired as Carpenter Professor of Theology Emerita at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She has a Bachelor of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Yale University....

by Gerry McCarthy

Barbara Fiand is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. She is the author of seven books, including: Releasement, Living the Vision, Where Two or Three Are Gathered, and Embraced by Compassion.
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by Gerry McCarthy

Marcus Borg holds the Hundere Chair in Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University. He is known internationally as a Biblical and Jesus scholar....

by Gerry McCarthy

Mark Klempner is a folklorist and oral historian. Ten years ago he sought out some of the last surviving Dutch rescuers of Jewish children to better understand how and why they made their courageous choices. The result of this research is his new book The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage. It was recently published by the Pilgrim Press and is distributed in Canada by Northstone Publishing.

     Klempner grew up in New York. He attended Cornell University and won a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. He received a Masters degree in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

     For over 20 years, Klempner worked as a professional musician. As a studio guitarist in Los Angeles he worked with many recording artists, including Luther Vandross, Holly Near, and pianist David Benoit.

     Klempner’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including the National Catholic Reporter and Tikkun. He has also been a featured commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. I reached him in Costa Rica to speak about his new book.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Dr. Mary T. Malone is the author of Women and Christianity: The First Thousand Years (Volume 1). She is a former professor of Theology at the Toronto School of Theology, and of Religious Studies at St.Jerome’s University and the University of Waterloo. She now lives in Ireland.
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by Gerry McCarthy

Robert Blair Kaiser spent ten years in the Society of Jesus before leaving to pursue a career in journalism. He has been a religious reporter for The New York Times, Time, and CBS.

     Currently, Kaiser is editor of JustGoodCompany.com, a journal of religion and culture. He’s also a contributing editor in Rome for Newsweek.

     Kaiser has published 10 books including: Clerical Error, The Politics of Sex and Religion, and Pope, Council, and World. His new book A Church in Search of Itself: Benedict XVI and the Battle for the Future of the Church was recently published by Knopf. I reached Kaiser in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gerry McCarthy: In A Church in Search of Itself you write about the silencing of liberation theologian and priest Leonardo Boff. You explain that: "Boff argued that a ‘clerical aristocracy’ had expropriated from the people of God the means of religious production, and hence had misappropriated their right to make their own decisions. This sounded like Marxist jargon, but all Boff meant was the Church didn’t want people to grow up." Another theologian that was singled out by the Church was Charles Curran. In 1986, he was deemed not "suitable" or "eligible" to teach Catholic theology by the Vatican, but he wasn’t saying anything different than Richard McBrien of Notre Dame. He was made an example of by Rome wasn’t he?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Curtis White is the author of five novels, including Memories of My Father Watching TV and Requiem. An acclaimed essayist, his work has appeared in Harper’s magazine and Context. White is also an English professor at Illinois State University and the current president of the Center for Book Culture/Dalkey Archive Press. His book The Middle Mind: Why Americans Can’t Think for Themselves has just been published by HarperSanFrancisco. I reached him at his home to speak about the book....

by Gerry McCarthy

Dr. Roger Haight has taught for over 30 years in Jesuit schools of theology in Chicago, Toronto, Manila, and Cambridge (Massachusetts). He currently teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

     Dr. Haight is Past President of the Catholic Theological Society of America. His book Jesus Symbol of God (Orbis) won first place in the Catholic Press Association’s 2000 Book Award for Theology. Some of his other books include: Dynamics of Theology and Christian Community in History (in two volumes).

     His most recent book The Future of Christology was published by Continuum. I reached him in New York City to speak about the book and other matters.

Gerry McCarthy: In The Future of Christology you write that: "This culture of postmodernity, as I have depicted it, appears threatening to Christian faith in its catechetical form. But it is no more challenging than Hellenistic culture appeared to the Christian movement at the dawn of the second century. This culture should not be viewed only as a threat, but also as a lure to create new construals of Jesus Christ and the church that meet the temper of the time." Do you think postmodernity is misunderstood today? Why does the Vatican view it as a threat?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Christina Nick is a multi-disciplinary Canadian artist whose intense interest in nature, travel and the environment are reflected in her artwork. She has participated in numerous solo and group art shows since she graduated form Mount Allison University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Richard Layard is a leading economist who believes that the happiness of society does not necessarily equate to its income. He is founder of the Centre for Economic Performance at The London School of Economics. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords.

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by Gerry McCarthy

David Gibson is an award-winning journalist. He worked in Rome for Vatican Radio and travelled regularly with Pope John Paul II before returning to the United States, where he writes frequently for numerous publications. Some of those publications include: The New York Times, Boston Magazine, Fortune, and America.

     A convert to Catholicism, Gibson is the author of The Coming Catholic Church. His new book The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World was just published by HarperSanFrancisco.

     I reached Gibson in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Gerry McCarthy: In The Rule of Benedict you write that: "By repeatedly using Marxism as the easy foil for his conservative preferences, Benedict unfortunately implies that social justice efforts are automatically suspect, and can only lead to socialist utopianism that would subvert the Gospel. Moreover, by associating Catholic social activism with the specter of Communism, Benedict presumes the worst about the many devoted Catholics working so faithfully for social justice." It’s unfortunate that social justice Catholics are frequently viewed as one-dimensional isn’t it? Can you talk to me about this?

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by Gerry McCarthy

Angela Bonavoglia is a nationally recognized writer on Church reform. Her work has appeared in The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, The Nation, Ms., Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Newsday.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Sr. Helen Prejean is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957. She has been a teacher, religious education director, and formation director of her religious community....

by Jeni Armstrong

Leonard Shaw is a psychotherapist, consultant and teacher and the author of Love and Forgiveness: A Workbook for Self-Healing and Healing Relationships. ...

by Gerry McCarthy

Charles Curran is a distinguished moral theologian and the author of numerous books, including: Catholic Social Teaching 1891-Present: A Historical, Theological, and Ethical Analysis, The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis, and The Origins of Moral Theology in the United States. He is also co-editor of a twelve-volume series from Paulist Press entitled Readings in Moral Theology.

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by Gerry McCarthy

Howard Zinn is a renowned historian and author of A People’s History of The United States. He taught at Spelman College, where he was novelist Alice Walker’s mentor. He was also a professor at Boston University for many years.
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