About the Lecture and Book Launch
On the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, the most important church event in Catholic life since the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, Michael W. Higgins, Vatican analyst, biographer and scholar, will identify the reasons why this Synod matters, why its ecumenical constitution is so innovative, and why we are on the cusp of a radical re-shaping of how we do things as a church.
Higgins, author of the recently published The Jesuit Disruptor—a Personal Portrait of Pope Francis, will be in Rome this October covering the Synod for Paulist Press of New York.
For event tickets and details.
Michael W. Higgins
Biography
Dr. Michael W. Higgins has been involved with investigating and expanding the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, particularly in Canada, for over forty years. As a teacher, a writer, a documentarian, a university president, a public speaker, an administrator and more, Higgins’ contributions to Catholic higher education have impacted the country from coast to coast and extended beyond the country as well.
He is the author and co-author of numerous books, including many bestsellers, and some of which have been translated into Italian, French, German and Norwegian. They number among them: Stalking the Holy: In Pursuit of Saint-Making, The Church Needs the Laity: the Wisdom of John Henry Newman, The Muted Voice: Religion and the Media, Genius Born of Anguish; the Life and Legacy of Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Jesuit Mystique, Heretic Blood: the Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton, Faithful Visionary: Thomas Merton, The Unquiet Monk, My Father’s Business: the official biography of Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter, as well as many others. Dr. Higgins has a new book coming out in September 2024, through House of Anansi: The Jesuit Disruptor: A Personal Portrait of Pope Francis. As a CBC documentarian, narrator and researcher, he has done many programs of theological and philosophical interest for Ideas, Celebration, Testament, and Man Alive. He is a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail, The Literary Review of Canada, Commonweal, and The Tablet of London. Dr. Higgins is the Basilian Distinguished Fellow of Contemporary Catholic Thought at the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto, and the President and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of St. Jerome’s University.
Dr. Higgins has been writing the Pontifex Minimus blog for over a decade. These weekly posts explore the Catholic educational presence in Canada and beyond.
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The Higgins Lecture on Religion and Media