Boisi Center celebrates 25 years
to step down as director at the end of the academic year
The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, nationally recognized for exploring topics at the intersection of religion and politics, will mark its 25th anniversary on October 28 with an event structured around two panel discussions.
The first, scheduled for 3-4:30 p.m., will be on “How Has the Relationship Between Religion and Politics Changed Over the Past Twenty-Five Years?” The second, from 5-6:30 p.m., will focus on “How Has Religious Practice in the United States Changed in the Last Quarter Century?” Both will take place in the Yawkey Center’s Murray Function Room.
Professor of Theology Mark Massa, S.J., has served as director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life since 2017.
The first panel will feature Boston College Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy Director Jonathan Laurence, a professor of political science; Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University; and National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters, a fellow of the Center for Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University.
The second panel will feature David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture; R. Marie Griffith, former director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis; and Michael Murphy, who directs The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago.
Boisi Center Director Mark Massa, S.J., a professor of theology, will serve as the moderator for both discussions.
Named for its benefactors, Geoffrey T. Boisi ’69 and his wife, Rene (Isacco) Boisi ’69, the Boisi Center was established in 1999 to create opportunities where a community of scholars, policy makers, media, and religious leaders could connect in conversation and scholarly reflection around issues at the intersection of religion and American public life. The center is driven by the hope that such conversations can clarify the moral consequences of public policies in ways that help to maintain the common good while respecting America’s increasing religious diversity.
The Boisi Center’s inaugural director was political scientist Alan Wolfe, a noted public intellectual and author who served as director until 2016. When he stepped down from the directorship, he noted that BC is an excellent home for a place like the Boisi Center.
“A lot of programs in political science don’t ask the big questions in the way we do here, with a focus on faith, philosophy, and human tradition,” he told the Boston College Chronicle.
The Boisi Center hosts events such as conferences, public symposia, and lectures that bring leading theologians, church leaders, political scientists, and other scholars into conversation on topics related to religion and culture. Wolfe established the annual Prophetic Voices Lecture, featuring a prominent person who has demonstrated moral courage or spoken about their faith in ways that inspire action.
(L-R) Vice President for Global Engagement James Keenan, S.J., and panelists Randall Balmer (Dartmouth College), Fr. Massa, and Libby Professor Cathleen Kaveny at a Boisi Center event last spring.
Since 2017, the Boisi Center has been led by Fr. Massa, a religious historian and the author of eight books, most recently Catholic Fundamentalism in America. He will step down as director at the end of this academic year and, following a visiting professorship at Fordham University in 2026-2027, will return to BC’s Theology Department to continue teaching, advising, and writing.
Fr. Massa added two other series to the Boisi Center offerings: the Alfred and Melissa Di Leonardo Lecture, focused on American Catholicism, and the Nancy Marzella Lecture of Women and American Catholicism.
He also initiated the faculty seminar, where different interdisciplinary groups of scholars meet regularly on timely topics, such as citizenship in America, race and racism, economic justice, teaching theology in the modern academy, and Christian nationalism.
Reflecting on his tenure as director, Fr. Massa said that one of the highlights was the establishment of the popular Religion and Public Life minor, which draws students majoring in theology as well as other disciplines such as political science, history, and international studies. “The program has had very smart students involved in interesting projects,” he said.
He cited an example of a current student who traveled to the Harry S. Truman Library over the summer for a project examining 20th-century Protestant theologian Reinhold Neibuhr’s influence on General Douglas MacArthur’s governance of Japan after World War II.
Boisi Center Director Mark Massa, S.J., and University President William P. Leahy, S.J., posed with BC undergraduates minoring in Religion and Public Life in 2023.
According to Fr. Massa, one of the most significant contributions the Boisi Center has made in the last five years has been as a co-convener of the Way Forward conferences. The Boisi Center, along with the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago, Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture, and the Center for Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University, held an annual conference that brings Catholic Church leaders and theologians together in conversation. The Way Forward began as a means to advance Pope Francis’s vision for the Catholic Church. Over the years, dozens of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and theologians have gathered for honest dialogue about issues such as the environment and synodality. The next Way Forward conference is slated to address artificial intelligence.
“I’m proud to say that there were more bishops at the last meeting than there were in the first session of the Council of Trent,” said Fr. Massa. “We put very smart people together for important conversations. It’s one of the only places in the American Church where bishops listen to theologians and theologians actually listen to bishops.”
Fr. Massa added that he was pleased that the Boisi Center has been a good University citizen, cooperating and cosponsoring events with other groups on campus such as the Jesuit Institute, Church in the 21st Century Center, and International Studies program, among others.
He expressed his gratitude to four faculty members who have been especially supportive of the center: International Studies Program Director Erik Owens, who served as interim director during the 2016-17 academic year; the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning Kraft Family Professor and Director Daniel Joslyn-Siemiantkoski; Associate Professor of Sociology Eve Spangler; and Libby Professor of Law and Theology Cathleen Kaveny.
He also credits “extraordinarily talented” administrative assistant Susan Richard and graduate research assistants Madeline Jarrett, Jack Nuelle, and Zac Karanovich for keeping the center running so efficiently.
“I’ve loved it,” said Fr. Massa of his time as Boisi Center director. “I’ve been blessed by having really generous people working here with me. I have met all kinds of interesting people, and the faculty has been great to work with. It’s been a great ride.”
The October 28 event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. To respond, and to learn more about the Boisi Center and its programs, go to the center website at bc.edu/boisi.