Major Catholic Speaker

In 2010 the Center started a Major Catholic Speaker Event. The goal is to invite a Catholic speaker of significant stature to address a topic of pressing concern to the Catholic Church and the larger society.

(Video seen on the right is our most recent Major Catholic Speaker program in February 2025 with Dr. Anna Rowlands.)

All of the Major Catholic Speaker videos can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
Past Major Catholic Speakers include:

Dr. Anna Rowlands, St. Hilda Chair in Catholic Social Thought and Practice, University of Durham (2025)
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America (2024)
Dr. Cecilia González-Andrieu, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University (2022)
Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, Associate Professor of History, University of Dayton (2022)
Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology and Chair of the Theology Department at Boston College (2019)
Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and President of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews (2018)
Fr. Bryan Hehir, Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, Harvard University (2018)
Dr. Carolyn Woo, President Catholic Relief Services (2017)
Sr. Simone Campbell, S.S.S. Nuns on the Bus and Director of Network (2016)
John L. Allen, Jr., Associate editor at the Boston Globe and senior Vatican analyst for CNN (2015)
Dr. Miguel Diaz, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (2014)
Sr. Carol Keehan, D.C. President of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (2013)
Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., former Master General of the Dominican Order (2012)
Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard University Law School and United States Ambassador to the Vatican (2011)
President John Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame (2011)
Cardinal Walter Kaspar, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (2010)