Former New York Times Religion Editor Will Speak on “Shadow of Sex Abuse in Catholism” Today

Kenneth Briggs, visiting part-time instructor of English and former New York Times religion editor, will speak on “The Lengthening Shadow of Sex Abuse in Catholicism” noon-1 p.m. Friday in Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall.

The event is free and open to the public. Lunch may be brought or purchased for $3.

Briggs served as religion editor of the Times from 1975-1985. He is author of Holy Siege: The Year that Shook Catholic America, published by HarperCollins.

“ [The book] provides a richly detailed portrait of one dramatic year in the life of U.S. Catholics,” notes America: The National Catholic Weekly. “Beginning in the fall of 1986 with the Vatican censure of Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle and the revocation of the Rev. Charles E. Curran’s teaching license at The Catholic University of America, Kenneth A. Briggs gives us a month-by-month account of events leading up to the visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States in September of 1987 and the Extraordinary Synod on the Laity in Rome the following month.”

Other scheduled noon Friday brown bags at Interfaith Chapel include:

• Feb. 21: “Good Friday and the Trial of Jesus,” Rabbi Michael Cook, Hebrew Union College
• Feb. 28: “The Life of Mary McCleod Bethune,” Samuel Hay, visiting professor of government and law at Lafayette
• March 7: Jane Turk, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science at LaSalle University, on “Computer Privacy and Ethics since 9/11”
• March 28: “Date Rape Drugs and Club Drugs — The New Epidemic”
• April 4: Alternative School Break trip reports
• April 11: Helena Silverstein, associate professor of government and law at Lafayette, on “The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action in Higher Education”