Nazareth College Welcomes Thomas Reese to Kick off the 2014-2015 William H. Shannon Lecture Series

Expert in the Catholic Church to present "Pope Francis and the Challenge of Reforming the Church"

ROCHESTER, NY (08/27/2014)(readMedia)-- Widely known expert on the Catholic Church in the U.S., Thomas Reese, S.J. will be presenting Pope Francis and the Challenge of Reforming the Church on Thursday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the Forum of the Otto A. Shults Center. Reese will also present Listening to the Laity: Pope Francis and the Upcoming Synod on the Family on Friday, September 12 at 1:30 p.m. in Linehan Chapel of the Golisano Academic Center. Both lectures are free and open to the public. Nazareth College is located at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y., 14618. For further information, contact Christine M. Bochen at (585) 389-2728 or at cbochen4@naz.edu.

Reese is a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter and brings a variety of experience by being a tax reform lobbyist, a public policy analyst, and a writer and editor. From 1998 to 2005, he served as editor-in-chief of America, a national Catholic weekly magazine published by the Jesuits in the U.S. He is the author of a trilogy on the Catholic Church that includes Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church (1996), he has written for a variety of publications, such as the Washington Post's blog "On Faith" and the Huffington Post.

In May 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Reese to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan group that makes policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress.

The Shannon Lecture Series honors William H. Shannon, former professor of religious at Nazareth College. Father Shannon advanced the educational mission of Nazareth College and contributed significantly to Catholic intellectual life, both nationally and internationally. This school year, the Lecture Series aim to answer the question posed by Father Shannon in his last book, "How can we get the voice of God's people heard in the Church?" Reese's interest in the public allows him to help the Nazareth Community explore how the Church of the Third Millennium will be the Church of the people of God.