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Dr. Matthew Bunson

About

Dr. Matthew Bunson, Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, is one of the United States’ leading authorities on the papacy and the Church. His many books include Pope Francis (Our Sunday Visitor, 2013); The Encyclopedia of Catholic History (Our Sunday Visitor, 2004); and The Angelic Doctor: The Life and World of St. Thomas Aquinas (Our Sunday Visitor, 1994). Dr. Bunson is on the faculty of the Catholic Distance University where he teaches Church History, including Catholic-Islamic relations and Medieval and American Catholic History. Dr. Bunson has also served as a consultant to MSNBC, NBC News, CBS Radio, and the BBC, as well as other media outlets. He was special consultant on Catholic affairs for USA Today during its coverage of the 2005 and 2013 papal conclaves. He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation, and also holds a B.A. in History, an M.A. in Theology, and a Master of Divinity degree. He is presently working toward a Ph.D. in Church History from the Graduate Theological Foundation. Follow Dr. Bunson online through the Our Sunday Visitor blog.

   
 

Fathers of Science

On March 12, 2008, the John Templeton Foundation made the announcement of the winner of its annual Templeton Prize, which honors achievements engaging the great questions of life and the universe. The $1.6 million prize for 2008 went to Michał Heller, a Polish cosmologist and professor in the faculty of philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Cracow, Poland. What makes Heller additionally remarkable is that he is a Catholic priest. The 72-year-old planned to spend the prize money to... Read More

5 Questions on Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis

Pope Benedict XVI

The announcement that Pope Benedict XVI renounced the papacy on Feb. 28 caused many in the media to revisit one of the major issues of his pontificate: the clergy sexual abuse scandal that dominated the news for nearly a decade in the United States, Australia, and parts of Europe. The record of Pope Benedict XVI has also come under scrutiny, with many in the secular media repeating a discredited clam that the pope had failed to act properly in dealing with the crisis and may even have been complicit... Read More