Theology \ Faculty \
Mark S. Massa, S.J.
Professor
Co-Director, The Curran Center for American Catholic Studies
Duane Library, Rm. 260
(718)-817-4719
fax: (718) -817-5746
massasj@fordham.edu
Th .D., Church History, passed “with distinction.” Thesis: “Charles Biggs and the Crisis of Historical Criticism.” Harvard University (1987)
M.Div., Weston School of Theology, degree awarded “with distinction.”(1980)
M.A., History Department, British Section. Thesis: “Genevan Influences on the Book of Common Prayer, 1549.” The University of Chicago (1974)
A.B. , History and Theology. Graduated summa cum laude. President, Alpha Sigma Nu (National Jesuit Honor Society). The University of Detroit (1973)
Historical theology: American religious history
For the past decade my research interest has focused on the Catholic experience in the United States since World War II. Catholics and American Culture sought to provide a non-“master narrative” approach to understanding how Catholics left their secure ghetto after 1945 to enter the verdant pastures of middle class affluence, with somewhat mixed results. And precisely because of those mixed results, I utilized Reinhold Niebuhr’s rich category of “theological irony to tell my tale. Anti-Catholicism in America mined David Tracy’s protean distinction between “analogical” and “dialectical” pre-conceptual languages to explain how – and – why – Catholics and other Americans actually do see the world differently, a difference that has contributed significantly to “prejudice” against Catholics in the U.S. And I use that term in neutral sense (and not in its more usual pejorative) sense: prejudice comes from twp Latin words that mean “prejudgment.” I thus attempted an ideologically neutral approach to anti-Catholic “prejudice.” I am currently working on a history of Catholic theology in the United States since the Second Vatican Council.
Some Recent Publications:
Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice? New York: Crossroad Press, 2003.
Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and the Notre Dame Football Team. New York: Crossroad, 1999. Winner of the AJCU/Alpha Sigma Nu Award for Outstanding Work in Theology for 1999-2001.
World Religions: A Sourcebook (with Richard Viladesau). Metuchen, NJ: Paulist Press, 1993.
Foundations of Theological Study (with Richard Viladesau). Metuchen, NJ: Paulist Press, 1991.
Charles Augustus Briggs and the Crisis of Historical Criticism. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.
Leave of Absence, Fall 2010 - Spring 2012.
