Academic Research Symposium Held at NHIOP

Dr. Paul Manuel, chairman of the Politics Department and research director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, in association with Christopher Reardon of the University of New Hampshire, and Clyde Wilcox of Georgetown University, recently organized a Research Symposium entitled “Of Crucifixes and Swords: The Relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the States in Comparative Perspective.” .

The Research Symposium brought theologians, historians, social scientists and area specialists together from leading universities to examine questions related to how the Vatican and the local national churches try to influence politics and public policies in a variety of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Case-studies featured the national experiences of India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East Timor, Poland, France, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Angola, Rwanda, Congo, Brazil, Chile and the United States.

Participants included Ken Himes, OFM, of Boston College, Linda Heywood of Boston University, Alynna Lyons of the University of New Hampshire, Tom Massaro, SJ of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Tim Byrnes of Colgate College and Ed Cleary, OP of Providence College.

The keynote address was given by Jim Morone, of Brown University, in the NHIOP Auditorium based on his recent book Hellfire: The Politics of Sin in American History.

The conference was co-sponsored by the Academic Research Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and the Center for Humanities at the University of New Hampshire The culmination of the Research Symposium will be a scholarly volume published by Georgetown University Press.