Mary in the Modern World

Saint Mary's will host a conference addressing the enduring significance of the Virgin Mary in today's world, including her place in the Church's life of prayer and her importance in literature, culture and art. The conference will be October 12 to 14, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the dogmatic proclamation by Pope Pius XII of the Blessed Virgin's Assumption in 1950.

Brother Mark McVann, a professor of theology and religious studies who has written on popular devotion to Mary in Brazil and Peru, is the conference chair. Speakers include Dianne Schoemperlen, author of Our Lady of the Lost and Found; Nancy Pineda-Madrid, assistant professor of theology at Boston College; and Father William Graham, a well-known author and professor of Catholic Studies at Saint Scholastica College in Minnesota.

Other speakers are the Metropolitan Nikitos of Orthodox Institute at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and Pamela Thomas of Mission and Ministry at SMC.

There will be a concert of Marian music and an exhibition entitled "The People's Mary," images of Mary brought by members of the College community for display in the College's library. Go to stmarys-ca.edu/mary for more information.