Notes and Comments

Association News

The president of the American Catholic Historical Association, Robert Bireley, S.J., has appointed Paul W. Knoll, professor emeritus of history in the University of Southern California, to be chairman of the Committee on Program for the Association's ninetieth annual meeting, which will be held in San Diego on January 7–10, 2010. Professor Knoll invites members of the Association to submit proposals for papers or (preferably) complete sessions, including a brief abstract of the paper(s) and pertinent biographical data about the presenter(s), by January 30, 2009, if they are to be considered for cosponsorship by the American Historical Association, or otherwise by March 1. Nonmembers may also submit proposals; if the proposals are accepted by the committee, the presenters will be asked to become members unless they represent another society in a joint session. No presenter at the eighty-ninth annual meeting will be permitted to present a paper at the ninetieth. Anyone who is proposing the same paper to the American Historical Association, to the American Society of Church History, or to any other organization should so inform Professor Knoll. Proposals should be sent to Paul W. Knoll, 10757 Cranks Road, Culver City, CA 90230; e-mail: knoll@usc.edu; tel.: 310/838-9247. The other members of the committee will be announced in the next issue of The Catholic Historical Review.

Father Bireley has also appointed Peter C. Kent of the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, to the Committee on the John Gilmary Shea Prize for a three-year term. The committee for 2008, therefore,is composed of Professor Kent for modern European history; David D. Burr of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, for medieval history; and Thomas C. Reeves of the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, the chairman, for American history.

Lastly, Father Bireley has appointed Richard F. Gyug of Fordham University to the Committee on the John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award also for a three-year term. The committee for 2008, therefore, is composed of Professor Gyug for medieval history; Brad Gregory of the University of Notre Dame for modern European history; and Anne C. Rose of Pennsylvania State University, the chairman, for American history.

Exhibitions

From May until September 7, 2008, the exhibition "Rome in the 1400s" will run in the Museo del Corso in Rome. The exhibition focuses on the city (maps), the popes (medallions and portraits), antiquity (Trajan's column, Nero's Golden House), society (nobility, pilgrims), and the revival of art (with religious objects such as reliquaries, processional crosses, and ceramic tiles; paintings by Andrea Mantegna, Masaccio, Donatello, Fra Angelico, and Antoniazzo Romano; and sculpture by Paolo Romano). For more information, please contact Elizabeth Lev at lizlev@zenit.org.

From May 16 through December 31, 2008, the Museum of the City of New York is sponsoring the exhibition "Catholics in New York, 1808–1964." The exhibition traces the growth of the Catholic community from a tiny minority confronted by considerable anti-Catholic attitudes to become a powerful force in the city. It is organized around parishes, social service institutions, and prominent Catholic political figures. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University is presenting a bicentennial lecture series. For more information, please see http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/current/684.html.

From August 31, 2008, to January 11, 2009, an exhibition will be held at the Casa di Mantegna in Mantua and the abbey of San Benedetto Po focusing on the biographical and political events of Countess Matilda of Canossa (1046–1115), an ardent supporter of the papacy in the investiture controversy.

Causes of Saints

The cause for the beatification of Father Theodore Foley (1913–74) of the Congregation of the Passion was officially opened on May 9, 2008. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, of Irish immigrant parents and baptized with the name of Daniel, he attended the schools of the Passionists and joined their order in 1932, taking the name Theodore. Ordained a priest in 1940, he was elected superior general of the order in 1964 and died in that office in 1974. He was noted for his...