Biographies for CSMG 2014 plenary speakers are provided below.

John L. Allen, Jr.

John L. Allen Jr. is associate editor of The Boston Globe after 16 years as the prize-winning Senior Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.  He also serves as the Senior Vatican Analyst for CNN. He’s the author of seven best-selling books on the Vatican and Catholic affairs, and writes frequently on the Church for major national and international publications. He’s also a popular speaker on Catholic affairs, both in the United States and abroad.

The London Tablet has called Allen “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language,” and renowned papal biographer George Weigel has called him “the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever.” When Allen was called upon to put the first question to Pope Benedict XVI aboard the papal plane en route to the United States in April 2008, the Vatican spokesperson said to the pope: “Holy Father, this man needs no introduction.” That’s not just a Vatican judgment. Veteran religion writer Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described Allen as “the journalist other reporters – and not a few cardinals – look to for the inside story on how all the pope’s men direct the world’s largest church.”

Allen’s work is admired across ideological divides. Liberal commentator Fr. Andrew Greeley calls his writing “indispensable,” while the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a conservative, called Allen’s reporting “possibly the best source of information on the Vatican published in the United States.” His weekly internet column, “All Things Catholic,” is widely read as a source of insight on the global Church.

Allen’s most recent book is The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution.  John divides his time between Rome and his home in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in Western Kansas, and holds a Master’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of Kansas.

 

Dr. Michael J. Naughton

Michael Naughton is the holder of the Alan W. Moss Endowed Chair in Catholic Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) where he is a full professor with a joint appointment in the departments of Catholic Studies (College of Arts and Sciences) and Ethics and Law (Opus College of Business). He serves as the director of the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought, at the Center for Catholic Studies, which examines Catholic social thought in relationship to business theory and practice. As director he has organized international conferences on the theme of Catholic social thought and management as well as various faculty and administrative seminars on the mission and identity of Catholic universities.

He is the co-author and co-editor of nine books and over 30 articles. He helped coordinate and write the Vocation of the Business Leader issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which has been translated into 16 languages. His most recent books include Leading Wisely in Difficult Times (Paulist, 2011), Bringing Your Business to Life (Regal, 2008—translated into Hungarian), Rediscovering Abundance: Interdisciplinary Essays on Wealth, Income and Their Distribution in the Catholic Social Tradition (edited, University of Notre Dame, 2006) Rethinking the Purpose of Business: Interdisciplinary Essays from the Catholic Social Tradition (edited, University of Notre Dame, 2002) and Managing as if Faith Mattered (University of Notre Dame, 2001—translated into Spanish, Chinese and Hungarian).

Naughton serves as board chair for Reell Precision Manufacturing, a global producer of innovative torque solutions for transportation, consumer electronics, medical and office automation products. He has also served on the board of several non-profit organizations including Seeing Thing Whole.  He received his Ph.D. in theology from Marquette University (1991) and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas (1995). He is married with 5 children.

 

Michel Roy

Michel Roy was appointed Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis at the 19th General Assembly in 2011. He has been given a four-year term under which Caritas Internationalis will adopt the strategic plan “One human family, zero poverty”.

Mr Roy has over thirty years of experience in humanitarian issues. Most recently he was the director of the international lobbying and advocacy department at Secours Catholique (Caritas France). There he specialised on issues related to global governance, financing for development, promotion of peace and human rights, corporate social and environmental responsibility and international migration. Before that he was domestic and international action director at Secours Catholique.

In his role as secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Mr Roy will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Caritas Internationalis General Secretariat. The Secretary General’s duties include liaising with other Church and secular organisations involved in humanitarian aid and promoting the work of Caritas in the worldwide Catholic community.

Mr Roy speaks French, Spanish and English. He has an MA in economics and a degree in Oriental languages and studies.

 

Rev. James Martin, S.J.

Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author and Editor at Large at America, the national Catholic magazine.

James Martin was born in Plymouth Meeting, PA, and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1982, where he received his bachelor’s degree in economics (B.S. Econ.) with a concentration in finance. After working for six years in corporate finance with General Electric in New York City and Stamford, CT, he entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1988.  Father Martin’s ministry experience extends from outreach to street-gang members in the Chicago housing projects to Jesuit Refugee Service/East Africa.  He worked for two years in Nairobi, Kenya, where he helped East African refugees start small businesses, and co-founded a refugee handicraft shop called The Mikono Centre. 

Father Martin is the author of several award-winning books. His book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life, (HarperOne, 2011) was named as one of “Best Books” of 2011 by Publishers Weekly. In March 2014 his latest book Jesus: A Pilgrimage will be published by HarperOne.  Besides his editorial, publishing and media work, Father Martin has been invited by Catholic dioceses and archdioceses to address gatherings of clergy and laity, has spoken at colleges and universities across the country, has taught at Boston College’s Summer Institute, and leads seminars and directs retreats at retreat houses. On Sundays he assists at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City.

 

David Brooks

David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is currently a commentator on “The PBS Newshour.” He is the author of “Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense,” both published by Simon & Schuster.

Mr. Brooks joined The Weekly Standard at its inception in September 1995, having worked at The Wall Street Journal for the previous nine years. His last post at the Journal was as op-ed editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in for five months as the Journal's movie critic.

His distinguished history of contributions to publications include: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Public Interest, the TLS, The New Republic and Commentary among others.

He is also a frequent commentator on National Public Radio, CNN’s Late Edition and the “Diane Rehm Show.” Mr. Brooks is the editor of the 1996 anthology “Backward and Upward: the New Conservative Writing.”

Born on Aug. 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. Immediately afterwards, he became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times.

He is married and lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

 

Mark Shields

The Wall Street Journal has called Mark Shields “the wittiest political analyst around” and “frequently the most trenchant, fair-minded, and thoughtful.” The Washington Post has called Shields “a walking almanac of American politics.” His insights are first-hand and up-to-the minute, drawn from four decades of knowing, covering and savoring the country and its politics.

A nationally known columnist and commentator, Shields has worked in Washington through the administrations of nine U.S. Presidents. He was an editorial writer for The Washington Post where he began writing his column in 1979. That column is now distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate.

Since 1988, Shields has provided weekly political analysis and commentary on national campaigns for PBS’ award-winning "The PBS NewsHour" where he has matched wits with David Gergen, The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot and most recently with David Brooks of The New York Times. For 17 years, Shields was moderator and panelist on CNN’s Capital Gang. He now is a regular panelist on Inside Washington, the weekly public affairs show which is seen on both ABC and PBS.

A native of Weymouth, Mass., and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Shields served as an enlisted man in the United States Marine Corps before coming to Washington where he began working in 1965 for Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. In 1968, Shields went to work for Robert F. Kennedy in the New York Senator’s presidential campaign and later held leadership positions in three other presidential campaigns. Over 11 years, Shields helped manage campaigns from the courthouse to the White House in some 38 states.

In addition to attending 17 national party conventions and working on or covering the last 11 presidential elections, Shields has taught American politics and the press at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Public Policy and he was a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy Institute of Politics. "On the Campaign Trail," his book on the 1984 presidential campaign, has been praised as “funny,” “irreverent,” and “for bringing that race to a magnificent light.”