• Adjunct Professor, Religious Studies

Flinn

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• Ph.D. in Religious Studies at University of Toronto
• B.Div. in Religion at Harvard University
• B.A. in Philosophy at Quincy College

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It's OK, Notre Dame Catholic leadership divided over Obama's Notre Dame speech, expert suggests May 16, 2009 -- Frank Flinn Notre Dame University's decision to invite President Obama to deliver the university's commencement address on Sunday has sparked strong protests from groups who disagree with Obama's stand on abortion and stem cell research. Despite condemnation of Obama's speech by a number of prominent American bishops, the Vatican may be more interested in moderation and conciliation in its dealings with Obama, suggests Frank K. Flinn, a close observer of religious politics and author of the Encyclopedia of Catholicism (2007).

Missteps of a Pope Benedict XVI has "lost his direction" in relation to recent exonerations Feb. 10, 2009 -- Frank Flinn Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williams, along with three other bishops appointed by an ultra-conservative archbishop more than 20 years ago, has created controversy around the world. Williams has said he believes no Jews were killed by gas chambers during World War II. Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences and expert on Catholicism, says this is the latest in series of blunders that are coming to define Benedict's papacy.

Marriage vs. civil union Let churches handle marriage, suggests expert Dec. 11, 2008 -- Frank K. Flinn In November, California citizens passed Proposition 8 upholding the idea that marriage is defined as and limited to the union of one man with one woman. The vote has given encouragement to many in other states who want to pass similar legislation. The United States is about to enter a period of legal upheaval on the question of marriage in the civil law, suggests Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences. His proposal? Give marriage to the churches and let the state define civil unions.

Religion and politics Joe Biden, abortion and the Catholic vote Oct. 24, 2008 -- Frank Flinn Download Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden is telling the Catholics in his audiences that St. Thomas Aquinas had a different teaching on abortion than the current pope and his immediate predecessors. He's right, says Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences. Flinn is author of the Encyclopedia of Catholicism (2007).

$660 million goes to church abuse victims The settlement is a last ditch concession, says expert July 16, 2007 -- A judge on July 16 approved a $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims Frank K. Flinn Download of clergy abuse, the largest payout yet in a nationwide sex abuse scandal. Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the recently published "Encyclopedia of Catholicism," comments.

From A to Z Encyclopedia of Catholicism provides 'real portrait of Catholic Church' May 14, 2007 -- Download Roman Catholicism, with its numerous saints, long history and deep traditions, can be difficult for the uninitiated to grasp. But a new book from an expert on the Catholic Church who teaches at Washington University in St. Louis should help to change that. The Encyclopedia of Catholicism, compiled by Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, will be released May 20. More...

The lost tomb of Jesus? Discovery Channel documentary airs March 4 Feb. 28, 2007 -- Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies, provides insight on the controversy surrounding a new Discovery Channel documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which airs March 4. Flinn, a consultant in forensic theology, is an expert on religion and the law, including issues related to the separation of church and state, government funding of faith-based social program and the display of religious symbols in schools, courtrooms and other public places.

666 'Mark of the Beast' no cause for concern as we approach June 6, 2006 June 1, 2006 -- Flinn Download While expectant mothers, religious fanatics and the marketers of scary movies are latching on to the notion that the calendar date June 6, 2006 (6-06-06) is somehow tainted by association with biblical references to 666 as the "mark of the beast," there's really nothing to fear, suggests Frank Flinn, an expert on cults and religious symbols at Washington University in St. Louis.

Avoiding 'the wars of religion' Ten Commandments have no place on government property, says religious studies expert March 2, 2005 -- The U.S. Supreme Court is again considering whether it is constitutional to display the Ten Commandments on public property. An expert on the American religious experience from Washington University in St. Louis argues that the only way to allow all citizens to contribute to this country's religious tapestry is for religion not to have a direct role in civil affairs and on government property. "If there is anything the Founding Fathers wanted to avoid, it was a repeat of the wars of religion that wracked Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries," says Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences.

Flinn comments on John Jay report Scandal is "the most serious crisis to confront the American Catholic Church in its entire history." Feb. 25, 2004 -- Flinn Download On Feb. 27, the John Jay School of Criminal Law will release its report on the abuse of minors by priests from 1950 to 2002. Those who have seen it, claim the report will demonstrate that roughly 4,500 priests abused 11,000 minors during that time and that the abuse took place in 70 out of 90 dioceses in America. Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on the Catholicism, claims that the sex-abuse scandal is "far-and-away the most serious crisis to confront the American Catholic Church in its entire history."

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Flinn earned an undergraduate degree from Quincy College, a Bachelor of Divinity, magna cum laude, from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Special Religious Studies from the University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Heidelberg in 1967-68.

He also serves as an expert in forensic religion, testifying on the legal definition of religion and religious practices here and abroad. He has appeared on radio and television around the globe on issues relating to church and state, Catholicism, the new religions, Waco, the militia in the United States, Heavensgate, church and state and religious violence.

Flinn is author of "Millenial Hermeneutics in The Coming Kingdom: Essays in American Millennialism & Eschatology" (1983), "Church, Sect, Denomination, Cult" in Liberty: A Magazine of Religious Liberty (July/August, 1994), "Question: Is apocalyptic religion bad for America?" Insight (June 19, 1995), "Government Shouldn't Fulfill Milita's Apocalyptic Prophecies" Insight (May 29, 1995), "Toward a self-inflicted Armageddon?" Houston Chronicle (Sunday, April 30, 1995), "Conversion: Up from Evangelicalism, or the Pentecostal and Charismatic Experience" in Religious Conversion: Content, Context and Controversy (London: Cassells, 1999), and "Whose Commandments; Which Version?" Scripps-Howard Newsservice (2000). His Encyclopedia of Catholicism will appear in May 2007.