EXPERT ADVISORY: Pope Francis I and a 'Monumental Shift of Focus' from the Vatican

By Cassie Williams Jones

Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D., author and religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, is available to discuss the selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope and the “monumental shift” he says it represents for the Catholic Church.

Chesnut is the Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies in VCU’s School of World Studies, and is an internationally recognized expert on Catholic topics. He is frequently interviewed by national and international media on Latin American religious history.

“The election of a Latin American pope represents a monumental shift of focus on the part of the Vatican to the global south, where two-thirds of the world's Catholics live,” said Chesnut. “Latin America, with 42 percent of the world's Catholics, is of critical importance to the church because it has been hemorrhaging members there to Pentecostalism since the 1950s.”

Chesnut first made the case for such a shift 10 years ago in his book, “Competitive Spirits: Latin America's New Religious Economy.” He is also the author of two more books: “Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and Pathogens of Poverty,” which traced the rapid rise of Pentecostalism in Brazil following the disestablishment of the Catholic Church; and “Devoted to Death: ‘Santa Muerte,’ The Skeleton Saint,” which analyzed the rising popularity of this folk saint in both Mexico and the United States.

Chesnut received his Ph.D. in Latin American History from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1995. In 1997, he joined the history department of the University of Houston, where he remained until coming to VCU. In 2008, he was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies in VCU’s School of World Studies in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

 

News Directors: Broadcast access to VCU experts can be arranged through the university’s VideoLink ReadyCam studio. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact the VCU Office of Communications and Public Relations, (804) 828-1231.