Kevin J. “Seamus” and Mary Hasson

Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson is founder and President Emeritus of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where he served from 1993 until his retirement due to Parkinson’s in 2011.  The Becket Fund champions all faiths – from Anglicans to Zoroastrians – and has a win/loss record of 87%. Probably best known for its Hobby Lobby victory in the Supreme Court, the Becket Fund has won kudos from an array of thinkers including St. John Paul II and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

Before founding the Becket Fund, Seamus was an attorney at Williams & Connolly. He previously served in the Office of Legal Counsel at DOJ, and as an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis.

Seamus holds a law degree, magna cum laude, and a Master’s in Theology from the University of Notre Dame.  He holds honorary doctorates from The Catholic University of America, Ave Maria University, and Notre Dame.

Seamus is the author of The Right to be Wrong: Ending the Culture War over Religion in America and the forthcoming Believers, Thinkers, and Founders: How We Came to be One Nation Under God (April 2016).

Mary Rice Hasson is a Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center where she leads the Catholic Women’s Forum, a new, distinctively feminine, public voice in support of the Church’s teachings — a voice made up of leading female Catholic scholars, professionals, and other experts.  The Forum, which hosts an annual academic Symposium and other events, and is developing a media outreach, responds to Pope Francis’s call for Catholic women to assume a higher profile within the Church and to think with the Church in addressing the problems of today.

At EPPC, Mary also writes and speaks on Catholicism, women, sexuality, and the family.  Mary is the editor of Promise and Challenge: Catholic Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church (2015). She co-authored the report What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception (2012) and Catholic Education: Homeward Bound (1995).

Before joining EPPC, Mary practiced briefly as an attorney, and then worked as a writer while raising children. Mary also has served the Church by leading Catholic marriage preparation programs, diocesan education efforts, and ministries to women and families. Mary received her bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Seamus and Mary have five sons and two daughters.