Mary Rice Hasson
Mary Rice Hasson is the Kate O’Beirne Fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. She also directs the Catholic Women’s Forum, a network of Catholic professional women and scholars seeking to amplify the voice of Catholic women in support of human dignity, authentic freedom, and Catholic social teaching. Mary is an expert on topics related to women, faith, culture, family, sexual morality, and gender ideology. She was the keynote speaker for the Holy See during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in both 2017 (“The Distinctiveness of Women’s Work and Women’s Empowerment”) and 2018 (“The Integral Education of Rural Women and Girls”). She speaks frequently at national conferences (including the 2017 Catholic Medical Association conference, the 2017 National Council of Catholic Women conference, and the 2017 National Catholic Bioethics Center Workshop for Bishops), as well as regional family conferences, and diocesan women’s conferences. Mary also conducts workshops for Catholic parishes and dioceses on sexuality, gender identity, and pastoral care.
Mary’s writing has appeared in a variety of websites, policy journals, and scholarly publications, including The Federalist, the Washington Examiner, Our Sunday Visitor, The National Catholic Register, and First Things. She is the editor of Promise and Challenge: Catholic Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church (Our Sunday Visitor: 2015), co-author of the report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception (EPPC 2012), and co-author of a study on parents’ use of media ratings, published in the medical journal Pediatrics (2011). She contributed a chapter (“What About Sex: Habits of Heart for a Fulfilling Sexual Relationship and a Happy Marriage”) to the recent book, Venus and Virtue: Celebrating Sex and Seeking Sanctification (2018). Mary has been interviewed by a wide range of national media, is a frequent commentator on EWTN and Catholic radio programs.
Before joining EPPC, Mary worked as an attorney and writer and served the Church for over twenty years in leadership positions in Catholic marriage preparation programs, diocesan education efforts, and Catholic ministries to women and families. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Notre Dame Law School, Mary and her husband, Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson are the parents of seven, and were the recipients of the 2015 Saint John Paul II Award for the New Evangelization.
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