Threshold Series
A platform for intellectual and cultural engagement, the Saint Vincent College Threshold Series has brought a diverse array of distinguished speakers—scholars, experts, authors, artists and public figures—to the Latrobe campus.
Community & Events
Established in 1981 through a generous grant from the Kennametal Foundation, Threshold aims to inspire intellectual curiosity, foster meaningful dialogue and enrich the region’s cultural landscape. By deepening their understanding of the subject matter, attendees can connect theoretical concepts to real-world applications and seek additional knowledge beyond the lecture.
Threshold has become an important institution at Saint Vincent for students, faculty and members of the local community.
Threshold Lecture: One Woman’s Perspective on What the Church Needs Now
Dr. Mary Healy
January 19, 2027 | 7 p.m. at the Fred Rogers Center
Admission is free of charge.
January 2027 Speaker
Dr. Mary Healy
Dean of the School of Theology and the Adam Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred Scripture
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Dr. Mary Healy is a Scripture scholar, seminary professor, and one of the first women to be appointed a full voting member of a Vatican Dicastery, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. She is also one of the first women to be appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international group of twenty scholars who advise the Pope on matters of biblical interpretation. She is dean of the School of Theology and Adam Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
A significant part of Dr. Healy’s mission is to light the fire of revival in the Church by helping Catholics experience the full power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. She has played a leading role in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal as chair of its Theological Commission, speaker at numerous international events, and theological advisor to Encounter Ministries, which teaches and equips Catholics to demonstrate the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dr. Healy has worked extensively in the field of Bible translation and interpretation. She served on the five-person editorial board that revised the New American Bible New Testament, producing the Catholic American Bible, which will be released in February 2027 and will be the basis for the Lectionary at Mass in the United States. She is also one of the editors of the Great Adventure Bible and of the Living the Word Catholic Women’s Bible.
Together with Peter Williamson, she co-founded and co-edits the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, a commentary series designed to implement the principles of Vatican II for faithful biblical interpretation within the context of Catholic tradition, widely used in seminaries and colleges throughout the US. She is author of its volumes on the Gospel of Mark, the Letter the Hebrews, and Genesis.
Dr. Healy is deeply committed to Christian unity and has served in ecumenical dialogue through the International Pentecostal-Catholic Dialogue under the Vatican Dicastery for Christian Unity, as well as the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue sponsored by the US bishops. She has also aided the bishops as a member of the Subcommittee on Translation of Scripture and past member of the Committee for Evangelization and Catechesis.
Dr. Healy is a bestselling author and a speaker at retreats, conferences, parish missions and clergy events worldwide. Besides her biblical commentaries and numerous scholarly articles, her books include Healing, The Spiritual Gifts Handbook, and Men and Women Are from Eden. She has been featured on EWTN, Fox News, CNN, the BBC, and numerous radio shows and podcasts.
Dr. Healy is a consecrated lay woman who in recent years became a foster parent and adoptive mother to a fourteen-year-old son, Kyle. Her website is drmaryhealy.com.
Threshold Lecture: One Woman’s Perspective on What the Church Needs Now
Dr. Mary Healy
January 19, 2027 | 7 p.m. at the Fred Rogers Center
Admission is free of charge.
Past Speakers
Pictured: (header) April 2026 speaker Dr. Alan Matsumoto, (from top left) Stanley Jaki, Robert Jarvik, John Stacks, Joyce Carol Oates, John Noble Wilford, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Alex Haley, Michael Medved, (second row) Strobe Talbot, Isaac Asimov, Harold S. Kushner, Jane Bryant Quinn, Roger Malina, Carl Sagan, Robert Claiborne, Martin E. Marty, Lt. General James A. Abrahamson. Not Pictured: Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Claire Bloom, Stephen F. Cohen, Ralph Nader, Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Roger Cossack, Heinz-Joachim Fischer, Jerome Oetgen, Benjamin Zander, Colleen Carroll Campbell, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Steven Johnson, David Shedloski, Dr. Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Gene Steratore, Ambassador John T. Hennessey-Niland, Dr. Jonathan Lee Walton, Joseph Maroon, MD.