Washington, DC – The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University (CARA) presents awards to two noted leaders of Catholic research tonight at its annual dinner at Georgetown. Professor Ruth A. Wallace, one of this year's award recipients, will give a talk, "New Forms of Parish Leadership: My Research on Catholic Parishes without a Resident Priest."

Wallace receives the Father Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD, Award for Exemplary Church Research. The award, named in honor of the first executive director of CARA, is given annually to a researcher who has made a significant lifetime contribution to research on the Catholic Church.

"Dr. Wallace's contributions to Catholic Church research cannot be underestimated, and this award is particularly appropriate as CARA celebrates its 40^th anniversary," said Sr. Mary Bendyna, RSM, executive director and senior research associate at CARA. "She was actually present at the Second Vatican Council and understands well the spirit out of which CARA was created."

Dr. Wallace is Professor Emerita of Sociology at George Washington University. She has written on and studied emerging leadership roles of the laity in Catholic parishes without a resident priest, the changing attitudes of Catholic laity, and the issues of women and married men serving as pastors in Catholic parishes.

The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame will receive the Cardinal Cushing Medal for Advancement of Church Research. The medal is named in honor of one of the principal founders of CARA, Richard Cardinal Cushing, and is awarded annually to a person or organization that has made a significant lifetime contribution to the advancement of Church research.

The Cushwa Center is widely recognized as a leading center for the historical study of Roman Catholicism in the United States. The Center has published 14 books to date in the Notre Dame Studies in American Catholicism series, as well as specialized studies of the Irish experience in America, the growth of Hispanic Catholicism in the United States, and the history of Catholic parish life.

Accepting the award for the Cushwa Center is its director, Dr. Timothy M. Matovina. Matovina is associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he works in the area of Theology and Culture, with specialization in U.S. Catholic and U.S. Latino theology and religion.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three campuses. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.