Kathleen Sprows Cummings

Professor of American Studies and History

American Studies

Phone
574-631-8749
Email
cummings.23@nd.edu
Website

Professor of American Studies and History

  • History of women and American religion
  • U.S. Catholicism

Video

Sprows Cummings’s Latest News

Sprows Cummings in the News

These Catholic sisters want to start an order for clergy abuse survivors

July 22, 2026

University of Notre Dame historian Kathleen Cummings says religious sisters have dedicated their lives for centuries to helping vulnerable people. They've served everywhere from battlefields to inner city schools. "What we're seeing here is really just a modern manifestation of that, a group of women who recognize a need in the church and want to dedicate their lives to fulfilling it, and to not do that part-time, to make that their entire life."

Corriere Della Sera

Pope Leo pays tribute to the missionary patron saint of migrants: “They ask us for help.” [Italian only]

June 21, 2026

Kathleen Sprows Cummings wrote in the New York newspaper : “The most profound lesson of the first American pontiff may be that our interdependent world has become, in Cabrini’s words, ‘too small’ for outdated fantasies of American exceptionalism.”

A Big Moment for American Catholics Is Coming

June 17, 2026

Kathleen Sprows Cummings directs the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame.

Why the AI encyclical isn’t just hot air

May 26, 2026

“Rerum novarum” also coincided with the Vatican’s support for worker activism on the other side of the Atlantic. Many Catholics in the U.S. at the time were immigrants, who often worked in jobs such as coal mining and steelwork that had become more grueling due to industrialization, according to Notre Dame American studies professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings.

Leo XIV Is the First Pope From the U.S. He’s Making That an Asset.

May 06, 2026

In the United States, Leo’s background makes him more relevant, according to Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a historian at the University of Notre Dame. Americans “are paying more attention because he’s one of our own,” she said.

Did Pope Leo find his voice in Africa? Or did the world finally hear him?

April 20, 2026

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, said Leo has consistently operated “on a higher plane” but American Catholics are used to church discussion of morality in the context of sexuality, gender and abortion, and it’s jarring to process foreign policy through a moral lens. “So JD Vance can say the pope should stick to morality,” she said, “but war and peace are ancient moral issues.”

Notre Dame Professor Discusses President Trump's Criticism of Pope Leo XIV

April 15, 2026

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, professor of American studies and history and director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, discusses President Donald Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV with BBC News.

In reversal of nation's anti-Catholic past, Pope Leo defends US ideals against Trump

April 14, 2026

OPINION | By Kathleen Sprows Cummings, professor of history and director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame and author of “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.”

 

In Leo, Trump Faces a Different Kind of Papal Opponent

April 14, 2026

“Where you’re from matters,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor who specializes in Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. “He’s got friends, he’s got siblings in the United States. He understands American politics. He knows Republicans and Democrats.”

Many US Catholics are dismayed by Trump’s unprecedented broadside at the first American pope

April 14, 2026

“This is unprecedented criticism of a Pope from a US president,” David Campbell, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, said via email. Looking far back into world history, Trump’s attempt to “strong-arm Pope Leo” isn’t anything new, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame.

A path to sainthood: Famed evangelist, TV host Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be the first beatified Illinois native

February 15, 2026

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, said saints tend to tap into a human need.

At annual meeting, Catholic historians assess impact of first American pope

January 12, 2026

At the outset of the panel, University of Notre Dame history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings referenced the 1894 Puck magazine cartoon titled “The American Pope,” which depicts the first apostolic delegate to the United States, Cardinal Francesco Satolli, sitting atop a church labeled the “American headquarters” and casting a shadow of then-Pope Leo XIII over the entire country. Sprows Cummings noted the cartoon illustrates “fears about papal intervention in the United States” at a time when the country was receiving waves of Catholic immigrants from countries such as Ireland and Italy.

On First Trip Abroad, Pope Leo Echoed Francis’s Message, Not His Style

December 03, 2025

“He’s not emotive or telling you what he feels all the time,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor who specializes in Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. But “he’s able to be fully present to people.” With Francis, “there was a self-consciousness,” said Ms. Cummings. “What he was doing was going to get attention. It didn’t mean that it was false,” she added. But “Pope Leo doesn’t seem to care about that.”

The First Millennial Saint: Carlo Acutis can be seen as relatable—or deeply strange

September 06, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, an American studies and history professor at Notre Dame and the author of A Saint of Our Own, told me, “My students are fascinated by him.” She continued, “They were talking about, like, ‘He’s wearing Nike sneakers.’ They just thought this was just the greatest thing.”



Timothy P. O’Malley, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame, said in a 2024 lecture, “Carlo was weird.” And recognizing that, O’Malley suggested, is the key to “unlocking his holiness.”

A wildly popular 15-year-old computer whiz is becoming the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint

September 05, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame, said Acutis’ enormous popularity was clearly the result of a concerted church campaign, pushed strongly by his grief-stricken mother. But she said that is nothing new, and that in the 2,000-year history of the church, saints have very often been pushed ahead to respond to a particular need at a particular time.

Carlo Acutis, a Saint for the Modern Age

September 05, 2025

Canonizations often respond to a need in the “larger culture” of the time, either those of the institutional church, or the needs of the faithful, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame and expert on saints. “With Carlo, certainly there’s the millennial angle,” she said. But, she added, at a time when society and the church are “very worried about the corrosive impact of technology,” from the internet to artificial intelligence, “he’s an example of a person who took the latest technology and then used it as a tool of evangelization. And that’s very appealing.”

First US center to train Catholics on canonization process to open in 2026

June 24, 2025

For Kathleen Sprows Cummings, an American studies and history professor at University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the author of “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American” (2019), the St. Patrick’s Seminary initiative signals an interesting shift in the American Catholic Church’s approach to sainthood. After despairing about not seeing more American-born saint candidates and decades of volunteers vying for more attention to their causes, Sprows Cummings said faithfuls creating networks and working side by side is a new strategy. 

Pope Leo XIV Loves Baseball — Will He Name Its Patron Saint?

June 20, 2025

According to Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a University of Notre Dame historian and author of A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American, there are three typical ways a saint becomes a patron.

At Chicago baseball stadium, Pope Leo makes his first pitch to America

June 14, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a University of Notre Dame historian, said Leo probably will be very cautious as he juggles not sounding too American in a global church where the U.S. is considered by many disproportionately wealthy and powerful. Some people are likely to contrast the military parade with the celebration of the pope in Chicago, Cummings said. “I think of course people will see it as a contrast, even if it wasn’t deliberately staged that way,” she said. “These are two very different embodiments of America. … Two very different expressions of America.”

 

The church might resist any rush to make Pope Francis a saint.

May 09, 2025

Kathleen Cummings, author of “A Saint of Our Own” and the head of a center on U.S. Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, said the Vatican should wait at least 20 years before allowing Francis’ cause to proceed, giving historians enough time to do their work.

Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes first American-born pope

May 08, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame who focuses on U.S. Catholics, said the 69-year-old Prevost ticked off all the boxes as the papal conclave voted: “a pastoral heart, managerial experience and global vision.”

People

Pope Leo XIV Made History by Becoming First American Pontiff. Why Experts Are 'Surprised and Excited'

May 08, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, adds that she is “still in a state of shock," describing his election as an “unprecedented” move that wouldn't have been possible even "just a hundred years ago.” “The conventional wisdom was that here would not be an American pope,” Cummings explains, but adds that Pope Leo XIV “had the best chance of any American ever.”

Katie Couric Media

What We Know About the New Pope, From His Views to His Controversies

May 08, 2025

“He’s right out of Francis’s playbook,” history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, at the University of Notre Dame, told The Washington Post.

What is the meaning behind the new pope’s name?

May 08, 2025

"Leo the 13th was a great pope with social teaching, and it signals that our next hope will continue in that vein," University of Notre Dame American studies and history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings told Holt. "It's a remarkable moment."

American-born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost is elected pope

May 08, 2025

“He’s right out of Francis’s playbook,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame who focuses on U.S. Catholics. “He ticks off all the boxes of a future pope: a pastoral heart, managerial experience and vision.”

Who Is Robert Francis Prevost? Everything We Know About Pope Leo XIV—The First American Pope.

May 08, 2025

“He’s right out of Francis’s playbook,” Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame, told the Washington Post, citing his “pastoral heart, managerial experience and vision.”

Catholic leaders recoil from Trump’s pope post

May 05, 2025

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a historian of U.S. Catholicism at Notre Dame, said Trump’s post reflects the support and trust that Trump enjoys among millions of Catholics. “It makes sense in Trumpworld. He has been empowered by Catholics,” she said. “This might be new levels of audacity and disrespect, but many American Catholics have ceded a great deal of power and moral authority to the current president. Whether that makes sense to others, it’s true.”

Experts talk realism of Conclave movie: ‘Gets a lot of the details right’

April 22, 2025

According to experts, more spot-on than not, and at the very least meticulously researched. “They got a lot of the details right,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a historian of Catholicism at Notre Dame who closely followed the election of Pope Francis in 2013.

‘Who am I to judge?’ How Pope shifted Catholic Church’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community

Video

April 21, 2025

Pope Francis was a reformer who rattled the Catholic Church’s conservatives and sometimes strayed from traditional views. Dignity USA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke and professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame University Kathleen Sprows Cummings join Chris Jansing to share more on the impact the Pope’s “transformative” actions and words had on the Church.

'Unafraid' to speak up for justice: Reflecting on Pope Francis' lasting legacy

Video

April 21, 2025

The mourning period is underway for the death of Pope Francis who passed away today at 88 years old. Jesuit Conference President Father Timothy Kesicki, S.J., Professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame University Kathleen Sprows Cummings and American Media President and Editor-in-chief Father Sam Sawyer join Christina Ruffini to discuss Pope Francis' lasting legacy.

Pope Francis leaves a legacy as a Catholic Church reformer

Video

April 21, 2025

“Coming from the other side of the world, he brought a different way of seeing the world, and throughout his papacy that was a constant,” said Kathleen Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

People

What Is a 'Conclave' and How Does It Work? An Expert Demystifies the 'Secret' Process That Decides the Next Pope (Exclusive)

April 21, 2025

If traced back to its Latin roots, the term “conclave” translates roughly to “under lock and key,” according to Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a nationally recognized Pope Francis expert and professor of American Studies and History at the University of Notre Dame.

What Pope Francis’s papacy meant for the U.S. church

April 21, 2025

The tone of Francis’s letter about Vance’s comment was a direct message to U.S. bishops that he was paying attention to the American church and that they should speak out, said John McGreevy, a University of Notre Dame professor and expert on Catholicism. 

Pope Francis pushed the U.S. church to move beyond the culture wars—with mixed results

April 21, 2025

But Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American studies and history at the University of Notre Dame, said Pope Francis simply tried to bring attention to issues that sometimes failed to attract the same kind of passion among some Catholics.

People

Who Will Be the Next Pope? Experts Say 'Anything Can Happen' (Exclusive)

April 21, 2025

Theoretically the list of eligible clergy is very long, according to Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a nationally recognized expert on Pope Francis as well as a professor of American Studies and History at the University of Notre Dame.

What's next for Catholic Church with Pope Francis in critical condition?

Video

February 28, 2025

And, in that respect, he has also promoted women and supported women but has not said that women should be ordained priests.  “No women priests and, as of yet, no women deacons — although he did appoint several commissions to study that issue,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American studies and history. 

The Tablet

Understanding the Jubilee and Its Roots From the Bible

October 30, 2024

Every jubilee, according to Notre Dame Professor of American Studies and History Kathleen Sprows Cummings, is “ever ancient, ever new,” meaning certain aspects of the celebration are a part of the tradition and other aspects are unique to the times.

Sister Theresa Kane, 87, Dies; Challenged Pope on Ordaining Women

August 28, 2024

“What she said was indicative of a much larger conversation that was going on for more than a decade,” Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame, said in an interview.

Something Offbeat Podcast

One thing Millennials aren't ruining? Sainthood. Meet the 'gamer saint'

Audio

July 31, 2024

To learn more about the canonization process, the novelty of such a young saint, and saints from the United States, Something Offbeat welcomed Dr. Kathleen Cummings, a professor of American studies and history and Notre Dame and the author of the book – A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.

What does it take to become a saint in the modern age?

July 09, 2024

“Canonization is fundamentally about holiness — but it’s also about relevance,” says Kathleen Sprows Cummings, history professor at the University of Notre Dame and author of the book A Saint of Our Own. 

Lost Highways Podcast

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Columbus?

Audio

June 27, 2024

Kathleen Cummings is a professor of history and American studies at the University of Notre Dame. She focuses on both religion and women in American history.  "In 1792, it's interesting. You start to see Columbus mentioned, and in fact, the personification of America as 'Columbia' like 'Britannia' was the personification of Great Britain."

CBC Radio

‘God’s influencer’: Miracles of the first millennial saint

Audio

May 28, 2024

Interview with Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and the author of “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.”

First millennial saint could be canonized as early as end of 2025

Video

May 26, 2024

Religious scholars say a Saint Carlo could be a game changer for the Church struggling to recruit the next generation. “Could it be possible that Saint Carlo would be the new patron saint of the internet? Absolutely,”  said NBC contributor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, author of the book “A Saint of Our Own.” 

Italian Teenager to Become the First Millennial Saint

May 23, 2024

Carlo’s path to becoming the first millennial saint is a milestone, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and the author of the book “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American.” Carlo used the internet and his computer skills to spread his faith, offering the Catholic Church an opportunity to show a more positive side to social media, she said. Making

God, Country, and Notre Dame: Clash with the Klan Pt. 2

Video

May 17, 2024

“It was a time when, when Notre Dame was growing in its reputation — in part because of football, but also because of its academic reputation,” explained Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American studies and history at Notre Dame. 

Vanity Fair

The Vatican’s Secret Role in the Science of IVF

April 29, 2024

“Their individuality was subsumed in the congregation,” says Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor at the University of Notre Dame who oversees the History of Women Religious, an academic organization devoted to the study of Catholic sisters. Even so-called “particular attachments” between nuns were discouraged. 

Pope Francis Opens Debate on LGBTQ Inclusion, Women’s Ordination and Celibacy

October 04, 2023

If this synod fails again to open the way to women deacons, “many, many American Catholic women will be disappointed, because that’s such low-hanging fruit,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, who isn’t taking part in this month’s assembly. 

The Baltimore Banner

Final name stripped from Maryland report on Catholic sex abuse is nun from Philadelphia

June 12, 2023

Catholic nuns in the 1940s had total control of their classrooms, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame who studies sexual abuse by religious women. That means it’s unlikely that other teachers would have known about the allegations against Hasson.

Pope Benedict's Troubled Legacy

December 31, 2022

Speaking to Newsweek Professor Kathleen Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, described Benedict as "a man of unwavering faith, deep conviction and towering intellect who indelibly shaped the church."

‘A renowned theologian, a holy man’: President Biden, Cardinal Dolan, other U.S. Catholics respond to Pope Benedict XVI’s death

December 31, 2022

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement that Benedict leaves “a complicated legacy.” 

In US, sharply contrasting views on Benedict XVI’s legacy

December 31, 2022

Professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, depicted Benedict as “a man of unwavering faith, deep conviction and towering intellect,” yet added that he left “a complicated legacy.”

The Miraculous Life and Afterlife of Charlene Richard

December 20, 2022

“Sainthood links the local church to the universal church,” says Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, who wrote “A Saint of Our Own,” about the more than century-old campaign for a patron saint of the United States (leading contenders include St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Kateri Tekakwitha, though each was born before the country’s founding).

Kelly Corrigan Wonders

College Visit with Notre Dame's Kathy Cummings and Sam Newlands

Audio

October 05, 2022

In addition to talking to the kids, Kelly sat down with two professors who love their work, Kathy Cummings (winner of the 2021 Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching) who teaches history and Sam Newlands, a philosopher who studies hope, optimism and transformative experiences.

Pope's recent appointment of women is too little, too late

July 29, 2022

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, professor of American Studies and the director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, called the pope's move "far too little" and "far too late."

Angelus News

Legacy lives on of cardinal who helped name the pope

July 12, 2022

“How much longer should Catholic women be expected to be grateful at being offered crumbs from the table?” asked Kathleen Cummings, professor of American studies at the University of Notre Dame, in a July 6 statement.

Pope Francis wants two women on the committee that proposes bishops

July 07, 2022

Others think the pope’s appointment of women at the Vatican is too little, too late. “Will these new appointees have any actual power?” wondered Kathleen Cummings, professor of American studies at the University of Notre Dame, in a statement on Wednesday (July 6.) 

These women may become the first African-American Catholic saints

Video

March 16, 2022

Features interview with Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Professor of American Studies and History and Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.

The Revealer

Religious Sisters Respond

March 07, 2022

“There were overflowing novitiates, overflowing seminaries after the War, and people talk about, ‘let’s go back to normal, to the 40s.’ But actually, that wasn’t normal at all,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American religious history at the University of Notre Dame.

Catholic bishops endorse communion guidelines for public figures

November 18, 2021

NPR's A Martinez talks to Kathleen Sprows Cummings of Notre Dame, about U.S. Catholic Bishops approving a position paper urging Catholics to abide by church teachings if they take communion.

The president’s meeting with Pope Francis was a diplomatic visit tinged with the personal.

October 29, 2021

“They’re the regular guys,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, the director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. 

Nun of Us Are Friends

Audio

September 23, 2021

Kathleen Sprows Cummings is a Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Admirers still urging sainthood for chaplain killed on 9/11

September 04, 2021

A forceful appeal for canonization came last year in an essay by professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for American Catholicism.

Amid dispute over Biden’s support of abortion rights, Catholic bishops to vote on controversial Communion document

June 18, 2021

Kathleen Cummings, a historian at the University of Notre Dame who runs the school’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, said the U.S. Catholic Church for many decades was defined more by questions of how and whether Catholicism — then mostly a faith of immigrants — could fit into America.

Biden and abortion could change the bishops’ culture of consensus at next week’s USCCB meeting

June 10, 2021

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, the director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, said she is unsure what drafting such a document would accomplish beyond “pushing people farther away from the church.”

This is her place

Soul Sisters: Mother Augusta and The Reverend Elizabeth McVicker

Audio

June 02, 2021

Kathleen Sprows Cummings is a professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame University, the Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at Notre Dame, and is an expert on the history of women religious.

'Mare of Easttown' captures cultural Catholicism's lasting power

May 29, 2021

But people are interested in the show — it has been regularly breaking the million-viewers mark on Sunday nights — and Kathleen Sprows Cummings, who is the director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, said she soon realized the incredible buzz around the show is "because it nails place so well."

In Venezuela, a quest for sainthood offers proof of miracles

May 03, 2021

The definition of what is holy changes over time, says Kathleen Sprows Cummings, history professor at the University of Notre Dame and author of the book A Saint of Our Own. “We reinvent saints in each age.”

President Biden is the nation’s 2nd Catholic president.

Video

April 03, 2021

Kathleen Sprows Cummings talks to The News with Shepard Smith.

Will Biden be invited to Notre Dame's commencement?

March 03, 2021

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, who was teaching a class at that time on "Catholics in America," told NCR the campus debates were professionally and pedagogically very rewarding, as they led to lively conversation with her students.

As Biden prays for healing, Catholics clash over president’s faith

Video

February 01, 2021

"Pope Francis has talked about the need to find a better kind of politics, a less polarizing kind of politics. And I think in that sense, he's expressing his hope that Joe Biden could be the one to open that conversation," said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

WSBT

President Biden's Catholicism could encourage expanded conversations on polarizing issues

Video

January 24, 2021

While President Biden and John F. Kennedy share the same faith, Notre Dame history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings says the way they show it is drastically different.

How might Joe Biden’s Catholic faith guide his presidency?

Video

January 24, 2021

Interview with Kathleen Sprows Cummings, American studies. 

Joe Biden's very Catholic Cabinet

January 19, 2021

Historian Kathleen Sprows Cummings told NCR that while there were a few Catholic Cabinet members during the 19th century, they were outliers and "their Catholicism didn't matter to their public life in any discernible way."

JFK was greeted with rock-star support from Catholics. Biden faces a much more divided tribe.

December 09, 2020

“It’s potentially a game-changer in American politics,” said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, head of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

The Progressive

Four Women Martyred in Service to the Poor

December 03, 2020

“Canonization changes nothing about the person being honored,” notes University of Notre Dame Professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.