Talking with Matthew Bunson: Sherlockian and Catholic Scholar

One of the loveliest moments of my career occurred in Pittsburgh, during the 2011 Catholic Media Conference, when Dr. Matthew Bunson strolled up to me and wondered if I wanted to get a cup of coffee. I did, and our conversation was a delightful and unusually frank first chat between strangers.

Matthew Bunson wears many hats; he is Senior Correspondent for Our Sunday Visitor and a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and serves as editor of The Catholic Answer magazine, which means I have the pleasure of calling him “boss” and making him practice the virtue of patience, when one of my columns is (over)due. He is a papal scholar and the award-winning author of numerous books — this spring alone had him releasing not only the first-published look at Pope Francis, but also the revised Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History, (which is one of those books I keep on the coffee table to entice thumbing-through during odd moments).

You have to like a man whose titles include those plus The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana, and The Vampire Encyclopedia.

There is that old saying, “if you want something done, give it to someone who is busy” and so in his spare time, Bunson makes his voice heard on Redeemer Radio, where he hosts a show called “Faithworks”. If you check that out, you’ll see his most recent program kindly features a discussion on idolatry and my book and the wily ways by which the Holy Spirit uses new media!

Matthew Bunson has a quietly brilliant way of going about teaching the faith; he writes it; he speaks it; he lives it. I’ve learned more from he than he can possibly know, and it’s been my privilege. You’ll want to check out his work.

And, check out the Redeemer interview! I know, I know, you’re tired of hearing me and my speedy New York way of talking. But give it a listen, if you have a chance! And yeah, okay…this is for my publisher: