hi!
My name is Greta Gaffin. I'm from Boston, Massachusetts and I have a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a master of theological studies from Boston University. Here's some of my writing.
journalistic articles on...
history:
John Eliot hoped to usher in the Second Coming of Christ in New England (in the Newton Beacon)
Artist John La Farge’s Complex Legacy (in The Living Church)
One Priest’s Dream of an African Orthodox Church (in The Living Church)
This Boston College professor was once excommunicated for heresy and started a cult (in the Newton Beacon)
Old North Church Broadens the Paul Revere Narrative (in The Living Church)
This cardinal elevated Catholicism in Newton but missed the boat to vote in a Papal Conclave (in the Newton Beacon)
A Nazi Germany ‘diplomat’ and propagandist once claimed diplomatic immunity for a Newton traffic violation (in the Newton Beacon)
She ran the Auburndale Post Office, and residents boycotted because she was Catholic (in the Newton Beacon)
Christian Scientist Mary Baker Eddy led her religious revolution from Chestnut Hill (in the Newton Beacon)
An Episcopus Vagans Who Never Stopped Wandering (in The Living Church)
new church leaders:
New Byzantine bishop hopes to make eparchy a spiritual home (in The National Catholic Reporter)
Bishop-Elect Seeks 'Common Ground to Follow Jesus' (in The Living Church)
Twice Blessed: First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton welcomes two new ministers (in the Newton Beacon)
Mississippi’s New Bishop Aims to Build Community (in The Living Church)
Bishop-Elect Celebrates ‘Belonging to a Body of Love’ (in The Living Church)
First non-ordained abbot in US elected to St. Anselm Abbey (in the National Catholic Reporter)
Rhode Island priest known for food ministry is new bishop of Portland, Maine (in the National Catholic Reporter)
Bishop-elect Eager for Seattle Ministry (in The Living Church)
Boston's first Brazilian Catholic bishop wants immigrants to 'feel at home' (in the National Catholic Reporter)
religious life:
Three Members form a Nascent Religious Community (in The Living Church)
Inside a Brookline monastery, where 18 monks pray, translate religious texts, and bake bread (Brookline News)
Order of the Holy Cross Sees Growth in Vocations (in The Living Church)
Dominicans cite their charism for slight rise in vocations (in Global Sisters Report)
3 sisters form Sisters of the Little Way, a private association of the faithful (in Global Sisters Report)
other church topics:
In Boston, friars provide funerals for those who died with no known family (in the National Catholic Reporter)
What Goes On in a Christian Science Reading Room? (in Religion News Service)
ecclesiological issues:
Continuing Anglicans Split Over Churchmanship (in The Living Church)
Continuing Bishop Deposed in Calvin Robinson Flap (in The Living Church)
An Episcopal Church Spans East and West (in The Living Church)
Calvin Robinson Receives a One-Year License (in The Living Church)
Calvin Robinson Loses License After Parody (in The Living Church)
Texas ACNA congregation becomes second to join Episcopal Church (in Religion News Service)
photoessays:
Photo essay: Boston Archdiocese takes eucharistic procession to the sea (in the National Catholic Reporter)
q-and-as:
Q&A with Sr. Terri Schell, sharing a Catholic approach to ecology and faith (in Global Sisters Report)
Q&A with Sr. Jeana Visel, Benedictine iconographer and teacher (in Global Sisters Report)
politics:
Russian Priest Decries Arrest of Ethnic Ukrainians (in The Living Church)
With last-minute pardon, Biden delivers immigration activist Ravi Ragbir from deportation (in Religion News Service)
Faith-based immigrant rights activist faces threat of deportation (in Religion News Service)
National polling gives these small Catholic-connected colleges outsized influence (in the National Catholic Reporter)
Episcopalians Help at the Polls amid Rising Tension (in The Living Church)
education:
Pauli Murray Center Celebrates Groundbreaking Priest-Activist (in The Living Church)
Classes start soon in new Boston College program for 1st-generation, low-income students (in the National Catholic Reporter)
Protesters say they are returning to Lesley action after a third faculty no-confidence vote for leader (in Cambridge Day)
Boston seminary starts preparatory year program for priest candidates (in the National Catholic Reporter)
Closure of Boston-area Catholic school sparks unusual controversy online (in the National Catholic Reporter)
You can read more local journalism I've written for Cambridge Day and for the Newton Beacon.
book reviews:
Review: With God at Walden Pond (in America)
Jesuit Fr. Francis Clooney shares insight through scholarly, spiritual memoir (in the National Catholic Reporter)
A Complete Church (in The Living Church)
Review: How To Fix the Dome of St. Peter's? (in America)
Thomas Müntzer, German theologian and revolutionary, is illuminated in new book (in the National Catholic Reporter)
A Floating Priory (in Mere Orthodoxy)
New book examines Christianity during 'the plague that shook the Roman world (in the National Catholic Reporter)
film reviews:
Looking for White Smoke (in The Living Church)
essays: Meeting the Wolf (Plough)
academic articles: "Black Nationalist Anglicanism: George Alexander McGuire and the African Orthodox Church," June 2025, Anglican & Episcopal History