Fresh from his much-written about trip to Medjugorge, Vienna Cardinal Archbishop Christoph Schönborn will be presenting lectures at at least two Catholic universities during a trip to the U.S. over the next week.

Christoph Schönborn is visiting the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas January 30 and 31 as a guest of the Little Sisters of the Lamb.

On Sunday, Jan. 31, he will celebrate noon Mass at St. Benedict’s Abbey Church in Atchison, Kan. At 2:30 p.m. he will deliver the lecture, “Pope Benedict, Regensburg, and the Controversy of Creation and Evolution,” in the college’s O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium. Benedictine is also presenting him with the prestigious Cross of the Order of St. Benedict award.

In 2005, Christoph Schönborn sparked a debate on evolution with a New York Times article on the subject. In 2007, he published “Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith.”

On Sunday afternoon, Christoph Schönborn will preside and preach at Solemn Vespers at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City. Priests from throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska have been invited to attend.

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 3:30 p.m., Christoph Schönborn will give a lecture at The Catholic University of America. The lecture, “Christianity – Alien Presence or Foundation of the West?” will be given in Great Room A of the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center. The lecture is being sponsored by Catholic University’s schools of theology and religious studies, canon law and philosophy.

President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, Christoph Schönborn is known for his work as editorial secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He is one of the youngest members of the Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals, and as such, his name is frequently mentioned among the papabile – the circle of potential future popes.

Whether he’s a future papal contender or not, it is interesting to note that both Karol Wojtyla and Joseph Ratzinger had visited the U.S. on lecture tours prior to their ascendancy to the papacy. In 1976, three years prior to his election, Karol Wojtyla was invited by The Catholic University of America’s dean of the School of Philosophy, Jude Dougherty, to give an academic lecture. In 1999, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger visited the U.S. delivering a lecture on “Faith and Culture” at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif.