John W. O’Malley, SJ, was a Roman Catholic priest and professor in the department of theology at Georgetown University. He is the author of a number of books, including A History of the Popes, The First Jesuits, What Happened at Vatican II, and The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present. Besides other honors he received six best book awards as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, the Renaissance Society of America, and the American Catholic Historical Association. In 1995 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is past president of the American Catholic Historical Association and the Renaissance Society of America.