Richard Peter McBrien (born 1936) a Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He was ordained as a Catholic priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford in 1962 and is the author of several books and articles discussing Catholicism. He is most well known for his authorship of Catholicism. He also served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America from 1974–1975. In 1976 he was the awarded the John Courtney Murray Award for outstanding and distinguished accomplishments in theology.

McBrien's scholarly interests are ecclesiology, the relationship between religion and politics, and the theological, doctrinal and spiritual facets of the Catholic Church. He produces a syndicated theological column for the Catholic press, but the number of Catholic papers willing to print his column has recently dropped from 40 to 20. Papers that have recently dropped the column include his home archdiocese of Hartford.

McBrien has published 24 books and is the general editor of the Encyclopedia of Catholicism. He has also served as an on-air commentator on Catholic events for CBS in addition to his regular contribution as a commentator on several major television networks. He is currently a consultant for ABC News. He has written several essays for the National Catholic Reporter, as well as the The Tidings in Los Angeles.

(Bio from Wikipedia, 2014)