Established at Old Oscott in Birmingham, England, in 1980, the Maryvale Institute provides a variety of part-time and distance learning courses to the lay faithful, consecrated religious and ministers of the Roman Catholic Church. Maryvale’s doctoral research programme in Catholic Studies is conducted in collaboration with, and accredited by, Liverpool Hope University. Successful students receive an award of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the University. This book is the third in a series of volumes concerned with the outcomes of that doctoral research programme. It provides an overview of the breadth of work by its students in the UK, USA, South America and Africa and their contribution to new knowledge in the area of Catholic studies, a wide field including history, literature, philosophy, spirituality, and theology.

This collection of extracts from students who successfully defended their doctoral thesis highlights the breadth of research in Catholic Studies. The fourth book in a series of volumes, it shines new light on age old issues and, in many ways, offers solutions to and opportunities for dialogue with the contemporary world. These essays, from the students of Maryvale International Catholic Institute, with doctorates accredited by Liverpool Hope University, truly reflect the philosophy underpinning academic life at Maryvale, that of St. John Henry Newman. In essence, his vision for education involves an extension of knowledge, a cultivation of reason, an insight into the “relation of truth to truth”, learning to view things as they are and understanding “how faith and reason stand to each other”. These students have achieved that. This volume presents work covering the areas of moral theology, ethics, bioethics, textual analysis, theology, philosophy, history and literature, crossing in places, into the territory of pastoral theology, evangelisation and catechesis.

In this book, Riitta Hujanen explores temporality in the context of Catholic enclosed contemplative traditions. It investigates, based on literature and other sources, what enclosed contemplatives might say about temporality through their monastic journeys. What makes a young person decide to dedicate their life inside a cloister? Do contemplatives have a preference for eternity over temporal time? How does the enclosed contemplative life impact one’s concept of time? How is time perceived towards the end of one’s monastic journey? What is seen when looking back to the years in the enclosed contemplative life? What is experienced at the hour of death? The answers to these questions illustrate a paradoxical dynamic in monastic journeys that cover a broad historical scope from the earliest monastic writers to contemporary sources.

This book comprises a selection of articles published, mainly in peer-reviewed academic journals, together with a small number of documents prepared for policy makers within the Catholic education sector in England and Wales. The texts have been reprinted almost entirely as originally published, but with some minor editing to avoid unnecessary duplication. The papers are grouped into four sections. The first is concerned with the context of state maintained Catholic schools. The second explores research into the academic performance of Catholic schools prior to 1995. The third provides data on pupils’ academic and social outcomes, together with comparative studies of teachers and leadership of Catholic schools. The fourth section contains briefing papers about various aspects of state maintained Catholic education.

The international Catholic weekly.

It is now just over twenty-five years since the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is also more than thirty-five years since St. John Paul II called for a new evangelization to be characterized by a new ardor, a new expression, and new methods. The conviction common to the contributors in this volume is that the Catechism flows from just such an ardor. Speaking the Truth in Love draws together a group of Catholic scholars and field practitioners to focus on the capacity of the Catechism to be a powerful point for the renewal of Christian catechesis, education, and culture through its reclamation of the Christian heritage, its explanatory power, and its compelling articulation of a civilization characterized by faith, hope, and love. A special focus of the book is how the Catechism provides a creative reference point for pedagogical renewal in the Church. “Since the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, catechists and pastors of souls have discovered how it has served as a great instrument of the New Evangelization. We have awaited this volume as a mature reflection on its vital place in the hope expressed by St. John Paul II for a springtime of New Evangelization. In these pages you will find testimony on how, through the Catechism, this springtime is already taking shape.” —Most Rev. Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury, Province of Birmingham, England