Faculty Publications 2011

'Ecclesial Movements and Communities'

Reverend Professor Brendan Leahy
September 2011

People on the lookout for trends in the Catholic Church will be very happy to discover Reverend Professor Brendan Leahy's Ecclesial Movements and Communities. His overview of their rise and development over the last 50 years captures the unique qualities of Charismatic Renewal, Communion and Liberation, Cursillo, Focolare, L'Arche, Legion of Mary, the Neocatechumenal Way, Regnum Christi, Sant'Egidio, and others.

Professor Leahy presents the movements as examples of the Church's charismatic dimension, a principle which Pope John Paul II described as co-essential with the hierarchical-institutional dimension. Capturing the ecclesial maturity that exists in many of the movements, he addresses specific questions, like: How the movements express and/or renew charisms;
how the movements fit in the context of Apostolic Succession (including the role of priests); movements and the parish and canonical challenges.
“The Holy Spirit is sort of the Harry Houdini of divinity, forever busting loose in seemingly impossible ways. In the Catholic Church, the “new movements” are the most remarkable recent example – an unplanned and dynamic form of life that's erupted in an age when secularization, scandal, and the weight of history is often a recipe for decline. Professor Leahy provides a concise yet theologically profound reading of this great escape act by the Spirit, one that's especially commendable for being neither cynical nor overly romantic" - John L. Allen Jr, Senior Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of The Future Church (Doubleday, 2009)
Ecclesial Movements and Communities is published in the United States by New City Press.

'Living in Union with Christ in Today's World'

Edited by Reverend Brendan McConvery
October 2011

Last year, the College hosted a conference on ‘The Witness of John Calvin and Ignatius Loyola’ to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the reformer’s birth. The conference papers from Presbyterian and Roman Catholic academics have recently appeared in a volume edited by Rev Brendan McConvery CSsR.

Contributors to this volume from the Saint Patrick’s College community include Professor Salvador Ryan, Rev Brendan McConvery, Rev Professor Liam Tracey, and Rev Laurence Murphy SJ.
Rev Brendan McConvery is a priest-member of the Redemptorist Congregation. Born in Belfast, he studied Arts and Philosophy at University College and at the Redemptorist House of Studies, Galway, Theology at the Holy Ghost Missionary College, Dublin. He taught English and French at St Clement’s College, Limerick. After post-graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome and at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, he taught scripture at the Holy Ghost Missionary College, Dublin and several other Dublin centres of theology. He has taught Sacred Scripture at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, since 1993, with a concentration in the area of Old Testament.
Living in Union with Christ In Today's World is published in Ireland by Veritas.

'Believe in Love'

Reverend Professor Brendan Leahy
April 2011

'Pope John Paul II was a man who let himself be shaped by the two great commandments: love of God with allyour heart, soul and mind, and love of your neighbour as yourself... So many wonderful things happended around him, through his life, ministry and teaching.'

Believe in Love paints the rich landscape of John Paul II's formative influences, his theological and philosophical foundations and his personal thoughts. Reflecting his belief that we need to link our notion of God with our understanding of what it is to be humen, it offers an accessible insight into his teachings on a wide range of subjects - including dialogue, young people, families, artists, work, forgiveness, and the elderly - and provides the perfect starting point for discussion in a faith-sharing group or for individual daily reflection.
Rev Brendan Leahy is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth. He is a von Balthasar scholar and ecumenist, and has published books and articles on topics such as John Paul II, the Marian profile of the Church, issues facing the Church in the twenty-first century, the ecclesial movements of the Church, interreligious dialogue and the Priesthood.
Believe in Love is published in Ireland by Veritas, and in the United States by New City Press.