Karl Rahner, perhaps the greatest Jesuit theologian of the twentieth century, flunked his doctoral thesis at the University of Freiburg – he was asking questions that Martin Honecker, his safe, conventional supervisor, found uncomfortable. The thesis, which never earned him a doctorate, was published as the seminal book: Spirit in the World.
Our Lady’s Choral Society, with the RTE Concert Orchestra and soloist, was invited to sing Handel’s Messiah before the Pope and about 5000 guests in the Paul VI Aula of the Vatican on 12 February last. The occasion was the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vatican State in 1929. Peter Sexton SJ, who teaches in Clongowes, has been a member of the choir since 1989, following a tradition started by Fr Joe Kavanagh many years earlier. Our Lady’s Choral Society (OLCS) was founded in Dublin in 1945, after the Dublin Archdiocese brought together the best singers from all the church choirs of Dublin for a performance of Handel’s Messiah. Today there are 120 choristers.
The Milltown Institute MA in Applied Christian Spirituality has been running long enough to become the largest postgraduate course in spirituality in the country, and to make waves both far (Nigeria, Zambia, Poland, Birmingham) and near. Graduate Annetta Maguire is teaching a 10-week course: “An introduction to Christian mysticism” in the School of Philosophy, Northumberland Road. Carol Milton, who came on the programme after her son committed suicide, is completing a book about suicide arising from her research on Spirituality’s role in suicide prevention. The picture shows Dr Garret Fitzgerald conferring June Kennedy last year, watched by Attracta Halpin, NUI Registrar, and Michael O’Sullivan, Director of the course, which is enrolling for 2009-10: contact mosullivan@milltown-institute.ie.
On 30 March UCD held a seminar in Newman House to mark the 25 years that have passed since Karl Rahner slipped into what he had called “the colossal silent emptiness of death”, and beyond that into the mystery of the ineffable God. He was the greatest Jesuit theologian of the 20th century. His bibliography contains some 4000 titles, material for endless doctoral theses. Paul Andrews SJ, who has lived two years longer than Karl did, bows respectfully towards the scholars and reflects instead on the occasions when Karl impacted on him. Read more. Read more »
‘Dirty Harry on a pension” – so says film critic Roger Ebert about Clint Eastwood’s character in Gran Torino. And if you got a dollar for every time a reviewer has written that Gran Torino will “make your day”, you’d probably make more money from the movie than Clint himself. It seems clear, however, that the protagonist of Gran Torino is only superficially akin to the maverick cop of those 1970s movies. In fact, Brendan Staunton SJ, in the film review below, sees Clint’s new movie (which he both acts in and directs) as a “salvation story” with a deeply positive message and some excellent acting. Altogether, fit viewing for Holy Week. Read more »
Following from the successful launch of his book The Recession and God, Gerry O’Hanlon SJ appeared on TV3’s Midday chat show to talk about the current economic crisis (Monday, 30 March 2009). Click here to view video clips from the show. And to view photographs of the launch click here.|
FR PROVINCIAL’S DIARY Fr Dardis is visiting our brethren in the Far East. His movements are:
Acting Provincial Noel Barber will be away until 2 April, and Bill Toner SJ will be Acting Provincial until his return. |
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It’s been a busy week for Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ, the Vatican astronomer currently in Ireland. As well as lecturing to packed audiences at Dunsink Observatory in Dublin and Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork, Guy was also captivating listeners on RTE’s Pat Kenny Show (provoking a huge response from listeners), BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence, and RNN (Religious News Network, which syndicates to local radio religious programmes all over Ireland). The Mooney show (RTE Radio 1) had a bite of the cherry too, recording an interview with him for broadcast at a later date. And RTE Radio in Cork took him on a walkabout around the city of his ancestors and of his beloved rockstar hero, Rory Gallagher.
As part of their annual retreat, a group of Clongowes fifth-years went to visit some Jesuit apostolates around Dublin. They visited the JUST Ballymun project and the Jesuit Refugee Service. Afterwards they went to learn about the various operations that call Leeson Street their home: the Messenger, Sacred Space, the Jesuit Communication Centre, and Religious News Network (RNN) – so they received a thorough introduction to the work being done both in traditional and in new media. Feedback was very positive, and the students commented that it was an eye-opener for them to see faith so obviously in action.
Forty parishoners from Gardiner St and Iona Road parish spent a Lenten ‘time-out’ day in the Manresa Centre for Spirituality on Saturday March 29th. It was a time of meditation and reflection on the theme of ‘Death and Resurrection’, with two inputs from Pat Coyle of the Jesuit Communication Centre. Music and liturgy was organised by Fr Donal Neary SJ, parish priest of Gardiner St, along with the church’s Saturday night liturgy group. They were assisted by some of the Manresa Team, in a service of reconciliation. Gardiner St and Iona Rd are neighbouring parishes, and the event was part of the ongoing links taking place between them. Weatherwise it may have been cold, but God was good and the sun shone often during a grace-filled day for all.
Students from Belvedere College who are currently in Hong Kong were delighted to meet Fr. John Dardis SJ, the Irish Provincial, in Wah Yan, a Jesuit college. Mr. George Tam, Headmaster of Wah Yan is on Fr Dardis’s right and Ms. Marie Louise Bowe (Belvedere College) is seated on his left. Mr. Barry O’Leary (second row on Fr. Dardis’s left) is the coordinator in Belvedere College SJ and Mr. Liam Kelly (front row on Fr. Dardis right) is also a teacher from Belvedere College. The students will teach English in a primary school on mainland China over the coming week. They are themselves studying Chinese culture and language in preparation for this event, the second leg of an exchange with Wah Yan. The exchange is part of Belvedere’s social justice programme that prepares students to take the Gospel message and values to the frontiers.
On 23 March, in Buswell’s Hotel, Professor Ray Kinsella of the UCD Smurfit School of Business, launched “The Recession and God” by Gerry O’Hanlon SJ. Ray started by invoking the Holy Spirit on the gathering, with an unforced piety that not every cleric could emulate. Gerry’s message was clear: as we recover from the recession, there should be a spiritual dimension to our economic thinking: respecting the capacity of Planet Earth to sustain us, and reversing the exploitation of the poor, which intelligent neo-liberals have taken for granted in much the same way as 18th-century gentlemen accepted slavery. Church of Ireland Archbishop John Neill, pictured here with Gerry, listened attentively. For an interview with Gerry about his book, see the homepage of Jesuit.ie.
Brother Guy Consolmagno, Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory, will speak at the Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, on 29 and 30 March at 2.30 p.m., as part of the Lifelong Learning Festival. Guy, born in Detroit, USA, is a research astronomer and planetary scientist at the Vatican Observatory. When he entered the Jesuits in 1989 aged 37, he had already worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Harvard and M.I.T., and had served with the Peace Corps in Kenya for two years. He took vows as a Jesuit brother in 1991. On entry into the order, he was assigned as an astronomer to the Vatican Observatory, where he also serves as curator of the Vatican Meteorite collection, positions he has held since then.
