InSpiRe:
Centre for Initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation
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Background
Staff at St Mary's have a long history of interest in, and concern for, peace and reconciliation, especially in regard to peace initiatives in the Middle East as evidenced by the work of Professor Nur Masalha and Dr Lynne Scholefield. Professor Mary Grey's work has concentrated in recent years on issues of sustainability and reconciliation with the earth's resources whilst Dr Peter Tyler's involvement in the recent International Conference on Christian Spirituality hosted at St Mary's, Sources of Transformation: Revitalising Traditions of Christian Spirituality for Today, is currently shaping the agenda for academic discussion on the subject.
Meanwhile Dr Marije Altorf has done much recent work on using Socratic Dialogue to promote peace whilst Dr Robin Gibbons is engaged in the work of reconciliation between the Eastern and Western churches.
The Role of St Mary's
As a Catholic foundation, St Mary's takes seriously the necessity of serving the 'social' or 'common' good. From Pope Leo XIII's document, Rerum Novarum (1891) onwards the Catholic church has stressed the need for all people to understand that a vocation for good is not just for the individual but for society as a whole. As the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales stated in their Common Good document of 1996:
'The general purpose of the Church's social teaching is to contribute to the formation of conscience as a basis for specific action . (this teaching) is not limited to a collection of official texts. It is an oral tradition as well as a written one, and it is a lived and living tradition' (CG 27)
St Mary's takes this formation of a 'social conscience' seriously 'enabling individuals to identify and resist structures of injustice' (CG 41) emphasising the basic dignity of the human person. As well as the creation of a social conscience in individuals St Mary's stresses through its education the formation of the whole person: mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Thus the founders of InSpiRe feel that the work of the new centre will promote social justice, sustainability and both the personal and common good. In fostering a unique research environment it is envisaged the centre will promote excellence of research at all levels of academic achievement.
