New book celebrates George Tyrrell's legacy

One of the most prominent of the modernist thinkers is being celebrated in a new book, just over 100 years after his death. George Tyrrell and Catholic Modernism is a collection of essays is edited by Fr Oliver Rafferty SJ, who teaches Church History at Heythrop College and also contributed to the volume.

The book re-evaluates the life and thought of Tyrrell (1861 to 1909), who was dismissed from the Society of Jesus and excommunicated from the Church for his views.  The problems he tried to grapple with - the relation of science to religion, questions of meaning and modernity, issues of the articulation of Christian ideas in modern culture - have a peculiarly contemporary ring.  These articles set Tyrrell's work within the framework of early 20th-century Catholic ideas and draw some conclusions about his thinking for present-day concerns.

"George Tyrrell was one of the most remarkable Jesuits that the English Province of the Society of Jesus has ever produced," Fr Rafferty wrote on 'Thinking Faith' last year. "He was a man of great pastoral sensitivity, widely sought after as a retreat giver, preacher, spiritual guide and confessor.  He was also possessed of a keen intellect and deep insight into the nature and role of religion in life, amounting to what has been called 'religious genius'.  By the late 19th century he had become, perhaps, the most important Catholic theologian in England."

George Tyrrell and Catholic Modernism is to be launched at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Milltown Park, on 18 May.  And a reception to mark the publication of the book, hosted by Four Courts Press and the British Province of the Society of Jesus, will take place on Friday 28 May 2010 at 114 Mount Street.  The book will be launched by Dr John McDade, Principal of Heythrop College, University of London.

Click on the link below to read Oliver Rafferty's article about George Tyrrell on 'Thinking Faith'.


 Thinking Faith article