Easter 2013: library arrangements

The Central Catholic Library will close for Easter at 6pm on Tuesday 26th March.

The Library will re-open at 11am on Tuesday 2nd April.

Happy Easter to all our members, visitors and friends!

An Expert Look at the Church Fathers

St Augustine of Hippo at his desk

The second lecture in our spring series, coinciding with the Year of Faith, will focus on the pivotal place of the Fathers of the Church in helping to form and articulate the faith of the early Church.

The lecture takes place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 19th March in the library.

Our speaker, Finbarr Clancy S.J., emphasizes that, in a time where we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, we do well to remember Pope John XXIII's advocacy of returning to the sources of Christian tradition, as well as reading the signs of the times in the light of the gospel. The Fathers have always been a fertile source of inspiration for all that is best in theology and the life of the Church.

Fr Clancy is currently Professor of Theology at the Milltown Institute in Dublin, where he also serves as Rector of the Ecclesiastical Faculty and Acting President. He has also lectured on Patristics in St Patrick's College, Maynooth. He acts as Chairperson of the Patristric Symposium, an interdisciplinary group of scholars who meet regularly to discuss the Church Fathers and organise seminars and conferences on Patristic studies.

Fr Clancy has published widely on Patristic topics. He devoted two studies to the Church Fathers on the Eucharist in connection with last year's International Eucharistic Congress, held in Dublin. He is particularly interested in the Latin Fathers such as Cyprian, Augustine and Ambrose, and in the liturgical poetry of St Ephrem the Syrian. He lectures in Patristics, sacramental theology and systematic theology, and maintains a keen interest in ecumenical dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

In tandem with the lecture, our honorary librarian Peter Costello has organised an exhibition presenting the work of the Church Fathers in word and image.  The exhibition can be viewed during library opening hours: 11am-6pm (Monday to Friday) and 11am-5.30pm (Saturday).

For those interested in exploring the thought of the  Fathers, the library holds a rich collection of Patrisitic writings,  including the ongoing series of new English translations published by the Catholic University of America Press.

Saint Patrick's Day 2013

 As Saint Patrick's Day falls on Sunday this year, and Monday will be a bank holiday, the library will be closed from 6pm on Friday 15th March,  re-opening after the weekend at 11am on Tuesday 19th March.

Enjoy the Feast Day, and the weekend!

Buongiorno Papa Francesco!

Yesterday, with white smoke after five votes, Argentine Jesuit Jorge Maria Bergoglio was proclaimed Pope Francis 1, to a vast crowd in St Peter's Square and to the world.

In his first apostolic blessing, Pope Francis noted that it had been the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop, and ironically they had gone to the ends of the earth to get one!

After offering a prayer for Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI, Pope Francis continued: " And now, we take up this journey : Bishop and People... A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today...will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city."

Before giving his blessing, Pope asked a favour of the assembled audience, saying "And now I would like to give the blessing, but first, first, I ask a favour of you : before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop."

Pope Francis then gave his own blessing to all those in St Peter's Square, and to the world.

The 1913 Strike and Lockout

The first lecture in our spring series will explore the traumatic events of 1913 from the perspective of Dublin's Catholic archbishop, clergy and religious. 

Our speaker, Thomas Morrissey S.J., was formerly director of Dublin's National College of Industrial Relations. He has published over thirteen works relating to church and social history. 

His books include biographies of Archbishop William Walsh, the trades unionist William O'Brien and the journalist and politician William Martin Murphy; three figures active in Dublin during the 1913 strike. 

Fr Morrissey's lecture takes place at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 12th March.