Five ecumenical study days are planned for the Year of Faith

Final speaker is announced for CEF's Year of Faith study day series.

Posted: 24 Jul 2012

After the fantastic start Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ gave to CEF’s Year of Faith study day series, everyone is excited about the subsequent events. CEF is particularly pleased to announce the fifth and final speaker for this series as the Right Honourable John Battle. John has been national director of Church Action on Poverty and is a fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. He is on the board of Las Casas Institute, Oxford, consultant to Three Faiths Forum, Fellow of Leeds Trinity, has organised neighbourhood projects with ex-offenders and is chair of Leeds Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission. As Member of Parliament for Leeds West (1987-2010), John was also Minister of State at the DTI and the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister's Faith Envoy. He will close out the Year of Faith series by talking about 'Vatican II and Beyond'.

Brentwood's Commission for Evangelisation and Formation announced a series of ecumenical study days starting in June 2012 and running throughout the Year of Faith several months ago, with advertisements in both The Tablet and the Catholic Herald. Each study day explores a different aspect of the Second Vatican Council, the 50th anniversary of which is linked to the Year of Faith.

The series got a wonderful start in June with Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ (right with Bishop Thomas) talking about the 'Achievement of Vatican II'; she explored the difference in real terms that the Second Vatican Council made both within and outside the Catholic faith community. At a time when many of Vatican II’s reforms are being questioned and revised, she helped us take a look at the legacy of the 20th century’s great council.

Bookings are now being taken for the next event which is on 13 October 2012 and will see Professor Paul Murray (left) pick up the baton with the 'Ecumenical Vision of Vatican II'. Seeking a new way forward, this study day will consider Vatican II as both Catholic and ecumenical. Professor Murray will present the urgent need for an ecumenical gear-change, and the rise of Receptive Ecumenism.

Early in the new year it is the turn of CEF’s very own Rev Dr Adrian Graffy (right) to address the subject of Vatican II and the Bible on 9 March 2013. Fifty years after Dei Verbum are we still awaiting the full rehabilitation of the Bible in the life of the Catholic Church? This study day will consider the genesis of the Council document and what has happened since, with particular reference to the Synod Document Verbum Domini.

In Vatican II and the Church, on 8 June 2013, Rev Dr Peter Phillips (left) will reflect on the vision of the Church which guides us now. This study day will consider Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, key documents for the servant Church’s mission to the world. Fifty years on what is the vision of the Church? Have we risked subsidiarity and trusted the local Church? Or have we chosen to reinforce the centre? Has dialogue with others made any difference?

And as stated above, the final study day for this Year of Faith will look at the future. At fifty years young, the Second Vatican Council still has much to offer Christians. The Rt Hon John Battle (right) will explore how the legacy of this great council can guide us for another fifty years or more. Vatican II and Beyond is scheduled for 12 October 2013, just a month before the Year of Faith reaches its conclusion.

Each study day runs from 10.30 am – 3.00 pm on a Saturday and takes place at Brentwood Cathedral Hall, Ingrave Road, Brentwood CM15 8AT. As always, admission is free and lunch is provided.
Booking is well under way for Paul Murray’s study day on the 13 October and space is limited, so do contact us if you would like a place, on 01277 265289 or cef@dioceseofbrentwood.org. For the subsequent study days, preliminary booking is available.