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Irish School of Ecumenics
The Irish School of Ecumenics (ISE) is an institute of Trinity College Dublin, dedicated to the study and promotion of peace and reconciliation in Ireland and throughout the world. The school is located in Dublin and Belfast, and consists of eight permanent full-time academic staff, visiting academic staff, postdoctoral fellows, and administrative staff. ISE has 82 M.Phil. students and 39 Ph.D. and M.Litt. research students.
The Irish School of Ecumenics was co-founded in 1970 by Father Michael Hurley, S.J., a Jesuit priest and strong proponent of ecumenism, who served as the school's director until 1980. The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, attended the school's formal inauguration in Milltown. The use of the facilities of the Jesuit Milltown Park was available to the ISE.
Father Hurley and the establishment of the Irish School of Ecumenics were strongly opposed by the then Archbishop of Dublin of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid.
Diocesan archival documents released in the 2000s revealed that Father Hurley and the school caused Archbishop McQuaid "anguish." Archbishop McQuaid, a deeply conservative Catholic, responded by banning Father Hurley from speaking within his "sphere of jurisdiction," meaning the Archbishop of Dublin. However, McQuaid reneged on the ban following the intervention by Fr Cecil McGarry, Dublin's Jesuit provincial (and previously Rector of Milltown), on Hurley's behalf.
From 1972 the University of Hull (and supported by Prof. Anthony Hanson of its Dept. of Theology) validated some programmes e.g. MA in Ecumenical Theology, for the ISE, this continued until 1982 when Trinity College Dublin accredited these qualifications (as the National University of Ireland had been prohibited from awarding theology degrees).
Archbishop McQuaid died in 1973. He was succeeded by Archbishop Dermot Ryan, who remained displeased by the activities of the School of Ecumenics and Father Hurley. Father Hurley stepped down as the director in 1980 saying, "towards the end of the school’s first decade it seemed best to remove myself from the scene." The relationship between Irish School of Ecumenics and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin slowly began to improve.
Hurley's directorship would be succeeded by the Irish Presbyterian theologian Robin Boyd, from 1980 to 1987, who was formerly a missionary to India and active in interfaith dialogue.
From the 1980s, Brian Lennon SJ and later Declan Deane SJ, based in Portadown with the ISE ran certificate course in ecumenics and peace studies, at Magee College, Derry in association with the University of Ulster and Trinity College, this certificate was also available from the Columbanus Community in Belfast which became the ISE campus in Belfast. Courses were also run in connection with Queen's University Belfast.
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Irish School of Ecumenics
The Irish School of Ecumenics (ISE) is an institute of Trinity College Dublin, dedicated to the study and promotion of peace and reconciliation in Ireland and throughout the world. The school is located in Dublin and Belfast, and consists of eight permanent full-time academic staff, visiting academic staff, postdoctoral fellows, and administrative staff. ISE has 82 M.Phil. students and 39 Ph.D. and M.Litt. research students.
The Irish School of Ecumenics was co-founded in 1970 by Father Michael Hurley, S.J., a Jesuit priest and strong proponent of ecumenism, who served as the school's director until 1980. The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, attended the school's formal inauguration in Milltown. The use of the facilities of the Jesuit Milltown Park was available to the ISE.
Father Hurley and the establishment of the Irish School of Ecumenics were strongly opposed by the then Archbishop of Dublin of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid.
Diocesan archival documents released in the 2000s revealed that Father Hurley and the school caused Archbishop McQuaid "anguish." Archbishop McQuaid, a deeply conservative Catholic, responded by banning Father Hurley from speaking within his "sphere of jurisdiction," meaning the Archbishop of Dublin. However, McQuaid reneged on the ban following the intervention by Fr Cecil McGarry, Dublin's Jesuit provincial (and previously Rector of Milltown), on Hurley's behalf.
From 1972 the University of Hull (and supported by Prof. Anthony Hanson of its Dept. of Theology) validated some programmes e.g. MA in Ecumenical Theology, for the ISE, this continued until 1982 when Trinity College Dublin accredited these qualifications (as the National University of Ireland had been prohibited from awarding theology degrees).
Archbishop McQuaid died in 1973. He was succeeded by Archbishop Dermot Ryan, who remained displeased by the activities of the School of Ecumenics and Father Hurley. Father Hurley stepped down as the director in 1980 saying, "towards the end of the school’s first decade it seemed best to remove myself from the scene." The relationship between Irish School of Ecumenics and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin slowly began to improve.
Hurley's directorship would be succeeded by the Irish Presbyterian theologian Robin Boyd, from 1980 to 1987, who was formerly a missionary to India and active in interfaith dialogue.
From the 1980s, Brian Lennon SJ and later Declan Deane SJ, based in Portadown with the ISE ran certificate course in ecumenics and peace studies, at Magee College, Derry in association with the University of Ulster and Trinity College, this certificate was also available from the Columbanus Community in Belfast which became the ISE campus in Belfast. Courses were also run in connection with Queen's University Belfast.