Feature 6 November 2008 | Researching in the Church in Ireland

06 Nov 2008

research conference A recent conference hosted by the Council for Research & Development highlighted the value of research in a wide variety of pastoral and social questions facing the Church today.
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Researching in the Church in Ireland, a recent conference held in Renehan Hall, Maynooth, was a joint initiative of the Bishops’ Council for Research & Development and the Department of Sociology, NUIM.
See below an introduction from Archbishop Dermot Clifford and copies of the speaker presentations available to download.
francis davis
Francis Davis, Co-Director of the Centre for Faith in Society, Cambridge and Director of the new Las Casas Centre on Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford


Introductory remarks by Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Chairman of the Council for Research & Development

archbishop clifford speakingAs far as I am aware, this is the first time a gathering like this has been brought together by the Council for Research & Development. As such, it is a step toward building a stronger, all-island network of those who carry out, and those interested in, research as a process. Gatherings such as this one here this morning show that research is a collaborative process involving some change, a little luck and a clear vision of what can be achieved. Research projects within the Church in Ireland are bound within a particular historical context: that of Catholic sociology and Catholic social teaching. The Council itself arises from a defined need from within the Irish Bishops