Exploring the Catholic Contribution with Prof. John Haldane

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) are proud to present The Catholic Contribution, a virtual lecture series from Professor John Haldane.

Commencing on 14 October, the six-part series will explore the development and self-understanding of Roman Catholicism and its contribution culturally, historically and philosophically to the understanding of human nature. It will explore its origins in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the experience of the apostles in making sense of these, as well as in founding communities based upon them, in which those teachings were preserved and transmitted to the wider world.

The virtual lecture series offers the opportunity to hear from one of the world’s leading thinkers in moral philosophy and education. Professor Haldane is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Chair of the Royal Institute of Philosophy in London, and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome. He is also a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome.

Professor Haldane is also Professor of Philosophy of Education at Australian Catholic University (Melbourne) and is leading an important Catholic educational, cultural and societal project in partnership with the Archdiocese and MACS. Professor Haldane has written for a number of newspapers and appeared on radio and TV in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, including on The Drum and Q+A. He was named by the Tablet in 2018 as one of the 50 most influential Catholic minds in the world, and by the Catholic Herald in 2019 as one of the ‘Catholics of Today’.

Series begins with fundamental question

The virtual lecture series begins with Professor Haldane exploring the question of what it means to be Catholic, which he argues can be asked and answered from a range of perspectives – personal, cultural, doctrinal, sociological, etc., but here the approach will be a broad and deep one. Appeals to one’s own experience of, or feelings about the Church, or descriptions of contemporary events, or debates about particular teachings or practices are the standard fare in talking about what it means to be Catholic. This session seeks to probe deeper into the foundations and development of Catholicism and look at its religious and cultural roots, and at the very idea of the Catholic Church.

Succeeding lectures will also explore the Jewish/Classical Synthesis, the Rebuilding of the West, the Church and Society, Catholic Anthropology and Catholic Education.