Professor Ladislas Orsy SJ, distinguished Canon Lawyer and theologian, now at Georgetown University, is coming to Ireland in June. Though Canon Law has been described as “the dark side of the Good News”, Orsy has brought light into it, as a staunch champion of human rights and the heritage of Vatican Two, against deviant views inside and outside the church. In Dublin he will speak at two functions to be marked in your diary, a book-launch on 13th June, and a lecture on Communio on 15th June. 

On Wednesday, June 13th at 6pm in the Arrupe Room, Milltown Park, he will launch the book "Reaping the Harvest" (Columba Press: edited by Dr Sue Mulligan, with contributions from Jim Corkery SJ and Gerry O’Hanlon SJ), which originated in a series of lectures last Spring under the auspices of Paddy Carberry and Manresa to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

When Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962, few people could have foreseen the impact that it would have on the life of the Church. Many believed that the Council would simply ratify familiar positions, and that its business would be concluded in a matter of months. Yet the Council lasted until December 1965, and through the many documents it promulgated it breathed new life into the Church.

The Council also represented an attempt by the Church to face the modern world in a more positive and open spirit. Fifty years later, we are still grappling with the challenge of rrealising the timeless message of Vatican II. The book considers not just the impact of the Council on the Church at that time but also the continuing importance of its teachings today. Some of its major documents are critiqued (Gaudium et Spes and Lumen Gentium) as well as broader themes relating to the overall vision and spirit of the Council. These essays are both informative and reflective, and help to introduce the reader to some of the Council’s most significant achievements.  

On 15th June, at 7.30 pm in the Arrupe Room, Milltown Park, Professor Orsy, a good friend of the late Michael Hurley SJ, will give what he has requested to be titled The Michael Hurley Memorial Lecture on the topic of Communio (which is the theme of the International Eucharistic Congress being held in Dublin that same week in June). Ladislas Orsy is a committed advocate of the spirit and vision of the Second Vatican Council and his talks will be of particular interest at a time in Ireland when the project of church renewal and reform is so important and urgent. All are welcome to attend one or both of these events.