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This Institute is dedicated to education and research in theology in the Catholic tradition
Welcome to the Loyola Institute.
View the Provost's speech at the launch of the Loyola Institute
View the Loyola Launch Press Release
The Loyola Institute is dedicated to education and research in theology in the Catholic tradition. This Institute was established in 2011 by the Board of Trinity College Dublin. The establishment of this new Institute means that TCD joins a host of great Universities across the UK, Europe, and the United States in this field of study.
Theology in the Catholic tradition is a centuries old pursuit but there are always new challenges. The marvellous restatement of Catholic thought and identity that made up the documents and declarations of the Second Vatican Council fifty years ago could scarcely have come about without the decades of research into theology that preceded the Council. Today, fifty years on, theology in the Catholic tradition is a very vigorous intellectual pursuit, engaged with many of the vital issues of the day. To mention one: we live in a more globalised world than ever previously. Diverse cultures and diverse religious traditions interact with one another more vigorously than ever before. The importance of genuine inter-religious dialogue and interreligious understanding is obvious. One of the best ways of pursuing this is to seek fuller understanding of one’s own religious tradition or the traditions that have shaped the culture in which one is a participant, - and then move out from there. This is just one of the urgent and relevant preoccupations of contemporary theological studies. It will be one of the interests of the Loyola Institute.
The first undergraduate programme, a Moderatorship in Catholic Theological Studies, is offered in the current CAO handbook as a Single Honors course beginning in September 2013: See here for details. A Two Subject Moderatorship, as well as postgraduate courses are under development.