Compass Theology Review

A History, 50 Years of Australians Doing Theology

Peter Malone MSC

• Publisher: ATF Press Publishing
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781925679304
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

At the end of 2016, the editor of Compass Theology Review, Barry Brundell MSC announced that after 50 years, the magazine would cease publication. Regrettable but necessary in an age where even the most popular of print papers and magazines had to re-assess their output in an online and social media era. Compass was the brainchild of Dennis Murphy MSC, who had studied theology in post-war Rome as well as biblical studies there and in Jerusalem. He had returned to Australia in 1956 and was teaching at the seminary of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Croydon, Victoria. He had a major role to play in opening up the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, for the seminarians and for other groups around Melbourne. One of his concerns by the mid-60s was that so many people, including the clergy and religious, were getting their news about the Second Vatican Council and its aftermath from the popular media rather than from those reflecting seriously on the implications of the Council. He decided to go ahead with a new theology magazine, though the Provincial Council of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart did not readily endorse the project. He was supported by a publisher, John Ostermeier, from Spectrum Publications, who published the magazine for its first six years after which it was taken on by Chevalier Press, the MSC publishing arm, in 1973. Dennis Murphy had the support of the staff at Croydon, especially from the Director of Students, Jim Cuskelly MSC, who had already been opening up horizons in theology and who contributed to the early issues of Compass. A number of the students contributed book reviews over the years as well as some theological notes. Dennis was ardently committed to the enterprise and had a collaborator with many articles and reviews, James Waters. Actually, James Waters was Dennis himself, utilising his second name and his mother's maiden name. While there were a number of American periodicals subscribed to by the seminaries as well as Australia's own Australasian Catholic Record from St Patrick's, Manly, New South Wales, it was the collected documents of the Council, edited by Walter Abbott SJ, which were making some impact. There were some writers who were beginning to popularise the new trends in biblical studies and theology, Alexander Jones from Britain and John L. McKenzie SJ from the US, for instance. And, in 1966, the new English translation of the Bible, with introductions and notes, The Jerusalem Bible, was published in the English-speaking world. Over the fifty years of Compass, there were only four editors. Dennis Murphy edited the 1967 issues but then contracted hepatitis and soon moved to Sydney as the second rector of St Paul's Late Vocations Seminary. The next editor was Peter Hoy MSC, 1968–971. He was assisted by Cyril Connolly MSC. From 1972–1998, the editor was Peter Malone MSC. In 1972–1974, John Flynn was an Associate Editor, with Paul Stenhouse as Executive Editor. In 1999, Barry Brundell MSC became editor and continued until 2016. In reading quotations from editorials and articles, it is clear that the language of these earlier decades was exclusive. It was in the 1980s, that theological writing would became more conscious of inclusive language and that was incorporated from then on. This may not be conducive to reading the book from cover to cover although that could be important. But, readers may prefer to dip into the book, looking at different times that interest them, checking out theological topics, or checking the Index for particular authors and their contributions over the years.

Index of Authors

A

ABEYASINGHA, Nihal, 259

AELRED, Brother, 106, 108

AHERN, Maurice, 9

ALLSOP, Michael, 29

AMBROSE, Sister, 13

AMES, Stephen, 72

ANDERSEN, Frank 70, 86, 116, 122, 155, 161, 162, 192

ANDERSEN, Russell, 147

ANDERSON, CATHERINE, 235

ANDERSON, Jane, 147, 187, 198

ANDREWS, Robert M, 236, 238, 242, 253, 256

ANG, Daniel 203, 204, 227, 235

ARMOUR, Josephine, 150

ARTHUR, Anthony, 9, 46, 146, 155, 160 240, 244, 245

ASCHENBRENNER, George, 52

ATA, Abe, 205

AUSTIN, Alan, 85

AVELING, Harry, 81, 83, 108, 141

AYO, Nicholas, 45

AYRES, John 144, 156

B

BABIE, Paul 195

BADGER, Duke 180

BAGLOW, Len, 117, 150, 154, 159

BAILEY, Mervyn 7, 9

BAINBRIDGE, Brian 72

BAKER, Christopher 45, 53, 56

BALNAVES, Joyce, 110

BARKER, Sue, 129

BARR, Kevin, 71, 83, 111, 155, 162

BATHERSBY, John, 122

BATTAGLIA, Vincent, 196, 199

BEGLEY, John, 79, 106, 114

BEHRENS, Neville, 90

BENTLEY, Peter, 142

BERGIN, Helen F, 153, 164, 167, 192

BERRIGAN, Daniel, 219

BEVANS, Stephen, 219, 225

BIJMAN, Kees, 43, 55, 151

BIRCH, Charles, 14

BIRD, Antonia, 136

BISHOP, Patrick, 15, 73

BLACK, Christine, 98

BLACK, Walter, 5, 13, 17, 19, 23, 127

BOLAND, TP, 98

BOND, Sharon, 171

BONGIORNO, Paul, 33

BORG, Martin, 201

BORN, Marilyn, 112

BORNAND, John-Baptiste, 181

BOSMAN, John, 151

BO...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Foreword: Tony Kelly CSsR
• Introduction
• THE 1960s
• THE 1970s
• THE 1980s
• THE 1990s
• THE 2000s
• THE 2010s
• Indices