So said Rev Dr James McEvoy of Australian Catholic University, speaking to Margaret Coffey on Radio National.
James McEvoy was the guest speaker at this year’s Cathedral Lecture in June at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The annual Cathedral Lecture offers the opportunity for engagement between the Church and Society on contemporary Catholic themes through the opportunity to listen to lecturers of significant standing in Australia and internationally. This year’s title was “Christian Faith in a Secular Age”. There was no bland repetition!
The Cathedral Lecture Series was launched in 2016, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle’s first resident bishop, James Murray, and the inaugural lecturer was Rev Dr Richard Lennan.
James McEvoy lectures in systematic theology and is a priest of the Archdiocese of Adelaide. His current research studies the place of religion in the contemporary West and the church’s understanding of its role and social relationships in that context. He has published numerous journal articles as well as a book, Leaving Christendom for Good: Church-World Dialogue in a Secular Age (2014).