Welcome to the first online Franciscan Studies Summer School, a new initiative of Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies. Here you will find all the information you need to orient yourself and take part in the course, from timetables, to video lectures, links to live classes, and plenty of reading material to explore and download.
A welcome from the Dean-Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies.
In strong and close partnership with key Franciscan congregations, Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies is delighted to be launching this new international initiative in Franciscan Studies. Since its foundation in 2007, the Centre for Catholic studies has become recognised as a distinctive home for critical and constructive Catholic studies of the highest quality. Over the last twelve years, the creative partnership between church and public academy that the CCS represents has been immeasurably enriched by working with religious congregations, Catholic charities and foundations, and individuals of vision from across these isles and beyond.
In 2019, the CCS hosted the Franciscan Legacy conference, bringing together members of the Franciscan family, theologians, historians and others to explore the continuing significance of St Francis and Franciscan traditions, 800 years after Francis’ meeting with Sultan Malek Al-Kamil. This 2021 summer school in Franciscan Studies builds on the energy and enthusiasm from that conference, and represents just the beginning of our ambitions for establishing a permanent home for Franciscan Studies here at Durham University. We hope that the summer school will provide an opportunity to share the riches of the Franciscan charism with lay and religious across the world, and explore its significance for today.
Professor Paul D. Murray
Franciscan Studies Summer School 2021 