It is difficult to know how to approach the e-Conference on Mary being sponsored by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Broken Bay Institute this coming Tuesday. Mary in the eyes of many, particularly the readership attracted to a website like Catholica, have a sense that Mary is in need of a significant makeover. The religious hype associated with this key figure who brought Jesus into the world has more than probably removed her a long way from the reality of who she actually was in flesh and blood reality.

Click on the image above to visit the e-Conference website: www.mary.vividas.com

The more conservative sectors within Catholicism of course want to take things in precisely the opposite direction. Each group would have supporters in the leadership realms of the institution. Is this Conference an endeavour to cement in the communication styles and icons that have become so problematic for the institution in the educated world? Or will it be an attempt to "reclaim" the true reality of Mary? It's difficult to "read the signs" emanating from the promoters of this Conference. The choice of Fr Francis Moloney as lead presenter suggests this is going to be a conference worth participating in. He is one of the best workshop presenters we have in Australia and my expectation is that Francis is one oriented towards finding an image of Mary that sits more comfortably with the broad range of more educated minds we find in most of the Western world today. There are worrying signs though that some in the leadership realms of the Church seem to believe that "rescuing Mary from the modern mind" is a better way to go — that's the pathway, despite all the evidence, to re-evangelise Catholicism. Are the bishops and organisers of this conference attempting to have the proverbial "two bob each way" hoping, on the one hand to appease those in the leadership sectors who want to take things in a more conservative direction by sending out a sign "look, we are also running programs dealing with one of the big icons in the remnant sectors of Catholicism" while at the same time presenting a more subversive message "updating the image of Mary". It is really difficult to tell. If you would like to join us here on Catholica this coming Tuesday I propose that we have a cyber discussion between, and in conjunction with the presentations exploring the place of this 'First Disciple' in our lives. ...Brian Coyne, Editor of Catholica.

The e-Conference on Mary Program
~Tuesday, 18th May 2010~
www.mary.vividas.com

Fr Francis Moloney SDB—Biography

Francis J. Moloney (SDB, AM, BA, STD, LSS, DPhil (Oxon), FAHA) was born in Melbourne, Australia, educated by the Christian Brothers at St Bernard's College, Moonee Ponds from 1953-57, and joined the Australian Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1960.

After completing his undergraduate university studies (BA) and teaching for several years in a Salesian High School, he was sent to Rome to pursue higher Theological studies. In 1970, he was awarded the Licence in Sacred Theology from the Salesian Pontifical University (STL), and in 1972 the Licence in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute (LSS).

From 1972-1975 he pursued research at the University of Oxford, UK, and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy from that ancient University in 1976 (DPhil [Oxon]) for his study of the use of the term "the Son of Man" in the Fourth Gospel.

In 1976, Professor Moloney returned to his native Australia and was the Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological College, within the ecumenical Melbourne College of Divinity from 1976 till 1994. During that period he was the Visiting Professor to the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome (1978, 1982), to the Ecole Biblique, Jerusalem (1989-90), and to the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome (1993-94).

In 1992, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities (FAHA), at that stage the first theologian to be given recognition by this body. In 1994 he was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM), a State Honor in recognition of his services to Australian religion and culture. In 1994, he was appointed the Foundation Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University, a national Catholic University born in 1991. After an international search, he was appointed the Professor of New Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in January, 1999.

In August, 2001, Professor Moloney was elected the President of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, the first non-United States citizen ever to hold this prestigious position. The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, appointed Professor Moloney to the International Theological Commission to the Holy See in 1984, and he remained on that important advisory body to the Holy See as one of its longest-serving members for 18 years.

In April, 2002, he was appointed to the endowed Chair at the Catholic University of America: the Katherine Drexel Chair of Religious Studies. In October of 2003, he was elected Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies. In June, 2005, he was appointed the Provincial Superior of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Australia. He returned to Australia in December, 2005, and assumed that ministry in January 2006.

Professor Moloney, a founding editor of the Australian theological journal Pacifica, and an associate editor of The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, is the author of 36 books and a large number of articles, both scholarly and popular, in journals from all parts of the world. Of particular pastoral interest are: A Body Broken for a Broken People. Eucharist in the New Testament (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1997), his three volumes on the Sunday Gospels, The Gospel of the Lord, Years A, B and C (Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press), and his contribution to the Advent/Christmas cycle in M. D. Johnson (ed.), New Proclamation, Year A, 2001-2002 (Minneapolis MN: Fortress Press, 2001).

Other major writings are his commentary on the Fourth Gospel, The Gospel of John (Sacra Pagina Series 4; Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1998), his popular commentary on the Catholic Epistles, From James to Jude (Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship, 1999), "A Hard Saying." The Gospel and Culture (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2001), a large-scale study of the Gospel of Mark, entitled The Gospel of Mark. A Commentary (Peabody MA, Hendrickson Publishers, 2002). In collaboration with Anthony J. Kelly, he has published The Experience of God in the Fourth Gospel (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2003).

He has recently updated, edited and rewritten posthumous material, left by Raymond E. Brown: Introduction to the Gospel of John (ed. Francis J. Moloney; Anchor Bible Reference Library; New York: Doubleday, 2003). His most recent books are a further study of the Gospel of Mark, Mark: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004) and The Gospel of John: Text and Context (Biblical Interpretation Series 32; Boston: Brill, 2005). Another book has been recently released: The Living Voice of the Gospel. The Gospels Today. This critical introduction to a contemporary reading of all four Gospels has just been by John Garratt Publications in Australia (Melbourne), by Hendrickson Publishers in the USA (Peabody, MA), and by Veritas in Europe (Dublin).

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