Imagination and faith: "updating Saint Ignatius..."

Jesuit Michael Paul Gallagher went from being a lecturer in Modern Literature at University College, Dublin to Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Veronica Scarisbrick went round to interview him and began by asking if she might describe him as an imaginative theologian. I hope, he replied, that might be true sometimes! And when prompted further as to whether this weren't a contradiction he explained how theology mediates between culture and revelation or religion, and is essentially a service of mediation or translation. So plenty of imagination is needed to do that because it's not just about the past but about the present.

And speaking of the present, Veronica discovered in the course of this interview that Father Gallagher believes the founder of his Order needs an update. The question came up when she asked if he believed imagination can help us dialogue with God . This was his reply : .." in a recent discussion at the Gregorian I was accused as it were of ignoring Saint Ignatius of Loyola because the spiritual exercises certainly put a big emphasis on the help of imagination in making the gospel real. Making a scene of the gospel, imagining it visually, even entering it and having conversation with the people involved. And certainly Ignatius did that and it was very central in his approach to teaching people how to pray but my reply was, yes, but Ignatius needs to be updated. He has a lot to learn from people like Paul Ricoeur the great philosopher. He has a lot to learn about the battle of imagination in our world today ..."...

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