Marie McCoy, teacher and part-time PhD student spoke at the recent launch of Reclaiming the Piazza III in the University of Glasgow on 18 May. Here is a summary of her talk.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to share my views on Reclaiming the Piazza III at its recent launch at the University of Glasgow. Reclaiming the Piazza III is a book which, much more than its predecessors, ‘has deliberately strayed into areas which are not typically considered to be “home territory” for the Catholic Church.
While society, and indeed Catholics themselves, might have preconceived ideas about the areas of our culture which have been, and continue to be, influenced by the teachings of the Catholic Church, each of the essays contained in this volume reminds us that truth, beauty and goodness – and therefore God himself- are present in all aspects of human culture and life, if only we look closely enough to see them.
For me the other the main focus of Reclaiming the Piazza III is on dialogue. Firstly, the accessible and appealing dialogue in which each author engages the reader. Yet more profoundly, Reclaiming the Piazza III is a book about the need for continued and increased dialogue both with our fellow Catholic Christians as well as those of other denominations, and of all other faiths or none. This is a very timely intervention as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and begin the process of re-engaging with society.
Marie McCoy is a teacher of Religious Education at a secondary school in East Renfrewshire. She completed a Master of Education at the University of Glasgow in August 2020 and is currently in the first year of a part time PHD. Marie’s particular areas of interest is the importance of teacher confidence and how this impacts on the teaching and learning of non-specialist Religious Education teachers in Catholic schools in Scotland.