In Joseph Ratzinger’s Theological Ideas: Wise Cautions and Legitimate Hopes, Jim Corkery SJ traces the development of the man once nicknamed the Vatican Rotweiler, from the small Bavarian boy born on Easter Sunday 1927 who was moved from village to village as a child because of his father’s antipathy to the Nazi regime, through his adulthood as priest, professor, pastor, and finally Pope. He explores the tensions experienced by Joseph Ratzinger that were important in shaping his theological ideas as well as tensions that have arisen from the relationship between Church authority and academic freedom.

Among the many strands in Christian spirituality one of the most enduing over the past four hundred years bears the name of St Ignatius of Loyola. Today Ignatian spirituality is attracting followers from across the range of Christian denominations and from every walk of life. Even those who are unchurched can appreciate its open sensitive approach to the human person. Ignatian Spirituality is written simply and clearly, avoiding polemics but introducing readers to a rich heritage that will nourish and encourage. It is beautifully designed and illustrated, appealing to the senses and imagination as much as to the understanding.

Approximately eighty-five million meetings occur every day. It is clear from this figure that meetings are highly important – they shape our world. The Spirit works in every group, and as Christian participants at meetings we must go beyond passivity and place ourselves at the service of the Spirit. In meetings, we can act as the Spirit’s voice, becoming a still point, a prayerful and reflective presence.

Edited by Gabriel Doherty and Dermot Keogh

Séamus Murphy SJ and President Mary McAleese are among the contributors to the just-published 1916:The long revolution. Writers on various topics seek to explore the layered domestic and international, political, legal and moral aspects of the event. Edited by Gabriel Doherty and Dermot Keogh, with an introduction by Garret Fitzgerald, the book is published by Mercier.

Thomas J. Morrissey, SJ

A wealth of colourful anecdotes adorns the recently published book by Todd Morrissey SJ on the first 80 years of the Irish Jesuit mission to China. The 800-page book, Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond: Irish Jesuit mission - its development 1926-2006, was financed and promoted by the Past Students Association of the Wah Yan colleges in Hong Kong and Kowloon. After its recent launch in China it sold an astonishing 900 copies in just nine days.

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice

The Future of Europe: Uniting Vision, Values and Citizens? explores many of the key issues now facing the EU: Is there a European identity? What does it mean to be a European citizen? What role can Christian values play in furthering European integration? Faced with massive global inequalities, how is the EU responding to the challenges of development, migration and asylum?

Thomas J. Morrissey, SJ

This is an overdue first biography of one of the most influential figures in Irish Labour in the first half of the 20th century. O’Brien was a delegate to the Irish Trades Union Congress for more than 30 years and had the distinction of being four times president of Congress.

His name is mainly associated with that of Ireland’s then-largest trade union, the ITGWU, which he helped to build after 1916, and of which he was General Secretary for over twenty years. That position led to a celebrated clash with Jim Larkin.

Joseph Veale SJ

Joseph Veale SJ (1921-2002) was a leading figure in the rediscovery of the individually given retreat, and in the modern renewal of Ignatian spirituality. He was noted as a sensitive and wise retreat-giver, influencing a wide range of people. In the last thirty years of his life, he wrote a series of provocative articles about Ignatius Loyola and his Exercises, about the Society of Jesus which Ignatius founded, and about current pastoral issues, notably the contemporary crisis regarding the Church and child sexual abuse.

Brian O'Leary, SJ

This year we have been honouring Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, and Pierre Favre. They formed the nucleus of that group who met at the University of Paris and would eventually found the Society of Jesus. While the first two names are famed in Catholic circles, that of Favre is almost totally unknown. Yet he is as important and interesting as the other two. Among Jesuits one often finds feelings of greater warmth and affection for Favre than for the rather intimidating figure of Ignatius. While the latter is revered as the primary bearer of the Society's charism, Pierre's is a more reassuring presence. He is "one of us".

By Patrick McNamara

Limerickman Patrick McNamara has just published Their Name Liveth for Evermore, a book about the involvement of Limerick in the Second World War. Included is the story of Fr John Hayes SJ, a chaplain in the armed forces who died of typhus in Burma.