MSC Magazine | Issue 4 | Summer 2020

Page 12| Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Some commendations by Tony Kelly CSsR, from his Foreword. Tony Kelly CSsR In this sizable volume we find surveyed all the articles and the authors that have gone into the making of Compass Theolo- gy Review over these past 50 years — a re- markable achievement in itself. The author wisely suggests that this is a book we dip into rather than expect to read it from be- ginning to end. Mind you, the task of dip- ping into a text such as this is made much easier with the index of authors and topics that complete this work of meticulous rec- ord. The pages of this book offer a valuable insight into the thinking and the faith of the writers and readers of a past era — as the subtitle has it, ’ 50 years of Australians doing theology ’. The articles referred to in this survey cover an extraordinary period of theological de- velopment. It began with the Second Vatican Council with all its creativity and ferment; and moved through times of rap- id change, affecting religious orders, the Church as a whole, theology itself and theological education. These times expe- rienced the trauma of Humanae Vitae , the influence of the different popes in this period, the challenges of ecumenism, in- terfaith dialogue, and so much else rang- ing from evolution, ecology and modern science . This was an extraordinary time for Austral- ia, for theology and Catholic thinking; and through it all Compass was a blessed point of reference. That it was so, and for so long, was enabled by the generosity of a ACKNOWLEDGING THE MSC MINISTRY OF COMPASS Theology REVIEW : Australians doing theology for Fifty Years