Theology and the Boundary Discourse of Human Rights

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments u The roots of this book are in the Caribbean; the research was carried out in the University of Cambridge; and it was prepared for publication in Dublin. In each of these places there are people who helped shape the book, and I would like to acknowledge their various contributions. My reflection on human rights emerged particularly from the experience of working with the Credo Foundation for Justice in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in its response to the needs of children on the streets and advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty in the Caribbean. From the Holy Faith Sisters, staff, and young people of Credo Centre, I learned much about both compassion and resilience. It was reflection on the praxis of Credo’s work that taught me about the important link between a concern for human rights and a commitment to the larger questions of human flourishing. My years in both Samoa and the Caribbean shaped my theological reflection and my priorities as a theologian, and I acknowledge the enrichment of these experiences. I would like specifically to thank my former colleagues and students at the Regional Seminary, the University of the West Indies, for what they taught me about theological reflection and the priorities of theology. I would like to express my appreciation of the wise and challenging guidance of the late Professor Dan Hardy, my doctoral supervisor in Cambridge. Thanks are also due to Janet Soskice, who supervised me in the Lent term 2003. I am grateful for a doctoral bursary from the Cambridge European Trust. To the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, I express thanks for the award of the Burney Studentship in 2003 and for awards from the Bethune Baker and the Theological Studies funds. Within the Faculty of Divinity and from other faculties, there were many graduate students whose friendship and collegial conversation enriched my own research and reflection. Among these I give special mention to the late May Ling Tan-Chow, whose friendship and insight are missed by many in her native Singapore and in the wider theological community. I enjoyed the international life of Wolfson College, Cambridge xii Acknowledgments and the warm friendships there across the boundaries of cultures and academic disciplines. Colleagues at the Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin offered helpfulcommentsondifferentpartsofthefinaltext ,andIwouldliketoacknowledge here Eoin Cassidy, Gabriel Flynn, Dermot Lane, Elaine McDonald, Fainche Ryan, and PJ Sexton. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful comments from the expert readers commissioned by Georgetown University Press to read the manuscript. I would like to thank Don Jacobs, my acquisitions editor at the press, for his helpful and courteous guidance along the way to publication. To my parents, Jim and the late Áine Regan, and my brothers Brian and Colm and their families, I offer my gratitude for their love and support. I am grateful above all to my religious community, the Sisters of the Holy Faith, for their generosity in granting me leave to do the initial doctoral research and for their ongoing support. My home for many years was with the Holy Faith Sisters in Trinidad, and their commitment to a faith that does justice has always been a source of inspiration. ...