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The researcher's work on Roman Catholic attitudes to other religions, socially and theologically, has impacted civic life, influencing associations between religious people and groups to illuminate and challenge cultural values and social assumptions. This impact has been mediated locally (Clifton diocese web media), nationally (through the Catholic Bishops' Conference and their officers, and through the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations Board curriculum), and internationally (through Georgetown University web resources for Christian-Muslim relations). Stakeholders in these three zones report cultural and social impact throughout the period of assessment through the researcher's work on non-HEI groups and individuals.
The case study looks at interreligious engagement made possible by an `axis' between Heythrop College and the multicultural world of Southall, West London. The impact falls mainly into two types. The first is generated by the activities in and around Southall, focused on developing new forms of religious expression and the potential for change in religious practice and interreligious understanding in the local area. The second flows from a project that brought together a number of individuals from different religious traditions to learn how to practise the skills of interreligious relations. The impact includes personal and professional development as well as the processes of learning with and between persons from different religious communities in a variety of contexts.
This case study describes the impact of Orthodox theological research at Winchester on Orthodox Christian life in the UK at several levels. The development of the Winchester Orthodox Network — a study and research network bringing academics together with members of Orthodox Christian communities — has had diverse impacts on the engagement of Orthodox life with British contexts, including: (a) a major contribution to the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist, enabling theological research to inform the practice of clergy and their communities; (b) expert advisory work; (c) continuing education for serving clergy; (d) the use of research expertise in informing the catechesis, liturgical and spiritual life of Orthodox parishes in Hampshire.
David Ford's research on Scriptural Reasoning, a form of inter-faith dialogue in which Muslims, Christians and Jews meet to discuss extracts from their respective scriptures, has led to the creation of Scriptural Reasoning groups in multiple non-academic contexts, from UK prison chaplains to Israeli and Palestinian doctors, and so to deepening engagement and learning between people from different religious traditions. Those groups engage in the practice which Ford and others have developed, putting the underlying research into practice in a variety of local conditions, and thereby fostering peaceful and fruitful inter-faith relations.
Catherine Pickstock's metaphysical approach to liturgical texts and her associated critique of middle to late twentieth century Roman Catholic and Anglican liturgical revision, have influenced recent liturgical revisions in several Christian denominations and several languages. Her work has impacted upon civil society, specifically the mediation of cultural capital as found in (1) liturgical practice; (2) the training of seminarians worldwide (with Granada and Cambridge as examples); (3) the way in which new priests are taught to celebrate the liturgy; (4) the way liturgy is thought about by practitioners, laity and non-religious people; and (5) public discourse. This impact is attested by citations in published liturgical revision commentaries, bibliographies from training institutions, testimonies, blogs and other discussion forums, as well as by the range of international public lectures, interviews and other kinds of extra-academic engagement she has been invited to give.