International workshop on Capuchin history and theology

Titled ‘Early Modern Capuchins in Context: Spirituality, Culture, and Catholic Reform’, the workshop was organized by Br Benjamin Johnson, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Theology and Religion, whose research, undertaken in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame Australia, explores the spirituality of the early Capuchin movement in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. His project is part of the thriving ‘History of Catholicism’ research strand of the Centre for Catholic Studies.

He was aided in organizing the workshop by two Durham academics, Dr James E. Kelly and Dr Liam Temple, and Br Thomas A. Piolata, Assistant Professor at The Catholic University of America (a former PhD student in the Department).

Reacting to work which has focused mainly on the role of other religious orders such as the Benedictines and the Jesuits in the early modern period, the workshop sought to recover the important contribution made by the Capuchins to religion and society, theology and spirituality, global mission, and visual culture, amongst other themes.

It also established a new international research network to encourage further collaboration in the future by bringing together a diverse range of scholars with different perspectives and methodologies for the first time.

The intention is to publish the essays from the workshop as part of an edited volume to mark the 500^th anniversary of the papal approval of the Capuchins (1528-2028).

The workshop was representative of a growing expertise within the Centre for Catholic Studies towards the history and theology of the Capuchins, as highlighted recently with the publication of Dr Liam Temple’s book Radical Poverty: The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850-2022 (Bloomsbury, 2026), as well as a wider expertise in Catholic archives and the history of Catholic religious life.

The event was generously sponsored by the Capuchin Provinces of Australia and Pittsburg, as well as the Delegation of Great Britain.

Find out more

• Learn more about Dr James E. Kelly's and Dr Liam Temple's research.