Power from the periphery? ‘Extra-Institutional Religion’ and the prospects for change: insights from the life of Fr Gerry Reynolds
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Date
2019
Authors
Ganiel, Gladys
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ISASR in association with the Study of Religions, University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
This article develops the concept of ‘extra-institutional religion,’
which was first introduced in the 2016 book Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland. It
describes how the author’s research for a biography of Fr Gerry Reynolds, a
Redemptorist based in Belfast’s Clonard Monastery during the Troubles, helped
advance the concept by fostering insight into the importance of links between
faith-inspired activists and institutional religion. It also develops the concept’s
theoretical potential, arguing that it may be well-placed to contribute to wider
change by balancing two paradoxical structural strengths: its position on the
peripheries of religious, social, and political life; and its continued links with
institutional religion. It relates these structural strengths to theoretical literature on
religion and civil society (which alerts us to how change can emerge from the
peripheries); and Grace Davie and Abby Day’s work on European religion (which
alerts us to the continued importance of historically dominant religious
institutions). It then describes how Reynolds’s activism was enhanced by the
legitimacy and connections that came with his embeddedness in the Catholic
Church. Examples include his work with Fr Alec Reid facilitating secret political
negotiations during the Troubles; and public ecumenical initiatives like the
Cornerstone Community, the Unity Pilgrims, and In Joyful Hope. While Reynolds
was not practising extra-institutional religion, his example advances this concept
by demonstrating that for faith-inspired activists, maintaining solid links with
institutional religion may be more important for sparking change than was
originally argued in Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland.
Description
Joint JISASR-JBASR Special Issue
Keywords
Extra-institutional religion , Religious markets , Peacemaking , Ecumenism , The Troubles , Northern Ireland , Ireland , Redemptorists
Citation
Ganiel, G. (2019) 'Power from the periphery? ‘Extra-Institutional Religion’ and the prospects for change: insights from the life of Fr Gerry Reynolds', Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions, 7, pp. 16-34.