O'Leary, Don 1955-

PERSONAL:

Born 1955.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Anatomy Department, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. E-mail—d.oleary@ucc.ie.

CAREER:

University College Cork, Biosciences Institute, Cork, Ireland, senior technical officer.

WRITINGS:

Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland: The Search for a Christian Social Order, Irish Academic Press (Portland, OR), 2000.

Roman Catholicism and Modern Science: A History, Continuum (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Don O'Leary is a scientist whose books focus on Roman Catholicism. In Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland: The Search for a Christian Social Order, O'Leary investigates the Quadragesimo Anno, the 1931 papal encyclical that supported subsidiarity, a tenet of Catholic social teaching that promotes human dignity and autonomy by advocating for matters to be handled at the lowest possible levels of authority. The document, which expanded the 1891 Rerum Novarum, was a response to the great depression and prompted many Catholics to take up the cause of eradicating social injustice. Vocationalism was a main component of this reform, which refers to the right of each worker to earn a living wage. O'Leary's book focuses on how vocationalism was carried out in Ireland; many sectors of the workforce banded together in order to regulate their own trade, giving as much power as practical to those at the lower end of the spectrum. Vocationalism, however, as O'Leary points out, also proved attractive to fascists who allied with some of these groups. Despite this, Catholic social teaching gained prominence in Ireland and became the foundation of the country's 1937 constitution. O'Leary shows how the process eventually stalled, ironically so, in the predominantly Catholic country and failed to be enacted. "O'Leary illustrates that there were strong hints early on that trouble loomed," wrote Bernadette McCauley in Church History. "O'Leary concludes with a query about vocationalism today and wisely suggests it is best placed in the context of another time," she concluded.

O'Leary's second book, Roman Catholicism and Modern Science: A History, tackles the subject of how the church has responded to centuries of scientific advancement. From Copernicus, who was the first to propose that the planets revolved around the sun, to Galileo's advancement of astronomy and physics, to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, to more recent theories such as the Big Bang, particle physics, and biotechnology, O'Leary examines the church's "general reluctance to look science squarely in the face—until it is too late not to appear ludicrous," wrote John F. Haught in America. Even though Pope Pius XI created the Pontifical Academy of Science in 1936, the church has never completely embraced science. O'Leary brings readers up to date on the issues through 2004, when the International Theological Commission, chaired by the future Pope Benedict XVI, gingerly stated that evolution is not incompatible with divine providence. Haught concluded that the book "is a fascinating and reliable account of this and earlier episodes in the larger struggle of scientific reason and Catholic faith." John-Leonard Berg in Library Journal praised Roman Catholicism and Modern Science as a "thoroughly researched, meticulously written, and clearly argued … monumental historical survey."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, December 11, 2006, John F. Haught, review of Roman Catholicism and Modern Science: A History, p. 31.

Catholic Historical Review, January, 2002, Thomas J. Morrissey, review of Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland: The Search for a Christian Social Order, p. 150.

Church History, March, 2003, Bernadette McCauley, review of Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland, p. 215.

Library Journal, August 1, 2006, John-Leonard Berg, review of Roman Catholicism and Modern Science, p. 96.