In 1836, the newly created Society of Mary receives from the Holy See the responsibility of evangelizing Oceania. Jean-Claude Colin, freshly elected Superior General, will eventually send 117 missionaries there. These men record what they observe, they keep their logbooks, they say how they are received, they state the difficulties they meet, they record the works they undertake... in short, they write.

Christianity has transformed many times in its 2,000-year history, from its roots in the Middle East to its presence around the world today. From the mid-twentieth century onward the presence of Christianity has increased dramatically in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and the majority of the world’s Christians are now nonwhite and non-Western. The Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South traces both the historical evolution and contemporary themes in Christianity in more than 150 countries and regions. The volumes include maps, images, and a detailed timeline of key events. The phrases “Global Christianity” and “World Christianity” are inadequate to convey the complexity of the countries and regions involved—this encyclopedia, with its more than 500 entries, aims to offer rich perspectives on the varieties of Christianity where it is growing, how the spread of Christianity shapes the faith in various regions, and how the faith is changing worldwide.

This book tells the stories of women and men of the Aquinas Academy, a centre of adult education in Sydney founded in 1945 by an Australian Marist priest, Austin Woodbury. The book places the personal narratives within the social, cultural and intellectual landscape of Australian Catholicism spanning seven decades. Chapters trace the founding vision of the academy as a Catholic institution of higher education affiliated with Saint Thomas Aquinas's university in Rome, the expansion of programmes of adult spirituality across the eastern Australian states and the growing place of contemplative and mystical prayer in a church rediscovering its spiritual core. Combining archival research and conversations with former students and staff about childhood, war, family and the struggles to make sense of losses and loves, the Aquinas Academy is a story ultimately about adults learning to grow up.

"Andrew Murray offers us an ingenious and humane reading of Aristotle's Politics. He presents the Politics as its author intended it to be received, as a work that clarifies how we must think about political matters and order our civic communities if we are to bring out the best in our humanity. He does this by blending classical political philosophy with the concerns of contemporary political societies of the Pacific islands: the chapters of the book move back and forth between Aristotle and life in Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Murray acknowledges the sharp difference between the classical city and the modern state, and shows what we who live in modern states are in danger of losing if we abandon Aristotle for Hobbes.' Robert Sokolowski, Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Professor of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America 'Andrew Murray offers extensive research, reflection, and deep thought on the political life of Pacific island states and applies Aristotelian political philosophy to Pacific experiences. The book is successful in its aim to explain the political philosophy of Aristotle in a way that is simple yet clear so as to enable Pacific islanders to apply Aristotle's thought to their own issues. Concerns of the three main races of the Pacific namely the Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians are well represented in excursions from the main text. While the situations in Fiji and Tonga remain difficult and will need further research, it is worth noting that the thought of democracy in Tonga was initiated by Professor Futa Helu of 'Atenisi, who followed the Greek thinkers. The attempt to understand the political life of the Pacific islands under the light of Aristotle's thought is a huge task. This book is a great contribution to political thinking in the Pacific islands." Soane Patita P Cardinal Mafi, Bishop of Tonga & Niue

In 1830, at the age of forty, Jean-Claude Colin accepted the call of his colleagues to take charge of the Society of Mary (Marists). He had joined this project as a seminarian in Lyons, France, in 1816, along with Marcellin Champagnat, future founder of the Marist teaching brothers. Since ordination, he had been an assistant priest at Cerdon (photo below), preached revival missions in rural districts and been principal of a high school-seminary. Colin always insisted that he was only a temporary superior until someone more capable could take over. Yet, by the time he resigned in 1854, he had obtained papal approval of the priests' branch, established the Society firmly in France, especially in education, and sent fifteen expeditions of missionary priests and brothers to the remote and scattered islands of the southwest Pacific. There they planted the Catholic Church in New Zealand, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia. Between his resignation and his death in 1875, Colin wrote Constitutions for the priests and brothers of the Society of Mary and for the Marist sisters. He also left a rich spiritual teaching. For this achievement, the Society regards him, despite his reluctance, as its Founder.

"The many Pacific Islands have many founding stories. For the Catholics of Western Oceania, stories go back to the members of the Society of Mary and the man who sent them out as religious: Jean-Claude Colin, who agreed to staff the mission in February 1836. This book expores the relationship of Colin to the Marists, to Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, the first Catholic bishop, and to the pope in Rome. ... This volume, the fruit of international cooperation, focuses on the French presence (religious and political) in the Pacific and on the missionaries who were mostly Marists (religious men and women, and lay people)."--P. [4], cover.