Global Catholic Studies

Charting the historical, intellectual, and social landscapes of global Catholicism across continents and centuries.

The Global Catholic Studies (GCS) group at the University of Notre Dame Australia is dedicated to exploring the rich history, cultures, and ideas of Catholicism. Our work is global in scope—spanning continents and centuries—with the aim of deepening understanding of Catholicism’s past and present and offering insight into its possible futures.

Our team has published widely, convened major international conferences, hosted distinguished scholars, and conducted fieldwork around the world. We collaborate with Australian and international institutions, including global religious orders and leading universities. Our work includes externally-funded research projects, teaching, research student supervision and academic and public events.

Global Catholic Studies is part of the Institute for Ethics & Society.

Meet Our People

Externally funded projects

A History of the Capuchins in Australia

Exploring the history of the Capuchins in Australia from the colonial period through to the present day and how the friars supported communities of migrant Catholics.

Chief investigators: Dr Shaun Blanchard and Dr Liam Temple, in partnership with Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies
Funded by: The Capuchin Franciscan Friars of Australia
Funding: $521,011

Image:Blacktown Memories (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

The Theology and Spirituality of the Early Modern Capuchins

This project examines the theology underpinning the Capuchin Reform in early modern Catholicism, specifically the role of St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio in shaping the Order’s spiritual and intellectual identity. A collaborative research initiative between the University of Notre Dame Australia and Durham University (UK).

Chief investigators: Dr Shaun Blanchard and Rev Dr Benjamin Johnson
Funded by: The Capuchin Franciscan Friars of Australia
Funding: $324,289

Publications

Read books published by our researchers in the history, cultures, and ideas of Catholicism.

• Shaun Blanchard. Catholicism and Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2026.
• Stephen Cranney and Stephen Bullivant. Trads: Latin Mass Catholics in the USA. Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2026.
• Liam Temple. The Capuchins, Transnational Catholicism, and Britain, 1580–1700. Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2026.
• Liam Temple. Radical Poverty: The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850–2021. Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2026.
• Annemarie McLaren. Aboriginal-Colonial Exchanges in New South Wales, 1800–1835: When the Strangers Came to Stay. Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2025.
• Stephen Bullivant, Hannah Vaughan-Spruce, and Bernadette Durcan. After Secularisation: The Present and Future of British Catholicism. Catholic Truth Society, 2025.
• Shaun Blanchard and Richard T. Yoder, eds. Jansenism: An International Anthology. Catholic University of America Press, 2024.
• Shaun Blanchard and Stephen Bullivant. Vatican II: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2023.
• Liam Temple and John Morrill, eds. The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, Volume II: Uncertainty and Change, 1641–1745. Oxford University Press, 2023.
• Rev Benjamin Johnson. The Embodiment of Charity: Bonaventure on the Eucharist and Marriage. Franciscan Institute, 2023.
• Stephen Bullivant. Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America. Oxford University Press, 2022.
• Stephen Bullivant and B. Clements. Catholics in Contemporary Britain: Faith, Society, Politics. Oxford University Press, 2022.
• Shaun Blanchard and Ulrich L. Lehner, eds. Catholic Enlightenment: A Global Anthology. Catholic University of America Press, 2021.
• Shaun Blanchard. The Synod of Pistoia and Vatican II: Jansenism and the Struggle for Catholic Reform. Oxford University Press, 2020.
• Stephen Bullivant and Michael Ruse, eds. The Cambridge History of Atheism. Cambridge University Press, 2020.
• Stephen Bullivant. Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Contact us

If you would like to know more about what we do at the Global Catholic Studies (GCS) group, we encourage you to email shaun.blanchard@nd.edu.au.