The Contribution of Vincent Buckley to the Newman Society and the Intellectual Apostolate in the Fifties and Sixties

Abstract

This paper explores the work and influence of Vincent Buckley in the context of the Newman Society and the intellectual apostolate at Melbourne University in the fifties and sixties. An exploration of his talks and writings is presented to show how he drew his listeners and readers into a powerful theological and intellectual vision but then always moved them back insistently into the messiness and struggle of their own everyday lives in the university: the local, here-and-now world, but lived with a particular vision of spiritual transcendence. Always at the heart of his thinking was a reverence for the mystery of human life, specifically each individual life and the social complex in which it is embedded. The big picture for Vin always embraced the whole of living creation. Vin was a leader of his peers in the Newman Society but also of younger people, many of whom were his students. His passionate nature, his exquisite use of language and his non-conformity with many of the usual social expectations demanded attention from those in his presence. It is argued that Vin made a unique contribution in bringing the heart and mind of a poet to shared theological reflection in that community. His writing is explored in the context of recent thinking on theology and metaphor, and poetry and the sacred. Finally, I propose that his writings provide an exemplar of an incarnated Christian life and I illustrate this thesis from his writings, including his poetry.