First layman to head Franciscan centre

Dr Malcolm Pitt has been appointed to head the Franciscan International Study Centre in Canterbury. Dr Pitt is married with three daughters and four grandchildren. A member of the Secular Franciscan order, he is a graduate of of Oxford and Cambridge. For 15 years he worked as a miner in the Kent coalfields and was president of the Kent area National Union of Mineworkers during the miners' strike of 1984-5. After studying theology at the Franciscan centre he became secretary to the committee for the World of Work of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He served as a member of the Pontifical council for Justice and Peace, and participated in consultations of the Pontifical council for the Laity on the Church's mission and workers. Dr Pitt studied the social thought of Karl Marx and Pope John Paul II for his Doctorate of Philosophy which he received from the University of Canterbury recently. Dr Pitt says he believes the Franciscan thought and spirituality is particularly relevant to today's world as it links religious faith and philosophy with science, ecology, social justice and peace issues. For more details about the centre visit: wwwfranciscanstudy.org.