Dorr, Donal
Donal Dorr has a wide and varied career in university lecturing and in missionary animation, across several continents. He lectured for a time in philosophy in the National University of Ireland in Cork, and in theology in St Patrick's Maynooth College, Ireland. His fields of missionary experience have included Africa (East, West and South) as well as Brazil and the Caribbean. In the 1980s he held a Research Fellowship in the Theology of Development in Maynooth College after which he worked with various support networks for community activists in various African countries and in Ireland. He has been a guest lecturer at many theological and ecumenical institutes in Europe, USA, Asia, Australia and Africa. More recently he has worked on the interface between spirituality and the business world, facilitating workshops for people and teams in management roles.
Dorr has published numerous articles in theological, philosophical and pastoral publications. His books include: Remove the Heart of Stone, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) and New York, (Paulist Press) 1978; Option for the Poor, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) and Maryknoll (Orbis), 1983; Spirituality and Justice, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) and Maryknoll (Orbis Books) 1984; Integral Spirituality: Resources for Community, Justice, Peace and the Earth, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) and Maryknoll (Orbis Books), 1990; The Social Justice Agenda: Justice, Ecology, Power and the Church, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) and Maryknoll (Orbis Books) 1991; Divine Energy: God Beyond Us, Within Us, Among Us, Dublin (Gill and Macmillan) 1996.
Divine Energy, the work we present here with his gracious permission, is Dr. Dorr's classic exploration of the multi-faceted ways by which people have tapped into the sources of spiritual energy that are ours for the taking and sharing. He shows a great empathy with the spiritual searchers of today, but is also aware of the danger of spirituality dissolving into disillusion, if it is not grounded on at least some of the main principles of the classic spiritual tradition.