## **CENTRE FOR MARIAN STUDIES**
## **Registered Charity 1183579**
## **ANNUAL REPORT 2022**
The Centre for Marian Studies (the CMS), established in 1995, provides educational courses, promotes research and maintains a library, on subjects relating to the theology and wider cult of the Virgin Mary. It has no religious affiliation and is open to members of any religious tradition or none. Members of the CMS are dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration to support and advance Marian scholarship.
The CMS was originally registered with a Trust Deed in 1997 as The Marian Study Centre (Registered Charity 1066253). In 2019 the decision was taken to register the charity as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, whose only voting members are its charity trustees. Our registration was confirmed on 24th May 2019. This annual report covers the period from 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022, as the latter is our accounting end of year date.
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
The CMS aims to advance the education of the public in all matters related to the Virgin Mary, including any theology, devotion, and other social and cultural activities pertaining to her, in particular for the provision of a library, a picture collection, and other material resources, the undertaking of academic research and the dissemination of the useful results to the public and the provision of educational courses and lectures.
In April 2021 the CMS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with St Mary’s University in Twickenham to develop mutual agreements for cooperation based on our respective academic and educational needs. St Mary’s University is now the official home of the CMS, and the CMS library collection will enhance the theological resources held at the university and be available to researchers in Mariology. The library collection is in the process of being established in the crypt of the church on the university campus.
The trustees have cross-referenced these objectives and activities with the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit.
## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE**
The CMS website, which is maintained on a voluntary basis by a member of the CMS Management Committee, provides information on Marian news and events: www.marianstudies.ac.uk.
The Trustees and members of the Management Committee of the CMS are actively engaged in Marian Studies and examples of their publications are
listed on the charity’s website: https://www.marianstudies.ac.uk/publications
In order to promote research, we have also now developed a scheme that allows people to apply to become Fellows, Members and Associates of the CMS. The full details are posted online on our website: https://www.marianstudies.ac.uk/membership
## **International events (via Zoom)**
Although some of our face-to-face activities were curtailed because of the repercussions of the Covid pandemic, we made use of the Zoom platform to meet for administrative and educational purposes. Online technology has also allowed us to join more regularly with international colleagues and hold joint events.
In September 2021, Sarah Jane Boss, Chris Maunder and Mary Frances McKenna gave papers at a seminar organised by the Mariological Society of America (MSA) during the International Pontifical Marian Academy conference; and Catherine O’Brien was invited by the MSA to give a paper on Marian images in the cinema.
Thanks to the generosity of one of the CMS Trustees, we have reinstated our annual Candlemas lecture, with the event now being held in honour of the late Dr Cathy Oakes, who was an art historian and one of the founding members of our charity. Cathy was an expert in medieval Marian iconography and her untimely death in 2019 was a great loss to the CMS on both a personal and academic level. The first lecture (via Zoom) in this new series took place on 1st February 2022. The invited speaker was Dr Chloë Reddaway from King’s College London and Duke University, and she gave an inspiring paper entitled ‘Re-Visiting Creation: Signs of the New Creation in Christ in Images of the Visitation’. This presentation explored the locations, typology, iconography, and pneumatology found in images of the Visitation, illuminating connections between the Visitation, the New Creation in Christ, and the female role in creative redemption.
In June 2022, the CMS held an online book launch of _Mary, Founder of Christianity_ (Oneworld Publications, 2022) by Chris Maunder, the cofounder and treasurer of the CMS. Chris presented his monograph, and his colleague Sarah Jane Boss offered a response, before the meeting was opened up to general discussion. Our charity endeavours to provide a forum for debate about the significance of the Mother of Jesus in theology and cult, and this event contributed to that aim.
## **Journal**
In 2021 the CMS relaunched _Maria: A Journal of Marian Studies_ as a peer reviewed, online and open access journal. During the period covered by
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this report, the CMS published two issues of the journal. The second issue (January 2.1) contained four articles and two book reviews; and the third issue (July 2.2) contained four articles, one translation and one book review. We have joined the mEDRA scheme in order to register the journal content for the Digital Object Identifier System.
The journal contributes to our commitment to publish innovative Marian research in the fields of theology, philosophy, literature, history, visual culture, music, sociology, anthropology and psychology.
## **Financial review**
## **Centre for Marian Studies: Accounts 2021-22**
## **Year End: 31 August 2022**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Income Outgoings
Balance at 1 [st] 3262.49
September 2021
Donations 125.13
Fellowship fees 200.00
Membership fees 170.00
Candlemas lectures 500.00
Crowdfunder fees 1.00
Speaker honorarium 100.00
for the Candlemas
lecture
Postage (for the 126.24
transfer of books in
the CMS collection)
mEDRA journal DOIs 191.19
TOTALS 995.13 418.43
Net income 576.70
Balance at 31 [st] 3839.19
August 2022
**----- End of picture text -----**
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(Ringfenced for 3439.19) Candlemas lectures 400, gives disposable funds of:
The accounts for 2021-22 are not complicated and our internal review process is sufficient.
We received £995.13 made of up of donations, and fees from Fellows and Members. The donations include £500, which has been ringfenced to pay for the annual Candlemas lectures.
Our outgoing payments were £418.43. These payments consisted of £1.00 for Crowdfunder Fees; the honorarium of £100 to our speaker for the Candlemas lecture; £126.24 to cover postage for the transfer of CMS books; and £191.19 to mEDRA for the DOIs.
At present, the funds are unrestricted, i.e. not earmarked for specific purposes. The funds held by the CMS are also too small for the holding of reserves.
We have concluded that the CMS has the funds and resources for it to be an ongoing concern for 2022-23. If fundraising is successful in the future, it will be necessary to undergo external financial monitoring.
## **Structure, governance and management**
The CMS is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and has used the Charity Commission’s template for its governing document.
All trustees must be aged over 16 years and at least one of the trustees of the Centre for Marian Studies must be 18 years of age or over. The maximum number of charity trustees is twelve and the minimum number is three. If the number falls below the minimum, the remaining trustee or trustees may act only to call a meeting of the charity trustees, or appoint a new charity trustee. The quorum for a trustees’ meeting is two. Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the Centre for Marian Studies.
## **Management of the charity**
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During the past year, we appointed Sr Cathy Jones as a new member of our Management Committee. As a result, the Centre for Marian Studies is currently run by six trustees and five members of the Management Committee, all of whom contribute to the aims of the charity on a voluntary basis.
## **Trustees**
Dr Melanie Landman Professor Andrew Louth Dr Catherine O’Brien (Chair of Trustees) Dr Eileen Rubery Mr Mike Russell Reverend Canon Dr Paul Williams
## **Members of the Management Committee**
Dr Sarah Jane Boss (Secretary and Librarian) Sr Cathy Jones Dr Chris Maunder (Treasurer) Mrs Natalie Maunder (Website coordinator) Dr Jacob Phillips (Conference organiser)
The full committee meets twice a year, usually in September and March.
## **Reference and administrative details**
The Centre for Marian Studies
Registered Charity 1183579
c/o The Institute of Theology and Liberal Arts, St Mary’s University, Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, TW1 4SX
Email: info@marianstudies.ac.uk
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