Our Director

Dr Liam Hayes is the Director of the Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the Margaret Beaufort Institute and oversees the strategic vision and operational outreach of the CEE in partnership with his colleagues at the MBIT.

Liam is a Senior Research Fellow of the Margaret Beaufort Institute and is currently leading research into the patterns and complex reasoning that underpins the ecclesial disaffiliation of Catholics in the Diocese of Brentwood. In his doctoral research Liam explored the disjunction between Catholic teaching and practice in the domain of sexual ethics and the significant role that experience plays in the moral discernment of Catholic women and men. Liam continues to explore the importance of experience as a moral theological locus, the significance that the tutoring role of the ecclesial community occupies in the moral decision making of Catholics today, and the importance of deep attentive listening for the renewal and future flourishing of the Church.

Liam is a priest of the Diocese of Brentwood and has served in various parishes across east London and Essex. He has previously worked for the Cardinal Hume Centre and for CAFOD as a Theology Adviser, in which he accompanied theologians from the academy to many of CAFOD’s projects in countries across the developing world and also worked in partnership with dioceses across England and Wales to deepen and develop our understanding of the relationship between our faith and doing justice. In his leisure time Liam enjoys cycling, music, cooking and playing the piano badly!

CEE Members

The CEE encourages applications from all those who seek to work in the relevant pathways either in ecclesial research or accompaniment. The Centre is especially keen to work with those who do not currently have a voice in the Church or in academic research.

CEE Steering Group

The CEE Steering Group welcomes members from across the ecclesial spectrum in the academy and wider Catholic Community to guide and inform the discerned strategic focus of the Centre’s academic research and operational outreach.