Professor in top 50 list of influential Catholics

A prominent St Andrews University academic has been named one of the world’s most influential Catholics alongside Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese.

Professor of philosophy John Haldane was included in the top 50 list by the international Catholic weekly, The Tablet.

He also joins the current Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI, sculptor Antony Gormley, Scottish composer James MacMillan and writer Toni Morrison on the list published this week.

The article lists living Catholics who are “doing the most to change the way we imagine ourselves and understand the world”.

It described Professor Haldane as a serious academic philosopher who is equally at home in the broadsheets.

As well as his prestigious role at St Andrews University, Professor Haldane chairs the Royal Institute of Philosophy and also holds the J Newton Rayzor Snr distinguished chair in philosophy at Baylor University based in Texas, USA.

In 2005, he was appointed by Pope Benedict as a consultor to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, a role he held for 10 years.

During the university’s 600th anniversary celebrations, he commissioned and partly designed a mace presented to the university on behalf of the Scottish Catholic Church.

He also arranged a letter of congratulations from Pope Francis to be sent to staff and students.

Prof John Haldane.