Sebastian Moore was one of the most brilliant and influential Catholic thinkers during the second half of the twentieth century. His reputation was gained in the context of the liberalization of the Catholic Church in Europe c.1950-1975, when he emerged as a distinctive voice within the wider Benedictine community and as a leading advocate of modernization when serving an inner-city parish in Liverpool. His ideas gained wide currency among the reformers as the impact of the Second Vatican Council was felt. He forged a fresh and broader reputation after his immigration to the United States where he was recognized as an innovative thinker, fusing insights from psychology and psychoanalysis with classical issues in theology to breathe fresh life into well-worn textual debates about the mission of Christ and the deep relevance of his message for the modern, consumerist civilization of the west. His later contributions spoke to the ideas of Girard and his admirers, though Moore also engaged in the controversial issue which had shadowed his own life as a celibate priest, that of sexual freedom and identity within the modern Church.