Writer
Michael Kelly
Father Michael Kelly is an Australian Jesuit who directed the Catholic Church's news feature and commentary service, UCA News, 2008-2018. He is the publisher of the English editions of La Croix International and La Civilta Cattolica, the 170 year old Jesuit publication of the Italian Jesuits.
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Myanmar steps back into darkness
Since the February 1 coup, the Tatmadaw – the official name of Myanmar’s armed forces – has escalated its crackdown on citizens protesting against the military takeover that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government…. Continue reading »
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This one will blow up on Scotty: Christine Holgate’s unfair dismissal
For thirty years I have believed that, when it wants to, Australian public culture defaults to its misogynistic normal in justifying a woman be disciplined or punished for an event or outcome with which they may have absolutely nothing to do at all…. Continue reading »
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Some thoughts during Holy Week
Lent is as we know a time in the life of the Christian community when we focus on the invitation Jesus makes to us to repent – to be converted. But what actually does conversion mean? What are the signs we should look for in our conversion? What gifts and graces should we pray for… Continue reading »
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Obituary for Bishop Geoff Robinson
Saying farewell to Bishop Geoff Robinson as we did when he died on December 29, 2020, is saying goodbye to one of the few Australian Catholic bishops with his integrity and reputation for honesty and championing the defence of the weak and the abused still intact…. Continue reading »
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Susan Ryan: a forgiving politician
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the movements, legislation and offices shaped or led by the late Susan Maree Ryan (Oct 10, 1942 – September 27, 2020)…. Continue reading »
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The effect of COVID-19 on religious habits
Church life will need to rebuild anew in the midst of a culture whose habits have been shredded by COVID 19. And God only knows where that will take us. But that’s the exciting part: we can discover it…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL JAMES KELLY. An Old Mans Gripe
It is a paradox: in the midst of suffering and dying, there is an unfamiliar human warmth. I have encountered it at several levels…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Coping with Isolation
The ‘command and control’ world of isolation we all find ourselves requires some new lessons in coping with isolation. Father Michael Kelly reflects on his experience of the strict world of the Jesuit Novitiate to guide him through his isolation…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Liberal culture and revelation
Western humanism has religious and transcendent sources without which it is incomprehensible to itself. Jacques Maritain, Integral Humanism. Faith in revelation does not destroy the rationality of knowledge but rather permits it to develop more fully. Etienne Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. What is to become of us?
I used to think I was part of a religion founded by Jesus Christ. The older I’ve got and the more I’ve come to know Jesus, the more I’m convinced I got that wrong and have outgrown it. Not that pressure to keep up religious appearances is flagging. It is still alive and well. We… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. The real culture war just down the road
Continuing the brutal ideological contest born of fear of difference and at times invincible ignorance only serves to maintain the power of the dominant… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ The biggest con in any current debate in Australian public life
In a highly contested event, one political con over the last decade stands out as the greatest bipartisan piece of deception in any enduring debate: the obfuscation employed in the public arguments over asylum seeker arrivals in Australia…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Religious Persecution and Home Churches in China.
When will they ever learn? The best tonic to stir up religious fervor and greater commitment in a totalitarian society is to persecute believers. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. A journey with urban refugees in Bangkok.
Some days I feel like a people trafficker, though I’m not making a zack out of the trafficking. Other days I see myself as a latter-day Oskar Schindler. But mostly I just feel trapped along with the 1000 refugees and asylum seekers I’m doing my not-very-successful best to get the hell out of an open… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Change of era in Oz.
In a revealing throwaway line, Pope Francis captured something that is true for the Church across the world but most especially for the Church in Australia. The pope described our time in the church and wider society as “not so much an era of change as a change of era”…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Bangladesh wake-up call on sexual abuse for Asia’s bishops.
The case of Father Walter Rozario bears all the hallmarks of denial, cover-up and silencing victims seen in the West. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Canada shows us how it is done.-A REPOST from July 5 2017
The Refugee Council of Australia’s call for more affordable and community based ways of settling refugees is only the latest attempt to bring both community good will to refugees and the implementation of a proven and superior alternative to government processes…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. The Pope in Asia
Pope Francis was true to his word about the best place for the Catholic Church to be is on fringes, away from the cosseted privilege that keeps reality at bay. Traveling to Myanmar and Bangladesh – both in the top five poorest countries in Asia – he was also visiting relatively tiny Catholic communities (accounting… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Pope Francis and The Lady meet
The much-anticipated meeting between Pope Francis and Aung San Suu Kyi will disappoint those who expected an attentive focus on the Rohingya. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. What brings a Jesuit Pope to Asia?
One of the biggest influences on Pope Francis remains relatively unexplored – Pedro Arrupe, the Superior General of the Jesuits (1965-83) who appointed Jorge Bergoglio Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina (1973-79) at the tender age of 36…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. The weakest to the wall.
The eyes of the world have been fixed on and appalled by the sight of more than 580,000 Rohingya fleeing the violence gratuitously inflicted on them by the military in Myanmar. And the story isn’t over yet. More will be targeted and more will run for their lives in what is the most serious humanitarian… Continue reading »
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FR. MICHAEL KELLY. Christianity isn’t the answer
Paul Kelly named what is the biggest untreated socially communicated disease in the Western world: narcissism (The Australian, 8/07/2017). He’s not alone of course and quotes several other commentators who believe the same thing, among them David Brooks…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Time to think outside the square for the Church in China
Joseph Jiang’s timely essay on the Church in today’s China will annoy some but asks all the right questions. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Six archbishops examined by Australian judge.
An extraordinary piece of evidence presented to the Commission is that up to 7% of Australian Catholic clergy have been child abusers. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. 2017 for Pope Francis: what to expect.
At the heart of what Arrupe sought to do was get Jesuits out of their comfort zone, engaged with the real world and most especially reconverted to Jesus Christ by their encounter with the poor. Pope Francis would agree. … Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Understanding challenges the church in Asia faces.
The Church in Asia can absorb and replicate its hierarchical, tiered cultural surrounds, or leave behind the clericalist conception of the Church, as a tightly run top-down organisation. It lies at the intersection of local hierarchical cultures and the culture of the church fostered by Rome before Vatican II. The calm confidence of Cardinal Oswald… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Winners are grinners – asylum seekers in Bangkok.
In the great race of life, it’s well to savor the few winners you back. Such was my experience last week. For some years, I’ve been helping a small group of asylum seekers survive against the odds in Bangkok. The win was a simple one as all the best wins are. After almost four… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY S.J. Making saints.
In our dreary world full of incredible people making claims to leadership, finding the occasional hero or heroine can’t be a bad thing. So why begrudge the Catholic Church its idiosyncratic ways of creating people for believers to admire – the saints? Mother Teresa of Calcutta – that’s what it was called when she… Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. Washing feet, culture and religion.
The decision by parts of the Catholic Church in India to differ with Pope Francis’ decision to allow women to have their feet washed in the ceremony on Holy Thursday is puzzling to say the least. Their reason given is simple. The inclusion of women in a ceremony where a man (the celebrant) washes the… Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. Where to from here for the Catholic Church in Australia
Despite the unpersuasive Vatican spin on Cardinal Pell’s appearance last week before the Royal Commission into child sex abuse in institutions – that his performance was “dignified” and “edifying”, his performance, in the assessment of most observers including this one, was inept, cowardly and unconvincing. Cardinal Pell is only one Australian Catholic and he has… Continue reading »
