7 July 2024

Gaza and the West Bank: ancient semitic antipathies drive the bloodshed

It is estimated that from October 7, 2023 until May, 2024, close to 36,000 Palestinians and 1500 Israelis have lost their lives in the Hamas-Israel war. Thousands more Gazans have perished from malnutrition or disease or have disappeared under mountains of sand and rubble.

21 April 2024

Pope fires warning shot to Church leaders who would defy Vatican II

The neo-traditionalists have been sent a clear message by Pope Francis that their dismissal of synodality, and their disruptive behaviour do violence to the very nature of the Church itself and thereby damage the Reign of God.

16 April 2022

An unexpected Easter in Ukraine

On Easter night and for the entire season, Ukranians will greet one another with the faith affirmation: (Khrystos voskres). (vo-ee-stynu voskres) and the Russians with their own: ! (Kristos voskrjes!) ! (Vaistinu voskrjes!). Christ is Risen, He is risen indeed.

21 December 2021

Christmas, Jesus, and the promise of a new way of being human

The revolutionary vision of a free, equal and inclusive society that Jesus preached as an adult has survived in tact.

8 May 2021

Catholicism must grow up

Catholic reform leader, Sr Joan Chittister OSB, has told a large Australian audience that Catholicism must grow up and that Catholics want a reformed Church. Sr Joan boosted the calls for change in the Australian Catholic church in an inspiring address to a 3,000-strong audience.

3 April 2021

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed

During his final week of his life, Jesus world was savagely ripped away from him. And it all happened so quickly. He was arrested by the Roman troops in a security sweep of Jerusalem during the Passover celebrations. He was charged with sedition, convicted and sentenced to death as a criminal. He suffered an utterly humiliating death on a cross. It was an utter disaster for his family and followers.

1 April 2021

Reflecting on the lead up to Jesus' final week

During Holy Week Christians will experience in their liturgies an intense symbolic overload. In the space of eight days, the unfolding drama of Jesus final days, the confronting brutality he endured and his death by crucifixion give way to the great surprise of the faith, the Resurrection.

13 February 2021

Catholic Bishops cannot govern their dioceses without pastoral councils

Only seven of the 28 Australian Catholic dioceses have pastoral councils. It seems that protecting the independence of ecclesiastical fiefdoms is more important than promoting the common good of the Church in this country.

19 August 2020

The Polding House Push and The Catholic Weekly Bugle.

Over the past year in particular, Australian Catholics have become convinced that their bishops, with some exceptions, are playing games with them in the lead up to the national Plenary Council which is now scheduled to start in October 2021. Some believe, not unreasonably, that important stages in the process have been closely micro managed and that the outcomes of the Plenary may have been determined already.

12 July 2020

Bishops and branch stacking: the second oldest profession

Branch stacking scandals are not new to Australian politics of whatever colour. Nor is the phenomenon new to the Catholic Church. In fact, the caper originated within Jesus inner circle and it hasnt let up since.

8 September 2019

DAVID TIMBS. Archbishop Comensoli needs to cut the ecclesiastical umbilical cord.

Peter A Comensoli has been the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne for just on a year. So far he has demonstrated very little understanding of the disastrous situation he inherited. Nor has he shown any clear indication of the kind of vision and leadership needed to navigate a way though.

30 June 2019

DAVID TIMBS. Australias bishops are presently visiting the Pope. . What are they telling him and will Aus tralias ordinary Catholics ever find out?

Australias bishops are currently in Rome for their regular ad limina visit to the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul . Their last visit was in 2011. While there they will meet Pope Francis, have meetings with many of the Vatican dicasteries (government departments), be briefed on Vatican policy, and in turn will background the Vatican bureaucrats on how they see the state of the Church in Australia. But what will they be telling the Pope and the bureaucrats? Will it accord with what Australias lay Catholics have been saying and thinking?

17 December 2018

DAVID TIMBS. The Pax Romana and the Gospel of Disturbance.

The first Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar, is synonymous with a new age of optimism and hopefulness for the peoples of the Empire. This era of unprecedented peace, stability and prosperity came to be known as the Pax Romana. Jesus of Nazareth was born in to this world around 4 BCE. For his followers, Jesus birth also heralded in a new era in which humanity would be created anew, right relationship on every level would be restored and Gods moral claim upon the world would be fully realised. The coming of Christ for believers marked the Dawn of Redeeming Grace.

21 September 2018

DAVID TIMBS. The priest shortage and the elephant in the room.

Twice in recent weeks, Fr James Clarke, Chair of the National Council of Priests (NCP), has stated that the majority of Australian priests and probably most laity support a comprehensive examination of all aspects of the Catholic priesthood and pastoral ministry in Australia including seminary formation of future priests. Clarke has also flagged that in their submission to the forthcoming National Plenary Council the NCP will also be calling for decisive action to be taken to address the issues related to the crisis facing the Australian Church as a direct result of the drastic decline of Australian-born priests in active...

16 May 2018

DAVID TIMBS. The Catholic Church in Australia. Who has the Moral Authority?

For many of Australias Catholic bishops business as usual meant denial that the culture, structures and processes of the Church were part of the problem. They had cut themselves off from the lived experience of ordinary Catholics and what they wanted their Church to be. If the planned Plenary (national) Council in 2020/2021 is to make any headway towards a new business model, the bishops will need to undertake a very serious campaign of listening, post-haste.

13 January 2015

David Timbs. The Synod of Bishops.

Catholic lay people face a very difficult task in attempting to influence the members of the 2015 Ordinary Synod of Bishops. Firstly, they will have a challenge in finding bishops to listen to them. Secondly, they will have a challenge in finding bishops ready to accept the risks associated with taking the Sensus Fidei Fidelium (or sense of faith of believers) seriously and then walking the road of Christ in solidarity with (syn-odos) their people. From long and painful experience, many Catholics who have worked for significant reform in the Church have learnt that there have been only a few...