Paul Collins
Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster and writer. A Catholic priest for 33 years, he resigned from the active ministry in 2001 following a dispute with the Vatican over his book Papal Power (Harper Collins (1997)). He is the author of 17 books, the most recent being The Depopulation Imperative (Australian Scholarly (2021)) and Recovering the ‘True Church’ (Coventry (2022)). A former head of the religion and ethics department at the ABC, he is well known as a public commentator on Catholicism and the papacy and also has a strong interest in ethics, environmental and population issues.
Paul's recent articles
16 April 2025
Easter, triumph of life over death
On 11 April, P&I published a wonderful Geoff Pryor cartoon showing “first semester exam results” for a self-satisfied Donald Trump lying back comfortably in a lounge chair.
5 March 2025
The next pope?
Popes have been in the news lately. The excellent book and film Conclave give us a sneak preview of what happens in the election process, and Pope Francis’ illness has kept the whole business in the news.
17 February 2025
Pitt may not be best fit as ambassador to the Holy See
Diplomatic appointments usually don’t get much news coverage unless it’s a retiring politician getting appointed. Apparently Australian ambassador to the Holy See is one such plum job.
27 November 2024
Earth first: a foundational moral principle
COP29 was a failure not because there wasn’t enough money on offer, but because it ignored population.
9 October 2024
Pope Francis' latest 'creations'
Pope Francis has just ‘created’ (appointed) twenty-one new cardinals, twenty of whom under the age of 80 will elect his successor. Among them is a bishop in Australia.
14 September 2024
In a wheel chair to the peripheries
Eighty-seven-year-old Pope Francis’ trip to Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore shows he’s not slowing up.
23 August 2024
Digital technology: blessing or curse?
The challenge we face with digital technology is not just managing it; it’s about what it’s doing to us.
8 August 2024
The Olympic Games are not neutral and often used for non-sporting political and cultural purposes as the Paris Opening showed
I’ve never been a fan of the Olympics, although I occasionally check to see how Australia is going on the medal tally. I watched a bit of the opening extravaganza – it certainly wasn’t a “ceremony” – but got bored with Gallic self-importance, so I missed the Last Supper parody with a drag queen representing Jesus.
8 June 2024
Religion and the census
The Census is important because it tells us so much about ourselves. But the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is complicating the data we collect on religion.
2 June 2024
A Catholic church responsive to the human needs of our fellow citizens
Analysing contemporary Catholicism requires a bit more knowledge than merely quoting a couple of reactionary Catholics – as does a recent New Statesman article.
17 April 2024
Podcast: Herzl's Nightmare — one land, two peoples
Paul Collins interviews former Australian Ambassador to Israel, Peter Rodgers, on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Zionist movement and the creation of the Israeli state, and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
28 March 2024
Stan Grant on Good Friday, Easter, and Gods absence in our suffering world
I never thought Id see an inspiring Easter reflection in the usually secular, The Saturday Paper. But last Saturday (March 23) there was Stan Grant, writing on the Christian feast.
26 February 2024
Amidst strategic stalemate, Ukraine war remains Vatican priority
Two years since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has faded from the headlines. But not in the Vatican and for the man who might be the next Pope.
20 February 2024
Vatican - Israel rupture over Gaza
The invasion of Gaza, described by Pope Francis as terrorism, is causing strained relationships between Israel and the Vatican.
16 December 2023
Could Pope Francis provide some hope for peace in the Middle East?
I really didnt want to write this article; Id rather be saying something about the theological meaning of Christmas. Much safer.
13 November 2023
Tuvalu: Paradise lost?
The recent treaty with Tuvalu opens the way for a more generous treatment of Pacific people.
7 October 2023
Climate disaster: Pope Francis repudiates developed worlds economics and culture
It is no longer possible to doubt the human origin of climate change (Pope Francis).
22 September 2023
Has Australian Catholic University just lost the right to call itself Catholic"?
Wheres Cardinal George Pell when you need him? Gone to God, I know, but as one of the founders and a former Chancellor of Australian Catholic University (ACU), he would be horrified at what is currently happening there. Why?
12 August 2023
Political instability and Nigers biggest problem
West Africa is emerging as a highly unstable region and massive over-population is at the heart of the problem.
15 July 2023
Is Pope Francis preparing for the next pope and an October revolution in Catholicism?
Its mid-summer in Rome and last week there was a heat wave with a top temperature of 38 Celsius. Hot days in Rome are stifling, with the heat compounded by the over-whelming influx of tourists.
20 June 2023
Our digital Aunty
The ABC is in trouble again as it abandons its cultural role to become fully digital by 2028.
17 June 2023
The Voice and Reconciliation
The Voice is beyond politics. Its about reconciliation between two profoundly different cultures and approaches to life.
26 May 2023
Vale, Stan Grant
Stan Grant is always intelligent, insightful and provocative. He demonstrated this in his extraordinary farewell piece last Monday night on the ABCs Q+A.
2 February 2023
Opus Dei: A Catholic sect
Opus Dei is a sect. Its spirituality doesnt free the spirit, but enslaves it.
20 January 2023
The Pell memorandum must be confronted
Weve all had far too much George Pell lately, but his so-called Memorandum on Pope Francis papacy is about much more than the present papacy and needs to be confronted.
13 January 2023
Cardinal George Pell
The media reaction to the death of Cardinal George Pell is extraordinary. But his contribution to Australian Catholicism is very much a mixed blessing.
2 January 2023
Reflecting on the Ratzinger papacy
Benedict XVIs life and papacy was a mixed blessing for Catholicism.
23 December 2022
Christmas: war and peace
As we end 2022, we seem besotted with rumours of war. In contrast, the central message of Christmas is Gods gift in Christ of peace, justice, humility and joy.
14 September 2022
One established church is enough
Just now we all need a rest from royalty. But whats gone unnoticed in media is how intimately connected the monarchy is to the Church of England.
31 August 2022
How to become a Catholic bishop
The fundamental crisis of Australian Catholicism is one of leadership and bishops are at the heart of this crisis.
8 July 2022
Christianity: a dismal future?
The future for religion in Australia, especially Christianity, looks rather bleak following the 2021 Census. But is the future really that dismal?
18 June 2022
Paul Collins: Pope Francis keeps them guessing
For a week or so the Vatican rumour mill has been in overdrive. How sick is Pope Francis? Will he resign? Where next for the papacy?
3 June 2022
A mixed blessing for Catholicism
The man who effectively ran the papacy in the late-1990s and the early-2000s during declining years of John Paul II died on Friday 27 May. His career was a mixed blessing for Catholicism. And sixteen new voting cardinals just appointed.
13 April 2022
Christ's Resurrection in 2022
In the gospels Jesus challenges the religio-political establishment, hostility to him grows, and he is convicted on trumped-up charges and dies as a common criminal on the cross. His life seems over.
15 March 2022
Putin, the Pope and the Patriarch
While the invasion of Ukraine is fundamentally strategic, religion, faith and history also play a major part.
3 March 2022
Pope Francis is 85. Insiders are already thinking about the future leader of Catholicisms 1.34 billion adherents
If it reaches a deadlock someone from left field might emerge. But here are my tips.
27 February 2022
What motivates Putins invasion of Ukraine? Dont underestimate history and religion
There is a theory that he has an almost mystical notion of Russia of which Ukraine and particularly Kiev are integral parts.
17 February 2022
The fundamentalist take-over of 'Christianity'
The Religious Discrimination Bill debate got taken-over by religious extremists with the mainstream wedged in the middle
9 February 2022
Population decline isn't happening fast enough to save planet
By 2050 we will consume three earths per year. Degradation of land and the oceans, biodiversity loss and global warming are the direct results.
10 October 2021
The Plenary Council has been a masterclass in avoiding the real problems in the Catholic Church.
The present model of the Catholic Church has far outlasted its relevance. The time has come for all Catholics to tell Rome loudly and clearly: the monarchical model isnt fit for purpose and has to go.
12 May 2021
History lessons for critiques on Christianity
Before we worry too much about school students, its the adults who need remedial history lessons if two recent articles are anything to go by.
13 April 2021
Hans Kung: a theologian for everyone
HansKngdied last Tuesday aged 93. I had the honour of knowing him as a friend. He was a rare breed: a theologian who spoke to people of diverse beliefs and none.
17 January 2021
Joe Biden's Catholicism
With the exception of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, religion has not been a big deal for recent US presidents who were, at best, nominal Christians. For Joe Biden faith is central to who he is.
10 January 2021
George Pell could comment 'Don't say I didn't warn you'
Sensational news stories about Vatican finances are two-a-penny. But for the first time Australia features in a scandal with claims that since 2014 1.4 billion (A$2.3 billion) of Vatican money ended-up in the Great South Land.
23 December 2020
Faith when matter really matters
Christmas is not about Santa Claus, consumerism, or even happy families. Its about Gods radical entry into humanity in the person of Jesus.
12 October 2020
The Beginning of the End?
Is Pope Francis running out of steam? Will we ever see an end to Vatican financial scandals? And where is George in all of this?
25 August 2020
Archbishops, vaccines and COVID-19
The recent letter of the Sydney-based Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox archbishops on the ethics of the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine has left many believers and the general community gobsmacked.
28 July 2020
Population 'Bomb' Already exploded
Like many commentators before him, Kevin Bains Prospects for refugees and migrants if the population bomb goes bust (Pearls and Irritations, 23/7/20) assumes that population is a future problem, ignoring the fact that the world is already over-populated.
2 June 2020
PAUL COLLINS. First Step to a Better Church?
I must admit up-front that Im not a fan of committee reports. Theyre usually pedestrian and repetitious, even at the best of times. So, to be honest, I didnt approach the 200-page Governance Review Project Team (GRPT) report The Light from the Southern Cross with much enthusiasm.