Religion and Faith
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Cracks in the Church Dyke at the Royal Commission. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 19March 2010, after the Murphy Commission in Ireland found that there had been widespread cover up of child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a “Pastoral Letter to the People of Ireland”. The Murphy Commission had some harsh things to say about canon law and the requirements of secrecy, Continue reading »
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New Vatican Committee on Sexual Abuse – What the Pope and the Bishops should do. Guest blogger: Bishop Geoffrey Robinson
Pope Francis has announced that he is setting up a committee to advise him on how to respond to sexual abuse within the Church. There is a large amount of scepticism in many quarters about such a move, for there have been so many other meetings before this and they have produced so little. So Continue reading »
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Archbishop Coleridge and Canon Law: Humpty Dumpty Rules . Guest blogger Kieran Tapsell
“When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “It means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.” Continue reading »
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Flogging a dead horse at the Royal Commission on Sexual Abuse. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Whenever there has been an inquiry into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse by its clergy, the Church has claimed that child sex abuse was some sort of hidden problem that the whole world, including the Church, had only just discovered. It has done this in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and now Continue reading »
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New Vatican Committee on Sexual Abuse and ‘zero tolerance’ of Pope Benedict. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 5 December 2013, the Vatican announced that it had set up a new Committee on sex abuse and that the “the initiative was also in line with the zero tolerance approach of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.” Pope John Paul II has rightly been hailed for his contribution to bringing down the Soviet Union. But Continue reading »
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Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. John Menadue
On December 9 the Royal Commission will commence public hearings into the role of the Catholic Church in Australia on this issue. Francis Sullivan the Executive Director of the Truth Justice and Healing Council of the Catholic Church said on 3 December that “Catholics and non-Catholics will be shocked and disillusioned when they hear the Continue reading »
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Bella Figura and the Vatican. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Bella figura, writes Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in his book, For Christ’s Sake, pervades the Vatican. In Italian, it means putting on a good appearance, and never admitting mistakes – what we might call “spin”. Its opposite, bruta figura means looking dreadful. Bella figura can quickly turn bruta as Sir Walter Scott reminded us: “Oh what Continue reading »
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What a good effort. Guest blogger: Chris Geraghty
This is the best effort at an apology so far and “the leaders of the Catholic Church in Australia” are to be congratulated, finally. They have been dragged, fighting and squealing, to their knees, no, to their bellies, but eventually a thorough and unqualified commitment statement has been published and read to the faithful at Continue reading »
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Pope Francis’s Synod. Guest blogger: Eric Hodgens
The new Pope Francis has caught the eye of the world. Many people with Catholic friends know that there are two Catholic Churches in the world today – one of the popes and the Pells, the other of the rank and file Catholics and their priests. The first is doctrinaire. The second makes adjustments to Continue reading »
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A reflection on Pope Francis’s Exhortation. Guest blogger: Frank Brennan SJ
Pope Francis has published his first and very prolix papal teaching document entitled Evangelii Gaudium (the joy of evangelisation). With a tone of delightful self-mocking he observes, “I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that they are quickly forgotten.” On the scale of papal Continue reading »
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Sexual abuse: two Popes late on the scene. Guest blogger: Michael Kelly SJ
Early in the 20th Century, the French Catholic poet and writer Charles Peguy observed that, at the turn of each age, the Catholic Church arrives a little late and a little breathless. It was not till the 1960s, at Vatican II, that the Church absorbed and authorized the major influence of the French Revolution – Continue reading »
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Sexual abuse – don’t mention Canon Law! Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
Submissions and speeches by the Australian Catholic Church about child sex abuse, remind me of Fawlty Towers, where Basil asks his non German guests not to mention the war. In the Church’s case, the unmentionable is canon law, the law of the Catholic Church. In his speech at Ballarat on 20 November 2013, Francis Sullivan, Continue reading »
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Systemic issues arising from the Victorian Parliament’s ‘Betrayal of Trust Report’ Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell
On 13 November 2013, the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organizations handed down its Report, entitled “Betrayal of Trust”. It stated: “No representatives of the Catholic Church directly reported the criminal conduct of its members to the police. The Committee found that there is simply no justification Continue reading »
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The end of an era. Guest blogger: Michael Kelly SJ
It may be because I’ve been in Ireland and dealing with people who are the heirs of those responsible for most of the heritage and works of the Australian Jesuits. But I don’t think so. What struck me most deeply after a month or more among European Jesuits, and registering the scale of challenge to Continue reading »
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The Catholic Church is in for a shake-up. Guest blogger: Michael Kelly SJ
Pope Francis has pressed all the hot buttons that get Catholic and other tongues wagging- a pastoral response to divorced and remarried Catholics, homosexuality, the place of women in the Church, the excessively centralized nature of management in the Church, liturgical adaptation to local pastoral circumstances and wealth and triumphalism as the all too frequent Continue reading »
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In Bob we Trust. Guest blogger Chris Geraghty
In Bob We Trust begins with Father Bob’s potted version of the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Five minutes of fun and irreverent theology. Over two thousand years passing in the blink of an eye. Then Father Bob, assisted by his sinister chess opponent, John Safron in the guise of the Devil, gets down Continue reading »
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The eye of the needle, politicians, and Confucius. Guest blogger: Milton Moon
Milton Moon is an eminent Australian potter. A Master of Australian Craft. My current reading is dominated by the superb collected essays of Simon Leys, under the title The Hall of Uselessness. (An indication of just how small the world has become it was recommended to me by a Jewish friend, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Continue reading »
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Frontier War and asylum seekers. John Menadue
Launch of the 2013-14 Catholic Social Justice Statement by John Menadue 11 September 2013 This statement follows the proud tradition of the Catholic Church in Australia since 1940 of calling Catholics and all Australians to act for social justice. The 65 statements issued over the years cover a great range of social justice issues – poverty, violence, Continue reading »
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Facing the future. Guest blogger: Prof. Stephen Leeder
Facing the future in a world where black swan events change everything. When considering what we may be facing with a new federal government in Australia, a wise starting point would be a conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, he of the Black Swan theory. Taleb has written extensively, using the discovery of black swans in Continue reading »
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From one Catholic to another. Guest blogger: Bishop Hurley, Darwin.
The Catholic Bishop of Darwin has expressed concern to Tony Abbott about the Coalition’s policies towards asylum-seekers and people in detention. His letter to Tony Abbott follows: Bishop Hurley letter to Tony Abbott The Leader of the Opposition The Hon. Tony Abbott MHR Parliament House RG109 CANBERRA ACT 2600 16 August 2013 Dear Mr. Continue reading »
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Jesuit students rebuke Tony Abbott and other old boys. John Menadue
For many years, I have been concerned that the Jesuits at St Ignatius College Sydney seem to be producing mainly conservative politicians and merchant bankers. I don’t think St Ignatius would have expected that. My confidence in the Jesuits at St Ignatius has been at least partially restored by action by senior students at St Continue reading »
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Hitting rock-bottom! John Menadue
Today Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison have announced draconian measures that will inflict enormous punishment on over 30,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia over recent years by boat. These draconian policies will apply not just to future boat arrivals but will be applied retrospectively to over 30,000 asylum seekers who are already legally Continue reading »
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Encouraging words from Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Rio. John Menadue
On Copacabana beach in Rio, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with three million people, more than the Rolling Stones or Carnivale could ever attract. With his obvious modesty he showed himself a great communicator with the young and the poor. He appealed for the rich to share with the poor and solidarity between all people. He Continue reading »
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Pope Francis blasts ‘globalisation of indifference’ for immigrants. Report from National Catholic Reporter
The treatment of asylum seekers in Australia brings shame to all of us. Pope Francis called for an end to the ‘globalisation of indifference’. In his first visit outside the Vatican Pope Francis called for decency and humanity in the treatment of outsiders. John Menadue Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org) Francis blasts ‘globalization of Continue reading »
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Clericalism and the inability to recognise one’s own shortcomings. Guest Blogger: Michael Kelly SJ
But what was the question? For a very long time I have puzzled over what fanatics, bigots, sundry village idiots and fundamentalists have in common. I used to think it was fear – the fear of losing control. So, all manner of extreme positions, programs and political strategies are worked out to keep control. It’s Continue reading »
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The Vatican appeals in vain for decency towards refugees. John Menadue
On June 6, the Vatican emphasized that governments protect refugees. It said that the world’s governments must give ‘absolute priority’ to the fundamental rights of refugees. Cardinal Veglio who heads the Pontifical Council for Migrants said: ‘Protection must be guaranteed to all who live under conditions of forced migration, taking into account their specific Continue reading »
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Pell before the Parliamentary Enquiry. Guest blogger: Chris Geraghty
I watched Cardinal George Pell give his evidence to the Victorian Parliamentary Committee on Monday and thought that he was fortunate to be questioned across the polished table by a team of amateur interrogators. The members of the committee were, for my taste, too respectful, and far too thankful for the inadequate information he was Continue reading »
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Asylum seekers and refugees – political slogans or humanitarian policies? John Menadue
Australia has a proud record in accepting 750,000 refugees since WWII. But the mood has now turned sour. It is so easy for unscrupulous politicians to exploit fear of the foreigner. It is paying off politically. We no longer ‘welcome the stranger’. The continually repeated slogan ‘stop the boats’ is with us almost every day. Continue reading »
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Our better angels. Guest bloggers Brenda, Edith and Elizabeth
Dear Elizabeth, At our church, Liverpool South Anglican Church, we have befriended some men from Sri Lanka who have been released from the Curtin Detention centre. They are setting up house in Sydney. We held a BBQ and cricket match on Anzac Day and about 30 men came along. Our Minister explained to them about Anzac Day and why it is Continue reading »
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Report of ‘Clerical celibacy in context’
A few nights ago, some fifty people went to the Veech Library, at Strathfield, to hear a retired history professor, Ed Campion, give a lecture entitled Clerical Celibacy in Context. The next day people telephoned the library to get copies of this lecture but there was none to be had because the lecturer performed Continue reading »
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