Religion and Faith
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Patty Fawkner. Mary Magdalene: friend, icon, model
We have yet to balance spirituality and sexuality in the Church especially in regard to women. Women’s leadership and spiritual influence will be compromised until we do, writes Good Samaritan Sister Patty Fawkner. I thank my father for my friendship with Mary Magdalene. I was a young woman when, after a brief illness, my father Continue reading »
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Brian Johnstone. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ and Cardinal Pell.
Cardinal George Pell has criticized Pope Francis’ ground-breaking environmental encyclical. As Pell told the Financial Times on Thursday, July 14, “It’s got many, many interesting elements. There are parts of it which are beautiful,” he said. “But the Church has no particular expertise in science … the Church has got no mandate from the Lord Continue reading »
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Robert Manne. Laudato Si’ : A political reading.
Robert Manne describes the Papal Encyclical as the first work that has risen to the full challenge of climate change. Robert Manne ads: There can be little doubt that the Papal Encyclical is the most consequential intervention in the discussion of climate change since Al Gore’s film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. … Like Al Gore, indeed, Continue reading »
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Bruce Duncan. Pope Francis on avoiding environmental catastrophe
Current Affairs Popes write social encyclicals in times of social crisis or at great turning points in history. Pope Francis’s Laudato Si is no exception. He sees the world facing unprecedented twin crises: from climate change; and unresolved issues of global hunger and poverty, resulting in growing conflict, violence and displacement of peoples. ‘Peace, justice Continue reading »
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Robert Manne. Papal Encyclical and Cardinal Pell
Current Affairs In The Monthly on 31 October 2011, Robert Manne recalled the efforts of Cardinal George Pell to discredit the case of those who were concerned about climate change. Cardinal Pell said that Robert Manne was following fashionable opinion on the subject. Extracts from Robert Manne’s article follow below. John Menadue. In the Sydney Morning Continue reading »
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John Menadue. How the Australian Bishops and Rome ignored the warnings.
Current Affairs. We were warned about events such as in the Ballarat Catholic Diocese. But they were even worse than what we expected. Bishops have been warned for a long time but they have ignored the warnings. See article below that I posted on 22 February 2013. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, formerly Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Catholic bishops keep saying sorry, but avoid structural and cultural reform.
Current Affairs. Catholic bishops keep telling us that they didn’t know and how sorry they are about the horrific events in Ballarat and in many other parts of the Catholic Church before that. We all know how terrible these events are, but what have the bishops done to address the opaque governance structures and cultural Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell: Mental Reservation at the Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission
Current Affairs On 28 May 2015, the convicted serial paedophile and former Catholic priest from Ballarat, Gerald Ridsdale gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by video link from prison. Ridsdale is 81 years of age, and one might have expected him to have some memory problems. It is Continue reading »
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Bruce Duncan. Pope Francis and the Abbott government
Current Affairs Pope Francis has repeatedly called for greater social and economic equity in the world, and reiterated the critique of neoliberal economics very strongly. Now he is about to issue an encyclical, the highest form of Church teaching, on the need to reduce carbon emissions and global warming. What will our pollies make of Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. It can’t get any worse.
Current Affairs. There’s a special irony in the Australian Catholic bishops’ recent statement “Don’t Mess with Marriage” which is a defence of the institution against proposals to recognise gay marriage. What are they defending? It’s not just the Catholic sacrament of marriage that is their focus of attention. They are worried about marriage as proposed Continue reading »
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Garry Everett. Who’s Messing with marriage?
Current Affairs A response to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Pastoral Letter entitled “Don’t Mess With Marriage”, May 2015. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issued this Pastoral Letter with three purposes in mind: to engage in the current debate about marriage equality; to present the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage; and to explain the position of Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan SJ. ‘Amplifying That Still Small Voice’. Book Launch.
‘Amplifying That Still Small Voice’ A collection of essays by Frank Brennan SJ Book Launch. Dates and times of the 2015 Book launches of Fr Frank Brennan’s latest book, ‘Amplifying That Still, Small Voice’: 1. Tuesday 2 June North Sydney Catholic Parish Hall, 7.30 pm. 2. Wednesday 3 June Hobart Town Hall, 6.15 pm. 3. Friday Continue reading »
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David M. Neuhaus SJ. The Holy See and the State of Palestine.
Current Affairs. Last week’s headlines about the Vatican’s recognition of ‘the State of Palestine’ don’t do justice to the rich and complex history of the Church’s commitment to the Holy Land, its people and places, says David Neuhaus SJ. He describes how the Holy See’s discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has developed over nearly 70 Continue reading »
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Peter Day. Grappling with same sex marriage
Current Affairs. Human sexuality is a complex and fragile thing – far greyer than black or white. It is best tended to by gentle, wise, and humble hands. There hasn’t been much gentleness or wisdom surrounding the same sex marriage debate. Like most issues of public importance, we tend to be led to the voices Continue reading »
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Peter Day. It’s hard being a Catholic today.
The gut-wrenching accounts coming out of Ballarat this past couple of weeks are enough to bring a man to his knees: stories of young people crippled by sexual abuse; stories of utter betrayal; stories we would rather not hear – stories we must hear. It is hard being a Catholic today. It is hard being Continue reading »
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Pope Francis and Raul Castro – The Jesuit Alumni.
Current Affairs “If you continue talking like this, sooner or later I will begin to pray again and return to the Catholic Church.” That’s what Raul Castro confessed to having said to Pope Francis during their May 10 private meeting at the Vatican. The comment underscored a dramatic rapprochement between the two men, which some Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell: The Problem with Bishop Finn
On 21 April 2015, the Vatican announced that Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas, Missouri, had resigned. The announcement referred to the Code of Canon Law that states that a bishop who “has become less able to fulfil his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan. ANZAC Centenary Homily.
ANZAC Centenary Homily Harvard Memorial Church 25 April 2015 Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO Homily This Memorial Church here at Harvard was dedicated on Armistice Day 1932 in memory of those who died in World War I. The inscription over the south entrance to the memorial room reads, ‘In grateful memory of the Harvard men Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell: The Seventh Pope to Require the Cover up of Child Sexual Abuse?
In 2010, Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would instruct bishops to report allegations of clergy sexual abuse of children where there was a local civil law requiring it. The terms of the dispensation were limited, so that if there were no reporting laws, the Continue reading »
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Patty Fawkner. Leading by flipping the omelette.
Pope Francis’ leadership differs markedly from that of his predecessors. He models two clear principles that our political leaders and, in fact all of us who lead in some capacity, would do well to emulate, writes Good Samaritan Sister Patty Fawkner*. “We’ve got to flip the omelette”, Pope Francis told a group of religious leaders Continue reading »
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Peter Day. He is Alive: the Spiritual ‘Big Bang’
I love science. It takes us to different places: places of pure logic, of non-emotion, of rational intelligence, of majesty and beauty – sometimes even to places beyond our wildest imaginations. Just think: 13.78 billion years ago our universe is thought to have begun as an infinitesimally small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense, something. After its Continue reading »
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Caroline Coggins. Holy Week: what is our invitation this year?
At the start of holy week we read of a woman who, uninvited, breaks into a gathering of men at table, drops to her knees to pour the most extravagant oil onto the feet of the man she loves, wiping the oil in with her hair! There is no shame or apology, even though those Continue reading »
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Peter Day. Mum and Dad, or Mum and Mum, or Dad and Dad?
Human sexuality is a complex and fragile thing – far greyer than black or white. It is best tended to by gentle, wise, and humble hands. Alas, there hasn’t been much gentleness or wisdom surrounding the same sex marriage debate, let alone same sex attraction in general. Witness the recent furore over an alleged homophobic Continue reading »
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Eric Hodgens. Can Pope Francis Turn the Church around?
The question needs to be asked because the Catholic Church is in trouble. Firstly, it has a . credibility problem. Affiliation has been dropping since the 60s. Sunday Mass attendance, the first indicator of affiliation, backs this up. The Church’s compelling message of Jesus as the icon of life defeating death is not getting through. Continue reading »
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Julia Davison. It takes a nation to raise a child.
The week after Australia Day each year, around 260,000 five-year old Australians start school. Of those, almost 60,000 children – 23 per cent – will start school developmentally vulnerable in some way. Children who start school behind often stay behind, and are likely to finish school with skills and competencies that have not equipped them Continue reading »
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Brian Johnstone. The execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
The deaths of these two men now appear to be inevitable. The key argument of President Joko Widodo is that this lethal means (death by firing squad) is justified for the purpose of saving his people from the addiction and death caused by drugs. The Indonesian government claims that, in that country, approximately 50 victims Continue reading »
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Peter Day. Life is sacred, but ….
The “other” is no longer a brother or sister to be loved, but simply someone who disturbs my life and my comfort … In this globalized world, we have fallen into globalized indifference. We have become used to the suffering of others: it doesn’t affect me; it doesn’t concern me; it’s none of my business! Continue reading »
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Peter Day. The Lucky Country
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross, We’ll toil with hearts and hands To make this Commonwealth of ours Renowned of all the lands. For those who’ve come across the seas, We’ve boundless plains to share. With courage let us all combine To advance Australia fair. (Our National Anthem, Verse 2) The nature of politics these Continue reading »
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Mercy, judgement, confession and reconciliation.
In the Australian Parliament debate concerning possible executions in Bali, Shadow Foreign Minister, Tanya Plibersek, spoke about the second chance that her husband had received. Her husband, Michael Coutts-Trotter, is now a senior NSW public servant. He had been a drug dealer in the early 1980s. Tany Plibersek commented ‘I imagine what would have happened Continue reading »
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David M Neuhaus SJ. The Future of Christians in the Middle East. Part 2.
Christian institutions and discourse In the Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI, ‘The Church in the Middle East,’ the Pope pointed to the preeminent role of the Christian institutions in the mission of the Christians in the Middle East. “For many years, the Catholic Church in the Middle East has carried out her mission through a Continue reading »
