Religion and Faith
-
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 »
-
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 »
-
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 »
-
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 »
-
Frank Brennan SJ. The Promoted Pell and the Sacked Morris: Two Catholic Bishops emerging from the Royal Commission
This week the royal commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has published three reports relating to the Catholic Church. Understandably the media has focused on the appropriately damning findings made by the royal commission against Cardinal Pell in his ruthless conduct of the Ellis case. Having found that the Archdiocese of Sydney fundamentally Continue reading »
-
David Neuhaus SJ. The future of Christians in the Middle East. Part 1.
Christians in the Middle East must be a voice for justice, peace, pardon, reconciliation and selfless love. The fear that dominates the experience of many Christian communities can only be overcome by understanding, dialogue and faith, all of which are necessary to maintain the Christian presence in the Middle East. In one of his pastoral Continue reading »
-
Rosemary Breen- Living water in Myanmar
I listened to Rosemary Breen from Inverell speak at my local church about the work she is doing in Myanmar to help poor villagers get access to clean water. She was inspiring and challenging. We all know that polluted water is a cause of dysentery, diarrhoea, infant mortality and early deaths across all age groups. Continue reading »
-
Brian Johnstone. The Right to Freedom of Speech
During his flights to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, Pope Francis spoke of the massacre of the staff of a French magazine Charlie Hebdo and others at a kosher supermarket, which killed 17 persons. The attack was in reprisal for satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad. “One cannot make war [or] kill in the name Continue reading »
-
Clive Kessler. A rage against history.
The Ottawa parliament, Café Lindt, Charlie Hebdo and so many others too: these are all separate incidents. But they are all part of the same global phenomenon. They are all expressions of a rage against history that lurks within modern Islam and animates Muslim militants worldwide today. It is a rage that has its source Continue reading »
-
Brian Johnstone. The right to freedom of speech.
The recent murders perpetrated in France have been rightly condemned by all people who take seriously morality and human rights. However, the accompanying discussion of the right to freedom of speech has reflected different points of view. For some the right to freedom of speech means the claim to be free to say whatever Continue reading »
-
Chris Clohessy. Bad reading leads to destructive religion.
The recent terror attacks in France have highlighted a number of issues, all needing further discussion. One is the reality that it took an attack on European soil to provoke such a reaction – 1.6 million people marching in Paris, led by forty or more world leaders. But militant groups, under Islamic guise, have been slaughtering people for Continue reading »
-
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 Continue reading »
-
Allan Patience. Liberty or Narcissism?
On the Need for a Wider Debate about Charlie Hebdo No one can justify the recent brutal murders of the French journalists and police in Paris. However, the belief that this act constitutes an attack on free speech and freedom of the press is in grave danger of being over-stated. What is missing in Continue reading »
-
Brian Johnstone. Terrorism and torture – the Catholic tradition.
In Australia today, we accept that a person who has expressed ideas that justify terrorism may be restrained from acting out those ideas. But we would not justify torturing a person suspected of harbouring such notions to force him to reveal them or to reject such ideas. However, surveys in the Western world find that Continue reading »
-
John Tulloh. The flight of Christians from the Middle East.
If there is one region which Christians increasingly want to abandon, it is the biblical heartland of their faith: the Middle East. They are fleeing in greater numbers than ever before. They are fearful of the growing turmoil in places like Syria and Iraq, the spread of radical Islam and, of course, now the presence Continue reading »
-
Michael Kelly SJ. Pope Francis and the Curia.
The tongues are certainly waging worldwide over the Christmas message of Pope Francis to staff at the Vatican – the priests, monsignors, bishops and cardinals gathered for an end of year assessment by the pope of the year that has passed. A few perfunctory words to round out a very busy year or a general Continue reading »
-
John Tulloh. The season of ill will for Bethlehem’s Christians.
Christians in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, must be wondering about the traditional Christmas message of ‘good will to men’ (men meaning people). They face a bleak future. Christians are fleeing in their thousands for a better life in other lands free of an occupation force, endless security checks and territorial disputes. Those who remain Continue reading »
-
Jesus and the modern man.
James Carroll has been writing about religion for over 40 years. In this beautiful piece in the International New York Times of November 7 this year, he describes how he still keeps going to Mass despite his many doubts. See link below. John Menadue. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/can-i-stay-with-the-church.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone Continue reading »
-
Pope Francis sharply criticises Vatican bureaucracy.
In his pre-Christmas address to Cardinals, Pope Francis referred to a Curia that is outdated, sclerotic or indifferent to others. He said that the Curia, the administrative pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church was suffering from fifteen ailments which he wanted cured in the new year. See link below for Pope Francis’ comments to the Continue reading »
-
Kieran Tapsell. Two reports from the Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse published two reports on 19 December 2014. The first related to Case No. 11 dealing with four institutions run by the Christian Brothers Congregation in Western Australia from the 1920s until the 1980s for wards of the State, child migrants and children sent there privately. Continue reading »
-
Caroline Coggins, Pausing in Advent.
I was on retreat recently in Hong Kong and there was a very small pool with eight turtles in it. It took me some days to notice; you have to slow down to see them. Their water was muddy, there was certainly no vista here, just the close company they kept with each other, and Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. What does it mean?
We have all been moved by the outpouring of grief and emotion by the deaths in Martin Place, the school children killed in Peshawar and eight children murdered in Cairns. The flood of floral tributes has been remarkable. We saw it only a few days earlier with the untimely death of Phillip Hughes. There was Continue reading »
-
Eric Hodgens. Phillip Hughes – A Christmas Story.
The Phillip Hughes story gripped a nation. So much potential felled in an instant. Grief amplified by promise and love lost. Phillip was a Little Aussie Battler like us. But what promise! Looming all the larger because it is gone. Pup becomes a tower of strength. We see him in a new light. Rival teams Continue reading »
-
Is religion the cause of war and violence in the Middle East and elsewhere?
We are consistently seeing the ghastly side of Islam with public beheadings but we also need to keep in mind the ghastly side of Christianity which was so evidence during the Crusades. Many conclude that religion, now and in the past, is the cause of so much violence. Karen Armstrong has just written ‘Fields of Continue reading »
-
Brian Johnstone. How to Respond to Terrorism?
How can we make sense of the contemporary situation of increasing violence? Some groups engage in terrorism against other groups and these engage in torture as a means of defeating the terrorism of the others? In liberal states torture is condemned as immoral; some seek to prohibit it by law, others defend it as a Continue reading »
-
Kerry Murphy. Intra-religious conflict.
Most violent deaths of Muslims in the world are due to others claiming to be Muslims. The conflicts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are all predominantly conflicts within the Islamic community. This is strongly felt within the communities but not usually reported in the mainstream media. This week in Peshawar in north western Pakistan, Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Normalising Crime.
I was astounded when I read what Archbishop Antony Fisher told The Australian last week. The report said ‘Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric has proclaimed that families are more likely than priests to abuse children and rejected a church report that linked celibacy to sexual abuse. Archbishop of Sydney Antony Fisher said that celibacy could Continue reading »
-
Eric Hodgens. Celibacy – Icon of Clericalism.
The Catholic Church October synod was surprisingly successful. Unlike previous synods the discussion was open. The focus was pastoral rather than legal. Questions like Communion for divorcees, living together without being married, homosexual relationships, contraception are now on the table. The objective is to seek solutions to complications rather than repeat the rules that most Continue reading »
-
Truth, Justice and Healing Council’s challenge of celibacy falls on deaf ears.
In an article on December 16 in the SMH online, former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally said that the report of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council offered Catholics a wake-up call. She said that many in the Vatican are still asleep. She added ‘I can’t decide whether to scream or cry when I hear a Continue reading »
-
Tony Doherty. Remaining balanced in times of tragedy and turmoil.
Our ability to hang on to sanity and some sense of equilibrium this week has been sorely tested. In the face of scarcely imaginable acts of violence – right in the city’s heart, Martin Place, the balance of our emotional lives could be endangered. The press sifts through the many and various reactions – casual Continue reading »