Religion and Faith
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ROBERT MICKENS. Pope Francis begins the most important year of his pontificate.
When the history of Pope Francis’ time as Bishop of Rome is finally written, there is a good chance that the Year of Our Lord 2020 will be recorded as the most important of his entire pontificate. Some are wondering whether it may actually be his last. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Failed leadership. A repost from 17 September 2018
Good leadership is about facing the group up to the hard issues. Without clearly defining why and how we need to change and creating some disequilibrium there will be no worthwhile change. We have have had failed leadership on climate change. Continue reading »
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ROBERT MICKENS. Francis is dragging the Church, kicking and screaming, into… the 20th century. The pope’s reforms are seen as too modest by some, but too radical by others
“The Church is 200 years behind the times.” (“La Chiesa è rimasta indietro di 200 anni”.) Continue reading »
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JOHN HENRY NEWMAN.-A Sermon for Christmas Day
“THERE ARE two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival which we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy. Continue reading »
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JOHN HENRY NEWMAN -Christmas Lessons
John Henry Newman was an Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism and who became very influential in the Catholic Church in England. He was highly educated, but had a simplicity about him that attracted many people. Newman’s sermons in particular were very enlightening, geared at the common person, but steeped in spiritual insight. For Christmas Continue reading »
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NURADZIMMAH DAIM.- Dr Mahathir Poses Questions on Muslim World Issues (Malaysian New Straits Times 19.12.2019)
As the Kuala Lumpur Summit kicks off today, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad raises issues in the Muslim world, calling delegates to ponder on the root causes as they seek for solutions. Muslim nations are in a state of crisis. Continue reading »
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ALICE PRIEST. It’s beginning to look a lot unlike Christmas
How far can it go before the lack of Christmas look and Christmas feel actually indicates a total loss? How far can the sacred, intangible architecture stretch, be refashioned or reframed, before it no longer holds. Continue reading »
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SR PATTY FAWKNER SGS. The Feast for the Frayed and Fatigued
Christmas is the feast for the fatigued and the frayed, because God is with us in the actual reality, not the fairy tale version, of our lives. Continue reading »
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ERIC HODGENS.- Migration and the Christmas Story.
The Christmas story characters are mainly on the move – migrants in fact. Continue reading »
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J.A. DICK. Spirited Community
A very personal email about a friend’s faith journey. Continue reading »
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GILLIAN BOURAS. The light in John Henry Newman’s darkness
Whatever our creed, and wherever we are, in whatever circumstances, there are always times during which we need to be comforted and guided. Continue reading »
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J.A. DICK. Christmas 2019
The message of Christmas is our New Year’s challenge: to believe and to act on our beliefs. We believe that truth is stronger than fake political rhetoric and falsehood. Being a bully is destructive and demeaning. We are all our neighbours’ brothers and sisters, even when community harmony is difficult to achieve and maintain. Our Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. Religious freedom.
Just 10 days after the Sydney Morning Herald/Age revealed at the end of last month that the major religious groups had rejected the draft Religious Discrimination Act circulated for public comment by the Morrison Government, the Prime Minister made public a new draft, that will go a long way towards meeting their demands. Its purpose Continue reading »
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KIERAN TAPSELL. Pope Francis Abolishes the Pontifical Secret Over Child Sexual Abuse.
On 17 December 2019, Pope Francis abolished the pontifical secret over child sexual abuse by clergy. This was the first step in returning the Catholic Church to its 15 century old tradition, which it abandoned in 1917, of regarding child sexual abuse as a crime that needed to be punished by the State. Francis has Continue reading »
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KAMRAN CHAUDHRY. Asia Bibi’s freedom a victory for Pakistan’s religious minorities.
Although 2019 was a mixed year for Catholics in the Islamic republic, there were some encouraging signs. Continue reading »
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0SCAR ROMERO. Advent Readings from a Modern Martyr.
No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. Continue reading »
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GEORGE BROWNING. Peace on Earth, Good will towards all: Tale of Two Jerusalem Prizes
The holy city’s name focuses the universal longing for peace: the hope, indeed the expectation that diversity and difference do not need to issue in animosity, injustice and violence, but in mutuality, enrichment from the other’s difference. It is associated with blessing from Melchizedek the mysterious the King of Salem to Abraham, ancestor, founder and Continue reading »
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MARK EMERICK. Brisbane priest urges more help for West Papuans in exile following visit to PNG
A HIGH-level Australian Catholic delegation has met with former Manus Island asylum seekers and refugees now in Port Moresby, and heard shocking stories of their detention. “It was shameful to hear how our government has treated them on Manus Island and how some of them would feel safer in some totalitarian prison back home rather Continue reading »
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MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Back to basics for Pope at huge Tokyo Mass (UCA News 25-11-19)
Francis warns against the consumerism and isolation that wealthy societies can create Continue reading »
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SAINT JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN. Advent is upon us.
Why need they observe certain rites and ceremonies? Why need they watch, pray, fast, and meditate? Why is it not enough to be just, honest, sober, benevolent, and otherwise virtuous? Is not this the true and real worship of God? Is not activity in mind and conduct the most acceptable way of approaching Him? How Continue reading »
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ROSEMARY O’GRADY. The Pell Appeal Judgements: One Perspective.
In the majority judgement disallowing Cardinal George Pell’s appeal against criminal convictions, Chief Justice Ferguson and Appeal Court President Maxwell set-out the task that had faced the three appellate judges. Continue reading »
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BENZI GOPSTEIN: Burning Christian churches in Israel justified ( Palestine Post 19-11-19)
The rabbi said he is ready to spend 50 years in prison for burning a church. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. Liberal culture and revelation
Western humanism has religious and transcendent sources without which it is incomprehensible to itself. Jacques Maritain, Integral Humanism. Faith in revelation does not destroy the rationality of knowledge but rather permits it to develop more fully. Etienne Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. What is to become of us?
I used to think I was part of a religion founded by Jesus Christ. The older I’ve got and the more I’ve come to know Jesus, the more I’m convinced I got that wrong and have outgrown it. Not that pressure to keep up religious appearances is flagging. It is still alive and well. We Continue reading »
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ERIC HODGENS. Pastoral Planning – A Church Crisis.
Church Pastoral Planning languishes – ignored and unloved. Yet, with the church being in freefall, it is needed today more than ever. It’s time to bring it in from the cold. Continue reading »
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ALLAN PATIENCE. The ALP and the religious right in Australian politics
The religious right is casting a darkening cloud over Australia’s democracy. Continue reading »
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MASSIMO FAGGIOLI. Catholic synodality as a response to the crisis of democracy.
The global crisis of democracy is yet one more challenge for a Church fighting for social justice. Continue reading »
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J. A. DICK. Political Religion and the Prosperity Gospel
Re-reading a bit of political philosophy, I came across a 1939 quotation by the French philosopher Raymond Aron (1905-1983) who warned of ‘notre époque de religions politiques.’ If Aron were around today, he would have much to wrote about. Continue reading »
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GARRY WILLS. Changing the ‘Changeless’ Church. A view of John O’ Malley’s ‘When Bishops Meet: An Essay Comparing Trent, Vatican I , and Vatican II’
In John O’Malley’s When Bishops Meet—the latest of his five books on ecumenical church councils—he compares and contrasts what he has written on the three last councils and argues that there should be a new one. Continue reading »
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J.A. DICK. Faith Development or Stunted growth.
Thinking about some well-known public personalities who, despite their age, are still rather adolescent in their beliefs and behaviour, I went back to James Fowler’s understanding of faith development. Continue reading »
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