Wither Liturgical Reform & Renewal in 2009? Part 1 In this two-part commentary Dr Patrick Collins , who is a great apostle for the thinking of Thomas Merton, explores where the Church is heading in the area of liturgical renewal. Part 1 of the commentary looks at Merton's changing attitudes towards the liturgical reforms which were made at the Second Vatican Council and Dr Collins offers his own thoughts on where the present leadership seem to be now heading in this realm. In the second part, which we will publish tomorrow, Dr Collins, puts forward proposals which might form the basis for a way forward again at some point in the future when the present "reform of the reform" has driven everybody out of the pews except the remnant. [more]

Questioning the direction in which our leaders are taking us... One of the things that seems to characterise the community that has gathered here at Catholica is a collective memory of a time when there was excitement within Catholicism. We were fired up following the Second Vatican Council — re-invigorated and anxious to get out and share our excitement about what Jesus and our institution had to offer the world. That excitement and hope seems to have been dissipated by a leadership that is timid and trying to pacify only the insecure and those who see their faith as some security blanket of certitudes. Our present leader, Pope Benedict, speaks of a "smaller, purer Church". Today Dr Andrew Kania questions both the leadership and ourselves as to where we are going. Are we a Church trying to perpetually prove we are the only one's with access to Truth or should we see ourselves as the institution leading and encouraging the world in unearthing what the ultimate truths are? This is a powerful commentary coming from a writer often perceived to have a more conservative disposition. [more]

Tom's Apologia #1 A big topic over the coming year is going to be the subject of priesthood. Pope Benedict in part acknowledges this in calling for a Year of the Priest to try and rescue the tarnished image of priesthood. Others though are suggesting it is not time for any more pr exercises but for a frank re-examination of the entire notion of priesthood and what role the priest plays in modern society. Tom McMahon is one of them. Today he begins a new series. [more]

National E-Conference on St Paul... A quick email to remind you of the National Online Conference being conducted by the Broken Bay Institute today. I've been following the sessions and think they are superb — both as to their content (at least for a mature audience — not sure that this is enough to distract from all the infatuation and distraction that the death of Michael Jackson is causing in the world at the moment amongst young people though) and also as an innovative way to get "the Word" out there. [more]

18.2: Consolidation of Church and State! The history of Christianity is so fascinating — a struggle between the ambitions of humans and what we believe to be the guidance of the Divine. In this second and final part of Tom Lee's Chapter 18 we look further into the legacy of Constantine. It recounts the final severing of our links with our Jewish spiritual ancestors and Jerusalem. From now on the Jews would be excoriated in Christianity and we're still sorting that out in our own day. [more]

What's it all about, Alfie? (Mk 1057) A paragraph from a book by a married priest, a commentary from a Christian Brother, and a letter from a Marist Brother have provided the triggers for this Sunday Forum. In slightly different ways all three sources are reflections on this big question of "what's IT all about?" The 'IT' meaning 'my life' or 'our lives'. [more]

A Good News Commentary... Catholica editor, Brian Coyne, today provides an introduction to two exciting adult faith learning experiences being promoted by the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn and the Diocese of Broken Bay. One of the initiatives — a National On-Line Conference for the Year of St Paul — takes place this coming Tuesday, and he proposes we follow this conference and conduct our own online forum in parallel with the many meetings in physical space that will be conducted around the nation at the same time. [more]

Absolute Truth... In lieu of a lead commentary today, we draw attention to a review of the television series, Absolute Truth, which PeterR dug up from The Tablet and published in the forum. [more]

"Freedom, ideology and the Catholic Church" Amidst the gathering frenzy by some leaders, and some lay groups, within the Catholic Church to turn back the clock and re-establish a pre-Vatican II mindset on the institution, here is a timely and rigorously argued commentary by Dr Graham English. The issue he puts under the microscope is our changing understanding of the meaning of "religious freedom". He argues that the Second Vatican Council brought about far reaching changes in how we ought to understand and interpret this term. His commentary is effectively a strong argument as to why we need to collectively defend this advance in thinking that the Council introduced. Originally published: 04 Jul 2008 [more]