009 :
30 Apr 2012

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson on the crisis facing Catholicism… You can bet your bottom dollar a lot of rosaries around the world are going to be offered up for Bishop Geoffrey Robinson after some hear the views he expresses in this extended conversation recorded on 8th March 2012 by Dr Ingrid Shafer but only published on YouTube on the weekend of 28-29 Apr 2012. This is one of the frankest interviews yet and this bishop covers much of the ground that many people would like to see openly discussed within their church and free from the threats imposed by the Temple Police elements who believe they alone are the spokespeople for the mind of Almighty God. This is probably the closest many Catholics might ever come to of having a bishop sitting in their own loungeroom answering their questions honestly and openly and without looking over his shoulder to see if he might get into trouble for saying the wrong thing about anything. This is a bishop "speaking from the heart" — "cor ad cor loquitor" as Cardinal Newman used as his motto: "heart speaking to heart"! [more]

074 :
29 Apr 2012

Daring to be Truly Catholic... Today's refection from John Chuchman sits well with this Sunday's readings which we have been discussion on the Catholica Forum HERE. What defines "authentic Catholicism" today? How do we find what John labels as "personal authenticity" or what the editor has labeled as "personal integrity" in the forum discussion? [more]

224 :
29 Apr 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief XI We're back on track in our magic carpet ride with Tom McMahon today. However he's decided to fly-over the Trevi Fountain in Roma and head straight to Istanbul or Constantinople on the track of where we Christians came up with the difficult notion of a Trinitarian God. [more]

2092 :
28 Apr 2012

The real "Divine Miracle"... Alexander Tsiaras in this TED Talk presents a stunning video on human life from conception to birth using the newest x-ray scanning technology that won its two inventors the Nobel Peace Prize. Why do people work themselves up over weeping statues when they themselves are "the miracle"? 9m38s [more]

045 :
26 Apr 2012

The great ethical challenge facing society... Many readers of Catholica would be aware of the current enquiries, court actions and police, parliamentary and judicial investigations underway around the world at the moment into media ethics, control of the media, and related issues. One of the most significant of these is the Leveson Inquiry underway at the moment in London. In particular, yesterday the world's present most powerful media baron was in the witness box at the enquiry for nearly four hours and he is to continue his evidence today (tonight Sydney time). These various enquiries are hugely significant for society as the formal name of the Leveson Inquiry might suggest: "The Leveson Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press". Today's editorial examines some of the background concerns in society that have led to this spate of investigations presently underway in various parts of the world. [more]

223 :
25 Apr 2012

What comes after Christianity? The seeming disjointedness of Tom McMahon's magic carpet ride last Sunday in his mini-commentary [LINK] suddenly jumping to the site of the Titanic's sinking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is explained by this commentary that went missing from the previous Wednesday when Tom seemed to go AWOL. He was in fact back in San Jose attending a lecture by a Professor Thomas Sheehan entitled "What Comes After Christianity?". Tom McMahon took some notes during the lectures and shares them with us today. This will give you new perspectives on how Jesus thought of himself. [more]

110 :
23 Apr 2012

A book about two conflicting views of lay action in the world... Serendipitously arriving in my mail box last Friday was a new book book from Garratt Publishing recounting another side of the influence of prominent layman, Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria, on the Catholic landscape of Australia. This time the rural landscape of this nation and his attempts through the National Catholic Rural Movement (NCRM) to build some kind of agrarian, small plot utopia in this land. In his essay commentary last week Dr Graham English mentioned, almost in passing, Santamaria's attempts to give life to a vision of almost peasant agriculture. It was one of Bob Santamaria's significant defeats and in this new book, Kevin Peoples, who was for a brief time enamoured of the vision, has gone to primary sources to document the history. As indicated in our recent concentration on the book of Dr Anne O'Brien, which also has a significant focus on the endeavours of Mr Santamaria and his various organisations, this is not just ancient history. Some of the bishops who were infatuated with the Santamaria vision and style now control the Catholic institutional agenda in this country and many are asking today to what sort of final destination they are leading the Church: to some resurgence or to a denouement like the almost now forgotten Democratic Labor Party, or initiatives like the NCRM? ...Brian Coyne, editor [more]

2086 :
22 Apr 2012

A music clip about love... Instead of a reflection from John Chuchman today we draw to your attention to a video music clip Stephen has just posted on our forum. It's a song, "Do You Believe in Love?" by Ryan Adams. The lyrics of the song would go well with the sentiments often expressed in John Chuchman's reflections. [Watch the music clip]

222 :
22 Apr 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief X Tom McMahon went AWOL during the week and it seems he returned from Roma where his last mini-commentary was based for a brief sojourn back home in San Jose, California. Today we find him on his magic carpet flying back to the Trevi Fountain in Rome but overflying the wreck of the Titanic which has been so much in the news in recent days because of the centenary of her sinking. Tom asks us to ponder the unfairness of life. Why does God allow it? [more]

008 :
21 Apr 2012

Catholic Education in Australia: its history & its future Part III In the conclusion to this essay we've been publishing over the last three days, Dr Graham English takes us to the crux of Dr Anne O'Brien's thesis in her study of the development of the modern Catholic Education system in Australia. He names the heroes who helped build the system and the villains who nearly prevented its emergence. Ironically those who nearly wrecked the system have today gained the ascendancy and control of the institutional agenda in this nation and the future is still unclear. Dr English ponders if the present leaders are continuing to blaze a trail or marching into folly? [more]

007 :
20 Apr 2012

Catholic Education in Australia: its history & its future Part II In his commentary today Dr Graham English shares some of his perspectives seen from North of the Murray River that divides New South Wales from Victoria. He explores some of the differences in outlook between the culture of Catholicism in NSW and Victoria and the different approaches taken by Bishops in the two States. It is perhaps ironic, given all the circumstances, that it was the partnership of a NSW Archbishop, in James Carroll, and a Victoria priest, in Frank Martin, that was largely responsible for the structure that eventually emerged firmly rooted in the forward-thinking, outwardly-oriented, spirit of the Second Vatican Council that was still ascendant at that time albeit even then under challenge by minority elements within the lay Church and the Bishops. [more]

006 :
19 Apr 2012

Catholic Education in Australia: its history & its future INTRODUCTION: I was invited by the editor of Catholica to review Anne O'Brien's Blazing a Trail: Catholic education in Victoria 1963-1980. It is a relatively old book having been published by David Lovell in 1999 but I agreed because it is a fine piece of work that anyone seriously interested in the history of Catholic education in Australia especially since World War II needs to have read. Anyone doing research in the area will also need to take seriously what O'Brien recounts and what she thinks it all means. It is about Victoria but what happened there affected what happened everywhere else in Australia. Much of the history of the Church in Australia since the 1960s had its beginnings in the splits, the politics, the power plays and the machinations of the people who were managing, encouraging or resisting change in the immediate post Vatican II Church in Victoria. So I am writing a review essay rather than just a review. The years since it came out mean that I can comment with a wider perspective and I can ask if time has thrown a different light on some of her conclusions. I can also see it as part of a wider theme, something she hints at all through the book but which was not her thesis at the time and so remains a sub-text. …Dr Graham English [more]

2082:
18 Apr 2012

Coming up on Catholica... Beginning tomorrow we will be publishing possibly one of the most insightful commentaries we have yet published on Catholica. In 1996 Cardinal Pio Laghi, who was then head of Catholic Education in the world, said the Australian Catholic Education system was the jewel in the crown of Catholic Education in the world. He was referring to how well resourced it was and the quality and size of its professional workforce. Because of fights at the time between two different factions in the bishops and the lay church it is almost a miracle that that system ever actually came into being. Starting tomorrow we will publish a 5,000+ word essay by Dr Graham English which provides further insights into the struggle to establish the modern Catholic Education system in Australia. Part review of Dr Anne O'Brien's scholarly history of the struggle — which was written from a Victorian perspective — Dr English also adds a NSW perspective to the story and from his own long involvement in Catholic Education firstly within the Christian Brothers, later in the Sydney Catholic Education Office and later still as a long time lecturer at the Australian Catholic University training the Catholic teachers of the future. This story is not some study of ancient history. It's very much about "now" also. And from two different perspectives: (i) Education generally is under review in this country from two high level Federal Government reviews: the Gonski Review (recently published) which will have a huge bearing on the future of primary and secondary education; and the still-to-be-published Bradley Review which will chart the future for tertiary education. (ii) The faction amongst the bishops that nearly torpedoed the modern Catholic Education system have had a resurrection and they are now largely in control of the entire agenda for Catholicism across this wide brown land. What are the implications of that for the future of Catholic Education, and for the future of Catholicism in this country? What are the implications of this for Catholicism elsewhere in the world? It could legitimately be claimed that just as the Australian economy presently leads the world, the Church in this country also once led the world in the Catholic Education system it established in this country firmly rooted in the values encouraged by the Second Vatican Council. [today's email] | [the conversation in our forum]

2081 :
17 Apr 2012

Breaking News: Church to face Government enquiry... There is no lead commentary today as I suggested yesterday but Dr Don Fausel's commentary is generating plenty of discussion in our forum (See link below). The big news out of Australia at the moment is that in the last 30 minutes the State Government in Victoria has announced a high level enquiry into the Catholic Church and the abuse scandal. Full details are still emerging. This enquiry could have international implications. If it turns out to be a Royal Commission this is on the scale of a Grand Jury Investigation in the United States and perhaps with even more serious legal force and implication. We are still awaiting to see the terms of the enquiry. The Age Newspaper reported just 20 minutes ago that the Government was calling a media conference at 1.15pm local time to announce the enquiry. There'll be further updates in our forum throughout the day. [Discussion on the Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry in Abuse in Religious Institutions] | [Discussion on Dr Don Fausel's commentary "Should We Stay or Leave?"]

003 :
16 Apr 2012

My Church Right or Wrong? This is the third in a series of three commentaries by Professor Don Fausel in which he continues to explore the theme of his book "From Blind Obedience to Responsible Faith". Many today seem to ask "Should I stay or leave?". Don Fausel appears to have no inclination to want to consider himself something other than Catholic. But to truly "follow Jesus" what, precisely does that mean today? This professor's advice in the end is "Keep the Faith but Challenge the Beliefs!" This is a lengthy commentary with many links to other resources that might merit extended reflection and discussion. [more]

073 :
15 Apr 2012

Is God more present in us or in the Eucharist? John Chuchman wrote very little of his reflection today. In fact all he wrote was the question: "How did we come to believe and/or behave as though God is more present in the bread and wine than in each and every one of us?". The rest of the reflection are the responses he received from his readers. [more]

221 :
15 Apr 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief IX Tom McMahon takes us to Roma today. It's a city with much to tell us about the origins of religion, mythology and humankind's evolving understanding of the Divine. [more]

109 :
14 Apr 2012

Are you a believer or a doubter? Today's commentary is prompted by tomorrow's Gospel reading — the story of Doubting Thomas. Catholica Editor, Brian Coyne, chose Thomas as his confirmation name at the age of 11 or 12 because the story of Doubting Thomas had some impact on him. Today he still wonders if he is more doubter or believer and tries to fathom through his position today via this commentary. Where do you sit on the spectrum between doubt and belief? [more]

2077 :
13 Apr 2012

The conversation is bubbling along... It's not because it's Friday the 13th today that we're taking a break from doing the layout for a lead commentary but because we have a host of administrative stuff to catch up on. Even without a lead commentary though there is plenty to catch up on on our forum. The conversations are running hot at the moment and that reflects that latest stats we've just been looking at: Since the beginning of the year the Unique Visitors figure is up 9.43% on the same period (to 12 April) last year. The Number of Visits to our website since the beginning of the year is up 17.63%. For the first 12 days of April the Unique Visitors figure is up a staggering 39.7% and the Number of Visits is up 32.2% compared to the first 12 days of April last year. [See further comment in today's email]

008 :
12 Apr 2012

Making Sense of Sin and Suffering Today we welcome back as lead commentator the ever-cheerful person of Emmy Silvius. And she puts before us some tough theological questions surrounding the difficult questions of why sin and suffering exist in our world. This is thought-provoking territory and especially so when viewed through the perspective Emmy brings. This dame always brings interesting and unexpected thoughts to her essays. [more]

220 :
11 Apr 2012

It's a wonderful world... A bit of a break today as Tom McMahon gives us a shorter and very homely reflection in keeping with the Easter season. We all needs hugs in our lives and perhaps that is the chief lesson from this reflection. [more]

016 :
10 Apr 2012

Creative Spirituality for the 21st Century... There is much talk that although people have given up on institutionalised religion they are still seeking a spirituality to live by. Creation Spirituality might be the answer. In this essay, Vince Exley uses excerpts from various sources to explain how a spirituality and way of thinking, based on the creativity of the Universe, offers a spirituality that is totally free of superstition. Vince argues: "Moreover this spirituality, based on understanding the powers of creativity in the universe has become an absolute need for all to follow if the earth is to survive the 21st Century." [more]

016 :
09 Apr 2012

An Open Letter to Pope Benedict... Professor Leonard Swidler was a former teaching colleague with Pope Benedict at the University of Tubingen. Professor Swidler, like many people today who were excited and energized by the Second Vatican Council, has become increasingly disturbed in recent times by the endeavours to turn back the insights and reforms of that Council. Headlines over Easter generated by Pope Benedict have driven Dr Swidler to address this open letter to his former colleague. [more]

072 :
08 Apr 2012

Do This... I went searching this morning for a commentary from John Chuchman that might somehow be connected to the Easter Message. I found one entitled "Do This..." from his book "Spirituality & Spiritual Growth beyond Hierarchical Church" and started doing the layout but then we had discovered we had already published it on 14th November 2010. If I had forgotten we'd run this before chances are many of you have also. It's worth a second look... [BMC, Editor] [more]

219 :
08 Apr 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief VIII In his mini-commentary today, Tom McMahon remains in Ancient Greece, today at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi pondering what contributions the Greeks made to our pictures and ideas about divinity and the roles of the gods in human affairs. We see where symbols and ideas from this ancient time are embedded in modern life and thought today. [more]

2069 :
06 Apr 2012

Good Friday Reflections 2012... On this, the most solemn day in the Christian liturgical calendar, we invite you to pause a while and reflect on the meaning we are invited to take from the injustice connected with the arrest, trial, humiliation, punishment and crucifixion inflicted on the One we worship as the Son and Emissary of the Trinitarian God. To assist in your reflection we republish a number of audio visual reflections from YouTube which we originally published in 2009 and also a hugely popular thread on our forum from that year reflecting on the meaning of this day and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. You might care to further contribute to the active reflection we started on the Catholica Forum back in 2009. The audio-visual reflections can be found at the link at the end of this introduction and you will find the reflection members of the Catholica Community have been building on our forum HERE. [more]

218 :
05 Apr 2012

An increasingly marooned and isolated priesthood: Part 3... Here again is Tom McMahon's own introduction to this series: "This commentary is born of sources of information that I have experienced within the past week. I will combine five ideas as a continuation of the past commentaries on two forms of priesthood, Jesus servant type and 1500's liturgical Council of Trent sacramental priest. These new/old themes constitute a cultural revolution that never took place. In this series we will look at Fr. Bill Lenane's recent funeral; a review of Irish priest Eamonn Fitzgibbon's PAINTED INTO A CORNER, found in the October 2011 edition of The Furrow [LINK]; my reflection on Dr. John N Collins' THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – THE FUTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD [LINK]; spotty re-reading of Hoge and Schoenher's text books; and a re-read of the Document on Priesthood from Vatican Two. All five are high energy considerations. All five co-mingle and will be worked into this forthcoming series. I intend to circulate these commentaries among local Roman clergy and peers of my seminary and priestly days, hoping for feedback." [more]

044 :
04 Apr 2012

Not a "Crisis in Faith": a "Crisis in Leadership": It is our pleasure today to bring you a comprehensive update to, The Wilkinson Report, examining the serious crisis the Catholic Church is facing in Australia in providing the sacraments and pastoral care to its core constituency of baptised Catholics. We present both the update in full, an overview and summary directly on this page, as well as our own editorial comment on what we believe needs to happen if the crisis in Australian Catholicism is to be addressed effectively. In our editorial we argue: "We do not have a "crisis of faith" in the Australian Catholic Church. We certainly have a profound "crisis in leadership". Even our bishops themselves have become divided. The Holy See, and we ourselves, need to embark on a "job search" to find a leader who is truly embraced by ALL of the baptised — one who can re-unite all the bishops and priests, and the baptized at large. A man who can re-articulate the vision of Jesus Christ so that it truly does bring joy and hope into the lives of all not just the self-electing few." [more]

043 :
03 Apr 2012

12 Suggestions to solve the Catholic Church's problems... Today on Catholica we publish a lecture Bishop Robinson gave in Australia at the ACARP Conference in November 2010 in which he outlines 12 elements that he believes need to be addressed to finally clean up the scandal caused by the Clerical Abuse Crisis. At the time of the Conference we did publish his twelve points in summary form and one small video clip where he explained point nine in full. Today on Catholica we'd like to adopt his arguments as our own editorial commentary arguing that what Bishop Robinson advances in these twelve points might go not only a long way to solving the clerical abuse crisis but, if adopted, the suggestions he makes might go a long, long way to addressing the entire crisis in credibibility the institution finds itself in today. We re-publish here the textual summary we previously provided but, for the first time, in this 26 minute video you can hear his arguments on all 12 points presented in full. Bishop Robinson's 12 points that might go a long way to solving many of the institution's problems... [more]

2066 :
02 Apr 2012

Were the miracles in the bible true? In lieu of our own lead commentary we recommend a radio conversation with Professor Robert Crotty which is available to listen online. Here's the short intro from the ABC radio website: "Robert Crotty joined a monastic order when he was 17, but left the priesthood after a stint in Jerusalem changed his mind about the Bible. Professor Robert Crotty was brought up in the Catholic church and his imagination was inflamed by the stories of miracles and visions in the Bible. But as he began to look back into where the books of the Bible actually came from, Robert questioned what was true, and what was a beautiful fiction. He was charged with heresy by the Catholic Church, and although he was acquitted he decided to leave the priesthood. Robert is now the Director of the South Australian Ethics Centre." [more]

071 :
01 Apr 2012

Competing Voices... John Chuchman today gives voice to a common concern one hears expressed in communities where people feel increasingly disenfranchised from their church or faith community: should we speak up or remain silent; should we stay or leave? It's a good discussion point. What thoughts do you have? [more]

217 :
01 Apr 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief VII In his mini-commentary today, Tom McMahon remains in Ancient Greece pondering what contributions the Greeks made to our pictures and ideas about divinity and the roles of the gods in human affairs. In so many ways the gods seem to be expressions of our human emotions: the idealised "perfect" human and the angry, vengeful, jealous or negative side of our psychology. [more]

005 :
31 Mar 2012

Can Catholic Education stem the drift out of the pews on Sunday? Dr Anne O'Brien was employed in a fascinating position from which to observe the momentous changes that occurred in Catholic Education in Australia beginning in the 1960s when huge sums of taxpayer funds became available to the Church and Catholic parents for the education of their children. At the time she was executive officer to the director of Catholic Education in Victoria, Fr Frank Martin — a man who also sat on the Federal Government's Schools Commission and who played a momentous part in helping frame the architecture of the modern Catholic Education system which a former international head of Catholic Education, Cardinal Pio Laghi, once described as one of the "jewels in the crown" of Catholic Education in the world. She earned her doctorate writing a thesis on the history of the building of the modern Catholic Education system in Victoria and this was subsequently published as a book by David Lovell Publishing in 1999. Until now Dr O'Brien's work has not received significant discussion outside of specialist circles. Today it is our pleasure to re-publish, with the permission of Dr O'Brien, the Epilogue to her book. Titled "Looking Back, Looking Forward", this essay summarizes some of the conflicts that were encountered in building the system and the challenges Catholic education continues to face in the future. While the principal focus of her book was developments in Victoria, much of what she investigates in her book has implications for the whole of Australia and more so since the elevation to Sydney of Cardinal George Pell who today exerts probably as much, or more, influence on shaping Catholic Education in this nation as any of the players did who were influential in the 1960s and 70s. We have added to Dr O'Brien's essay more up-to-date statistical information, and links, that fill out some of the trends since she wrote this essay over a decade ago. …Brian Coyne, Editor [more]

002 :
30 Mar 2012

Humanae Vitae: The Turning Point for the Catholic Church... This is the second of three commentaries by Dr Don Fausel which explores different aspects of the issue of artificial birth control in light of the current controversy in the United States between the Obama administration and the Bishops of the United States. In this second commentary, Don focuses on the the history of the decision taken in the Catholic Church to ban artificial contraception. Is the real issue about sex and contraception or is it about Papal Authority, Infallibility, and the inability of hierarchs to admit when they are wrong? [more]

006 :
29 Mar 2012

Contraception and the Vatican and US Politics... The contraception issue has been front page news again around the world because of developments in the United States caused by government policy and some of the jockeying for position in the Republican primaries. Today and tomorrow we will publish two contrasting essays on the issue. This first essay from Edgar Davie was in fact partly sparked by a commentary we published a few weeks ago by Dr Don Fausel and we will be publishing a follow-up commentary by Don tomorrow. Edgar Davie meanwhile, argues that to unravel the mess over contraception we need to go back to where this started in about the fourth century and even before that to the practices and beliefs of the first Christians regarding sex and the sexual act. [more]

216 :
28 Mar 2012

An increasingly marooned and isolated priesthood: Part 2... Here again is Tom McMahon's own introduction to this series: "This commentary is born of sources of information that I have experienced within the past week. I will combine five ideas as a continuation of the past commentaries on two forms of priesthood, Jesus servant type and 1500's liturgical Council of Trent sacramental priest. These new/old themes constitute a cultural revolution that never took place. In this series we will look at Fr. Bill Lenane's recent funeral; a review of Irish priest Eamonn Fitzgibbon's PAINTED INTO A CORNER, found in the October 2011 edition of The Furrow [LINK]; my reflection on Dr. John N Collins' THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – THE FUTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD [LINK]; spotty re-reading of Hoge and Schoenher's text books; and a re-read of the Document on Priesthood from Vatican Two. All five are high energy considerations. All five co-mingle and will be worked into this forthcoming series. I intend to circulate these commentaries among local Roman clergy and peers of my seminary and priestly days, hoping for feedback." [more]

055 :
27 Mar 2012

"The Church in Canterbury Tales: Is it a metaphor for today?" Part 2 Fr Daniel Donovan concludes today: "Corruption had besmirched the Church and the failure to embrace a program of reform and renewal resulted in the Protestant Reformation in the Sixteenth Century and the division of Western Christianity. The Church today is no longer European and it risks further reformations while so ever it seeks to employ past strategies which failed then and will most certainly fail again in the new Millennium. Chaucer's Tales testify to the fact that the Church throughout history has become enmeshed in political struggles and sought out the powerful and wealthy rather than defending the 'anawim of Yahweh — the powerless and poor'". [more]

054 :
26 Mar 2012

"The Church in Canterbury Tales: Is it a metaphor for today?" Part 1" Fr Daniel Donovan has been investigating the history of the Church at the time of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and finds some parallels to the crisis the institution is facing today. In this two-part commentary he also draws on the insights of Phyllis Tickle the acclaimed American religious writer who argues that Christianity has a giant rummage sale every 500 years and we're in one of those periods now. Part 2 of this commentary will follow tomorrow. [more]

070 :
25 Mar 2012

In Each and Every Moment, the Unknown... John Chuchman's... reflection today is about the need to be constantly aware of the limitations of our own points of view. Left unchecked, our personal projections based on the accumulation of all our past experiences, instead of simply being useful become rigid, blocking us from learning what is available to learn in the Now. [more]

215 :
25 Mar 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief VI In this mini-commentary today, Tom McMahon takes us on his virtual magic carpet ride to the Temples of the Acropolis in Ancient Greece. What part did they play in the evolution of religion? [more]

2057 :
24 Mar 2012

An extended conversation about religious meaning... See today's email for an extended introduction to the present main topic of conversation on Catholica. [Saturday's email]

015 :
23 Mar 2012

Religion and Meaning Part 2... The daily visitor stats to Catholica in recent days have been bumping up around the highest they have ever been since we began publishing. The current conversation triggered by the series of articles in the New Scientist magazine and Grahame English's commentary yesterday can no doubt take some credit for that. In today's commentary Dr English offers some thoughts as to why Catholicism has begun to lose traction in retaining the loyalty of its core constituency in more recent decades. [more]

014 :
22 Mar 2012

Religion and Meaning... Again with an enormous amount of serendipity or God-incidence we bring you part 1 of a fascinating commentary by Dr Graham English that blends like good harmony in music with other discussions and news breaking elsewhere on Catholica. This commentary is an exploration of the search for religious meaning and sits beautifully with a series in the latest issue of New Scientist magazine we've been discussing on Catholica in the last 24 hours on the origins and future of religion. Neither Grahame English nor ourselves knew the content of the New Scientist articles which have already generated much discussion and thought amongst the readers of our website. This beautifully crafted commentary, along with the articles in New Scientist, provides a wealth of material for long reflection. [more]

214 :
21 Mar 2012

An increasingly marooned and isolated priesthood... Tom McMahon provides his own introduction to this new series: "This commentary is born of sources of information that I have experienced within the past week. I will combine five ideas as a continuation of the past commentaries on two forms of priesthood, Jesus servant type and 1500's liturgical Council of Trent sacramental priest. These new/old themes constitute a cultural revolution that never took place. In this series we will look at Fr. Bill Lenane's recent funeral; a review of Irish priest Eamonn Fitzgibbon's PAINTED INTO A CORNER, found in the October 2011 edition of The Furrow [LINK]; my reflection on Dr. John N Collins' THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – THE FUTURE OF THE PRIESTHOOD [LINK]; spotty re-reading of Hoge and Schoenher's text books; and a re-read of the Document on Priesthood from Vatican Two. All five are high energy considerations. All five co-mingle and will be worked into this forthcoming series. I intend to circulate these commentaries among local Roman clergy and peers of my seminary and priestly days, hoping for feedback." [more]

091 :
20 Mar 2012

A Priest educated by Zulu culture... Today's commentary from Brian Pitts will possibly come as an "eye-opener" or "mind-opener" to many of you. As you'll find at the end it is also likely to be perceived as a tease. You're probably going to want Brian to explain a lot, lot more of what he means in this final paragraph. Hopefully we can twist his arm to provide us with that "more". The essay is a rendering of a testimony Brian gave last Wednesday to a small group of Catholica readers who had gathering in Perth, Western Australia for a social get-together. It's partly a story that relates his experience as a missionary over ten years to the Zulu people of Southern Africa and, more so, a story of his own search for an understanding of the Christian story of Jesus. Brian contributes to our forum under the pen name "Beehive". [more]

053 :
19 Mar 2012

The Oxymoron of "Retired Priests" Fr Daniel Donovan recently received an invitation to the Inaugural Retired Priests' Forum in Sydney. It set him to wondering if the term "retired priest" might be an oxymoron? He suggests a more honourable term might be "senior clergy". [more]

2046:
14 Mar 2012

Back to basics in the rejuvenation of religion... If Catholicism, or religion in general, is in a crisis the editor today argues that one place where the crisis might be addressed is going back to sort out the confusion over what the purpose of religion is. He argues that this is what Eugene Stockton is essentially endeavouring to do in his new book: "Into the Deep: Towards and Archetypal Theology". [today's email] | [the conversation in our forum]

2045 :
13 Mar 2012

Generational change takes place in Quantum Leaps? In lieu of lead commentarites this week the editor will be providing a series of short observations picked up from his travels and conversations on the other side of the Australian continent. Today's reflection is one some observations about generational change. [today's email] | [the conversation in our forum]

069 :
11 Mar 2012

Metanoia: How much work do we have to do? How much choice do we have in any transformation we want to undertake? We can open ourselves up to metanoia and conversion but how much can we drive the process and how much do we leave to the Spirit that builds universes? These questions are at the heart of this reflection from John Chuchman... [more]

213 :
11 Mar 2012

The mythological aspect of life and belief V We've drawn attention on Catholica recently to a documentary series that's been screening on television in Australia in recent weeks called "The Code". Yesterday on the forum we viewed a beautiful animation on the Fibonacci Numbers [LINK]. In this mini-commentary today, Tom McMahon is also into the fascination with numbers — this time concerning their association with religion. [more]

090 :
10 Mar 2012

Book Review: "Goodbye Father" by Richard A. Schoenherr Dr John N Collins has been following Tom McMahon's series of commentaries on two models of priesthood with much interest — and has contributed some of his own thoughts in our forum. He was particularly interested on Wednesday last [LINK] when Tom mentioned a book by Richard A. Schoenherr Goodbye Father: The Celibate Male Priesthood and the Future of the Catholic Church. Dr Collins has himself been a contributor to discussions on the nature of priesthood at an international level and has written two books on the early history of the priesthood in the Church. Dr Collins had written this review back in 2002 around the time Richard Schoenherr's book was published but this is the first time it has been published. While acknowledging the valuable perspectives modern disciplines such as psychology and sociology bring to our understanding of the nature of priesthood, Dr Collins argues we also need to remember the theological dimension. [more]

2042 :
09 Mar 2012

Much to discuss, so little time in which to do it all... Today's email contains news of an unexpected trip to Perth the editor will be making next week and other general news concerning Catholica. There is no lead commentary today but the conversation continues apace in our forum. [today's email] | [the conversation in our forum]

001 :
08 Mar 2012

The Bishops -vs- The President... This is the first of three commentaries by Dr Don Fausel which will explore different aspects of the issue of artificial birth control in light of the current controversy in the United States between the Obama administration and the Bishops of the United States. In this first commentary, Don focuses on the Bishops' strategy in dealing with the issue that was set in motion by the decision of the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require employers to provide contraception to their female employees. [more]

212 :
07 Mar 2012

Two Models of Priesthood V Tom McMahon is in fine mettle today with this commentary which draws on the wisdom of a number of other writers who have been researching the changing nature of priesthood in recent decades. As he suggests in the commentary it is doubtful that those who presently control the institutional agenda are even aware of this research or the changing perceptions opening up in the wider community. [more]

089 :
06 Mar 2012

The Trials and Tribulations of an Irish Priest in Papua New Guinea Today's commentary came as an attachment to a disturbing email we received a week or so ago from an Irish priest who has worked in Papua New Guinea for 30 years. Now in his late 70s Fr John Glynn has had a tough row to hoe judging from what he reveals in his story. In the Catholic Forum we have posted the covering email [LINK] from Fr Glynn which provides further context to what you will read in this commentary. [more]

088 :
05 Mar 2012

Book Review: Catholic Bioethics for the New Millennium by +Anthony Fisher Bishop Anthony Fisher, who trained as a lawyer before entering religious life is widely seen as the future leader of the Catholic Church in Australia. His particular realm of expertise within the institution is bioethics — a subject on which he has lectured widely and on an international canvas. He has recently published a book on the subject through Cambridge University Press: Catholic Bioethics for the New Millennium. One of our regular commentators in the Catholica Forum, James volunteered to review the book for us. James, who is himself a retired lawyer and a former seminarian, but now largely sceptical of much in Catholic teaching, reviews this important book which endeavours to outline contemporary Catholic teaching in the realm of Bioethics. In this review he challenges both the Bishop's arguments and also what he sees as the inconsistencies in institutional thinking today in these important aspects of life. [more]

068 :
04 Mar 2012

Let's just Be the Church we want Church to be! Following John Chuchman's reflection today you may feel "I wish it were as easy as that". It's difficult leaving behind what for many of us has been a lifetime of understandings, belief and good memories. Is it a bit like what a young person feels life leaving home? We have a treasure of very positive memories of home but there's also a sense of relief to be out from under the constant scrutiny of mum and dad. John is essentially arguing that we just leave behind all the oppression of the hierarchs and the games they play of trying to constantly please their temporal bosses and let's just Be the Church we want the Church to be! [more]

108 :
03 Mar 2012

Does Catholicism have a political agenda? Or should it? Today's commentary is prompted by two articles Catholica editor, Brian Coyne, read overnight about religions' relationship with secular politics or, more specifically, Catholicism's relationship with secular politics. The first article, this week's editorial in The Tablet, is commenting on the present Republican Presidential contest in the United States. The second is a debate Sandro Magister has drawn attention to in the more esoteric realms of specialist theological magazines. [more]

015 :
02 Mar 2012

Is this a conversation you could have in Church? By the time you've finished today's reflection from Vince Exley you might ask yourself if it would be possible today to have this conversation in Church?. As he writes: "I have recently watched The Teaching Company's 48 thirty-minute lectures on 'Religion in the Mediterranean World', the 36 thirty-minute lectures on 'Jesus and the Gospels' and Franco Zeffirelli's 210 minute movie 'Jesus of Nazareth'." He's been on another of his lengthy quests to try and extract the substantive message of Jesus out of all the myths and the historical record. This is neither a quest in search of the historical Jesus, nor the mythical Jesus, but a search for the meaning that Jesus and Christianity might have for our lives today. As we suggested: is this a conversation you could have in Church? [more]

2034 :
01 Mar 2012

Does Philadelphia point to the systemic failing in the institution? Tom Roberts published a lengthy analysis in NCR two days ago on the abuse scandal in Philadelphia that is being played out fairly publicly now with the prosecution of the former Vicar General of the Archdiocese, Monsignor William J. Lynn. I urge you to read Tom Roberts' article today and reflect on the questions we have posed in our email today and on our forum. [The discussion in our forum] | [Direct Link to Tom Roberts' article in NCR] | [Thursday's email]