186 :
31 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 4 Today Tom McMahon delivers his own conclusions about the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. It is sufficient that the people of God met and he compares the meeting to the lessons learned a long time ago on the road to Emmaus by some of the first followers of Jesus. Tom also poses some tricky questions that the editor will endeavour to open up conversation about on our forum [LINK]. [more]

098 :
30 Aug 2011

Book Review: "A Modern Credo" by Kevin Treston reviewed by Brian Coyne After all the depressing news yesterday here is something to lift your spirits. A new book by Dr Kevin Treston that seeks to chart more effective ways of telling the Jesus story in the challenging communication climate institutional religion faces today. His new book is entitled: "A Modern Credo: Telling the Christ Story within the Context of Creation". [more]

1849 :
29 Aug 2011

Mondayitis type news... The news is so depressing today that we're holding over the commentary we were going to bring you. The cause of the gloom is a documentary on the abuse scandal screened across Australia last night; a speech Cardinal Pell gave in Ireland at the end of last month; and a new review of Chrissie Foster's book. In light of these we've decided to hold over the good news until tomorrow. [++Pell's address in Ireland] | [Compass Documentary: "Breaking the Silence"] | [New Review of Chrissie Foster's book: "Hell on the Way to Heaven"]

045 :
28 Aug 2011

What is MY Divine Destiny? What I should do? After six weeks exploring different aspects of our relationship with the Divine, John Chuchman today comes to the ultimate, and personal, questions: What is MY Divine Destiny? What I should do? As Christians, or Catholics, are we called upon to boss everyone else around, or are we called upon to bear witness. To "bear witness" to the insights and modelling of how to live, and die to self, like Christ? John Chuchman argues that ultimately it all comes down to witnessing God's love in the world, whatever the question! ...ed [more]

004 :
27 Aug 2011

A theology for the new millennium: Chapter Three "Who or What is God?" In today's extract from his book, Peter Dresser addresses the BIG question: Who or What is God? There are no easy answers of course, the great minds have been exploring the question since Eve was a little girl. Peter presents to us a few of the different approaches that various thinkers have applied to the subject. This is the first half of Chapter Three from his book. [more]

043 :
26 Aug 2011

The importance of the Assembly Part II... In this conclusion to his two-part commentary on the role of the ordinary pew-sitters – the Assembly – in the life of the Church, Fr Daniel Donovan argues that the Council Fathers at the Second Vatican Council returned to the early Church and its emphasis on the gathered Assembly because recognition of the risen Lord in each other is the precondition for cognition or knowing him in his sacramental presence. This is a strongly sourced, cogent argument challenging the "reform of the reform" trend in contemporary Catholicism that seems intent on undoing the insights discerned by the majority of the Church's leaders at the Second Vatican Council. [more]

042 :
25 Aug 2011

The importance of the Assembly... In this informative and instructive, yet challenging two-part commentary, Fr Daniel Donovan argues that those who seem so intent on "reforming the reform" of the Second Vatican Council are actually challenging some of the earliest traditions of Catholicism. The "reform of the reform" does not take us back closer to the insights of Jesus and the early Church leaders but it takes us back to clericalism and a time of triumphalist certitudes that are totally disconnected from our authentic traditions and ecclesial insights. This commentary was sparked by further research Fr Donovan undertook following his recent series on the Eucharist [LINK]. As usual with Fr Donovan's commentaries the footnotes are often as instructive as the main text. [more]

185 :
24 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 3 Tom McMahon has been gathering feedback of assessments people made of the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. Today he brings us some further assessments he's been gathering preparatory to providing his own assessments next week. [more]

072 :
23 Aug 2011

Codependency and the church... Today's commentary comes from a post I came across in recent days on Len Swidler's Katholica list. The writer works in the corporate consulting world but blogs on religious affairs under the title "Questions from a Ewe". She has given us permission to republish this reflection on Catholica. It is a succinct commentary that introduces a topic, codependency, that might be particularly relevant to some of our recent discussions on Catholica concerning the various crises facing institutional Catholicism. ...BMC, Editor [more]

097 :
22 Aug 2011

Making sense of religious belief... A Monday reflection from Catholica Editor, Brian Coyne: Last night (Sunday) across Australia there were at least five interesting programs on television drawing significant audiences that had a religious dimension that my wife and myself watched. My mind has been churning since with a range of questions that I offer for reflection today... [more]

045 :
21 Aug 2011

Freedom... Why do those who have taken over the institutional Catholic agenda so much want to control everyone and restrict their freedom? It's a question I think we might be exploring more in commentaries this coming week. John Chuchman provides a wonderful opening reflection on the liberating and creative results that come out of freedom, especially as seen in what was witnessed in the results of the Second Vatican Council. Christ promised us freedom and John argues "Freedom is a condition for life in abundance". ...ed [more]

003 :
20 Aug 2011

A theology for the new millennium: Chapter Two "Orthodoxy" Peter Dresser's commentary today will be music to the ears of the readership whose needs Catholica is most interested in serving. At heart all of us are orthodox about something. Peter essentially addresses the question today of what things are worth getting all orthodox about. While his commentary will be music to the ears of most readers of Catholica this is probably one of the chapters that in an earlier episode had the temple police enraged and firing off letters of complaint to bishops. How big is your picture of God? How deep is your faith? [more]

005 :
19 Aug 2011

The Tragedy of Irish Catholicism... There doesn't seem to be much joy coming out of Ireland in recent times. In recent days the Irish Central website reports the Pope is considering some kind of wholesale cleanout of the Church in Ireland slashing the number of dioceses and replacing all the bishops [LINK]. American investigative journalist, Joe Rigert, has been following the situation in Ireland more than anyone and offers us today his latest thoughts on the tragedy. [more]

184 :
17 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 2 Tom McMahon has been gathering feedback of assessments people made of the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. Today he brings us the first three of a number of assessments that have impressed him for their insights: two from a married couple one of whom went to the trouble of writing to the local Archbishop, Allen Vigneron, who had been critical of the Council and one from a local reporter who attended the Council. [more]

011 :
16 Aug 2011

Are you infected with any of the madness in contemporary Catholicism? Here's part 2 of the cure... Dr Graham English concludes his whimsical and insightful reflection on the problems besetting Catholicism in the modern world. What do you believe? What do you think the bishops want you to believe? How do you preserve your spiritual and temporal sanity in the madhouse where nearly 90% of the baptized across the educated world have simply turned their back on it all? [more]

010 :
15 Aug 2011

Are you infected with any of the madness in contemporary Catholicism? Here's the cure... Are you ready for this: it's a whimsical reflection from Dr Graham English taking a look at the madness that seems to be infecting contemporary Catholicism. Are you infected with any of this or have you managed to escape? Part 1 today and the conclusion will follow tomorrow. [more]

044 :
14 Aug 2011

Authority in Community... John Chuchman poses a tough question in this shorter reflection today. Tougher especially for those of us brought up in an ethos where the first commandment had seemingly been superceded by one requiring our unquestioning obedience to earthly authority. Human beings though are fallible. Would the present scandals in institutional Catholicism have been uncovered if we had all followed authority blindly? How do we discern authority through our community? John offers for our reflection: "obedience to human authority must always be guarded and prudent, never absolute. It cannot be absolute." What do you think about this matter? How do you believe we discern authority in community? ...ed [more]

002 :
13 Aug 2011

A theology for the new millennium: Chapter One "The Thinking of Pooh" How might A.A. Milne's character, Winnie the Pooh relate to God? That's the essential question Fr Peter Dresser, poses today in Chapter One from our serialisation of his book: "God is Big .... Real BIG!". In trying to think in the way of Pooh might we gain insight into why so many have given up listening to what the institutional church has to say? [more]

041 :
12 Aug 2011

A non-Jansenist understanding of Eucharist... Concluding his commentary from yesterday Fr Daniel Donovan today offers a quick overview of how Eucharist was celebrated in the early Church and the insights discerned by the Bishops at the Second Vatican Council. Fr Donovan offers these insights as a counter to the seeming determination of some to overturn those insights and take us back to some form of Jansenism. [more]

040 :
11 Aug 2011

Is Jansenism being revived? That conservative religious commentator and recent convert to Catholicism, Tess Livingstone, has been upsetting Fr Daniel Donovan in another article in The Australian newspaper. This time over the attempts of one curial cardinal trying to overturn the Vatican II insights into the Eucharist. Are these people trying to re-introduce Jansenism as the meanstream of Catholic belief and practise? In this two-part series, Fr Donovan examines what is happening and (tomorrow) provides an alternative exegesis of the understanding of Eucharist in the early Church and how that was revived at the Second Vatican Council. Where are the majority of our bishops raising their voices in protest at what is being done to Catholicism, and to the work of the great majority of their predecessors at the Second Vatican Council? Who authorised this take-over of Catholicism by this remnant minority and these latter-day converts to Catholicism who are attempting to turn the insights discerned by the great majority of the world's bishops on their head? [more]

183 :
10 Aug 2011

Prepare, Ye, the Way of the Lord! Over the coming three weeks Tom McMahon intends to give an assessment of the American Catholic Council — the meeting of delegates from the major Church Reform groups in the United States who met in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. What was achieved? Tom McMahon is optimistic. [more]

042 :
09 Aug 2011

A new approach to spirituality and religion? Is the broad future of religion and spirituality going to be far more ecumenical than it has been in any of our lifetimes? The fire does seem to have gone out for ecumenism within Catholicism, particularly at the leadership levels, but there does seem to be a continuing enthusiasm for inter-religious and inter-faith dialogue and inter-communion at the grass-roots level at least in the more reflective sectors of society. Today we bring back to centre stage a commentary from Andrew McAlister originally published in November 2009 urging our support for Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion. [more]

018 :
08 Aug 2011

Questioning the understanding of Papal Primacy Part 9... Vynette Holliday continues to her Sherlock Holmes' style investigation of where the Apostle Peter disappeared to after the death of Jesus. From the evidence she assembles today from a variety of sources she concludes that "most reasonable answer to this question is that Peter would likely have travelled eastwards to the regions of Babylon on the Mesopotamian plain, where the great majority of these "lost sheep of the House of Israel" lived.". [more]

043 :
07 Aug 2011

The Authority of Conscience... With all the criticism of the institution today — and its takeover by a tiny remnant of the community who process their insecurities through authority figures and dogma — it is easy to lose a sense of personal hope. This connected series of reflections from John Chuchman is looking at what is essentially the BIG question in all of our lives — our "Divine Destiny" — what's each of our lives leading to, Alfie? Today John extends his reflection from last week on the place of conscience in our lives: "The authority of a person's conscience is absolute. Even God knocks on the door of the conscience and asks for admission."! ...ed [more]

001 :
06 Aug 2011

A theology for the new millennium... Readers of Catholica will recall that Bathurst Diocean priest, Peter Dresser, raised the ire of the temple police a few years ago for some theological views he expressed in a small book, "God is Big ..... Real BIG!", that accidentally found its way onto the internet via the St Mary's website in South Brisbane. The brouhaha got Peter into trouble, and his local bishop, and became one of the many things used to belt the good people of St Mary's over the head with. Originally the book had only been photocopied and distributed as a discussion starter amongst Peter's friends and was not intended for wider dissemination. Peter Dresser has been an avid reader, and contributor to Catholica since we started publishing five years ago. In the last few days he suggested we might like to use at least parts of his book on Catholica because some of the things he was endeavouring to explore in the book intersect with a lot of our recent conversations on Catholica. Rather than just give you bits of the book we've decided to serialise it over about the next 12 weeks on Saturdays on Catholica. Today we bring you the Prologue and Preamble. [more]

002 :
05 Aug 2011

The question of what we believe: creeds? A seemingly ever bubbling topic of discussion on Catholica, and previous discussions boards such as the old CathNews discussion board, has been the question of creeds. Today Dr Gabe Lomas, in response to the more recent conversations on Catholica, offers a more critical examination of the subject. Dr Lomas asks: "Has the time come for the leadership of the body of Christ, in which we all share, to be better spread through the church, particularly as regards what we do and don't believe, and what we can and can't say 'credo' to?" [more]

182 :
04 Aug 2011

A poignant public epistle to a bishop mate… Tom McMahon's conclusion today to this series on the unexpected early retirement of Bishop Daniel Walsh from Santa Rosa Diocese is somewhat poignant. It might be described as a personal epistle written from one friend to another at the end of a long journey where the writer finds he's become separated from his brother. Perhaps many of us would love to have the courage to pen a moving, heart-felt epistle like this to our bishop friends in the isolation of their ivory towers? [more]

1823 :
03 Aug 2011

What is "theology"? A great discussion/debate has erupted in the forum between myself and James following the screening last night of Professor Brian Cox's episode on Gravity from the series "The Wonders of the Universe". The debate we're having comes down, I think, to the question of how we define "theology". In view of the time I've wasted trying to put get James back on the right track (LOL) I've decided to hold Tom McMahon's commentary until tomorrow. What's your view of what theology is? ...BMC, Editor [Join the conversation]

096 :
02 Aug 2011

A very "catholic" reading of life's meaning... Here today we have something that I hope might be spiritually uplifting for all our readers. It takes us away from dwelling on our own pains and anxieties to spend a little time with a couple who have endured one of the worst pains there is to endure in life — the murder of one of their children. This is far from a depressing story though. We take you away from our own website to spend time with Rachael Kohn and her conversation broadcast across Australia on Sunday night with Una and Denis Glennon parents of Ciara, who lives on in the hearts of many. [more]

071 :
01 Aug 2011

On lecturing hierarchs about "Gospel values" Today's commentary is an exchange of correspondence between a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Perth and the Dean of the newly refurbished St Mary's Cathedral in that city. It is correspondence that fell off the back of a truck and landed in my email box. I get a lot of correspondence like that and most of it never gets published. This letter though might have got a run because it discloses some interesting statistics about the recipients of welfare assistance in one of the most affluent capital cities of Australia. Then, when I read the Monsignor's reply, and particularly its last line — "In future please don't try to lecture me about Gospel values"! — I thought this definitely has to get a run. I wrote to the original letter writer, Patrick Durack, whom I happened to remember from school days, but he wasn't the source from which I'd originally obtained the correspondence. Patrick was more than happy for me to publish the exchange. In the present climate (i.e. the Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny's address to the Irish Parliament and the leaders of the Church in the Vatican) we, the lay people who have witnessed our church being stolen from us and handed over to a tiny remnant minority who are identified by the manner in which they process their insecurities, are fed up to the back teeth with your collective arrogance. We no longer believe in your "ontological differences" to the rest of humankind because your own behaviours demonstrate arrogance and that you are no different to all the rest of us as you struggle with the vices, ego drives, and insecurities of all of the rest of us. Get your collective act together or very soon you are not going to have any congregations apart from this pathetic remnant you spend all of your lives appeasing and stroking. Your responsibility is to be educating, leading and uplifting the people of God, not constantly stroking the lizard brain insecurities of some remnant! ...BMC, Editor [more]

042 :
31 Jul 2011

What is our sense of conscience today? With all the criticism of the institution today — and its takeover by a tiny remnant of the community who process their insecurities through authority figures and dogma — it is easy to lose a sense of personal hope. This connected series of reflections from John Chuchman is looking at what is essentially the BIG question in all of our lives — our "Divine Destiny" — what's each of our lives leading to, Alfie? Today John reflects on that thing which, in their wisdom, some insightful church leaders long ago accorded a place of primacy — our conscience. Besides being a reflection on what conscience is, this commentary is insightful into the wisdom as to why it ought be accorded a place of primacy in our lives. ...ed [more]

039 :
30 Jul 2011

A valuable "second opinion"! The recent criticism of the Vatican by the Irish Taoiseach is unprecented and might well be the trigger that finally brings Rome to some kind of sense that there is something deeply wrong in the ecclesial culture that extends far beyond the immediate concerns of an inadequate global response to the scandal of clerical abuse. In today's commentary Fr Daniel Donovan explores some of the significance of this development. [more]

070 :
29 Jul 2011

Will praying for solutions to climate change work?Climate change is one of the big concerns that seems to be driving up fear levels in human society and one of the seeming contributors to a rise in fundamentalism. Thanks to the magazine of the Australian National Council of Priests, The Swag, I came across a promotion for a new discussion paper written by Fr Charles Rue. Beautifully produced, and available for download as a pdf document, by the Columban Fathers, this document puts forward suggestions for discussion on how Catholics might respond to the problems posed by climate change. As his model for a response, Fr Rue suggests we might usefully adopt the YCW methodology of See-Judge-Act. To encourage wider circulation of this most useful discussion paper I include below the forward written by the presenter of Australian's most respected religious affairs television program, Compass, Geraldine Doogue (pictured). On the way to reading what Geraldine has to say — and hopefully the entire document (which I also recommend as a most useful reflection on many things in its own right) — a big question occurs to me: Fr Rue suggests prayer as one of the responses to the challenges posed by climate change. I do really wonder about this — and quite apart from Peter Kennedy's comment on the Judith Lucy program on Wednesday night that "prayer doesn't work"? What do we expect from our prayers — that God might swoop down and clean up our mess; or extend his long hairy arm down to turn back the clock on the forces in physics and science that drive the natural cycles of cooling and warming that the planet endures? I'm a big skeptic. If we bugger this planet I simply do not believe God will intervene to fix up our mistakes. I do think prayer has another great value in this context. It focuses our mind collectively, it gives us strength and hope that we might find both the scientific and political solutions that may be forced by climate change whether it is human-induced or whether we are in a long natural cycle of global warming that will have devastating consequences for food production, property values and all manner of things. What are your views on this problem of climate change: do you believe God will fix everything up if we mees our planet up too much? Do you believe we have a responsibility to be concerned about climate change — whether it is human-induced or occurring because of a natural cycle? What's your view of the usefulness of prayer in a matter like this? What do you think of Fr Charles Rue's suggestions about adopting the YCW mantra or methodology of See-Judge-Act? Here's Geraldine's recommendation and I also encourage your reflection of the issues raised by Fr Rue and the Columbans. ...BMC, Editor [more]

095 :
28 Jul 2011

In praise of our public broadcasters... The media activities of Rupert Murdoch around the world have long been contentious. In recent times the criticisms have reached a new height to the point that some commentators are predicting that there will be major changes ahead in the regulation of the commercial media. Not all media is bad. Catholica editor, Brian Coyne, would like to put in a good word for the valuable role played by our public media which isn't primarily driven by ratings and the profit motive. [more]

181 :
27 Jul 2011

Some questions that need answers… Jason Berry in his latest book has accused the church of instituionalised lying. The editor of Catholica has suggested for some time that many who work in the institution live a constant lie in that they have to pretend they believe a lot of things that in their hearts they do not believe. Tom McMahon is exploring similar territory today in how bishops have to "keep up appearances" and not admit the truth. His particular concern are some events in California over recent decades. Bishops are constantly "hushing things up" in an effort to protect the reputation of the institution. Tom McMahon suggests a few too many things have been "hushed up" in the Diocese of Santa Rosa in particular. [more]

1814 :
25 Jul 2011

How to make the reign of God a reality... It's hard to get away from all the negativity at the moment, isn't it? In an effort to lift our spirits today and get away from the negativity could I direct your attention to a commentary by Bishop Tom Gumbleton in NCR that PeterR has drawn to our attention in the forum. It fits really well as a meditation following John Chuchman's questions yesterday in our commentary on the role of Church in helping us discern our Divine Destiny. Bishop Gumbleton is in fact reflecting on the readings for this week. How do we make the so-called reign of God a reality — in the world and in our lives personally? [Forum Discussion] | [Direct Link to NCR Commentary]

041 :
24 Jul 2011

What is our sense of church today? With all the criticism of the institution today — and its takeover by a tiny remnant of the community who process their insecurities through authority figures and dogma — it is easy to lose a sense of personal hope. This connected series of reflections from John Chuchman is looking at what is essentially the BIG question in all of our lives — our "Divine Destiny" — what's each of our lives leading to, Alfie? It's not only in Ireland that many have lost hope in our earthly ecclesial leaders as reflected a few days ago in the address given by the Prime Minister of Ireland. Today's reflection invites us to think about our sense of community or church. In a bottom-line sense we all remain connected through the Spirit and through Jesus whatever the sins and shortcomings of our earthly authority figures. ...ed [more]

180 :
23 Jul 2011

A sympathetic look at the life of a bishop • The unprecendented attack on the Catholic hierarchy and Catholic Church goverance by the Catholic Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, during the week will one day be viewed as a watershed moment in Catholic Church history. It is not an isolated event but follows a growing disillusion in the world to the point where nearly 90% of the baptized across the educated world have, for all intents and purposes, abandoned week-to-week participation in the spiritual life of the institution. Our episcopal leaders are beginning to look "ontologically different" alright in their inability to distinguish which way is up in moral behaviour. Tom McMahon's commentary today provides good adjunct reading to the criticisms made during the week by Enda Kenny and also the revelations in Jason Berry's new book, Render unto Rome: the Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church. None of this is pretty reading — in fact it is downright embarrassing for all intelligent Catholics — but if the Church is to be brought back to the insights and core mission of Christ the games our ecclesial leaders have been playing do have to be exposed to the clear light of day. [more]

1811 :
22 Jul 2011

Irish PM's withering condemnation of the Vatican… In lieu of a lead commentary today we urge all readers of Catholica to listen to and/or read the withering address given to the Irish Parliament by Irish PM, Enda Kenny, condemning the behaviour of the Vatican. [more]

008 :
21 Jul 2011

The future of progressive, liberal or Vatican II Catholicism… In this second interview with Dr Jane Anderson, Brian Coyne and Amanda McKenna (publishers of Catholica) find out a little of what has led Jane to this research into where progressive, liberal or Vatican II Catholicism is heading. Dr Anderson is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Western Australia. She is presently in Sydney for a month conducting interviews as part of a four-year research investigation into the changing ways in which many people view their Catholic faith today. [more]

1809 :
20 Jul 2011

Great lessons from some great leaders… The big news around the world, of course, has been the saga surrounding the Murdochs and the journalistic ethics that was allowed to fester in a part of their empire. In lieu of a lead commentary today (Tom McMahon has been having computer problems and has been unable to send it through in time) our email today draws attention to some of the discussions worth looking at in our forum. [more]

007 :
19 Jul 2011

Dr Jane Anderson & Milly McKenna… Dr Jane Anderson is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Western Australia. She is presently in Sydney for a month conducting interviews as part of a four-year research investigation into the changing ways in which many people view their Catholic faith today. In this 40 minute interview with the co-publisher of Catholica, Amanda (Milly) McKenna, Dr Anderson explores some of the ways in which Amanda's spiritual and belief perspectives have changed in recent decades. The questions are similar to some of the questions Jane is exploring with other people who have agreed to be involved in her research. [more]

038 :
18 Jul 2011

An Investment to Die For! The one sure bet we can all make is that one day we will have to die and be buried. With the coming of the baby-boomer generation to the last phase of life, the funeral industry has become a lucrative investment opportunity. Fr Dan Donovan has officiated at quite a few funerals over his life as a priest and picked up a thing or two about how the ritual has changed over the decades. This article starts off discussing the crisis in the European economy and at first you might wonder what in the dickens that has to do with the price of funerals in Sydney. Well, read on, and prepare to be enlightened — and start your planning now for your own funeral. [more]

040 :
17 Jul 2011

It's time for the charade to end! In a post on our forum this morning in the wake of the Cloyne Report in Ireland and a film on child migrants, Oranges and Sunshine, AsOne, asked: "Where is God in all of this?" Here is the text of AsOne's original post and the trailer for the film he is discussing and our response which we present to you today as an editorial. [more]

040 :
17 Jul 2011

What is our Divine Destiny? Today we begin a connected series of reflections from John Chuchman looking at what is essentially the BIG question of all of our lives — our "Divine Destiny" — what's each of our lives leading to, Alfie? Today's reflection is the introduction to a series that over coming weeks will pose question about Church, Conscience, Authority of Conscience, Authority in Community, Freedom, and end with a summation reflection on Christian Destiny. ...ed [more]

1805 :
16 Jul 2011

An invitation to be part of an important research project... In place of a lead commentary today our email to subscribers of Catholica contains a special invitation to assist postdoctoral researcher, Dr Jane Anderson in a lengthy study she is undertaking into different communities and expressions of Catholicism that are emerging around the world. For further details about the research, about Jane Anderson and about the invitation please read [today's email].

037 :
15 Jul 2011

The meaning of the Catholic Mass, Part 2... Fr Daniel Donovan ended his commentary yesterday [LINK] with this sentence: "The Christian community is nourished and strengthened from the table of the word and the table of the Eucharist and the separation of these two tables after 1559 has impoverished both the Anglican and Roman communities." His continuation today expands the pregnancy inherent to that sentence... [more]

036 :
14 Jul 2011

The meaning of the Catholic Mass... Our reactionary Catholic reporter friend at The Australian newspaper, Tess Livingstone, has been giving Fr Dan Donovan a bit of heartburn again in her lack of understanding of Catholic theology. Today's commentary — the first of a two-parter which will conclude tomorrow — he gives Tess a lesson that she might not have learned given her late arrival in the Catholic Church. It is also a fascinating exploration of the meaning of the Catholic Mass that will warm the hearts of many older Catholics as well. [more]

179 :
13 Jul 2011

A sympathetic look at the life of a bishop • In intoducing today's commentary Tom McMahon wrote: "if you want to know the world in which one lives today take the time to know your background history. Join me as we as we take off on a magical mystery tour of a boy who became a Roman bishop." The "boy" in question is Bishop Daniel Walsh, the recently resigned Bishop of Santa Rosa, California. [more]

001 :
12 Jul 2011

What do we really mean by the world "Church"? Dr Gabe Lomas knows a thing or two about liguistics — he's spent a lifetime immersed in the subject. As a priest he's also spent a bit of time immersed in theology. In today's commentary he proposes that we need a discussion around what we mean by the word "Church". It is a confusing word that can mean different things to different people, and even different things to the same people in different contexts. How do we sort out the confusion of what we mean? Would clearing up the confusion help sort some of the church's present communication problems to the world? [more]

017 :
11 Jul 2011

Questioning the understanding of Papal Primacy Part 8... Our indefatigable scholar and commentator, Vynette Holliday, is still on her lengthy exploration today of where the Apostle Peter disappeared to after the death of Jesus. Was he in living it up in Rome or engaged in other business in other parts of the Jewish world, finding the "lost sheep of the House of Israel"? Today's commentary is essentially a lengthy look at what happened to the Jewish people after the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem in 70CE. [more]

039 :
10 Jul 2011

God; for me, The Universal Poet! Having now met and spent a bit of time with John Chuchman at the American Catholic Council gathering in Detroit, my wife and I came away enchanted with the man. He's as beautiful in person as he comes across in all his commentaries. We love him so much we're going to try and bring him out to Australia for a series of workshops. He sometimes calls himself "Poetman" and in today's reflection he draws attention to the poetry of God. ...ed [more]

009 :
09 Jul 2011

Lessons for the Australian Catholic Church from an unlikely source: Karl Marx! Now here is something that is really thought-provoking. It's a commentary by Dr Graham English that has been sparked by his reading of a new book by Terry Eagleton titled "Why Marx was Right". Graham English applies a few lessons to the curious situation the Catholic Church finds itself in in Australia — an institution that held out so much hope, still has to some extent, but one where the leaders have figuratively shot themselves in the foot and squandered the hope and potential. Commentaries don't get much better than this one! [more]

004 :
08 Jul 2011

Lay Ecclesial Ministry... For a long time, centuries in fact, the role of the laity in the Church has been presented to us as a role of docility and obedience. The Second Vatican Council overturned that long-accepted picture and argued that the laity have rights and responsibilities. In today's lead commentary Emmy Silvius explores some of our rights and responsibilities in lay ecclesial ministry. [more]

178 :
06 Jul 2011

Another Bishop forced into early retirement • Bishop Daniel Walsh went to the same seminary as Tom McMahon. News has broken in recent days that he's taking early retirement. Tom senses something is brewing in the "Vatican-Roman stewpot" and will provide a series of background reports starting today. [more]

069 :
05 Jul 2011

Clerical Abuse: How much is Celibacy to blame? In today's lead commentary Minneapolis-based investigative journalist, Joe Rigert, questions why the recently released John Jay College investigation into the causes of clerical sexual abuse downplayed the role of celibacy. Rigert says that while the US researchers rejected celibacy as a cause "an expert panel in a government study of sex abuse by priests in southeastern Ireland agreed unanimously that mandatory celibacy contributed to the abuse problem". [more]

068 :
02 Jul 2011

Lessons from the American Catholic Council • Today's commentary is a follow-up to Fr Daniel Donovan's essay yesterday [LINK] on the lessons that might be learned from the unjust excommunication that was inflicted on Fr Leonard Feeney SJ in 1953, and subsequently overturned in 1972 by Pope Paul VI. There are a number of reasons for presenting this commentary today: (i) it provides another perspective on the lessons to be learned from Leonard Feeney; (ii) it is an interesting set of ideas on the subject of what defines our Catholicism; (iii) it might provide a wider introduction to the full range of of topics that were discussed at the American Catholic Council held on the Pentecost weekend 11-12th June 2011. The immediate focus of today's commentary are two extracts from the inspiring address Mr James Carroll gave on the Saturday afternoon at the Conference on the subject Why am I a Catholic? Reclaiming the Commitment of the People of God. We also provide links to transcripts of other addresses given at the Conference by Sr Joan Chittister and Dr Hans Küng and other resources from the Council. [more]