060 :
28 Dec 2008

Penance – Part 2 Tom McMahon entitled today's reflection a "walk through the graveyard". Surely, of all the Sacraments, the one in most urgent need of a re-think is the Sacrament of Confession? One suspects the drop off in participation in this Sacrament has been the greatest of all. The people have spoken. Tom shares some observations of priests going to confession in the 1960s. We might wonder if the priestly participation rate in this Sacrament has dropped off in line with the drop in lay participation? [more]

090 :
27 Dec 2008

Justified — By What? The question as to whether we humans are "saved" by faith alone or by our actions and adherence to the Law is still controversial in some quarters nearly 2000 years after the line was drawn between the two viewpoints. in today's lead commentary, Dr Ian Elmer takes us back to examine the origins of this on-going controversy which can be found in the time of St Paul. The commentary includes discussion of an interesting re-evaluation of the Jewish approach to the Law — "The Mosaic Law was not a means to salvation or redemption, but a response to Grace". [more]

004 :
26 Dec 2008

The "God Experience"… Today's commentary from Dick Westley is great stuff for reflection over the holiday period. He's looking at "the God experience" through the lens of contemporary science and contemporary theology. Is our experience of God merely some illusion, or delusion — or is it grounded in some reality? This is fascinating terrority. You'll even find the links behind many of the photographs used to illustrate the commentary take you off to further articles worth reading. Sadly this is the last commentary from Dick from the series of workshops he ran in Chicago last October. [more]

870 :
24 Dec 2008

What do you want out of this Christmas? We're turning the Wednesday Forum into a Christmas Forum today to explore the topic of what everyone would like for Christmas. If you had your druthers (complete freedom, complete power and access to any resources) to wish for anything for Christmas this year, what would it be? [more]

106 :
23 Dec 2008

No theological games here! Following on from the interesting discussion generated last week by his commentary, Dr Andrew Kania today cuts into the real heavy stuff looking at the Theology of the Soul. He suggests we might read this reflection in light of Psalm 51: 1-17. This is a "no-nonsense" theological commentary seeking to explore the ultimate objective of the spiritual quest from a largely Eastern Catholic perspective. This is spirituality for adults at its best! [more]

040 :
22 Dec 2008

10.5: The name of Israel was expunged from all records… One of the great tragedies of human history has probably been the destruction of Jerusalem. Who do we blame, the Romans in general, Hadrian or his successors in particular, or Simon Bar-Cochba who led the Jewish revolt that was put down by the Romans? Who knows? What we do know is that Jerusalem was left a virtually wasteland for much of the Common Era up until the 20th Century — our "living memory". Tom Lee's commentary today looks briefly at what happened to Jerusalem under the Romans but ends with some valuable insights into what all this meant for the subsequent development of Christianity as well. This concludes Part 10 of his manuscript. [more]

059 :
21 Dec 2008

Merry Christmas from a converted Scrooge in San Jose! Tom McMahon asked me to hold the commentary he'd already written on penance for this Sunday 'cos "'tis the season to be jolly". In its place he sent through a second commentary more in keeping with the Spirit of the Season. He bases much of this commentary around an article in America Magazine on the Christianity of Charles Dickens by Michael Timko. Between Michael Timko and Tom McMahon you'll find much worth reflecting on and getting jolly about in preparation for Christmas… [more]

022 :
20 Dec 2008

It's time for our ecclesial leaders to stop playing games! Our editorial today was triggered by a commentary Fr Eric Hodgens sent in late yesterday in which he expresses moral support for Archbishop John Bathersby and the parish community at St Mary's South Brisbane. In our editorial we amplify what Fr Hodgens has to say and suggest it is time the Bishops started to get serious in responding to the spiritual needs of ALL Catholics and not just the insecure and conservative minority who have been driving everyone else to distraction — or out the doors of our Church. [more]

003 :
19 Dec 2008

May the Holy Spirit be with you! Dick Westley argues today: "Clearly, human love is what matters, there can be no true spirituality without it. A moment's reflection on our lives reveals to us that the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives is precisely through "human" love. Through human love the Spirit breaks the strangle-hold of individualism on our lives and links us to one another. ... By linking us all together, Spirit ultimately links us to God. It is through the work of Spirit in our lives that our isolation ends and we become joined to one another and subsequently to God. That is the central message of Catholicism/Christianity." [more]

014 :
18 Dec 2008

A Tale of Two Cities – Part 2 Given that nearly 90% of the baptised population have walked away from regular participation and listening to what the institution has to say in the space of a century, it is almost futile to pretend that anyone at the top is listening to any of the commentaries or discussion in a place like Catholica. "Truth" or "wisdom" is simply not perceived to originate from directions other than via the royal telephone coming down from the top. We can but continue "chipping away". Today Fr Dan Donovan's commentary might be considered in two parts. The first part seeks to take an overview of why things have developed in the way they have — why the Church has become so divided and why so many have "simply walked away". In the second part he applies particular focus to one group, Opus Dei, which exemplifies this simplistic philosophy or theology that has zealot-like attraction to a small sector in society but which leaves the great majority feeling absolutely cold and totally disinterested in what Catholicism has to offer. As Fr Donovan argues though this is the element that is favoured at the highest realms of the Church as offering a "way forward" — a way to enthuse, or re-evangelise, the world again. Fear unlocks wallets though more effectively than pickpockets. They presently have the money and the power. There is no evidence from any objective reading of the recent history of the Church that these groups have even the proverbial snowflakes chance in hell of turning things around. They point instead to a remnant Church — a Church left preaching only to the 5% who fervently believe they have "all the answers". One can only speculate what Almighty God might eventually have to say about this methodology. Fr Dan ends his commentary in a positive way. Many are no longer prepared to simply "walk away". Communities are emerging which encourage their "members to personalise faith and to take responsibility for their decisions". He argues we need a strong local Church and we need a Church leadership "whose authority is rooted in service not power" and the Eucharistic meal "is the key to authority in the Church". He also argues the Eucharist is "the blueprint for all Christian life". [more]

013 :
17 Dec 2008

A Tale of Two Cities! The priority for Rome as far as Australia is concerned has to be restoring to the people a sense of pride and respect for the institution. People are over this game of constantly trying to prove we Catholics are the only one's with answers and putting other people down as inferior to us because they do not share in our understanding of truth. in this cutting two-part series, which we publish today and tomorrow, Fr Daniel Donovan cuts to the heart of the problem in Australia. As an urgent priority we need an episcopal leadership in this country that the people can look up to with respect — not a leadership that is divided, and with one of the main players constantly wanting to appease the tiny minority who seek certitude over truth, and law over love. At present even our bishops are collectively divided because of what Rome tried to impose on this country under the leadership of Pope John Paul II. It has been divisive in the extreme. We need an Episicopal Leadership team in this country which is united and shares a common understanding of what our spiritual quest is ultimately about. Enough of these kindergarten-level games trying to constantly prove "we're the kings of the castle and everyone else are heretics and the damned". We need a leadership that is capable of acknowledging the complexities of modern life — and the Mystery of Life — and which is capable of leading us into the complexity, and the Mystery, not constantly trying to take the complexity and Mystery out of Life by reducing everything down to kindergarten-level rules, certitudes and simplicitudes. We need an Episcopal Leadership that respects the people they lead and one which, in turn, is respected by the people. Fr Daniel Donovan's critique has its focus on the Mother Diocese of this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. He has entitled his essay "A Tale of Two Cities". [more]

105 :
16 Dec 2008

Defending Eastern Catholicism against Cardinal's Kaspar's view… Dr Andrew Kania was present at an address delivered by Cardinal Walter Kaspar at Christ Church, Oxford, earlier this year where the Cardinal offered some comments disparaging of some aspects of Orthodox Catholicism. In today's commentary, Dr Kania responds with a vigorous defence of what he argues is the different approach to theology and philosophy used in the Churches of the East. [more]

039 :
15 Nov 2008

10.4: Christianity under Roman Emperors, Trajan and Hadrian… Before Constantine the Christians got a pretty raw deal under the Romans although how much attention they received from the Roman authorities seemed to differ Emperor to Emperor. Today's extract from Tom Lee's manuscript on the early history of Christianity is looking at the situation under Roman Emperors, Trajan and Hadrian. Perhaps not surprisingly during this period we tend to know more about the Romans than the Christians who were still marginal to civilisation and whose leaders seemed to be martyred at the drop of a hat. [more]

058 :
14 Dec 2008

Penance – Part 1! Tom McMahon today begins what he predicts will be a three or four part sub-series looking at the Sacrament of Penance. He suggested we title this sub-series "As the people grow up…" and we've taken up his suggestion. As he suggests, we're in for some humorous anecdotes as well as some serious reflection… [more]

089 :
13 Dec 2008

One of the great theological insights… We've had a slight glitch this week in that Ian has gone on holidays. Just before leaving he sent through two commentaries but, for some reason, the one due to be published this week was snaffled by our mail scanner and we've not been able to retrieve it yet. Ian is also uncontactable at the moment. Today therefore you're receiving the commentary that was due to be published next week. We're now into what Dr Elmer describes as "the most productive phase of Paul's mission as Apostle to the Gentiles". Perhaps the most interesting part of this commentary though is the discussion towards the end on what Dr Elmer describes as "one of Paul's greatest theological insights: Justification by Faith". [more]

002 :
12 Dec 2008

Take some of the treasures with you! It's a cheeky headline for this cheeky commentary from Dick Westley It's the second from a series of workshops he conducted in Chicago in October which looks both at the decline of Christianity but with a view to re-invigorating our spirituality. His workshop series was entitled: "Live Life as it Comes!" [more]

006 :
11 Dec 2008

Prof Greg Craven… Today it is our plesaure to bring you an extended conversation with, Dr Greg Craven, the Vice-Chancellor of ACU-National. In his position as Vice-Chancellor of this nation's largest Catholic university it might be argued he holds one of the most powerful, or influential, lay leadership positions in the Church today. We've broken the hour-long conversation into four parts and provide an overview of the topics discussed in each segment. [more]

038 :
10 Dec 2008

10.3: Roman hedonism and brutality and the witness of Ignatius… The extract from Tom Lee's manuscript today is a bit of a mixed bag covering a number of topics but all broadly related to providing an insight into how the fledgling Christians interacted with the surrounding Roman culture. It will also be perhaps some of the most interesting reading to many providing insight into the brutality and hedonism of the Romans. At the end of the extract Tom introduces us to Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch — the first to use the term "Catholic Church" as far as we know and brutally martyred by the Romans. [more]

104 :
09 Dec 2008

Personal Reconciliation with God… The passage from Isaiah reads: "Let every valley be filled in, every mountain laid low, let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley, then the glory of YHWH will be revealed". Dr Andrew Kania's reflection today is about Personal Reconciliation. [more]

057 :
07 Dec 2008

Barren desert … uprooted feeling … a confession! Tom McMahon start off his commentary today providing a further insight into his own outlook and life post the clerical priesthood. He argues: "I feel a strong duty, that commission given to me at ordination in 1954, to direct people to think as Jesus would think." In his final exploration on the sacrament of marriage in this series he argues that in light of the greatly increased prevalence of divorce "to survive the institution needs to take a living interest in its divorced population". [more]

088 :
06 Dec 2008

A film script? There's probably a good film script in the series of commentaries Dr Ian Elmer has brought us in recent weeks exploring in some detail the fighting that went on in the early Church around the time of the first Council at Jerusalem. Unfortunately the Scriptural record is actually not clear about what actually transpired. As becomes clear through reading Ian's commentary today, to make sense of what was going on "back then" we are largely reliant on scholarly conjecture. Studying this material though is important because it has fairly direct relevance to the disputes we see still going on within the Church today. Enjoy the next thrilling instalment of the contest between the goodies and the baddies at Antioch and Jerusalem. Whose side are you on? [more]

001 :
05 Dec 2008

Reinvigorating Christian spirituality... Dick Westley is a now retired teacher of philosophy from Loyola University, Chicago. Over the next four Fridays we are going to publish the papers from a provocative workshop he conducted in Chicago in October which, perhaps surprisingly, we got to hear about via one of our Australian readers. This is a provocative series which looks both at the decline of Christianity but with a view to re-invigorating our spirituality. His workshop series was entitled: "Live Life as it Comes!" [more]

849 :
03 Dec 2008

A love song dedicated to Mary MacKillop It's a pleasure to bring you today the third of our video commentaries. Today the contribution comes from Amanda McKenna and a small part of the address she gave to the Church Mice community at St Vincent's, Redfern, last Sunday. In this ten-minute reflection today Amanda explores the spiritual outlook of Australia's first saint, Mary MacKillop, in both words and music. [more]

103 :
02 Dec 2008

The dilemmas in discussion about refugees… Today's offering by Andrew Kania is a "from-the-heart" exploration — or is it defence? — of any person who, at any point, has reason to consider themselves a refugee. And aren't we all, at some stage or other of our life journeys? Although born and raised in Australia, Dr Kania is the son of a Ukrainian refugee, who had to flee his native Poland with his parents and siblings, because of the violent oppression and ethnic cleansing of the Soviets after World War II. Perhaps it is equally true to say that at some stage or other of our lives all of us sit on the other side of the fence and "use" people who are different to us as a battering ram, or in order to elevate our own sense of worth at their expense. In this essay Andrew attempts to distil some of the wisdom that some of the great minds have sought to apply to the challenges posed by those who are forced, for whatever reason, to flee their homelands. His title for the essay is "Cunning as Snakes, Meek as Doves" which is adapted from some words Jesus used. [more]

031 :
01 Dec 2008

Today is World AIDS Day… As a commentary we have another of those "the corner stone rejected by the builders..." stories to add to the stories of St Mary's South Brisbane, St Vincent's, Redfern and even Catholica itself. It's the story of journalist Brian Haill's endeavours to establish a charitable initiative to assist sufferers of HIV/AIDS. The establishment doesn't like any of these initiatives that don't comply to their neat little picture of what Catholicism ought to be with all the "sheep" neatly corralled in a pen, and being totally obedient. Line up and place your bets folks: "who's gunna be the next Archbishop of Westminster — who's likely to score a seat in Paradise?" That's the choice that things are rapidly degenerating into for all thinking Catholics. [more]

056 :
30 Nov 2008

The gauntlet ... a review ... "the good old days" Tom McMahon responds today to a question the editor put to him a couple of weeks ago. He argues signs and ritual are important but only if they have meaning. The sacraments of Trent have lost their meaning to most of the population today. He writes "every generation writes its own response to Jesus … its own gospel". [more]

087 :
29 Nov 2008

The unfinished business of the Jerusalem Council… When you've wandered around the Catholic Church long enough you learn that one of the systemic ways of dealing with problems is by not dealing with them. If a complaint comes in, and you're in a position of responsibility you simply ignore it. Dr Ian Elmer's exploration of the very unclear outcome of the first Council of the Church at Jerusalem might suggest we learned this institutional behaviour a long, long time ago. The written records we have are confusing, even conflicting, as to what was resolved at this first Council. Today's commentary is a prelude to next week's commentary where Dr Elmer will look at the practical outcome of the Council — which is easier to discern. [more]

843 :
28 Nov 2008

Two events this Sunday: There's no lead commentary today but we'd like to draw your attention to two events happening this Sunday in Sydney and Brisbane if you are close enough to either place to lend your moral support. Details of both events are provided in today's email. Meanwhile the discussions sparked by recent lead commentaries continue apace in our forum. [more]

030 :
27 Nov 2008

Unity in Diversity… During the week Dr Luis T Gutierrez sent me an email drawing attention to his E-Journal of Solidarity, Sustainability, and Nonviolence. In particular the lead article in the present edition might be particularly pertinent to readers of Catholica in the context of the discussion on Paradigm Shifts and the Zeitgeist movie. It is also relevant in terms of the on-going Catholica discussion about "Building or Rebuilding a sense of Church Community". Readers who have the time will also value the diversity of other resources in this subject area available on his website at pelicanweb.org [more]

842 :
26 Nov 2008

God-onomics The continuing discussion everywhere about the "global economic crisis" as well as the discussion on Catholica recently about changing the paradigm of our thinking stemming from the film Zeitgeist has left me wondering if there is a God-onomics? Does God offer humanity any guidance in his plans for the economy of Creation a plan for the Economy — how we ought organise ourselves economically? The traditional view we have tended to have from within the churches is that "The Economy" is something outside the purview of religious leaders except when it comes to the exploitation of the weak. "Economics" is viewed as something belonging to the temporal order and religion doesn't have much to say about it. Should our theologies not offer us a third way — or a middle way — through which to appreciate the economy of Creation and the economics of civilisation? [more]

102 :
25 Nov 2008

A spiritual reflection on the Legend of Sisyphus Dr Andrew Kania today reflects on that frustration we all feel at some time or another when our life doesn't seem to be leading anywhere, or when we feel like we're pushing a piece of excrement up a hill with a pointy stick. It's the story of Sisyphus … and the story of Job and Moses and King David. What sustains us when the odds seems so overwhelmingly against us? (Sounds a bit like holding out any hope of reforming the Catholic Church so that it actually meets the needs of its people doesn't it?) [more]

037 :
24 Nov 2008

10.2: Clement, Evaristus and Alexander… Today's extract from Tom Lee's manuscript is less taxing and more in the form of an interesting piece of early Church history. He looks at the contributions of the third, fourth and fifth leaders of the Church, Clement, Evaristus and Alexander and it is interesting looking at how the liturgical traditions developed and how some of our practices were borrowed and adapted from other religions and the pagans. [more]

025 :
23 Nov 2008

US Reform Groups planning big American Catholic Council in 2011… The major US Catholic Reform Groups have begun planning a major conference of lay American Catholics to be held in 2011. A development of thi nature on this scale is probably without precedent in the history of the Church. [more]

086 :
22 Nov 2008

The Quest for Koinonia… Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today on happenings in the embryonic Church at Jerusalem and Antioch torpedoes down through the centuries and lodges like an "arrow of relevance" into our own time. This is a commentary about different models of leadership and how leaders need to mediate between various factions. It's a commentary about "building community or fellowship" in an environment where one, or some of the factions, do not want to listen to any other interpretations other than their own. As Dr Elmer points out, the lesson we can learn has direct relevance to our own time. [more]

006 :
21 Nov 2008

Communicating with Young People Part 2 of 2: Dr Graham English concludes his two-part commentary exploring the challenges the institution needs to make if it is going to retain the attention of future generations of young people. This commentary is from an address Dr English gave recently to members of the St Vincent de Paul Society. [more]

005 :
20 Nov 2008

Communicating with Young People Part 1 of 2: In a sense this two-part commentary from Dr Graham English follows on from the last commentary he wrote for Catholica exploring the challenges that young people face today in having a sense of "belonging" to the Catholic Church. Today and tomorrow though the focus is back the other way in exploring the ways in which the institutional Church may have to adapt if it is to have a hope of maintaining relevance to the young people of tomorrow. This commentary is from an address Dr English gave recently to members of the St Vincent de Paul Society. [more]

029 :
19 Nov 2008

An Australian Catholic Synod… Frank Purcell argues the world economic collapse can be likened to the collapse of Catholicism. In this short essay he entitled "Leadership Responsibility and the Collapse of the Australian Church" he argues that a possible way forward for the Church is the calling of an Australian Synod. [more]

101 :
18 Nov 2008

Good Medicine! Dr Andrew Kania in his commentary today ventures into the emotive territory of the possible links between religious faith and physical, mental and emotional health. Does religion help keep us healthy? There is increasing scientific research seeking to explore this territory, mainly in the realm as to whether religious faith assists in recovery for various diseases or coping with a serious disease. These studies show mixed results as Google searches show. There are indicators suggesting a general trend though that a healthy spiritual attitude can contribute to better health in the other domains of life. Dr Kania today examines some of the research evidence and also draws in more traditional theological and scriptural perspectives. He also explores some of the nuances we believers need to bring to these discussions. Perhaps the focus of on-going research ought focus on what forms of religious faith and spirituality are most beneficial in promoting harmony in the realms of physical, mental and emotional harmony and well-being? [more]

036 :
17 Nov 2008

10.1: The Mass takes form… The chief interest Tom Lee's commentary today will more tha probably generate is in his discussion of the origins of the Catholic Mass. There is much else of interest though beginning with volcanoes, plagues, fires, licentious behaviour and wars in various parts of the Roman Empire. His commentary explores why our principal celebration occurs on Sundays and how the formal liturgy we celebrated today evolved. [more]

055 :
16 Nov 2008

Difficult Questions… Tom McMahon celebrates three score and twenty today and congratulations from all of us. And the man is never daunted in his exploration of this great adventure we are all engaged in. Today, in his series on the meaning of Sacrament in our Age of Technology his focus turns to marriage. The fundos aren't gunna like this one. At some stage though we're going to have to tie the old man down and ask him: "now Tom, we know you want to rip the rug out from just about every sacrament there is but we presume you still believe in signs and ritual? What is sacramental in the present age? Don't we require some structure? You're not actually wanting to get rid of Sacrament, are you — you're wanting to get back to where the signs mean something intelligible to people today? If we drop some sacraments are there new ones that ought be considered?" [more]

085 :
15 Nov 2008

The Calling of the First Council… We've been having much discussion in recent days on Catholica as to the nature of Church — how do we, as Church, interpret what God asks of his people, and his Church? Different groups of people have different opinions — and they're all prepared to die to defend their interpretations. In today's lead commentary Dr Ian Elmer takes us right back to the First Council of the Church where these sorts of disputes first came to a head — The Council of Jerusalem. Dr Elmer draws the link between those events almost two millenia ago and events happening today right around on the other side of the world in Australia. Will our ecclesial leaders reward the "spies and tattletales" or will they act with courage as the leaders did at the First Council? [more]

028 :
14 Nov 2008

Clerical-Sex, Blackmail, and the link to Sexual Abuse… That other great American clerical campaigner on behalf of the victims of sexual abuse, and on greater accountability by the institution and its leaders, Fr Richard Sipe, in this new article argues for more honesty by the institution and greater efforts to eradicate the travesty of the sexual abuse of minors. [more]

026 :
12 Nov 2008

Dispassionately assessing the legacy of Pius XII… Catholic historian, Dr Paul O'Shea was accorded a significant honour last Sunday evening by being invited to deliver the Reichspogromnacht/ Reichskristallnacht Commemoration Service at the Great Synagogue in Sydney. We are pleased to publish his address on Catholica in two parts. His address, to a mixed Jewish and Christian audience sought to provide an insight into the Catholic thinking that formed Pope Pius XII's worldview towards the Jewish people. It also provides a summarised overview of the political and diplomatic exigencies that helped mould the public policy positions taken, or not taken, by the wartime pontiff. [more]

100 :
11 Nov 2008

The Outward Sign of Inner Grace… Tom McMahon has been challenging us for a long time now in his series questioning the meaning of Sacraments in our present age. There can be little doubt, given the declining use of the Sacraments, that people do not attach the same importance, or meaning to Sacraments that they once did. In today's commentary Dr Andrew Kania looks at the meaning of Sacrament from a more orthodox or traditonal perspective. What do we need to rescue from these perspectives if Sacrament is to again have significant meaning in the lives of the broad masses? At its heart, Andrew suggests Sacrament is "The Outward Sign of Inward Grace". [more]

035 :
10 Nov 2008

9.3: The Gospels as Liturgy III… Today Tom Lee wraps up his Chapter that has been inviting us to read the Gospels in a completely different light — not as a history lesson as we traditionally understand history in the Western mind but as liturgy and history as seen from the Jewish perspective. He opines that we can discover an entirely different meaning when we do this. His commentary today begins by exploring how we (The Christian Church) lost contact with this original perspective out of which the Gospels were put together. [more]

054 :
09 Nov 2008

A reflection on the US election result? Further to Tom McMahon's recent mini-commentaries on the US Presidential Election contest, he has sent us this short post-election reflection penned the morning after the result was announced. [more]

053 :
09 Nov 2008

Who is on which train? In this imaginative scenario Tom McMahon is picturing the Roman Catholic Church today as two trains stuck on two different tracks. Essentially neither of them are going anywhere at the moment. One has the potential to go somewhere but ahead of the other only lies a set of twisted tracks. He takes a look inside the carriages of each train today to see who is aboard each train. [more]

084 :
08 Nov 2008

The Ascendency of Saulos Paulos… Studying what Dr Ian Elmer serves up to us each week about the activities for St Paul you could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that the possibility of the story of Jesus Christ ever reaching us Gentiles was the greatest bit of serendipity that ever happened. Today Ian looks at another fascinating dimension to the story: why Paul changed his name. Dr Elmer describes his name change as "a watershed moment in religious history". [more]

046 :
07 Nov 2008

Where do we find "The Truth"? There are many good individual arguments in this book. Many which do come out of our "shared Catholic insight". In the final analysis though Brian Coyne argues Robert Tilley's analysis is flawed. The harsh reality is that the institutional leadership have been losing contact with their constituency for at least a century. We need to seriously ask why? Robert Tilley's book, through the insights he sheds into the thinking of our recent institutional leaders, provides valuable insights into what has gone wrong — why many thinking people have stopped listening and stopped following their leadership. [more]

822 :
06 Nov 2008

Opening up a discussion… Today's email provides an explanation of what we're endeavouring to put on the table for discussion today and tomorrow (and hopefully for a significant time into the future). This book has already been the subject of considerable discussion on Catholica, some of it sparked by the editor and some by others. [more]

821 :
05 Nov 2008

The Boyer Lectures — would you prioritise things differently? For our Wednesday Forum today I thought it might be interesting to take a further look at Rupert Murdoch's Boyer Lecture last Sunday. In the forum I have attempted to provide a summary of the priorities he outlined in his opening lecture and I pose the question would you have a different set of priorities? [more]

099 :
04 Nov 2008

The Long Walk to Freedom… The struggle of minorities to obtain dignity, freedom and equality has been long. On the eve of an historic US Presidential election where a black candidate faces the real possibility of being elected leader of the richest and most powerful nation on earth, Dr Andrew Thomas Kania takes a look at the ways in which we are called on to treat one another if we are true followers of Jesus Christ. [more]

034 :
03 Nov 2008

9.2: The Gospels as Liturgy II… It's probably a truism that all of us "believers" have tended to read Jesus as some kind of history lesson. The reality is that he wasn't a history lesson. He was a liturgical lesson. Liturgy, in a sense, is also history isn't it? but it is history read in a different way to how we were traditionally taught history at school. Tom Lee today in this short extract from his book looks at how, in recent times and mainly thanks to Biblical scholarship, we have begun to see "the Jesus story" in a new light — the light of liturgy. [more]

052 :
02 Nov 2008

Is the priesthood as we've known it obsolete? In his last commentary on the meaning of Sacraments today, Tom McMahon asked us to imagine two railroad trains of thought side-by-side, one on a switch track and the other on what used to be the Trentan mainline. He dared to say the Trent-line's tracks are today somewhat twisted. He continues the analogy today and asks: who's on board which train? Can you find the hidden messages? [more]

083 :
01 Nov 2008

The Rise of St James… Dr Elmer introduces his commentary today with these words: "Much talk in the Church during recent decades has centred on the rise of Catholic fundamentalism or neo-conservatism. The heady days of Vatican II seemed to have slowed as conservative forces within the Church have sought to slow change and progress. Once again, events surrounding Paul's early commerce with the Jerusalem apostles remind us of these events and provide insight into the social dynamics at work in times of change. In particular, we explore this week the rise of the conservative James in the wake of the Hellenists' mission in Antioch." [more]