161 :
25 Dec 2010

Of Stories and Truth... With this Christmas commentary from Dr Andrew Kania we wish all our readers and members of Catholica a deeply happy Christmas and total spiritual fulfilment in whatever your New Year brings. [more]

027 :
19 Dec 2010

Coming to full personhood through love... Here's a wonderful reflection from John Chuchman that cuts somewhere to the heart of our universal spiritual quest. We all yearn to love, and be loved. As John says: "At our deepest core, there seems to be an inviolable truth that attracts, heals, inspires and unites." [more]

003 :
18 Dec 2010

Thanks Anyway, I prefer the Mystery! Here's another piece of God-incidence: honest to God Bill Farrelly sent us this commentary some weeks ago, long before the discussion Vynette has triggered on Catholica about the mystery of the Virgin Birth. What Bill writes though fits in so well with that discussion and no doubt will fire the discussion up even further. He takes the question wider though to ponder: why are we human beings so afraid of mystery? [more]

010 :
16 Dec 2010

Dining with Jesus: the meaning of remembrance and presence... This is a deceptive commentary from Dr Brian Gleeson. Is that something that is almost de rigeur from a Passionist? He's submitted it as a response to some of the recent discussion on the Catholica Forum about the meaning of the Eucharist. It might be argued this commentary seeks to encapsulate all the very best of Vatican II spirit eucharistic theology and understanding in one place. [more]

158 :
15 Dec 2010

Strange Bedfellows... Last week's commentary from Tom McMahon was only the warm-up. In this commentary and his next he's into the main game attempting to examine the relationship between these strange bedfellows; Homosexuality, Homophobia and Religion/Church. It's difficult territory to discuss in public but Tom makes the attempt. [more]

160 :
14 Dec 2010

The Goats... BEWARE: Today's commentary from Dr Andrew Kania is as likely to be seen as confronting to conservatives as it is to liberals. It is the long-delayed second part of a commentary from Andrew we published back in April this year looking at the clerical abuse crisis in the Church. You may or may not agree with everything that Dr Kania argues but we are sure you will agree that this is a thought-provoking and powerful commentary. [more]

009 :
13 Dec 2010

Questioning the Virgin Birth Part 6... After a lengthy absence following the death of her own mother, Vynette Holliday returns today to continue her examination of the Gospel of Luke and its implications for the genealogy of Jesus and his mother Mary and the Doctrine of the Virgin Birth. Fasten your seatbelts for this one and lock the kids away so that can't read it! [more]

026 :
12 Dec 2010

We all seek something... Whatever our disenchantments and disagreements might be with the institutional church, we are all still on a personal journey seeking meaning and ultimate fulfilment in our lives. John Chuchman's short reflection today tries to encapsulate something of the universals of what we all seek. His thoughts provide much useful fodder for quiet reflection on what each of us seeks out of life. [more]

168 :
10 Dec 2010

The Puzzles about Mary... The Mother of God: she's a big puzzle isn't she — a complex figure built on scant biblical evidence? This is the biblical puzzle Dr Ian Elmer explores in today's commentary which is particularly appropriate to the Advent season and the build up to Christmas. [more]

086 :
09 Dec 2010

The cultural crisis in Catholicism... The Catholic Church is facing a massive crisis in participation — people have given up participating in the sacraments and listening to what the bishops and the institution has to say. This video commentary from the publisher of Catholica, Brian Coyne, is about this crisis and addresses what the author says is a deep cultural crisis in the institution that lies at the heart of society's disillusion with the Church. [watch the video]

157 :
08 Dec 2010

Institutionalised Homophobia! Tom McMahon today takes on the big one: institutionalised homophobia — tentatively, at least. This is a beginning exploration, largely based around some research he's been doing and, in particular, an interview in Spiegel Online with gay theologian, David Berger, which he invites you to read and provide feedback on in our forum. Tom will continue his exploration next week. He suggests the study is important even if, at the end of the day, there might be no easy answers. [more]

159 :
07 Dec 2010

The will to live against the odds... There ar some inspiring lines in this commentary from Dr Andrew Kania. Broadly he's exploring the will to live in times of adversity using the story of New York Yankees baseball legend, Lou Gehrig. It's about character building and finding the Spirit within. [more]

002 :
06 Dec 2010

The Trouble with Women! Bill Farrelly enters the lion's den with the headline he chose for today's article. Fear not, gentle souls, he has come to smite a certain type of man — funnily enough, the sort that are often seen parading around in dresses. Bill's trying to curry favour with the other half of humanity — and making a few hard-hitting points at the same time. It's doubtful though if the men in dresses might be capable of listening yet. [more]

025 :
05 Dec 2010

Spiritual Lessons learned... In his accompanying email to this commentary, John Chuchman writes by way of introduction: "Though, some may say the attached still smacks of sour grapes re institutional church, that was not my intent. Institutional Church is from whence I came and it has been a vital step in my spiritual growth. I don't deny my past, but neither do I let it trap me. My objective is not to diss the institution, but to share the lessons I am learning in moving beyond it." [more]

055 :
04 Dec 2010

Mandatory Celibacy: Is it an ancient, uncorrected heresy? Part 2 This is the second part of the extract from Edgar Davie's book examining, through the very logical thinking an engineer might bring to the subject, where the Church teaching on Mandatory Celibacy for the priesthood came from, and whether it might be mandatory celicacy that is a major contributor to the present clergy sex crisis? Mr Davie's conclusion, after a long study, is that Mandatory Celibacy actually conflicts with what Jesus Christ thought and taught and is an ancient Gnostic heresy that has never been corrected in the Western Catholic Church. [more]

054 :
03 Dec 2010

Mandatory Celibacy: Is it an ancient, uncorrected heresy? Edgar Davie is NOT a theologian. He's a retired civil engineer and realist portrait artist based in Tennessee. He's also a committed and actually rather conservative lay Catholic who takes his faith very seriously. He has recently published a book examining, through the very logical thinking an engineer might bring to the subject, where the Church teaching on Mandatory Celibacy for the priesthood came from, and whether it might be mandatory celicacy that is a major contributor to the present clergy sex crisis? Mr Davie's conclusion, after a long study, is that Mandatory Celibacy actually conflicts with what Jesus Christ thought and taught and is an ancient Gnostic heresy that has never been corrected in the Western Catholic Church. [more]

167 :
02 Dec 2010

Was Jesus Born in Bethlehem? One of the earliest stories we must learn as Christians is the Christmas story — the story of the birth of the Saviour of the World. Nativity scenes plant the story firmly in our mind as children as historical fact. Increasingly, modern biblical scholarship is showing us that these stories were less about historical fact and more about theological lessons. But did we learn the real lessons? In today's commentary, Dr Ian Elmer takes us on a fascinating exploration of the stories the Gospel writers — particularly Luke and Matthew but with a little input from John — were endeavouring to relate in the accounts they wrote of the birth narrative of Jesus. This is a fabulous reflection for Advent and the lead-up to Christmas — adult spirituality at its best! [more]

156 :
01 Dec 2010

The Trentan Priesthood cannot reform itself! Despite the many good individuals it has produced Tom McMahon argues the priesthood and seminary system is incapable of reforming itself. If there is hope for the future it has to rest with the laity. [more]

158 :
30 Nov 2010

On Commitment... In many ways this commentary from Dr Andrew Kania is in significant contrast to the discussions we've been having on Catholica concerning the decline in Sacramental meaning and participation. It is a commentary that cuts to the meaning of Sacrament and Sign and obliquely raises questions as to why Commitment has declined in contemporary society. Or has it simply started to find expression in new ways? [more]

053 :
29 Nov 2010

Bill Nelson's story... Today we present a commentary that was given to me at the recent ACARP Conference by Bill Nelson (the pseudonym he used in Chrissie Foster's book "Hell on the Way to Heaven"). This is a speech Bill gave at the launch of Chrissie's book back in early September. Bill was the first victim of Fr Kevin O'Donnell who went to police and started the ball rolling that eventually led to the uncovering of the full depth of the deeply damaging behaviour this paedophile was engaged in — damaging to so many innocent children and their families, damaging to the Church he represented, damaging to the reputation of all priests and bishops, and damaging to the set of ideals, principles and beliefs held by all the baptised. ...Editor [more]

024 :
28 Nov 2010

The language of God... Today's reflection from John Chuchman doesn't need an introduction other than to ask: where, when or how will we find a community that takes us back to the Divine insights of Jesus? Does humanity need an 'institution' to do that or will we find, or build, a different structure to help us collectively remember the insights of Jesus in the future? [more]

001 :
27 Nov 2010

Getting a better fix on sex... Please welcome Bill Farrelly to the pages of Catholica. Bill is a former Sydney Morning Herald journalist who, like a lot of us more mature lay Catholics, has a few questions about where the Church seems to be heading these days. His question today is as much directed at God as it is at any hierarchical leaders. Yes, God, why did you have to organise it in this way? [more]

166 :
25 Nov 2010

Do you believe in an afterlife and resurrection? Again we have another fascinating and informative commentary from Dr Ian Elmer today. Now this is a real "puzzling passage": we hear constant talk of "bodily resurrection", but what is this theological concept trying to get at? This is one of the best, short explanations you're likely to find anywhere. [more]

155 :
24 Nov 2010

The yearnings of the priest for intimacy... Sex is the "elephant in the room" in almost any discussion these days concerning the future of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. In recent days Pope Benedict seems to have taken tentative steps — "testing the water" so to speak — of a slight change to what we were all told up until recently was immutable. Tom McMahon's commentary today does not directly address the breaking news of the moment but it does address the "elephant in the room" in a personally courageous way. There must be few in the world courageous enough to speak as openly about his personal journey as Tom does in today's commentary. [more]

157 :
23 Nov 2010

The importance of conscience in guiding us to happiness and heaven... Dr Andrew Kania begins today's commentary examining Shakespeare's play, Henry VI. He then links these insights into the observations of an earlier writer, St Gregory of Nazianzen looking at the follies of human behaviour. [more]

025 :
20 Nov 2010

An Open Letter to the Cardinal? Fr Dan Donovan originally titled this commentary as an "Open Letter to Cardinal Pell". On reflection though it addresses issues of much wider concern even if there was the slightest indication that anyone at the top of the ecclesial food chain is the slightest bit interested in the things we discuss on Catholica, or which have driven nearly 90% of the baptised out the door. The Catholic Church hierarchy of today seems only interested in pandering to the needs of a tiny subset of the baptised and the rest of us can all "go to Hell". That said, Fr Donovan's letter does address some issues that the majority might like addressed. From Tempe to Leeds to Manhattan or anywhere else on planet Earth the broad body of the faithful face similar issues to the one's addressed in this commentary. Don't hold your breath waiting for an official reply! ...Editor [more]

165 :
19 Nov 2010

Where did our ideas of the physical church come from? Fascinating material for study and reflection comes from this commentary from Dr Ian Elmer. He's looking at the place of the Synagogue in the life and stories of Jesus but it leads to a fascinating exploration of the place of the church or place of worship in our contemporary world. Where did our ideas of the physical church come from? [more]

154 :
17 Nov 2010

A Dysfunctional System... Tom McMahon argues in today's commentary that the system that formed both priests and lay people was dysfunctional with its emphasis on guilt. The Second Vatican Council was an attempt to develop an alternative way of looking at and forming ourselves. [more]

156 :
16 Nov 2010

Searching for an authentic Christology to live by... Today's commentary from Dr Andrew Kania is not a long way removed from many of the present discussions on Catholica discussing alternative ways of reclaiming our spirituality. The authentic Christian is not driven by some deep need to prove how much better, or more holy, they are than anyone else. They are driven by a desire to befriend those who might think differently — a desire to understand their perspectives on life even if they themselves do not accept the alternative perspectives. Andrew suggests Jesus is the model but so are saints like Dominic, Francis and Ignatius. [more]

033 :
15 Nov 2010

Healing the victims of clerical sexual abuse and healing the institutional culture! The editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, presents this report of the inaugural Australasian Clergy Abuse, Reparation & Prevention Conference held in Sydney last Friday. [more]

023 :
14 Nov 2010

What does Communion call us to do? PeterR in the Catholica Forum often reminds us that "Eucharist is a verb, not a noun!" Today's reflection from John Chuchman could be offered as a reflection on that insight of Peter's. What does Communion call us to do? [more]

1558 :
11 Nov 2010

We ARE back... Finally I've got everything here reconfigured to get back to some kind of normal publishing schedule. My apologies for the length of the outage – and thank you for all the offers of support in various ways. The sad news I have to convey though is that one of our most cherished contributors to the Catholica conversations, PeterR, had a massive heart attack on Sunday. Please keep Peter, and his wife Betty, in your prayers. ...Brian Coyne, Editor [see Betty's message about Peter in the forum] | [today's email]

1554 :
08 Nov 2010

Technical Outage... A quick email today to inform you that I have had some major technical difficulties with my own computer. The Catholica website is not effected and I am no "back on air" in a limited sense to be updating the website and contributing to discussions. Hopefully all should be "back to normal" tomorrow. I've posted further details on our forum. [more on the forum] | [today's email]

1553 :
06 Nov 2010

Surviving Hell on the Way to Heaven... We have a slight change to our publishing schedule from today. The publisher of Catholica, Brian Coyne, explains the changes and gives a bit of a pep talk in our email today. [more]

006 :
05 Nov 2010

The pope should resign! Investigative journalist, Joe Rigert, and abuse campaigner, Richard Sipe, have upped the stakes in the continuing controversy of clerical sexual abuse by suggesting that Pope Benedict and all bishops complicit in the scandal should voluntarily resign. They argue in this commentary especially prepared for Catholica "the Catholic Church today is in need of a reformation as profound (and breathtaking) as any in its history". [more]

164 :
04 Nov 2010

What is the standard of righteousness and perfection we are called to? Today's commentary and reflection from Dr Ian Elmer cuts to the heart of the challenge facing any modern Christian as much as it cuts to the heart of the people Jesus was addressing two millenia ago: what standard of thinking and behaviour are we called to by our beliefs — and by our very existence? [more]

153 :
03 Nov 2010

The two worlds that confronts modern humankind... Tom McMahon begins his commentary today with two tributes to friends who have passed away in the last week or so: George Grantham, who he met in Bunbury on his visit to Australia 15 months ago, and Mary Bell, much closer to his own present home. He then introduces the theme he'd like to explore further next week: "the awesome contrast between two worlds that confronts modern humankind." [more]

1548 :
02 Nov 2010

Two Visions: where do you line up in this race? Melbourne Cup Day in Australia has become a day of great celebration, and distraction. The race is about to be run as I write this and there probably won't be too much interest in spiritual matters or spiritual races over the next 24 hours in this country. After much hunting around for a suitable commentary for today we've chosen an idealogical or theological or ecclesiological contest. It's the one between former theological colleagues and heavyweights, Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger. The homilist at St Mary's in Exile in Brisbane last Sunday, Greg Latemore, presented a table outlining the differences in vision between the two men. Our question for discussion/reflection today is where do you line yourself up in this field of ideas? [more]

1547 :
01 Nov 2010

Enough quality reflection for a month of Sundays... In place of a lead commentary on Catholica today Fr Stephen Truscott SM has drawn our attention to the proceedings of the Inaugural Symposium of the Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction which was held last Friday and Saturday. On the AECSD website you can read short summaries of the more than 20 papers presented. The theme of the Symposium was "Exploring contemporary spirituality and its impact on the practice of spiritual direction". Alternatively you can download all the papers in one pdf file. There are many themes explored in the papers which will be of interest to the people who are attracted to what we discuss on Catholica. Spiritual Direction is an ancient calling in Christianity but seems to be enjoying something of a resurgence illustrated by the emergence in this country of an Ecumenical Council of Spiritual Directors. For people looking for a Spiritual Director the AECSD website provides a list of contacts and the papers presented at the Symposium provide an excellent overview of the different approaches different spiritual directors bring to their work. [AECSD website] | [Today's email]