103 :
30 Apr 2009

Girl Fight in Philippi! Today's commentary from Dr Ian Elmer might be approached as an excellent discussion, or lesson, in the art of conflict resolution. It's about a spat that broke out between two women at Philippi and how Paul sought to resolve the tension and restore harmony in his community. Have you ever had to mediate to keep the peace in your family, or your community? This is a lesson worth reflecting on for those times. [more]

074 :
29 Apr 2009

Learning from past mistakes... Tom McMahon argues today: "the period following the sexual revolution of the 1960's shattered ties with the Victorian era while offering a dismal aftermath of broken marriages and dysfunctional families; we seem to have failed to hit the jack pot of those who live happily ever after ... Jesus would come ready to work with the ever present human potential, not demanding perfection." [more]

119 :
28 Apr 2009

Hymn to Her (cf John 21:25): The Byzantine Easter occurred a week after the Latin Easter this year and today's commentary from Dr Andrew Kania is a speculation following on from his Eastern celebration that speculates theologically on a post-Resurrection meeting between Jesus and his mother Mary. He is assisted in his speculation with excerpts from the Byzantine Easter Liturgies and some thoughts on this speculated meeting given by Pope John Paul II in 1997. [more]

052 :
27 Apr 2009

14.1: Novatus and Novatian Today and next week the selection from Tom Lee's manuscript is from a short chapter entitled "Two Asps in One Basket". It looks at the activities of the two like-named stirrers, Novatus and Novatian, or made life a little difficult for Bishops Cornelius and Cyprian. As though Bishops of the time needed these sort of vipers given the pressure the Romans continued to place on Christians. [more]

007 :
26 Apr 2009

The pursuit of Truth... A series of power failures caused by high winds up here in the Blue Mountains have prevented preparation of a lead commentary today. Today's late email draws attention to an ongoing discussion in the forum triggered by yesterday's commentary on truth and the mission of religion. [more]

053 :
25 Apr 2009

Truth Conquers! The Editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, in this commentary explores some important territory: what's the ultimate objective of our institutional and personal life quests? It's a question linked to some questioning going on in the back room at Catholica at the moment as we endeavour to discern the objective of our endeavour or mission. [more]

102 :
23 Apr 2009

A love letter? It's an interesting question whether St Paul ever wrote an intimate love letter in his life. It is perhaps ironic that some of his words on love are amongst the most popular chosen for wedding ceremonies. Our lead commentator today, Dr Ian Elmer today resumes his journey with St Paul after the pause last week to look back in overview of where we've travelled so far. He's looking at St Paul's dealings with the community at Philippi — a community that Paul appears to have held in high regard. [more]

073 :
22 Apr 2009

Camelot and the revolt against Victoria... Tom McMahon continues his provocative exploration of the evolution of the institution of marriage as perceived by the ordinary person in society, the ordinary person in the church, and those who acted as God's spokespersons within the Church. In recent days in Australia we've learned that even fewer people now are seeking nuptials in a religious ceremony. Is the Church's grip on the lives of ordinary people weakening? [more]

118 :
21 Apr 2009

Jesus Wept (cf John 11:35): The stories of Martha, Mary and Lazarus have been a favourite theme of painters. That perhaps reflects the impact these stories have had on Christians down through the centuries. In todfay's lead commentary Dr Andrew Kania goes in search of the deeper meaning to be drawn from the story of the Raising of Lazarus. Andrew titled this essay "Jesus Wept (cf. John 11:35)". [more]

006 :
19 Apr 2009

Does God need, or answer, our prayers? Via our email list today we are drawing wider attention to a discussion that has been underway on the Catholica forum for three days already. James started it by posting a column by Klaus Ziegler in El Espectador, the Colombian daily. James concludes: "I am not sure if Newberg and Waldman have got to the stage of comparing the dendrite growth rates in believers and non-believers … in any event, it seems from what they say, that prayer, whether of the contemplative type, or just straight out toadying and groveling is good for us. And so is putting a Zeigler on it all." What are your thoughts on prayer: do you have a sense that God needs your prayers – or answers your prayers? [more]

031 :
18 Apr 2009

The morality and lessons behind comic book heroes: Here's Daniel Gullotta again to challenge your certitudes and thinking. What can we learn from superheroes like Batman and other comic book characters? Daniel argues: "in turning our attention to Batman, or any superhero for that matter, we can draw out our understandings of vocation, purpose, fear, and what makes a true hero." [more]

035 :
17 Apr 2009

Planning for Priestless Parishes... Like many older Catholics George Ripon has found himself increasingly frustrated watching the steady exit out of the pews as the episcopal leadership turns increasingly inward and only interested in responding to the needs of those who seek certitude in preference to truth and consolation in the past in preference to providing effective responses to the real challenges of today. In today's commentary he puts forward a set of proposals that might provide the basis of an effective and pastoral response to the looming crisis in this country where, in the space of a further decade or two, there will simply not be enough ordained priests to go around. In a related article (see box in main commentary) we provide extensive coverage of a major development in the United States where parishioners in 18 dioceses have taken it into their own hands in an unprecedented appeal to the Vatican regarding Parish closures. [more]

101 :
16 Apr 2009

The meaning in the quest... Dr Ian Elmer takes a slight pause in his "Year of St Paul" commentaries to present an overview of why this year of study is valuable. He argues: "Whether it is the historical Jesus or the historical Paul we seek, our analyses can only assist us to some understanding of the historical and faith related issues surrounding the origins of Christianity." [more]

072 :
15 Apr 2009

Is marriage just about property and procreation? Where does love fit in? Historically, marriage seems to have been more to do with property and procreation than about love, sexuality and human relationship. Tom McMahon today looks at the changes taking place in society today in our societal attitudes towards marriage. The issue of same-sex unions is where the changing perceptions and tensions have been brought to a new focus. Is the institutional Church interested in the search for ultimate truth (what is God's intention)? Or in not upsetting "the little people", challenging the comforting social mores and shibboleths that have developed over time, and preserving the controls it acquired over human relationships? [more]

117 :
14 Apr 2009

A post-Easter reflection: The Psalmist sings that ultimately our refuge is in God alone (Psalm 62:5). This is the theme Dr Andrew Kania takes up today for his post-Easter reflection. What lessons do we take from the Easter messages concerning death and resurrection? Andrew titled this essay "Hide and Seek". [more]

051 :
13 Apr 2009

13.5: The Pagan Mystery Religions that challenged Christianity (cont'd) Today Tom Lee's continues this fascinating section where he explores the connection between Christianity and the Pagan Mystery Cults of Rome. As with last week's commentary it makes for fascinating reading in conjunction with last night's conclusion on Compass by the British theologian, Dr Robert Beckford, exploring the connections Jesus has with other religions. [more]

980 :
12 Apr 2009

Easter Sunday 2009... No lead commentary today but if you are seeking something to reflect on there is a mountain of thoughtful posts in the forum from members of the Catholica Community — so much in fact that I've been getting messages in that people can't cope with it all. [Today's email] | [Holy Week Reflections]

052 :
11 Apr 2009

What will "church" look like in the future — Part V In the last commentary, Brian Coyne ended by suggesting there are three principal tools in communication that someone needs to be aware of if a message is to be successfully transmitted. He begins today with a re-capitulation of those principles before exploring where we (the institution) are presently falling short before concluding with some thoughts on the future character of the Church. [more]

978 :
11 Apr 2009

Reflections for Easter Saturday 2009... A lead commentary for today is still in the course of preparation and will be published this afternoon. Meanwhile in this quiet time you might spend time with our Holy Week Reflections. We would appreciate four more contributions from members who have not already contributed to complete our series of reflections. [more]

978 :
10 Apr 2009

Reflections for Good Friday 2009... 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 of the Trinitarian God. To assist in your reflection we have chosen a number of audio visual reflections from YouTube or we invite you to contribute to the active reflection we have been building on the Catholica Forum in recent days. The audio-visual reflections we have found on YouTube can be found HERE and you will find the reflection members of the Catholica Community have been building on our forum HERE. [more]

100 :
09 Apr 2009

St Paul as model for following Christ... Easter bears down on us. For many it is looked forward to as a break — a time for rest and recreation, a time to enjoy "the good life" our work has secured for us. Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today on St Paul is in part triggered by the recent discussion in the forum on the good life, the pleasant life, and the meaningful life. What are we here to live? We have a choice. In choosing to follow Christ though we often have to put up with much. It can be a life in chains. Do we choose to follow Christ in order to become mannacled or in order to secure a freedom that breaks all the chains that bind us? Perhaps that might be our collective reflection this Easter and use Dr Elmer's reflection on St Paul as the starting point... [more]

071 :
08 Apr 2009

The Middle Ages (cont'd)… Is there anybody in society who would not argue that the long-term stability of marriages is not a cornerstone of wider societal stability? Do any people seriously enter into a relationship with a hope that it will be temporary and short term? These are the bigger questions that lie behind this exploration of marriage that Tom McMahon is exploring in this series of commentaries. The reality is that throughout history the relationship between the sexes has posed challenges both at the societal level and the personal level. In today's commentary, Tom continues his exploration of attitudes to marriage in the Middle Ages — as he puts it: "we tip toe thru the wilted tulips of the Middle Ages". [more]

116 :
07 Apr 2009

Lenten Reflection 5: Today's commentary by Dr Andrew Kania is poignant and moving. It may lead you to coming to fresh insights into the meaning of the stories of Peter, and Jesus. It's a reflection on the questioning Jesus subjected Peter to. Are we subjected to similar questions in our lives? In today's email I have also recommended you invest the time to spend with this reflection and with the equally confronting issues I have raised from an entirely different direction in today's email. ...Brian Coyne (Editor) [more]

050 :
06 Apr 2009

13.4: The Pagan Mystery Religions that challenged Christianity For Australian readers of Catholica who happened to watch the documentary on the religious affairs program Compass last night Tom Lee's commentary today might be particularly valuable. He's exploring the Pagan Mystery Religions that posed a threat to Christianity and in particular Mythraism which has many similarities to Christianity in rituals, beliefs and the mythic and other stories that formed the basis of the belief system. [more]

006 :
05 Apr 2009

An active, contemporary reflection for Holy Week 2009... For our Sunday Forum this week I thought we might do something a little different. Yesterday (Sat, 4 April) on the forum Fr Andrew Gentry FCSF, offered a reflection on the Stations of the Cross based on contemporary social themes. I have taken the liberty of lifting his post to the Prayer and Spirituality Forum and what I propose is that we use it as a reflection through this coming Holy Week. What I envisage is that as members of the Catholica community as we reflect on a station or two each day we search out news stories and particularly an illustration that I might add to the reflection so that by the end of the week it is fully illustrated. [more]

051 :
04 Apr 2009

What will "church" look like in the future — Part IV In the fourth part of this extended series, Brian Coyne turns from discussion of what the objectives of the spiritual quest are to consideration of more practical issues. If we are to rebuild an effective Church we firstly need some consensus or agreement on what we're trying to communicate, then we need some agreement about our methodologies in how we get the message across. [more]

971 :
03 Apr 2009

The cost of Cathedrals and some deeper questions... There's no lead commentary today but today's email brings news of a huge cost blowout for the refurbishment of St Mary's Cathedral in Perth. That leads on to some deeper questions posed by the editor of Catholica. [more]

099 :
02 Apr 2009

The relationship between the letter and spirit of the law... One of the great beauties — and the tensions — in Catholic thought is the relationship between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. So often we find in the parables and examples of Jesus' life itself examples where the Teacher himself sought to draw out the relationship. His disciple, Paul, perhaps more than any other was the one who made this insight most clear. Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today seeks to explore more deeply this relationship between letter and spirit in Law in the thinking of St Paul. [more]

070 :
01 Apr 2009

The Middle Ages… The reality is societal attitudes change to many things as time unwinds and our knowledge changes. In today's commentary Tom McMahon is looking at how people looked upon marriage in the Middle Ages — and the changing attitudes within the clerical and monastic classes which were driven perhaps more from their own self-interests than any concern for the married. This is only an introduction to a period which Tom sees as crucial in forming attitudes that we still carry less as a heritage and more as a legacy today. [more]

115 :
31 Mar 2009

Lenten Reflection 4: How do we cleanse ourselves of religious hypocrisy? That's essentially the message of today's Lenten reflection by Dr Andrew Kania based on the thinking of St John Chrysostom. You can find the passage from Matthew (15:1-19) on the USCCB website HERE. [more]

049 :
30 Mar 2009

13.3: Where did the idea of Purgatory spring from? Today's excerpt from Tom Lee's manuscript starts out unpromisingly by mentioning a Pope we know almost nothing about, Urban I. Don't be put off by that though, in this 1300 or so words he packs in some important history surrounding the name of Origen, Tertullian and Hippolytus. Where did we get our ideas about Purgatory from? Who left us a record of the earliest liturgies? Find out today. [more]

027 :
29 Mar 2009

Video reports from the Catalyst Forum… Undoubtedly helped by the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney's decision to ban this meeting from being held on Catholic Church property, the organisation Catalyst for Renewal held an enormously enthusiastic one day intensive forum at the Salvation Army Congress Hall in Sydney on Saturday, 28th March 2009, to discuss Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's provocative book Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church — Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus. This book has generated extraordinary interest around the world and has now clocked up 20,000 sales according to the publisher. The editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, attended the Catalyst Forum with video camera and today presents some edited highlights of the Forum on the Catholica YouTube channel. [more]

048-50 :
28 Mar 2009

What will "church" look like in the future — Parts I-III The first two parts of this commentary were originally posted on the Catholica Forum on 24 and 25 March 2009. Overall the commentary is seeking to discern what the Church of the future might look like given some of the forces we see at work in society. This first part looked at the changing perceptions of the objective of belief. Part 2 looked at the consequences of the removal of a major incentive that operated in the past to draw people to Church. In this third part, published for the first time today, Brian Coyne presents two arguments, one secular and the other spiritually based, that might be used to encourage increased liturgical participation again. [more]

030 :
27 Mar 2009

A reflection on the call to priesthood: Here's something a little different to pull you up in your tracks for a while. Here on Catholica we've spent much time in the last year discussing the nature of priesthood, and how it is changing, and how it might need to change to better reflect the social and spiritual needs of our age. Today's essay was written last year by one of the yongest of our regular commentators, Daniel Gullotta, as part of his discernment process — which he assures us is on-going — as to whether he has the call to Anglican Orders. [more]

098 :
26 Mar 2009

The ultimate success of Paul... Today's lead commentator, Dr Ian Elmer, is celebrating another small milestone in his own academic career, and emerging international prominence as a Pauline specialist, with the publication in the last week of his doctoral dissertation, Paul, Jerusalem and the Judaisers by the German publishing house, Mohr Siebeck. Congratulations from all of us Ian. Today's commentary — which takes a big picture overview of Paul's battles with Peter and his followers — is largely taken from one chapter in his new book and examines how, despite the constant criticism that Paul was subjected to ultimately it was his ecclesial vision which seems to have won and been the basis on which the world was eventually evangelised. [more]

069 :
25 Mar 2009

WARNING: Don't read this commentary if you are afraid of having some of your most dearly-held and sacred beliefs challenged.

In search of the florist who sold the lillies to St Joseph! Tom McMahon is one commentator not afraid to confront the most cherished cliches, and the deepest held ideas contained in our mythologies and credal belief statements. To introduce today's commentary he writes: "We polar down Nazareth way, trying to find the florist shop that sold lilies to Joseph; we leave the Bronze Age, now using texts that circle the life of Jesus. We are on the trail of how ancients used the terms marriage and wife … the man in Joseph is out!" [more]

114 :
24 Mar 2009

Lenten Reflection 3: What a timely Reflection this is by Dr Andrew Kania given the extraordinary media story in Australia at the moment of the internationally-honoured judge, Marcus Einfeld, who appeared on television on Monday to apologise for lying after being sentenced to jail for his error. What deep lessons the story of Marcus Einfeld has for all of us. There but for the grace of God walk I! This is a beautiful, if chilling, reflection by Dr Kania exploring that complex territory around truth, lies and bearing false witness. [more]

048 :
23 Mar 2009

13.2: How we came by the title "Pope"… The early decades of the third century were a time of some debauchery in Rome, particularly under the boy-Emperor Elagabalus. Surprisingly he seems to have been nice to the Christians — perhaps because of the liberal outlook of the Bishop at the time, Callistus. But Callistus earned the wrath of the more hardliners including Hippolytus and Tertullian. Included in Tom Lee's commentary today is the story of how we came to have the term "pope". Originally Tertullian used it as a term of derision against the liberal policies adopted by Callistus. [more]

005 :
22 Mar 2009

How do we provide moral support to our bishops? An interesting, invigorating discussion has emerged on the forum in the last day or so on the meaning of priesthood and ministry. Late last night, after a day in bed feeling as sick as a dog for a long period, I emerged fired up having been reading some of Paul Collins' thoughts on the same subject. I posted some of them in that discussion string. They were from the second last chapter of his book. I had already decided that a good Sunday Forum series, leading on from the discussion last week, might be to look at the questions Paul raises in the last chapter of his book "Does Australian Catholicism have a future?" They are questions that very much intersect with the discussions we've been having. To kick this discussion off — or a little further along — I reproduce here a small section from the last Chapter where Paul is querying the manner in which our ecclesial and spiritual leaders are appointed... [more]

068 :
20 Mar 2009

Marriage at the time of Abrahama and the Bronze Age: As Tom McMahon suggested last week — and I think today's commentary reflects that. Our Tom is a brave man though — brave enough to ask some of the questions that are on everybody's lips but which are largely unvoiced because of various kinds of social or religious taboos. Today he's endeavouring to not so much answer questions but raise questions in the mind of the reader. What were the attitudes to marriage — and to women — six thousand years ago, long before anyone had heard the name Jesus Christ? What do we know of what women themselves thought in those earlier epochs of history? [more]

097 :
19 Mar 2009

Who will be saved? The editor of Catholica headlined today's email "Treasure This...": Today Dr Ian Elmer seeks to cut to the heart of St Paul's theology — what's this "I believe in Jesus" game ultimately really all about? Ian enttled the essay "Who will be saved?" but he's really delving deeper than that in an endeavour to give insight into Paul's thinking as to how we (collectively and individually) will be "saved". As Ian says: "resurrection and salvation are linked in Paul's writings, and one cannot consider one without the other". But what does "resurrection" and "salvation" actually mean when we strip away the ecclesial cliches that have come to bury the real meaning? [more]

113 :
18 Mar 2009

Lenten Reflection 2: In the second of his Reflections for Lent Dr Andrew Kania explores that difficult terrain most of us face in our lives at one stage or another — the feelings we have when we have been betrayed … and also how we feel when we have been guilty of betrayal. All of us can empathise with Peter — and with Jesus. Through meditation on these iconic stories we better prepare ourselves when we find ourselves cast in the position of a Peter, or a Jesus. [more]

026 :
17 Mar 2009

Issues regarding the Education of Eastern Catholics in Latin Catholic Schools… Catholica is in receipt of an important news story that has been forwarded to us with the authority of the Eastern Catholic Bishops resident in Australia. Last Friday, 13 March, the Bishops and leaders representing the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in Australia held a joint meeting in Sydney. They have endorsed a paper they had commissioned and have voiced a very strong complaint to the other Latin Church Australian Bishops and, through them, to the National Catholic Education Commission and the Catholic Education Offices and Catholic teachers of Australia concerning the religious education and treatment of Eastern Rite Catholic children in Australian Catholic schools. Catholica has been informed that Bishop Peter Stasiuk on behalf of the Eastern Catholic Bishops has been in touch with Archbishop Philip Wilson, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, who, according to Bishop Peter, has accepted there is solid foundation to the complaint and undertaken to have the matter placed on the agenda of the full meeting of the ACBC in May and Archbishop Philip has also undertaken to have the matter forwarded to the National Catholic Education Commission. This is a news story loaded with significant political implications not only for the Catholic Church in Australia but at the international level and, we submit, in realms entirely removed from the issues being addressed that are the focus of immediate complaint. We publish in full the background paper here which has been passed to Archbishop Philip Wilson. It makes for very, very interesting reading in light of some of the recent conversations we have been having on Catholica. [more]

047 :
16 Mar 2009

13.1: Controversy over the Trinity… We've now reached about the half-way point of Tom Lee's manuscript looking at the origins of Christianity. The story enters the third century and opens with a controversy over the meaning of the Trinitarian understanding of God. [more]

004 :
15 Mar 2009

Re-evangelising the Church — how would you do it? Catholica editor, Brian Coyne, seeks to kick off an extended conversation today on the issues of evangelisation and re-evangelisation. The bishops and the pope have been talking about it for decades — and spending billions attempting to do it — the result is that more and more people keep leaving. If you had access to their power, and the money they have at their disposal, what would you do differently to actually achieve something positive? [more]

034 :
14 Mar 2009

The Welfare of Former Nuns... In a landmark research study and discussion paper released a few days ago by the Victorian Women's Trust the treatment of former nuns has been described as "often inadequate, poor, and unjust, resulting in great hardship". To draw attention to the report we publish as our lead commentary today the Executive Summary to the research and discussion paper prepared by Susan Powell and Mary Crooks for the Women's Trust. [more]

008 :
13 Mar 2009

Sr Feralia on the meaning of Sharks in God's great Economy of Salvation... Sr Feralia returns after a long absence. We think she's been overseas studying on one of those junkets at l'Université catholique de Louvain that they send nuns on who are getting a little jaded or out of hand. Anyway, she's back at her best today following the recent spate of shark attacks in Sydney exploring the meaning of sharks in God's great Economy of Salvation. She reports that Fr Farzenheim is in his element with the sharks. [more]

096 :
12 Mar 2009

Was Paul a Misogynist? Dr Ian Elmer's commentary on Greed [link] written as part of the Seven Deadlies series in 2006 is still "climbing through the roof" in terms of the number of people reading it each week. Is the global economic recession causing such interest in the question of Greed? Today's commentary from Ian might come to rival that in that he has chosen a topical issue. This is how Ian himself introduces today's commentary: "Was Paul a misogynist? This is a question that is often asked classrooms, seminaries, parishes and in internet discussion forums. This question is particularly relevant in any examination of the Corinthian correspondence, which seems to offer conflicting answers to the question of Paul's attitude towards women." [more]

067 :
11 Mar 2009

Marriage – Intro and Part I: What a feast we have coming up on Wednesdays? Today Tom McMahon dips his timid toe in the water of that place where even angels might fear to swim — the relationship between men and women, the meaning of sexuality, sexual morality, marriage — and the meaning of all these things in a religious or sacramental context in today's milieu. After much reflection over recent months, Tom has decided to carve the subject up into eight historical epochs and examine how our ideas of marriage evolved down through time. [more]

112 :
10 Mar 2009

Lenten Reflection I: Andrew today begins a series of four reflections for Lent. This first reflection poses the question "Why did Jesus place himself in the predicament that he ended up in?" Andrew entitled this reflection "One Giant Leap" and suggests it be read in conjunction with the verses 3-4 from Psalm 8 which you will find at the conclusion of the commentary. [more]

046 :
09 Mar 2009

12.2: Persecution & Heresy Reign… You might want to skip the first part of today's commentary where Tom Lee describes the character of Commodus, one of the most thoroughly distasteful of the Roman Emperors. Unless you're a bishop or a theologian though, don't miss the second part, which contains some interesting reflections on the roles of bishops and theologians. They might want to throw Tom Lee to the lions after what what he writes today. [more]

003 :
08 Mar 2009

A focus on women Today is International Women's Day.  To focus attention on the long, and continuing, struggle women have had to fight for equality I sought permission from Ray Otto, and other members of the Catholica Forum, to move a post Ray wrote a few days ago on the members' forum into the more public Sunday Forum. Ray originally placed the post there to draw attention to the World Day of Prayer, which was celebrated on Friday. What he writes about though is a moving tribute to the work his wife, Monica, is engaged in seeking to improve the plight of women in her home country of Papua New Guinea. As a reflection today, I particularly draw your attention to the pdf document in Ray's post on his parish website. It is the address he gave at his parish last month on the plight of women in Papua New Guinea. [more]

033 :
07 Mar 2009

Electing our priests and bishops? Like many older Catholics George Ripon has found himself increasingly frustrated watching the steady exit out of the pews as the episcopal leadership turns increasingly inward and only interested in responding to the needs of those who seek simple answers and certitudes. In today's commentary he not only asks why can't the ordinary pew-sitters have a say in the election of bishops and priests, he also poses questions worth reflecting on as to whether we even need bishops today or, if we do, what is their role? [more]

015 :
06 Mar 2009

Catholic Tertiary Education in Australia In today's commentary, religious educator, Fr Daniel Donovan, argues the establishment of the first full Faculty of Theology in Australia at the Australian Catholic University provides rare opportunity for the collective ecclesial leadership in this country to make some critical decisions regarding the direction given to the university in particular, and Catholic Education in this country in general. The appointments made, and the tone the bishops establish for Catholic tertiary education have wider repercussions for our collective success in rejuvenating the institution in this country. Today's commentary is introduced by an editorial which argues: "One of the key starting points for the rejuvenation of Catholicism has to be a fundamental re-think of the role of the theologian in the Church and in society, and a fundamental re-think of the roles of bishops, the magisterium and the Catholic institutes of higher learning." [more]

095 :
05 Mar 2009

"Conflict at Corinth" Over the next two weeks Dr Elmer turns his attention to St Paul's dealings with the churches of Corinth. He draws out the continuing parallels between the events we ought learn from this early history of the Church and events that are destablising of the institution today. [more]

066 :
04 Mar 2009

Letters to My Children #2 Today Tom McMahon shares with us another of his letters written for his children and the archives. This one was written ten years ago in 1999 and is a pretty frank overview of his time as a priest and what led to his disillusion with clericalism and the institution. [more]

111 :
03 Mar 2009

The Cosmic Mystery of Christ – Part II In this conclusion to his two-part essay Dr Andrew Kania puts forward a mix of challenging philosophical and theological ideas that ought generate considerable debate. Largely based on the insights of the Russian Orthodox philosopher, Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), he presents a mix of ideas some of which will feel comfortable when read from within the Western theological tradition and others which might challenge our contemporary perspectives within the scientific perspectives we operate within in society today. [more]

045 :
02 Mar 2009

12.1: Persecution & Heresy Reign… The stories of the Christians and the Lions has an enduring fascination. Today Tom Lee recounts some of that story in the persecution that began in Lyons around the year 177. But this first of a two-part extract from Chapter 12 of his manuscript contains other valuable little insights into the origins of Christianity. For example when did the belief of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist develop? When did someone first start listing the Apostolic succession? What was the route by which Christianity first made its way to the Britons? [more]

008 :
01 Mar 2009

Who's in communion and who's out? Why? Kerry Gonzales explores what me mean by the terms being "in" or "out of" communion. The recent situation of St Mary's at the local level and the enthusiasm of the Vatican to welcome back members of the Society of St Pius X providing confusing and contradictory contrasts. [more]