012 :
31 Dec 2007

A ten-step program for developing a Parish Constitution… Today's commentary is the whole of Chapter V of Professor Swidler's presentation to the Old St Mary's Parish in Philadelphia. In it he outlines a ten-step program for setting up a democratic parish under a written constitution. [more]

033 :
30 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XIII: It's a short meditation from Bishop Robinson today but one that fits like a glove with the series of commentaries we've been running from Professor Len Swidler on Mondays. Bishop Robinson asks if the greater involvement of all the people in the governance of the Church would make recent scandals like the recent crisis caused by sexual abuse less likely? We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

005 :
29 Dec 2007

The meaning of Jesus… Fr John says this reflection was first published in Perth's "The Record" about fifteen years ago and drew passionate responses both in favour of what he wrote and others wanting to haul him over hot coals. Today he says he's not quite as angry as he was then with the institution but the thrust of what he wrote still holds. Rounding out his reflection from last Saturday, he argues we need to find the Christ-child within ourselves. It's an argument inviting us to view Jesus as the model for our lives. [more]

533 :
28 Dec 2007

Had they only listened? Editor, Brian Coyne, comments on some disturbing statistics from America underlying the growing divide between Church teaching and what ordinary Catholics in the pews believe. [more]

071 :
26 Dec 2007

Celebrating Christmas... Today we republish Peregrinus' commentary from 2006. It bears re-visiting becauce, in his usual style, he really does present a different twist to the usual sort of reflections and homilies we can expect at this time of the year. [more]

058 :
25 Dec 2007

The essence of following Christ? In many ways this is Dr Kania's most confronting commentary we've yet published on Catholica. It's confronting in the sense of timing: on Christmas Day he asks us if we're a Christmas people or an Easter people? It is perhaps also confronting for many in its Christology. Perhaps this is a discussion we might embark on in the new year? [more]

011 :
24 Dec 2007

How the character of Catholicism developed in the United States… This will be a fascinating commentary for readers seeking an overview of the character of Catholicism in the United States. The bulk of the commentary is an examination as to how the national character of Catholicism in that country was formed. Professor Swidler concludes with the particular arguments he placed to the audience he was addressing at Old St Mary's Church in Philadephia urging the adoption of a constitution in their parish. [more]

032 :
23 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XII: Bishop Robinson in his book now turns his attention to the Beliefs of the Church. He argues: "The promise of Jesus Christ was not that the church will never make mistakes, but that it will survive its mistakes". Today's meditation is on this nexus at the heart of Bishops Robinson's argument: the conflict between the search for certitude and the search for truth. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

004 :
22 Dec 2007

The meaning of Christmas… For the last two Saturdays of the year Fr John O'Keefe has two seasonal reflections which invite us to look at the meaning of Christmas through the eyes of children. He suggests: "One of the wonderful things about children is that they very soon learn to ask questions. Asking questions is also an important part of becoming fully human." [more]

033 :
21 Dec 2007

A Christmas thought and prayer… Editor, Brian Coyne, reviews his year, takes up a few thoughts he read in The Tablet overnight, and attempts to come up with a unifying thought and prayer as his Christmas wish. [more]

524 :
19 Dec 2007

Should the Church change tactics if it is serious about reducing abortion? We have a double-barrelled lead commentary today. Firstly there's a lengthy submission by Antony O'Brien to the Victorian Law Reform Commission which is looking at Abortion Law Reform. Secondly in our email commentary editor of Catholica, Brian Coyne, asks some hard-nosed questions about whether Catholics and the Church ought not to change tactics if we are to be really serious about reducing the incidence of abortion in Western society. [more]

057 :
18 Dec 2007

Castles in the Air! Rounding out last week's commentary, Dr Kania takes a look at that passage from St Luke's Gospel where Jesus provides some advice on the sort of foundation we ought build our lives upon. [more]

010 :
17 Dec 2007

Creating a "Constitution" for your Parish… Don't be put off by the title. In many ways you'll find this one of the most interesting of all Professor Swidler's essays. It'll causes one of those pleasant feelings you have when you read something and end up exclaiming "well, I never know that before". Much of this is written from an American perspective but it's valuable history to know. [more]

521 :
17 Dec 2007

Aus Bishops "open up" in a report to their people… The Australian Bishops have released a most comprehensive report of their recent plenary meeting outlining a range of interesting initiatives that indicate a new seriousness about addressing the underlying reasons why people have become disenchanted with the institution. [more]

031 :
16 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XI: In Chapter Eleven Bishop Robinson tackles the painful issue of sexual abuse. His reflection might be seen as having a triple focus: the largest part is devoted to what needs to be done to heal the victims; he also discusses the healing the Church needs to take on board; running through the reflection is the question of the spiritual damage done by abuse and the need for spiritual healing. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

003 :
15 Dec 2007

The challenges facing Catholic Religious Education in Australia! In this third major commentary on Catholic Religious Education in Australia we explore the perspectives of an RE teacher, Peter Marendy, working at the coal-face in a Catholic Secondary College. We see this commentary as a "discussion starter" and encourage responses from teachers and educational administrators to the provocative perspectives this commentary raises from what is actually a diverse number of political perspectives. [more]

004 :
14 Dec 2007

A Christmas crib reflection… To contribute to the spirit of the season Ted Mason takes a light-hearted look at why the poor old shepherds keep getting a bad press. And we wish you a Happy Christmas too. [more]

003 :
13 Dec 2007

Adultism! One might well ponder if we need anymore "–isms" in the world especially one named "adultism". Fr John O'Keefe presents a stack of thoughts that are worth pondering in the lead-up to Christmas. [more]

070 :
12 Dec 2007

Science & Religion Part III: Objections to Intelligent Design In his conclusion to the Science -vs- Religion debate Peregrinus looks at some objections that have been raised against the Theory of Intelligent Design which some put forward as a way of bridging the gulf between the unscientific ideas of Creationism and the Scientific Method. [more]

056 :
11 Dec 2007

Getting through the "Eye of the Needle"! At heart this commentary from Dr Andrew Kania is about how to develop a good attitude to wealth, money and material possessions. It's something worth meditating on often: how to thread your way through "the eye of the needle"! [more]

009 :
10 Dec 2007

The five "Copernican turns" of Vatican II (conclusion)… Professor Swidler brings to a close this Chapter with its focus on the implications of Vatican II for Church governance, reform and our self-understanding of our relationship with God and with the other religions of the world. In the final section he provides a recap of what he has termed "the five Copernican Turns of Vatican II". [more]

030 :
09 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus X: Chapter Ten of Bishop Robinson's book is possibly the most interesting to many lay Catholics who have msigivings about Catholic Church teaching on human sexuality. In this Chapter, Bishop Robinson explores what the teachings actually are and also explores places where they might have gone off the rails or have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

067 :
08 Dec 2007

St Stephen… This is Dr Ian Elmer's last commentary for Catholica for a while. He has been called to higher things and the long voluntary commitment he has made to Catholica since we started has come to an end. Catholica is not an academic journal and in the new year Ian will be moving on to write for academic journals where his work is subject to the "peer review" which is essential to further consolidate his credentials now that he has been awarded his doctorate. I trust the readers of Catholica will join me in extending our deep appreciation to you, Ian, for the enormous contribution you have made to Catholica Australia in our first 18 months of publishing. We will certainly look forward to seeing your work in more august journals around the world and, from time to time, borrowing from them to publish here. Ian, we are already aware of the wonderful reputation you have established amongst the young people you have been teaching. It has been wonderful having here in Catholica two gifted teachers like yourself and Dr Andrew Kania who both have exceedingly high rapport with young people as teachers. We need many more like you who can open up "the Good News of Jesus Christ" in a world that has been closing its ears to his "Good News". We wish you well in now going on to enthuse much larger audiences. Ian's final commentary for us today is a joy-filled Advent commentary looking at the guy who helped start all this Christmas caper, St Stephen. [more]

001 :
07 Dec 2007

A plea from the heart… On a regular basis now we receive unsolicited commentaries and reflections from readers and, where possible, we endeavour to slot them into our publishing schedule. Today's contribution comes from Kerry Gonzales whom I do not know other than what you will read in this essay. What she writes struck me as a "from the heart" plea and I feel many will be attracted to the frankness and honesty of what she expresses. …Brian Coyne, Editor [more]

069 :
05 Dec 2007

Science & Religion Part II: Intelligent Design Peregrinus continues his exploration of the Science -vs- Religion debate, in this commentary his ultimate focus is the contemporary debate on Intelligent Design but he ends up frankly admitting he doesn't have the answers from a scientific perspective. What he discloses however is important groundwork for a discussion on the philosophical objections which he will tackle in the third part of this series next week. [more]

014 :
04 Dec 2007

Bishops' Response to Petitioners… The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson, has responded to the signatories to the petition via Paul Collins on behalf of the Conference. We publish the letter of response and comments by Dr Paul Collins. [more]

055 :
04 Dec 2007

What does it profit us to...? What this commentary boils down to is this: the moral behaviour of each one of us, no matter how insignificant we think we are in the grand schema of Creation, does matter. We each have a very fundamental choice: we can contribute to making our world a better place or we can contribute to making it a less civilised place. Originally titled, "What does it profit a man…? (cf. Mk. 8:36)", Dr Kania takes us on a journey looking at the core insight into Robert Bolt's play, "A Man for All Seasons" which examined the life, and death, of St Thomas More. [more]

008 :
03 Dec 2007

The five "Copernican turns" of Vatican II (cont'd)… Professor Len Swidler's focus today is possibly the gutsiest part of this Chapter. He looks at the reforms that the assembled wisdom of the Church's bishops sought to implement at the Second Vatican Council towards greater colleagiality and shared decision making. He also looks at the call for a different sort of relationship with the peoples of other faiths. [more]

032 :
03 Dec 2007

A thank you… A post on the CathNews Discussion Board by a Dominican Sister on Saturday, 1st December 2007, prompted this response in tribute to all the religious women and men who helped lift Catholic Australians into the social mainstream. [more]

029 :
02 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus IX: Bishop Robinson argues: "If the Catholic Church is to regain some credibility after the many scandals of sexual abuse, it must first learn to speak with humility, intelligence, realism and compassion about all aspects of human sexuality". We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

066 :
01 Dec 2007

Who then were the founders of the Church in Rome? Over the last two weeks Dr Elmer has explored two possible candidates for the honour of founder of the Church in Rome, Paul and Peter. His exploration of the material from Paul's letter to Rome suggests that neither of these apostles can claim that title — although the later Roman apologists would make that claim for them. This week he looks at further scholarly speculation about who the true founders of the Roman church may have been and when Christianity first came to Rome. [more]