Good News and Bad News
Tuesday, 5th December 2006

Dear friends,

A mixed bag of news today I am afraid. The bad news is that OnLine Catholics is to close from 20th December. OnLine Catholics was the first significant foray in Australia by someone into providing independent Catholic commentary that might provide some balance against the sychophantic public relations that comes out of the diocesean Catholic media in this country. It was a bold and brave initiative largely funded by the religious orders. For quite some time it has been apparent though that OnLine Catholics was on the ropes. They started out with a brave editorial policy but that has become increasingly timid as time has gone on. The chief problem was the publication simply did not provide enough "meat" for the editorial subscription price of $45 per year. When they recently announced a cut back "because some readers had complained there was too much to read" there was general consternation from the feedback we have picked up around the traps. There wasn't enough to begin with and we thought "who has made these complaints": sisters, brothers and priests in religious orders who are given free subscriptions!!!

The closure of OnLine Catholics, and also of Catholic New Times in Canada — which has been publishing for 30 years — helps underline the sick state of the Catholic Church in the world today. Here at Catholica we know how tough it is raising the necessary funds to continue publishing an independent and critical analysis of what the institutional leaders are doing. Who, honestly, could be bothered funding works that are designed to do the institution's own work of bringing the 85% back to the fold? Most of the people with the resources to fund initiatives like these left the Church long ago.

Here at Catholica we are determined to push on. Like OLC and Catholic New Times our endeavour has largely succeeded because of a huge input of voluntary effort by a large team of individuals. We thank all our writers and volunteers for that. We also thank those who have made the commitments to support our endeavour financially. This work, I submit, is as vital as any other charitable work the institutional Church takes on. We are aware of the critics and ney-sayers — like the retired Queensland vet on the CathNews Discussion Board who would like for nothing better than any publication he dislikes to be forced into closure — but what do any of them have to show for their endeavours to bring alive the Good News in our communities once again?

The Good News today is about the wonderful launch Mass and ceremony in Canberra yesterday for people with disabilities. There was a terrible accident on the Federal Highway which completely blocked traffic for three-quarters of an hour. That delayed the Mass slightly but what a celebration it turned out to be.

This is a very positive initiative from the Australian bishops which deserves support right across the Australian Church. It comes on the heals of the Bishops' report last week on why the Church is failing to reach out to the 85% of the population who have now ceased participation in the regular sacramental life of the Church. (See our editorial HERE.) This initiative to the disabled does provide an admission by the ecclesial leaders that we have been failing in our ministry to one small but vital sector of the community. Listening to the stories of these people with disabilities yesterday those of us who are not disabled can only thank God for what God has given to us. We all have a responsibility to do what we can to help carry our brothers and sisters in non-condescending ways which acknowledge and utilise the many gifts people with disabilities have despite the incapacities in some segments of their lives.

We do sincerely applaud the Australian bishops for both of the iniatives released in recent days which are designed to reach out and listen to sectors of the population who have felt alienated and cut off from the institutional Church. It was wonderful yesterday watching Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Bishop Eugene Hurley, Bishop Max Davis, Fr Brian Lucas (General Secretary of the ACBC) and Monsignor Jude Okolo (Counsellor to the Apostolic Nunciature in Australia) "hanging around" and really "listening" to the many people present with disabilities. In general terms I think we can be proud of the Bishops in Australia for the ways in which most of them attempt to listen to their flock. The Oceania Synod in Rome in 1999 did demonstrate that our bishops do listen and did attempt to represent their flock to the leadership in Rome. Does Rome yet understand the enormous damage that was done though by attempting to slap our bishops down? It is little wonder they are so silent normally as institutionally almost everyone has come to the conclusion it is of little use raising our voices against that tiny cohort who think they are the "thought police" for Catholicism in the Western world.

During the day I will be publishing more material from yesterday's launch ceremony including video of the homily by Bishop Eugene Hurley and the launch address by Bishop Max Davis. They are both worth listening to. Have a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world.

Australian Bishops launch initiative for People with Disabilities... The Australian Catholic Bishops launched a significant initiative in Canberra on Monday to develop a more inclusive attitude towards people with disabilities in the Australian community. We have an exclusive report of the Mass and Launch event with photos and video. [more]

What can we learn today from the disputes in the early Church? This week Ian is again looking at the differences in understanding between the different factions in the early Church with a view to helping us understand later disputes, such as the fracture with Martin Luther, and contemporary differences. [more]

On the challenges faced by independent Catholic media... The closure of OnLine Catholics in Australia and Catholic New Times in Canada has caused a buzz in the cloister this morning. Are the cloistered quartet afraid that they're going to lose their gig at Catholica Australia? The answer is "no" but it is a tough world. [more]

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia