The major challenges... Drawing on some material published in National Catholic Reporter this week, and his own intuitions, Brian Coyne, outlines what he believes are three of the major issues facing the institution at the moment. He's doing that to throw the question open for wider discussion. What do you think are the major issues facing the institution today? [more]

Further developments in the ongoing controversy over Catholic Education in Melbourne... Thursday's email commentary drew attention to a new blog by Melbourne priest, Fr Eric Hodgens, who queries recent high level developments in Catholic Education in Melbourne. [more]

Contrasting images of God... Peregrinus today applies his incisive legal mind in order to try and understand precisely what Jesus seems to be driving at in the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. Does it give a picture of a vengeful God or something altogether different? [more]

The Way (cf Psalm 40:6-8) Perhaps what might attract most interest today is that we have decided to open the invigorating discussion on Catholic Education that has been taking place in our members' forum in recent days. To follow this now lengthy discussions go directly to our forum. Any member of the public can read it. To post responses though you need to register as a member of the forum and/or log-in. Interestingly that was sparked by Dr Kania's article published in AD2000. Today his regular Tuesday commentary for Catholica explores the ways in which we witness to "The Way" of Jesus Christ. [more]

What lessons might this commercial television program have for the Church? Brian Coyne was gobsmacked last night not so much by the content of the climate change program, Cool Aid, screened on Network Ten, but by the rapidity with which a non-mainstream issue has moved to centre stage in such a short space of time. In his commentary today, Brian explores the possibility that there might be lessons in this for the Church? [more]

Overcoming our fear of the dark... Alan Simpson is the one responsible for the provocative headline this morning. It is a paradox that astronomers plead for less human-generated light and more God-generated light in order to see the stars more clearly and understand our cosmos. In a delightful reflection today Alan suggests we might learn from all of this in trying to understand our own lives a little better. [more]