The "shattered hopes" of Vatican II

Dear Friends,

It is our pleasure to day to introduce another commentator to Catholica Australia readers. His name is Dr Anthony Padovano and he is a leader of one of the oldest Church reform organisations in the United States, Corpus (www.corpus.org). Over the coming two weeks we will be bringing you excerpts from a lengthy essay in which he examines the shattered hopes of Vatican II and asks some cutting questions concerning the future of Catholicism. For our weekly readers I would also point out some invigorating discussion on our forum on the subject of priesthoood, Pope Benedict's current trip to the United Nations, and on our fundamental aspirations — does anyone seriously aspire to be "a saint" these days? What does this term mean when the Church urges us to be "holy" or "a saint"? <Read today's lead commentary>

The Pope's comment on the relationship between moral values and civil law… The visit of Pope Benedict to the United States and the United Nations is proving to be unexpectedly interesting from a range of different perspectives. His comments on the differences between the secular cultures of Europe and the United States in particular have generated considerable interest amongst those who have been following the lengthy discussion in recent years of the threat to religious values posed by secular culture. One of the most interesting observations was made by Sandro Magister yesterday with the brief comment and a more lengthy comment from Pope Benedict which Magister has taken from a book Benedict wrote in 2004 when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger and which we present as our lead commentary today. <more>

A New Experiment… Today's commentary is a new experiment linking into a commentary we published last year by Dr Patrick Collins which looks at the spirituality of Thomas Merton. Based on a remark by Thomas Merton quoted by Dr Collins, we ask "does anyone today seriously desire to be a saint?" For a full explanation of this experiment and how it has arisen read the daily e-bulletin for Wednesday, 16th April 2008 HERE. <more>

The Moving Hand… Dr Kania explores the ever-fascinating story of the sinking of the Titanic in search of answers to some questions that perhaps lie deeper than where the Titanic ended up. What is the role of Providence in our lives? What are the ultimately important standards by which we measure the value of our lives? <more>

31.4: Looking for positive alternatives… In this final extract from the conclusion to his book, Tom Lee shares some personal reflections on where his exploration has led him and his own beliefs today. <more>

Reflections on the nature of priesthood #12… Today Tom McMahon begins a two-part sub-series which he has entitled "Jesus, touch and skin". He is looking at new formulations of priesthood that might take us closer to the more authentic and original Jesus' vision. <more>

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life or in our world!

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher