What do you actually believe?

Dear Friends,

There has been much discussion in the Catholica forums in recent weeks exploring the precise nature of various people's beliefs. In this fascinating commentary, Kerry Gonzales, has been inspired by some of the forum discussion to go off and try and articulate both what she believes today and to give some insight into some of the forces that have shaped her adult beliefs. (No, the image in the headline is not of Kerry but of a model named "Jitka" — see the photo credits note at the conclusion of the article.) <Link to Kerry's reflection>

Should Catholics respect pro-choice people and atheists? The editor of Catholica was trying to have a short break from preparing a lead commentary today but he couldn't resist drawing attention to this BBC story which Alex Caughey has posted in our forum. In his own introduction, the editor wrote: "I was only musing to myself last night about the depths of my own distaste for some individuals who would call themselves 'Catholic' like myself. Sometimes I find myself honestly having more respect for sincere aetheists and non-believers than I do for some of the zealots in Catholicism who would claim to speak in my name. Frankly I do not subscribe to the same tenets of belief or practice that they do and their behaviours I find at times to be morally repugnant and an abomination of what I believe Catholicism stands for or is all about. It is certainly an interesting question that Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor opens up and which I think we might take further in openly discussing our attitudes to some of our co-religionists whom, I respect, are often sincere in their beliefs but who in my own opinion are deeply misguided. I also acknowledge freely that some of them think precisely the same thing about myself and my understanding of what Catholicism means." What do you think about these matters? Join our discussion... <more>

"The Power of Prayer?" The question Fr Patrick Collins and Thomas Merton is playing with in the commentary we are shadowing today is: "What do we do on our own and what do we do aided by grace?" How do we pray? How do we get rid of the distractions of life in order to deepend our relationship with God? is there a best way to pray? We also draw into this discussion the ideas presented in a string started yesterday looking at the Rosary and other traditional forms of prayer. <The Forum Discussion Thread> | <Dr Collins' original commentary>

New liturgical music for Australia… A conversation with one of Australia's leading liturgical music publishers, Monica O'Brien, managing director of Willow Publishing, and two fellow musicians and composers, Gina Ogilvie and Amanda McKenna. The 20-minute conversation covered much territory from how liturgical music has changed over the last 20 years, the attitude of the institution to contemporary Christian music, the new song book being produced by Willow and an invitation to musicians to submit their compositions for consideration. <more>

The power of music! Dr Kania explores the power that music hath to soothe the human soul. What did St Augustine mean in Sermon 336 when he wrote: "to sing once is to pray twice"? Who else has written interesting observations on the power of music? <more>

2.1: What did Jesus think he was doing? In this first of the more detailed excerpts from Tom Lee's book "The Invention of Christianity and the Papacy – the First 500 Years" we look at what we might discern of Jesus' self perception of his role and the perceptions of those around him… <more>

EXCLUSIVE: Preview of Pope Benedict's Holiday itinerary in Australia… Farmer Jack's back more jubilant than ever. Pope Benedict has accepted his invitation to have a holiday on his sheep station in outback New South Wales before World Youth Day starts. Jack gives readers of Catholica an exclusive peak at the itinerary he has lined up for his Holiness. The itinerary is only in draft form at this stage and others might like to add further suggestions via our forum. <more>

Our future is shaped by our commitments… This final extract from Dr Padovano's essay looks to the future. Again it is primarily addressed to an audience of former priests but the ideas Dr Padovano raises might usefully be taken on by all of us. Just assume for a moment that Vatican II had been implemented as the Church Fathers who were there guiding it had intended and its legacy hadn't been taken over by the small gaggle of clerics who have tried to thwart it at every turn, what alternative challenges would we have had to deal with? If by some miracle tomorrow the institution did pick up again the thread of Vatican II how would we cope? These are not entirely idle speculations. They might be the very real scenarios we face. <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher