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Good news and a poignant reflection by Andrew Kania…
Dear Friends,
I'D PREFER TO REMAIN A CATHOLIC THANKS, PHILLIP: The story on CathNews this morning that the Anglican Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, has lashed out saying that we Catholics have still not repented left me a little speechless. Fundamentalists, whether they are Protestant, Catholic or Moslem are a big worry. God reveals the Divine Plan of Creation through Scriptural Revelation but just as certainly through our observations, scientific and otherwise, of Creation. Tom Lee, in our forum in response to Daniel Gullotta and others, quotes the wise and insightful words of Mahatma Gandhi: "Every formula of every religion has, in this age of reason, to submit to the acid test of reason and universal justice if it is to ask for universal assent. Error can claim no exemption even if it is supported by the scriptures of the world." Human civilisation faces two major threats today: one is from Climate Change. The other is from Fundamentalism.
AND ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF GOOD EPISCOPAL LEADERSHIP: There are two aspects to the sexual abuse scandal in the Church. One is the abuse itself. The other is the response of the institution when it has been demonstrated that abuse has occurred. Last night on the Lateline program on ABC Television I thought we saw an example of another Australian Bishops who is endeavouring to provide real leadership and face uncomfortable and embarrassing truths honestly. If you missed the program catch it online at www.abc.net.au/lateline/ and let us know what you think in the forum. Bishop Michael Malone you help us stand tall again and not cringe when a Catholic story appears in the secular media. Thank you.
SOME GOOD NEWS: The last thing I ever expected to hear as feedback was that people were cancelling their subscriptions to CathNews and have switched to Catholica. I heard that from two totally different sources yesterday. Folks, we are seriously not endeavouring to compete with CathNews as much as I personally might owe Fr Michael Kelly a favour or two. Thanks for the compliments though. Something must be happening. We are coming up to our second anniversary. I can report that in the last 12 months we have had a 389% jump in readership growth. When we started Catholica I predicted it would take us four years to establish ourselves (and that was largely based on the experience of how long it took for Michael Kelly to establish CathNews). These latest statistics of our growth rate place us just about bang on target for our initial projections. We haven't met our hopes in terms of gaining philanthropic support but it seems Hughie might have had a better plan. Deo Gratias. Thank you all for the continuing flow of small donations up to the value of about $AU1,000. The smallest donation we have received has been for a couple of dollars and we've had a few now at the thousand dollar mark. All donations are greatly valued. They are now playing a vital role in helping us expand our outreach.
 Not unrelated to some of the above: Today's commentary from Dr Andrew Kania draws on some of the work he is presently engaged in writing the biography of Dag Hammarskjöld. It is a poignant reflection on the moral obligation we all face to stand up for the weak and the oppressed. <Read Andrew Kania's commentary>
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