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The importance of religious freedom…
Dear Friends,
 Overnight I've been having another detailed look at all the WYD websites and the emerging plans for the festivities. Self-evidently the event is generating great enthusiasm in a particular sector of the Church. Just go to the social networking sites, or look at the list of groups that have registered, and this massive enthusiasm amongst the more conservative sectors of Catholicism is palpable. I fail to pick up though much enthusiasm from the youthful population at large. Perhaps the figures are skewed a little in that Catholic schools in Australia have not formally registered as "groups" because of the duty of care implications that were pointed out by one of the posters in our forum during the week. I also listened through all the music on the WYD website for the principal liturgies. Here's the picture I pick up of what is emerging: His Holiness and the Cardinal seem to be the one's largely "setting the bigger communication agenda". Their belief seems to be that our Church has this rich repository of liturgies, music and teachings that if only they could present on a big stage to the young people of the world they latch onto with glee — like some sort of starved prisoners to the sudden appearance of nourishing food. I wish them all the best. I have no doubt whatsoever that what they are preparing will generate almost orgasmic delight within a sector of the youthful population. I have to say that I am becoming less and less enthused by the day and I suspect my outlook is possibly more representative of the broad outlook that is to be found in the mainstream of young people today also even if I have three or four decades on them.
Today's lead commentary on Catholica might be particulaly timely in view of all this. Amidst the gathering frenzy by some leaders, and some lay groups, within the Catholic Church to turn back the clock and re-establish a pre-Vatican II mindset on the institution, here is a rigorously argued commentary by Dr Graham English. The issue he puts under the microscope is our changing understanding of the meaning of "religious freedom". He argues that the Second Vatican Council brought about far reaching changes in how we ought to understand and interpret this term. His commentary is effectively a strong argument as to why we need to collectively defend this advance in thinking that the Council introduced. <Read today's commentary by Dr Graham English>
COMING UP TOMORROW: We have a commentary from High Court Justice, Michael Kirby entitled "People of the Book — Slow path to Tolerance". Not to be missed! If you're in Sydney tonight, don't forget Robert Blair Kaiser's conversation with Stephen Crittenden at the Salvation Army Hall, 140 Elizabeth Street, 6-8pm. |
