Does Pope Benedict need to do more than apologise?

Dear Friends,

Melbourne lawyer Angela Sdrinis in an article published in Thursday's Herald-Sun newspaper (10.07.08) accused the Catholic Church of using legal devices to protect itself from the claims of abuse victims. With permission of Angela Sdrinis we republish her article here as our lead commentary on Catholica this Saturday along with two questions: (i) What sort of Church do we want representing us — one that reflects the compassion and understanding of Jesus Christ to victims, or one that endeavours to put victims through the sort of trauma and injustice that Jesus Christ himself was put through? (ii) Is an apology from the Pope enough, or does His Holiness need to suggest his bishops in Australia start exhibiting the compassion of Jesus Christ towards the victims of clerical sexual and other forms of abuse? <more>

BETHEL EDITORIAL: I was planning to publish an editorial today on the Bethel Covenant Community scandal in Western Australia. I've decided to hold it over until tomorrow as some of what I think needs to be said follows on from what is published today in the commentary from Angela Sdrinis. I hope the editorial might have more impact by allowing 24 hours to digest what Angela has to say.

A SOUVENIR T-SHIRT OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA: As mentioned in our forum in recent days, a cheeky pastor in Sydney has decided to set himself up in opposition to Big George's merchandising operation. He has printed some rather provocative, and entertaining, t-shirts and offered us about twenty of them to distribute through Catholica. I understand that the t-shirt printer where he got them printed has been inundated with orders from customers seeing them in the shop. I will set up a PayPal facility and begin offering them for sale through our website on a first-come, first-served basis later today. Guaranteed to get around any police restrictions, in large letters they proclaim your love for the Pope and above them are a few other words in the shape of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that make this the souvenir that you'll still be smiling about in another twenty years time when you remember PAPA Benedict's visit to Sydney and how the Catholic landscape became transformed through World Youth Day. I modelled one for you yesterday as the accompanying photo shows! They'll be on sale for $19.95 plus p&h. If you really must read the fine print you can check it out on our forum HERE!

KAISER'S BOOK: There's been a slight delay in sending out some of the Kaiser book orders for which I apologise. Some of the emails notifying me of the orders got lost amongst all the spam email I have to deal with each day. All orders will be despatched on Monday.

Opening up a discussion… A serendipitous series of events led to Brian Coyne taking an interest in a book by Robert Tilley entitled "Benedict XVI and the Search for Truth". Coyne so far has only read the preface and introduction but he's excited by the book for a couple of reasons. In this commentary he provides an introduction to what the book is about with a view to opening up a discussion on Catholica about some of the issues Robert Tilley, and Pope Benedict, are exploring. <more>

What message does WYD really give to young people? Marilyn Hatton is a woman who perhaps represents many older women today in the broad mainstream of Catholicism in this country who have "been through the mill" of actually raising a family through to adulthood and learning a lesson or two "from the coalface". She is a mother and grandmother and remains a committed Catholic speaking up and asking for a Church that is more responsive to the real needs of the people it is meant to be serving. She is a passionate advocate for women being given greater input into spiritual leadership and is national convener for Ordination of Catholic Women (OCW). In today's commentary, Marilyn asks some pointed questions about what we are honestly seeking to achieve through World Youth Day. <Read Bishop Robinson's report>

Some "Jesus time"! With all the generally negative news around at the moment I thought it might be a good idea in our Wednesday Forum to focus on some positive stuff — what really needs to be focused on: what Jesus Christ has to offer the world. And who better to lead off the discussion than Bishop Geoff Robinson. <Dr Kania's commentary>

Holy Heads & Empty Hearts! This is perhaps Dr Andrew Kania's finest commentary. The man is firing on about 24 cylinders in what he writes today. He seeks to address what is perhaps the chief disjunction in Catholicism today. It's a very old problem but Andrew addresses it with a fresh slant. It's all about this unbridgeable divide that seems to have opened up in the Church between the legalists/literalists/fundamentalists and the rest. Dr Kania presents a view of what our faith and spirituality ought to be all about that most readers of Catholica will readily assent to. It might even inspire you. Enjoy! <more>

5.4: Paul's radical interpretation of the message of Jesus (cont'd)… Do yourself and favour and treat yourself to this fabulous exceprt from Tom Lee's book. Continuing the exploration of the radical new interpretation St Paul gave to the Jesus' story the excerpt today brings out in even sharper relief the sense of excitement Paul had for Jesus and perhaps why this excitement was infectious and made the missionary journeys of Paul as important as they were in giving Jesus appeal in the world of non-Jews. <more>

The sort of audience Benedict and the Church need to communicate to… The publishers of Catholica, Brian Coyne and Amanda McKenna attended a wedding at Windsor yesterday just beside the RAAF base Richmond where Pope Benedict will land next week. It is the oldest Catholic Church on the Australian mainland. The congregation that was at that wedding, Brian Coyne argues, is the sort of average Australian population that the Church needs to be communicating to. What Brian writes also dovetails with the lead commentary from Tom McMahon today. See the summary of his commentary below. <more>

Two Different Worlds… The Church inhabits two different worlds, argues Tom McMahon in this fourth commentary of his series on the meaning of "Sacrament" in an Age of Technology. Within the Church he sees "civil war exists over boundaries". He asks concerning the 86% who have stopped listening to the Church: "have they abandoned Jesus: or have they gone across the spiritual street to that other world that Michael Morwood addresses?" <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher