Saturday, 06 Nov 2010
Hell on the way to Heaven!
Dear Friends,
OUR CHRISTMAS-JANUARY SCHEDULE: From today's edition our schedule is changing slightly principally to enable me to get out and about a bit to do a bit more socialising, and also because I need to put considerable energy into the next phase of building Catholica. We will continue to publish a daily email but I'm cutting back to six lead commentaries a week from Sunday to Friday. The Sunday commentary will tend to be more a reflection in the popular style that John Chuchman has introduced to Catholica.
Amanda and myself have also been discussing our publishing schedule over December/January. In previous years I've taken January off but the reality is that a lot of people appreciate Catholica during the holiday season of January here in Australia. In December, on the other hand, the ratings tend to fall as people are busy in the lead-up to Christmas and don't have time to be reading long commentaries. In the light of this I propose to adjust my schedule and take a break from preparing the daily commentaries from mid-December to the second week in January. Catholica will still be open throughout that time but there will be no lengthy commentaries and most of the activity will be on our forum. I will publish a weekly email through that period providing a summary of what's being discussed on Catholica.
2010 has been another successful year for Catholica in terms of our readership growth. Our Marketplace continues to draw an increasing number of visitors and buyers and our advertising revenue continues to also grow. I again thank all of you who have supported our continued growth as commentators, contributors to the discussions on the forum, as readers and moral supporters, as financial donors, as advertisers, and as buyers of products in our Marketplace. The change in our schedule is principally to enable me to now focus more energy in establishing some kind of structure that will own Catholica and give it longer-term financial security. Mind you I'm still not sure where all this is heading. I leave that up to Hughie. I have no expectations these days that we have even a snowflake's chance in hell of changing the thinking of anyone at the top of the institution but what is clearly emerging is that we are providing a meeting place that is increasingly valued by people who are disillusioned with where the institutional leadership have been trying to take us — which seems to look very much like some kind of 'hell' for many of us. To borrow from the title of Chrissie Foster's book, which is now available internationally, Catholica is a place of sanctuary for anyone who has encountered a bit of Hell on their way to Heaven!
Facebook and Twitter news: I have recently added a Catholica Page on Facebook. Updates there are also automatically published on Twitter. If you are a regular user of Twitter or Facebook you might like to add us as a friend in either place. What will be published in those places are short updates of what is happening on Catholica and also pointers to interesting articles and insights our community picks up elsewhere in the world.
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Joe Rigert & Richard Sipe… |
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 The pope should resign! Investigative journalist, Joe Rigert, and abuse campaigner, Richard Sipe, have upped the stakes in the continuing controversy of clerical sexual abuse by suggesting that Pope Benedict and all bishops complicit in the scandal should voluntarily resign. They argue in this commentary especially prepared for Catholica "the Catholic Church today is in need of a reformation as profound (and breathtaking) as any in its history". <more>
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Dr Ian Elmer… |
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 What is the standard of righteousness and perfection we are called to? Today's commentary and reflection from Dr Ian Elmer cuts to the heart of the challenge facing any modern Christian as much as it cuts to the heart of the people Jesus was addressing two millenia ago: what standard of thinking and behaviour are we called to by our beliefs — and by our very existence? <more>
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Tom McMahon… |
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 The two worlds that confronts modern humankind... Tom McMahon begins his commentary today with two tributes to friends who have passed away in the last week or so: George Grantham, who he met in Bunbury on his visit to Australia 15 months ago, and Mary Bell, much closer to his own present home. He then introduces the theme he'd like to explore further next week: "the awesome contrast between two worlds that confronts modern humankind." <more>
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Melbourne Cup Day Race Distraction… |
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 Two Visions: where do you line up in this race? Melbourne Cup Day in Australia has become a day of great celebration, and distraction. The race is about to be run as I write this and there probably won't be too much interest in spiritual matters or spiritual races over the next 24 hours in this country. After much hunting around for a suitable commentary for today we've chosen an idealogical or theological or ecclesiological contest. It's the one between former theological colleagues and heavyweights, Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger. The homilist at St Mary's in Exile in Brisbane last Sunday, Greg Latimore, presented a table outlining the differences in vision between the two men. Our question for discussion/reflection today is where do you line yourself up in this field of ideas? <more>
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Spiritual Directors' Conference Report… |
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 Taming the reptile part of our brains... This isn't the commentary I was planning this Monday but I got sidetracked yesterday trying to tame a crocodile – well, making an animated flash promotion for Catholica. But it has a point. The whole discussion about the reptile part of our brains comes from comments that erudite writer, James, has been posting on our forum. Coincidentally, while I was busy elsewhere doing the animation, and unbeknown to James, he put one of his best posts on Catholica discussing the phenomenon and linking to a discussion in the Guardian newspaper by Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek. The discussion we've been having is at two levels: taming the reptile tendencies in our own brains and the taming of the reptile tendencies in the societal brain. I will place on the forum later the video address from a bishop that I was going to feature as our lead commentary today. It's from a bishop who is touted as potentially being Oceania's next Cardinal. <Conference Website> | <Tuesday's email>
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John Chuchman… |
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 Love does not triumph over all? John Chuchman offers a challenging headline for his reflection today: "Love does not triumph over all!" The popular, romantic vision we have is that love does triumph over all. This reflection though needs to be read in a Jesus' context not popular romance. <more>
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Wishing you a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life and in our world.
Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica
34 Martin Place, LINDEN NSW 2778, Australia
tel: +612 4753 1226
email: editor@catholica.com.au |
