Request for evaluation of these reflections (Sunday Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Saturday, February 27, 2010, 11:00 (1181 days ago) @ PeterR

Good idea, Peter. My own sense is that we're still searching for a "fresh language" and I'm still not sure where we find that. Last night we had a couple of friends over, both RE teachers in one of the large secondary colleges in Sydney. One of them had also attended the National Liturgy Conference in Perth so it was good to get some more first hand feedback on that. In general the feedback I've been picking up from those who attended the conference has been good with the criticism that there was no real attempt to respond to any of the hesitations that people had about the introduction of the New Translation. There has been a general criticism that while the talks were good the conference had been structured in such a way that it didn't encourage much discussion amongst delegates or questions from the floor. This was viewed as a meeting of the liturgical specialists from around the country who were being lectured to be "sent forth" and sell "the package" on behalf of a heirarchy that had put it all together without virtually any consultation at the rank and file level of the institution.

One other little bit of news observed by the person in Perth was that the new Cathedral is beautiful but, unsolicited, they told me the sound system is a shocker. Did they borrow that from Parramatta also? Getting a good sound system in churches remains a major challenge. Perhaps I should have stayed in the career I started out in as an acoustic engineer. Perhaps I'd be a lot richer than I am today.

The other interesting thing that came up is I asked the one who was an RE Coordinator what was the participation rate for this school — i.e. parents and families that actually participated in the regular sacramental life of the institution at Sunday Mass. His estimate was that it would be around 15%. That seems to be around the mean for most Catholic secondary schools in this country. The Episcopal leadership have a major job ahead of them finding the 'language' that is going to return the Church to a position where it is held in general respect by the vast masses in the broadstream of Western society. Finding the right language would seem to be the key. What is surprising is that people do continue to make some financial sacrifice to have their children educated at a Catholic school compared to the alternative choice of sending them to a public school. It would seem a lot of people choose Catholic schools for the education of their children for reasons other than wanting their children to be active participants in the sacramental life of the institution.

Two other little tid-bits I've picked up in the last couple of days — not from the people last night: (i) the cost of the installation of Archbishop Fisher in the Parramatta Diocese is around $150,000. The bill is being picked up by the Archdiocese of Sydney and will be invoiced back to Parramatta after the new bishop is installed. (ii) The new bishop is apparently looking to renovate the top floor of the convent across the road from the Cathedral and use that as his personal quarters. Bishop Manning has lived with the cathedral priests in the old Marist Brothers college that was turned into the Cathedral Presbytery in the same grounds as the Cathedral. Apparently the convent looks a little more like a Dominican cloister and the height might help elevate the bishop a little more so that he is treated by the people with the respect his office deserves. I'm told some of the priests are not happy at these bits of news and the collection plate that might have to be passed around in a few months time to cover the cost of installation. The event is happening with professionally employed "event directors" and the "whole works" — some of the people involved were employed (paid) for some of the endeavours associated with World Youth Day. Apparently the actual opening of the new Cathedral some years ago was an "amateur event" (all done by volunteers) compared to what is being planned this coming week.

Brian Coyne
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