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Catholica editor, Brian Coyne, today provides an introduction to two exciting adult faith learning experiences being promoted by the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn and the Diocese of Broken Bay. One of the initiatives — a National On-Line Conference for the Year of St Paul — takes place this coming Tuesday, and he proposes we follow this conference and conduct our own online forum in parallel with the many meetings in physical space that will be conducted around the nation at the same time.
Some good news for a change...
As I keep arguing, the Catholic Church in Australia is actually in remarkably good condition from an infrastructure point of view. On a per capita basis it has one of the largest and most theologically and professionally qualified workforces of any of the local churches of any nation. Her physical assets are in wonderful condition and, by and large these days, well maintained. She is in good condition financially thanks largely to the enormous support the Church receives from the taxpayer in Australia today. The only thing missing are the bums on the seats in the pews. I am absolutely certain that if someone were able to remove the obstacles at the top institutional Catholicism could be rejuvenated across this nation in the virtual blink of an eye. As I argue elsewhere though, those "forces of the human psyche" that govern what is happening at the top are more powerful than the forces that drive our solar system. I don't hold out much hope of those forces being moved within my lifetime or the foreseeable future. These men who "control the agenda" believe they know the mind of God better than God knows his own mind and there is no way this side of Hades they're going to be moved from their points of view — and it matters not a dram what the other bishops, priests or the vast majority of the faithful think about anything. We've now had close on 200 years of this "more of the same" agenda which has been slowly emptying the pews of Catholicism. It is extremely doubtful when 86% of the baptised have walked out the door that they are going to "see the light" even when 95% have walked.
That said I'd like to comment today on two initiatives I've spent a bit of time having a look at over recent days happening at a diocesan level which could be among the most exciting institutionally-led initiatives to foster adult faith development and a more mature understanding of our spirituality.
The Pilgrimage of Archbishops Coleridge, Carroll and friends
in the Steps of St Paul...
One of the events is happening right now — and I confess I've only just caught up with it. It is a real world pilgrimage being undertaken by the Archbishop of our Capital Archdiocese, Canberra-Goulburn, Mark Coleridge in conjunction with retired Archbishop Francis Carroll, covering the territory St Paul evangelised. What's different in this pilgrimage though is that it also contains an online virtual component as well. The Archbishops and their fellow pilgrims are providing daily updates via video, photographs and text of their journey. We are invited to join in and make a sort of "virtual pilgrimage" at the same time.
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Click to view the introduction to Archbishop Mark Coleridge's series of lectures on St Paul The real story behind the Saint. We have borrowed this video from the Archdiocese's CatholicLife website. |
The pilgrimage follows on from a series of addresses the scholar-archbishop gave in his diocese exploring the relevance of St Paul to us today. These lectures have also been published as dvds to considerable acclaim. I have not yet viewed any of them but I was impressed with this short promotional video which has been published on the Archdiocesan sponsored website The Catholic Learning Institute for Faith and Evangelisation (CatholicLife).
I have to say that I have been hearing good things for some time concerning what is essentially an adult faith learning initiative coming out of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. This cyber pilgrimage is well-worth taking a look at as an extension in a most interesting and creative direction. Like the entire Catholic Education system in this country though — as good as that is — I'm not sure it can make significant inroads against the over-riding systemic failing in Catholicism which emanates from the very top and which is driving Catholicism down to the point where it is basically only of relevance to a tiny, unrepresentative sector in Western society — the emotionally insecure and the politically ultra-conservative. Where in the Gospels did Jesus outline this ultra-conservative, political agenda? While institutional Catholicism does have responsibilities to those small sectors of the population they are not responsibilities to be exercised at the expense of everyone else in Western society, particularly the vast majority who are apolitical when it comes to their faith and spirituality!
Our own series led by Dr Ian Elmer on Catholica...
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For the full index to Dr Ian Elmer's year-long series for The Year of St Paul click the image above or HERE. |
I intend having a look at this series produced by Archbishop Coleridge but I have to say I feel deeply indebted to our own Dr Ian Elmer for the series he has brought us on Catholica over the past year exploring the contributions St Paul made to Christianity and Catholicism. It has been a gradual process — almost imperceptible like the movement of the minute hand on a clock — but I sense my own outlook has been profoundly changed as a result of the insights Ian has been bringing us not only from his own perspectives but from some of the best Pauline scholars of recent history. Paul to me is far less of a "plastic saint" today and far more an accessible human being, struggling like the rest of us, for meaning and to explain both the Mystery that lies at the heart of Life and the unique place Jesus of Nazareth occupies in helping us penetrate that Mystery.
The National e-Conference on St Paul from the Broken Bay Institute and the ACBC — this Tuesday coming, 30th June 2009...
This leads me to the second initiative I'd like to draw to your attention — a one-day intensive on-line seminar to be conducted this coming Tuesday under the auspices of the Broken Bay Institute — the adult and tertiary education initiative of the Diocese of Broken Bay in New South Wales. This initiative has a national dimension to it in that it is sponsored by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
This e-conference consists of a number of on-line video lectures which will be broadcast next Tuesday starting at 10.30 am Australian Eastern Standard Time. The main presenters of these lectures are Fr Brendan Byrne SJ and Sr Michelle Connolly RSJ. In other sessions through the day they will be joined by Fr Richard Leonard SJ and the facilitator for the day is well-known television personality, Mike Bailey. Here are the broadcast times and theme for each lecture:
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To read the promotional flyer for the e-Conference and read the detail program for the day click the image or HERE. |
10.30-11.00am Session 1 Fr Brendan Byrne Who was Paul?
11.20-11.40am Session 2 Sr Michelle Connolly Paul: Apostle of God's Limitless Love
12.00-12.25pm Session 3 Fr Brendan Byrne Paul's sense of God
1.45-2.10pm Session 4 Sr Michelle Connolly How to hear a Pauline Letter today
There are two further sessions at 2.30 and 3.45pm which one presumes will be some kind of response to questions that are submitted from the viewing audience.
For a more detailed breakdown of the program see the pdf file HERE.
Given the brevity of the sessions I doubt that we're going to go anywhere near the depth of the journey of exploration Dr Elmer has led us on, nevertheless, this will be a very interesting experiment in the use of the internet to encourage deeper exploration of what we believe and why. Registration is free and just by registering you have the chance to go into the draw for prizes valued at up to $10,000 including a first prize of a pilgrimage for two to Turkey and Greece following the Pathways of St Paul hosted by Harvest Pilgrimages. (Essentially the same pilgrimage Archbishops Colleridge and Carroll are presently conducting.)
There is an extensive list of parishes, schools and other centres around Australia and in other countries who are setting up video projection facilities and sponsoring meetings in physical places where people can view the webcasts and engage in discussion at those locations between the sessions. You will find that list at: www.bbi.catholic.edu.au/news/documents/YearofStPaulsites_003.pdf. On Tuesday I propose that interested members of Catholica might like to return to our forum between sessions and engage in discussion here on the themes of each session.
You might like to check out Bishop David Walker's introduction to the e-Conference which is already online at the e-conference website: www.paul.vividas.com
Brian Coyne
Brian Coyne is the editor and publisher of Catholica.
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©2009Brian Coyne
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