009 :
31 May 2009

Accepting what cannot be changed! The journey out of active participation in the sacramental and communal life of the institutional Church is tortuous — particularly for those who have put in decades of active participation at the parish or diocesan level. Increasingly though the institution is losing many of those who were once the most active participants at the local level. In today's commentary Kerry Gonzales reflects on her own journey and likens it to the grieving process identified many decades ago by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. [more]

008 :
01 Mar 2009

Who's in communion and who's out? Why? Kerry Gonzales explores what me mean by the terms being "in" or "out of" communion. The recent situation of St Mary's at the local level and the enthusiasm of the Vatican to welcome back members of the Society of St Pius X providing confusing and contradictory contrasts. [more]

007 :
08 Feb 2009

A critique of Church Communications In today's Sunday Forum, Kerry Gonzales, critiques a recent brochure put out by the Life, Marriage & Family Centre of the Archdiocese of Sydney to drum up support for Humanae Vitae. She argues that surely there are far more important, and relevant, issues the institution ought be addressing today if it is to remain a relevant force in society. [more]

006 :
30 Oct 2008

A Review of Fr Eric Hodgens' essay… Kerry Gonzales presents today a review of Eric Hodgens' extended essay, "New Evangelisation in the 21st Century". She praises Fr Hodgens for his writing style and clarity of thought but this dame is no slouch either when it comes to writing style and clarity of thought. This is an inspiring commentary. [more]

005 :
17 Sep 2008

What defines our "catholicism" — creed or a commitment? Kerry Gonzales and Brian Coyne attended the Australian Reforming Catholics Conference last Saturday which effectively turned out to be an invigorating all-day discussion centred on the question of Creed. What defines our faith today? Do most ordinary Catholics subscribe to all the phrases in the Creed as literal statements of belief? Is Creed what defines our membership of "the Body of Christ"? To get the discussion started Dr John N Collins delivered a keynote address* exploring the historical development of the Creed, and Creeds, which we use in the Christian churches. In this commentary Kerry Gonzales and Brian Coyne share some of their impressions of the Conference and seek to generate wider discussion on the issues raised. [more]

004 :
12 June 2008

What sort of witness do we Catholics seek to project? With a little over a month to go until World Youth Day is celebrated in Sydney, the event is attracting more and more coverage in the media. Last Saturday the Sydney Morning Herald published a provocative article by Adele Horin looking at the event through the eyes of an unbelieving mother in a household of religiously sceptical young people. In this response a Catholic mother with much experience of the mores of young people today, Kerry Gonzales, responds supporting Adele Horin's call for the fostering of greater religious tolerance in the wider Australian community but herself also expressing a different kind of scepticism about what World Youth Day is going to achieve. Will it convince the broad masses of young people or is it likely to fan the flames of the sort of religious intolerance recently exhibited in Sydney against the proposal to build an Islamic secondary college in the outer suburbs of Sydney at Camden? [more]

003 :
10 May 2008

Exploring our adult beliefs… There has been much discussion in the Catholica forums in recent weeks exploring the precise nature of various people's beliefs. In this fascinating commentary, Kerry Gonzales, has been inspired by some of the forum discussion to go off and try and articulate both what she believes today and to give some insight into some of the forces that have shaped her adult beliefs. (No the image in the headline is not of Kerry but of a model named "Jitka" — see the photo predits note at the conclusion of the article.) [more]

002 :
08 Feb 2008

"The Extremists Within" Kerry Gonzales relates how some words read casually in a journal she came across had a powerful impact on her causing her to lament the lack of questioning in the faith she had been brought up in. She asks if this might be a major cause of why so many have become so disengaged from Catholicism? [more]

001 :
07 Dec 2007

A plea from the heart… On a regular basis now we receive unsolicited commentaries and reflections from readers and, where possible, we endeavour to slot them into our publishing schedule. Today's contribution comes from Kerry Gonzales whom I do not know other than what you will read in this essay. What she writes struck me as a "from the heart" plea and I feel many will be attracted to the frankness and honesty of what she expresses. …Brian Coyne, Editor [more]