The Purple Culture... Steve Boehrer was in Rome the day Angelo Roncali was elected Pope John XXIII. He stood in the Piazza San Pietro, watched the white smoke puffs, and felt hope for his Church. He was 25 years old then, a veteran of the United States Navy, anxious to finish his seminary studies and be ordained. He was subsequently ordained, earned a doctorate in theology, became chancellor of a diocese, but later, like many, came "to see the light" and left the priesthood. Like many of us here at Catholica he really did buy the forward-looking vision of Vatican II discerned by the majority of the Bishops of the world. He has been aghast at the steady march of the minority, reactionary element amongst the hierarchy who have left no stone unturned to undo the vision discerned by the majority of bishops at Vatican II to turn the clock back. In this commentary he explores some of what he is attempting to explore at greater length in his novel, The Purple Culture. [more]

Two Models of Priesthood I By way of his own introduction Tom McMahon writes: The following was first written back at the beginning of January while I was unaware Brian was not going to publish any commentaries until February. I used January to read and in particular to study the entirety of Fr. Peter Dresser's GOD IS BIG, to clean up the mess in my "den of thieves" in preparation for the February visit of Marilyn and John Chuchman, to play with our grandchildren despite a torn left meniscus, and to touch up the following... [more]

Advice for Pilgrims on El Camino de Santiago... During April last year Dr Graham English undertook the famous Santiago de Compastella Pilgrimage across the top of Spain. This pilgrimage is today possibly the most famous of all pilgrimages in the world. In English it is called The Way of St James. The numbers undertaking the pilgrimage have been ballooning in recent decades and it is estimated that nearly 300,000 individuals undertook the pilgrimage last year. In this commentary Graham shares something of his experience and also provides practical advice for others who might be thinking of making the trek. [more]

Ponderings of a fellow traveler on Life's Journey 3: Being Human is Questing: Back in the 1980's Tina Turner released a song under the title "What's Love Got To Do With It?" [YouTube]. It's a song title burned into the hearts of many. Turner subsequently used the title for a documentary about her life [Wikipedia]. Today's reflection from John Chuchman could be thought of as attempting to provide an answer to that question. Love is claimed to "make the world go around". In the Christian context we see our existence rooted in Divine Love... [more]

A theology for the new millennium: Chapter Ten (Part 1) "Ourselves & Prayer" Today we begin the final chapter of the serialisation of Fr Peter Dresser's book searching for "a theology for the New Millennium". The theme of this chapter is the place of prayer in our lives today. What he writes today dovetails beautifully with Vince Exley's reflection yesterday [LINK] mapping the massive changes in our understanding of our place in the cosmos since Sacred Scripture was first written down. What relevance does Jesus have in this new world so much dominated by scientific insights and new technologies? [more]

What do we really believe today? Today's reflection from Vince Exley serendipitously fits in with a brilliant and lengthy conversation we've been having in the Catholica forum in recent days entitled "Searching for New Ways to be Catholic" [LINK]. Vince wrote this a few days before that conversation started. Catholica attracts a more mature readership many of whom are no longer prepared to put up with the religious bullshit anymore. They no longer have to please their parents, or the pope, but they're seriously trying to find answers to the meaning of Life. That's essentially what this whole discussion is about today: "What do we actually believe today" in the privacy of our own minds and away from trying to impress bishops and trying not to stir up the temple police? [more]