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Harvey Smith
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001 :
08 Mar 2008
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Steps towards Ministry
We are all called to evangelise. In this article, originally published in the New Evangelisation newsletter, New Zealand (www.newevangelisation .wellington.net.nz), Sydney-based lay activist, Harvey Smith, outlines some thoughts for stirring us out of our complacency. [more]
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Kerry
Gonzales
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001 :
07 Dec 2007
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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]
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Hypothetical
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001 :
04 Nov 2007
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What
would you do? This commentary is an account of a complex case
involving allegations of abuse sent into Catholica
by one of our readers. The case is situated in another country, not Australia.
Our correspondent has brought it to our attention as it involves complex
moral issues. They suggest virtually all of the players in this case have
become "losers" and asks "which one was the victim?"
By way of introduction our correspondent writes: "This is a
case involving an infatuated woman, a naive priest, a misguided crusader
and a weak bishop and how a confluence of circumstances combined into
a tragic loss for the diocese and almost a suicide." All
the names have been changed, and other details that might make identification
of the particular individuals involved or the location difficult. The
principal reason we publish the story is that in a way it is an excellent
hypothetical. Except perhaps for the children involved, whom one can excuse
on the grounds of childhood innocence, all of the other players in the
drama have self-evident moral flaws of one description or another. We
end the report with two questions that might form the basis for discussion
in our forum. [more]
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CRISIS
IN MINISTRY: Discussion Paper from South Africa
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001 :
04 Oct 2007
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Who
will celebrate the Sacraments in ten years time? In light of the
present petition to the Australian Catholic Bishops, readers of Catholica
Australia will be interested in this discussion paper prepared
by the Pastoral Council at the Parish of the Immaculate Conception, Rosebank,
Johannesburg late last year which discusses the similar looming crisis
in Ministry and the availability of Sacraments facing the Catholic Church
in Australia. [more]
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PETER
BEESON
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001 :
17 Aug 2007
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Another
lay response to Bishop Manning's interview
Way over on the
other side of this continent in the South West of WA, Peter
Beeson, has been mulling over what the Bishop of Parramatta,
Kevin Manning, had to say in his
interview with Catholica
editor, Brian Coyne, last week. He provides a summary of what he thinks
were the key points in Bishop Manning's argument and he shares his thoughts
on a couple of areas where he finds himself in disagreement with the Bishop
and indeed with Church teaching as it has been urged on the faithful
[more]
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CATHOLICA
APPEAL ON BEHALF OF DR ARMEN GAKAVIAN
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002 :
01 Jul 2007
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Can
you assist Dr Gakavian in his work? Last year Cliff Baxter introduced
readers of Catholica to Dr
Armen Gakavian, a still youngish graduate based here in Sydney,
who has made it his life's work to assist the people of Armenia. He writes,
researches and undertakes practical social justice endeavours in support
of the long struggle the people of Armenia have been involved in to carve
a better place for themselves and their nation in the world. One of the
practical endeavours which Cliff and Armen brought to our attention was
the situation of one particular family in Armenia, the Nersisyan's, whom
Armen has made it his business to assist financially. Today Dr Gakavian
puts before you a further request for financial assistance for the Nersisyan
family. [more]
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DR
GRAHAM ENGLISH
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001 :
04 Jun 2007
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Catholic
Religious Education in Australia why and how it has changed...
Catholic Education in Australia faced a major crisis in the 1960s to the
point where the bishops of the time seriously considered having to close
the entire system down because they simply did not have the resources
to sustain it any longer. The new system that was established in the 1970s,
thanks largely to government funding, is fundamentally different to the
system of religious education that had existed in the past. In today's
commentary, Dr Graham English, Senior
Lecturer in Religious Education at ACU National, explores some of the
other social and cultural factors that make Catholic Religious Education today so
much different to what it was in the past. [more]
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FR
DANIEL DONOVAN
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001 :
18 May 2007
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Draft
Pastoral Plan needs serious re-write suggests Academic... The
Archdiocese of Sydney recently circulated a Draft Pastoral Plan for public
discussion. A pdf copy of the draft document is available on the Archdiocesan
website.
The feedback being picked up by independent religious journalists and
commentators around Sydney is that at the parish level there is disquiet
about the draft plan. Fr Daniel Donovan,
a lecturer at the School of Religious Education at ACU National was approached
by a number of parishes to provide a critique of the Draft Plan. His conclusion
is that the draft is seriously flawed and needs to be taken back to the
drawing board for a major re-write. He argues the document is theologically
flawed and needs to pay far greater heed to official Vatican documents
and the accepted teaching of the Catholic Church. In his critique, Fr
Donovan cites a number of significant Vatican level documents which would
urge a different approach to be taken to what has been proposed in the
Draft Pastoral Plan for Sydney. We publish here the critique Fr Donovan
has provided to the parishes that requested it. [more]
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CHRISTMAS
MESSAGE FROM THE LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM...
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018 :
23 Dec 2006
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"Our
political leaders must listen to the voice of the oppressed in this Holy
Land" Patriarch Michel Sabbah's
Christmas message underlines the enormous contradiction that Bethlehem
presents to our world today. [more]
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MICHAEL
J BAYLY
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013 :
01 Dec 2006
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Renewal
within Catholicism Michael J Bayly
argues: "As Benedict XVI breathed the air and walked the
ancient streets of Istanbul, my hope is that he was similarly moved and
inspired to usher in a "renaissance" within the Catholic Church
a new era marked by creativity, tolerance, and the inclusion of
the experiences and insights, hopes and aspirations of all. Just as Mehmed
II revitalized Istanbul, may Benedict XVI facilitate a renewal within
Catholicism. This "renewal" could be initiated by the Pope's
convening of a truly ecumenical council perhaps in Istanbul!"
[more]
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