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The Price of Freedom: Edmund Rice Educational Leader

ISBN: 9781863551205
Author(s): Denis McLaughlin Publisher: David Lovell Publishing

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Br John Carroll, the Christian Brothers' historian lamented in 2002: "Today our group [the Christian Brothers] goes on a journey, in search of a man lost 150 years ago. For 150 years we followed a different star. We lived a different text of scripture. It was all God's plan. Today we are coming to an awareness of buried treasure. We are realising in some way that we lost a leader 150 years ago".

The Price of Freedom book is a critical contribution to the rediscovery of that lost man, Edmund Rice. The specific focus is on Rice's contribution as an educational leader. In so doing, Denis McLaughlin has critiqued many long-held traditional interpretations and has found them either historically inaccurate or challengeable. He offers alternative perspectives that richly portray an invitingly human Edmund Rice as son, victualler, husband, father, religious Brother and education leader.

FROM THE FOREWORD BY CARDINAL EDWARD CLANCY:

It seems to be endemic for peoples to sanitise and eulogise their heroes. Judgments are shaped by the needs of the present rather than the facts of the past. Religious orders and congregations in relation to their founders do not escape this virus and suspect hagiographies often masquerade as history.

In his meticulously documented study, Denis McLaughlin has thoroughly – indeed ruthlessly – analysed the traditions that have attached themselves to the life and work of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the Presentation and Christian Brothers.

The major theme of the book is the establishment of the Presentation and Christian Brothers' schools; a second theme is the character and personality of Edmund Rice. The author deftly handles these themes such wise that each sheds light on the other.

In order to gain a more complete understanding of Rice, the author breaks new ground in Ricean studies in his researching of Rice's earlier life, prior to his educational initiatives. He raises interesting questions and grey areas remain.

Rice emerges as a man of deep faith, prayerful, independent and of sound judgment, conciliatory and unselfish. He was moderately wealthy from his trade as a victualler in Waterford.

Some time after his wife's death he felt called to a more focused service of God and found his vocation in the education of poor street urchins who abounded in the Ireland of his day.

The Price of Freedom tells the story of Rice's founding and development of a unique style of education and the obstacles and difficulties that he constantly encountered: financial problems that compromised his concentration on the poor; the dilemma created by the legitimate claims of the middle class; relations with the National Board of Education; hostility of some members of the hierarchy; and, most painful of all, opposition among the Brothers themselves, especially following the election of Rice's successor as Superior General.

Rice's vision for the education of children was crystal clear. One of its basic premises was that schools were not ends in themselves but means towards the fulfilment of the mission of the poor and their liberation from the poverty trap that held them fast. He was, however, flexible and practical. His breadth of vision and sound common sense in the conduct of his schools distinguished him from most of his contemporaries and brought him into conflict with the hardliners in his community.

The author rebuffs the claims of some that Edmund Rice was not in fact the creator and originator of the system of education that he promoted, or the true founder of the Presentation and Christian Brothers. He rejects or qualifies many of the popular assumptions that have grown up around Rice and his schools, while at the same time highlighting those features that are positive and authentic and soundly based on fact.

Denis McLaughlin does not claim to have said the last word on this subject. His closing sentence articulates the limits of his expectation: "This book has sought to contribute to a more informed conversation with stakeholders about the educational legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice". The author may rest assured that his book has achieved its goal.

Pope Paul VI invited religious congregations renewing themselves to rediscover and re-engage the charisms of their founders. In this context The Price of Freedom will prove invaluable, not only for the Presentation and Christian Brothers but for all orders and congregations, both male and female, and for all who are interested in the history of Catholic education in general. In reading the book one is constantly struck by the similarity of the issues and challenges faced by Edmund Rice with those of our own day, however different the circumstances.

In his painstaking research Denis McLaughlin has done a great service for us all.

Cardinal Edward Clancy, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney

REVIEWS:
"The ranging scholarship, hungry curiosity, literary discipline and intellectual tenacity of Denis McLaughlin have combined to make this hook a magisterial work of historical research that restores to Edmund Rice the integrity of his vision." ...Rev. Dr Edmund Campion, Emeritus Professor of History, Catholic Institute of Sydney

"A fresh picture of Edmund Rice's educational ideals as founder of the Christian Brothers gradually emerges as layer upon layer of accumulated 'grime' and darkened 'varnish' is removed ... essential reading for anyone involved in the future of faith-based education." ...Maurice Whitehead, Professor of History of Education, University of Wales

"An outstanding contribution to scholarly research on Edmund Rice and the Irish Christian Brothers." ...Professor Tom O'Donoghue, Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia

"A seminal study in the linked fields of religion and education." ...Dr Rosa MacGinley pbvm, Golding Research Centre, Australian Catholic University

"Opens up vital questions in contemporary Christian Education ... a vital hook for our times." ...Rev. Dr Thomas Boland, Emeritus Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Pius XII Provincial Seminary, Brisbane

"Dr McLaughlin has worked to bring Blessed Edmund's vision into sharp, clear focus." ...Anthony J. Kelly, CSsR, Professor of Theology, Australian Catholic University
 

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Dancing with the Devil: A Journey from the Pulpit to the Bench

ISBN: 9780867861723
Author(s): Christopher Geraghty Publisher: Spectrum Publications (Jun 2, 2012)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
At the age of nearly forty, Christopher Geraghty stopped dancing with the devil and invited another partner out onto the dance floor. A Catholic Priest for nearly fifteen years, Geraghty endured bullying and persecution. This, coupled with a desire for intimacy and belonging, eventually caused Geraghty to turn his back on the priesthood for a chance at love and a family.

During the ensuing thirty-five years, while learning to dance to a different beat, Geraghty studied law and, for the last sixteen years of his professional life, worked as a judge in Sydney.

This is a story that it is at times painful, sometimes funny, at times embarrassing and surprisingly honest. By luck and the grace of God, his story has a happy ending.

REVIEWS:
"Geraghty's book is full of evidence to support his conclusions about the Church as a 'big corporation' prepared 'to do what it takes to get what it wants. The hierarchy does not come out well." ...Kieran Tapsell, a former seminarian and Sydney lawyer
 

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The Priest Factory : A Manly Vision of Triumph, 1958-1962 and Beyond

ISBN: 9780867863338
Author(s): Christopher Geraghty Publisher: Spectrum Publications (Apr 1, 2003)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
This book is the second volume of Chris Geraghty's memories describing what it was like forty plus years ago to be training for the Catholic priesthood. Cassocks in the Wilderness dealt with his years at Springwood from 1951 (when Chris was 12 years old), to 1957. Now in The Priest Factory, with superfine sharpness and with uncanny recall, he presents his recollections of the triumphalist understanding of the church and of its priesthood which permeated the senior seminary in the years between 1958 and 1962.

A more apt title could hardly have been imagined for what Geraghty describes, evoking as it does the assembly-line concept of cutting down to size all the young men who entered there, until, like pineapples in a canning factory, each could be squeezed into that one model of 'Catholic Priest' then current, stereotypical of all things clericalist.

Over the years much has been written of this form of spiritual blight which had so often corroded the life of different religious communities and movements. The mind-set of the notorious Taliban is not an invention of the last century, or something unique to the world of Islam. Geraghty describes the process of clericalising the young, in all its debilitating details. The Priest Factory gives us a wonderfully clear picture of how a clericalist system operated throughout the Australian church, and how it used its seminaries to mould fresh-faced, enthusiastic young men — some still only boys — into its own image and for its own purposes.
 

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Changing Orders : Scenes of Clerical and Academic Life

ISBN: 9781876040864
Author(s): Paul Crittenden Publisher: Brandl & Schlesinger

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Radical changes swept through the Catholic Church in the 1960s, but the hopes and promises of the time fell away in the years that followed. There was upheaval too, in many universities from much the same time. Changing Orders is the story of a Sydney priest-academic engaged in a balancing act over the years of change: on the one hand, studies in philosophy and theology, dreams and hopes, concerns and disappointments, and the decision to resign from orders; on the other, a career in teaching, research, and administration especially in the long years of controversy surrounding the Department of General Philosophy at Sydney University.

REVIEWS:
"This is a book on philosophy and life that will delight any lay readers as well as specialists in the field. Its style is delightfully direct, its arguments accessible, and we'll all be better and wiser for reading it." ...Tom Keneally

"A compelling account of the force of ideas in one man's life. Paul Crittenden, philosopher and priest, explores the ways he faced the big questions of human experience and how they changed him. This is a rare autobiography, told with tight reasoning and spare eloquence. It will stay in the mind of the reader for many years to come." ...Edmund Campion
 

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Traveller to Freedom: the Roger Pryke Story

ISBN: 9780646536538
Author(s): Francis Ravel Harvey Publisher: Freshwater Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Roger Pryke was a visionary Catholic priest at odds with the authorities of his day. Inspired by a period of study at the College Propaganda Fide in Rome in 1938, where he read and discussed philosophy with like-minded students he fell in love with his faith a faith which was augmented when he attended the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

REVIEWS:

"This is a book that I read from cover to cover almost without stopping for breath. It is a biography of Fr. Roger Pryke, one of Australia's most charismatic priests, written by Francis Ravel Harvey whom Pryke received into the Catholic Church. ... I think Pryke, like Oedipus, had no choice but to face the evidence that kept hitting him in the face, no matter how unpalatable it was. The message of altruism that Jesus preached is a truly beautiful one and one which is really the only hope for the survival of humanity and the planet. But piled upon that is the dogma upon dogma that starts to look just like any other fairy tale of any other religion, beautifully poetic, great literature and drama, but... I can thoroughly recommend this book. It is beautifully written ... you won't, by the way, find it advertised in the Catholic Weekly. The editor has already refused a paid advertisement. It's a biography about a 'fallen priest', I suppose that might scandalize the "little people"." ...James, Catholica www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=72944

"In Traveller to Freedom, Francis Ravel Harvey explores a rich life in a meaty biography that salutes Roger Pryke's stellar achievements without masking flaws and low points. For anyone wishing to pursue the Vatican II story in Australia this will be a necessary book." ...Ed Campion

See also Fr Edmund Campion's obituary from Roger Pryke published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 1st July 2009: LINK
 

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Ted Kennedy—Priest of Redfern

ISBN: 9781863551298
Author(s): Ed Campion Publisher: David Lovell Publishing

BOOK DESCRIPTION
Parish priest of Redfern in Sydney for over thirty years, Ted Kennedy became part of modern Aboriginal history in Australia. He committed his life to the aboriginal cause and they responded by giving him an honoured place in their story. He became a witness to the world and the church of their claims on justice. With incisive historical skill, Edmund Campion follows Kennedy's growth into legendary status. Far from being a seamless progression towards greatness, his narrative reveals a chequered career punctuated by disappointment failure and loss. At his death in 2005, many called Kennedy a saint. If so, this biography displays him as a human saint of flesh and blood.

Ted Kennedy had many co-workers in Redfern who are given proper recognition. Never a one-man band, the Redfern parish attracted people who should not be forgotten. They include the feisty nuns who challenged police lines, generous men and women who gave their lives to serving the poor, and middle class university people who followed Kennedy in flocks. The book restores them to their rightful place in history.

Queen of them all is Shirley Smith, known as Mum Shirl, an epileptic, illiterate Wiradjuri woman revered for her care of those in need. Without her, Kennedy's story would have been considerably diminished. Rightly, she gets generous space in Campion's book, ending with her grand funeral in the Sydney Cathedral.

Funerals were a large part of Kennedy's ministry, for he buried hundred's of his Aboriginal parishioners. Never by-the-book ceremonies, they became occasions for him to pursue the themes that orchestrated his life. One of the strengths of this biography is in showing where Ted Kennedy deploys his renowned literacy to explore the realities of the Redfern parish and its priest. Honest and illuminating, the book adds a necessary hopeful chapter to our history.

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Peter Kennedy : The Man Who Threatened Rome

ISBN:9780980564365
Author(s): Bernadette Walter (Ed) Publisher: One Day Hill Publishing

Father Peter Kennedy, of Saint Mary's Catholic Church in South Brisbane, was sacked by his bishop in February of 2009 — essentially for being too good a parish priest, and stretching the bounds and definitions of community to include non-Catholics, gay and divorced souls, and etc.

Peter, understandably enough after many years of devoting himself to his congregation, refused to be removed, which set off an uproar. But the story is fascinating and revelatory in ways far beyond mere headlines and religiopolitical joust — it cuts to the heart of what being Catholic means, and what congregations and spiritual communities are, and how the genius of Christ's message is both elevated and muddled by organizational structure and seeming authority.

One Day Hill publisher Bernadette Walters has gathered a crew of writers to think aloud about these matters — writers of all sorts and stripes. The book will consist of a biographical article about Peter by Martin Flanagan, parishioners' stories by Michelle Gierck, and a collection of essays from theologians and other cultural commentators that reflect on the situation regarding Peter Kennedy and St Mary's South Brisbane, and the Catholic church today.

These include Father Peter Norden, Sr. Veronica Brady, Michael Morwood, Professor Hans Kung, Paul Collins, Neil Ormerod, Joan Chittister.

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Our Fathers: What Australian Catholic priests really think about their lives and their church

ISBN: 9781920682262
Author(s): Chris McGillion & John O'Carroll, Publisher: John Garratt

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
While many people assume they know what priests think, the reality is that the private views of priests are rarely known outside their own ranks and the small circle of their closest friends.

This book, based on a survey sent to every priest working in parish ministry in Australia as well as on interviews with more than 50 priests across the country, reveals the true thoughts of priests about their vocation, their working lives, and issues confronting the church today. The results will inform, shock and challenge all Catholics.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Chris McGillion is a former religious affairs editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and has written on religious issues for newspapers and magazines including The Age, Brisbane Times, Eureka Street, The Tablet (UK), and the National Catholic Reporter (US). He now teaches journalism at Charles Sturt University.

John O'Carroll has written extensively on religious and philosophical issues. He teaches at Charles Sturt University.

REVIEW:

"The objectivity of the data gleamed from a written survey of 542 priests and face-to-face interviews with another 50 is extremely important at this time as the Australian Church faces unprecedented challenges of credibility and relevance in an educated and highly sophisticated community. ... The fact that the survey was conducted by Chris McGillion and John O'Carroll lecturers in a State University guarantees the objectivity of the findings and data." ...Daniel Donovan, Catholica
 

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The Gospel of Luke

ISBN: 9781921946349 Garratt Publishing (Nov 2012 PB AU)
Author(s): Geoffrey Robinson

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Click the image above to hear Bishop Robinson speaking about his book.

Geoffrey Robinson's commentary on The Gospel of Luke takes us on a fascinating journey into the mind of the evangelist. He extends an invitation to engage in the practice of Lectio Divina. Reading and meditating on scriptures with him can open us to new ways of listening to God. He examines the whole of Luke's gospel, passage by passage, showing how Luke's way of telling it offers us possibilities of beginning to see and know God more deeply.

This deep comprehension of the text unfolds Luke's extraordinary gift: showing Jesus' unique way of demonstrating God's astonishing love for imperfect, frightened, limited human beings. Robinson's glowing exposition shows us the endless compassion and insight of Jesus as seen by Luke.

This book will be a welcome resource for priests and pastoral associates, but all who wish to explore Lectio Divina applied to The Gospel of Luke with Geoffrey Robinson's as a guide will discover extraordinary riches: love, encouragement and hope are all to be found in these pages. Ultimately, Robinson tells us, Jesus sang a song to each one of us. Understanding more about Jesus in Luke helps us to sing Jesus' song ourselves.
 

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Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church : Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus

ISBN: 9781920721473
Author(s): Bishop Geoffrey Robinson Publisher: John Garratt Publishing

BOOK DESCRIPTION
Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church is now in its fourth reprint! The book has been published in the UK, USA, and in translated into other languages.

Drawing on his own experience in responding to abuse, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, in this explosive work, methodically offers a critique of the church's use and misuse of power, from the pope proclaiming infallibly down to the preacher claiming a divine authority for every word spoken from the pulpit. Going back to the bible and, above all, to the teaching of Jesus, he presents an approach to sexual morality that is profound, compassionate and people-centred. He stresses the priority of the hierarchy of holiness over the hierarchy of power. He offers nothing less than a vision for a church of the third millennium — a church that wants to see in its members the responsibility appropriate to adults rather than the obedience appropriate to children, and wants to help all people to grow to become all they are capable of being.

Readers will love or hate this book, but will not be able to be neutral.

Each chapter ends with a relevant meditation. Click here to read the introduction.

New thought-provoking questions ideal for individual reflection or small groups. To view click here
 

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Love's Urgent Longings

ISBN: 9781920682217
Author(s): Bishop Geoffrey Robinson Publisher: John Garratt

BOOK DESCRIPTION
Love's Urgent Longings is the story of a journey, a spiritual journey made over the past few years by Bishop Geoffrey Robinson. In seeking for answers to the urgent longings of the title he goes back to basics to encounter the spiritual, to consciously respond to the force of his deepest desires and to understand the ways that they move him towards higher goals. This sounds like a very personal journey, and so it is. However it is also a journey that will resonate with a great many Catholics. Geoffrey Robinson asks questions that every thinking Catholic asks at some stage on the journey: Do I really belong in the church? Is there any realistic chance that it will ever change to become the kind of church I could give myself to without reservations? What do I do in the meantime? And questions that every thinking, searching spiritual person asks at some stage in their life: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? What is the purpose and meaning of my existence? Geoffrey Robinson's journey is your journey; it is our journey as a church and as believers. His questions are your questions. Above all this is a positive story. Bishop Robinson is not trying to reject all that is past and, as he puts it 'construct a new building from the foundations up'. He does not wish to believe in nothing or become vaguely 'spiritual'. He says: 'If I must leave something behind, I want to do so only because I have found something of equal value to put in its place'. Love's Urgent Longings is a journey, a story, a testament — both a personal one and a dialogue with and for those, both old and young, who are wrestling with belief in today's church.
 

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Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics

ISBN: 9780826429247
Author(s): Margaret Farley Publisher: Continuum (Feb 15, 2008)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The book by Mercy Sister, Margaret Farley, that has got the temple police and the Vatican in a tizz sufficient to rocket it to best seller status on Amazon in a matter of days. [See the NCR story HERE.]

This long-awaited book by one of American Christianity's foremost ethicists proposes a framework for sexual ethics whereby justice is the criterion for all loving, including love that is related to sexual activity and relationships. It begins with historical and cross-cultural explorations, then addresses the large questions of embodiment, gender, and sexuality, and finally delineates the justice framework for sexual ethics.

Though Just Love's particular focus is Christian sexual ethics, Margaret Farley's framework is broad enough to have relevance for multiple traditions. Also covered are specific issues in sexual ethics, including same-sex relationships, marriage and family, divorce and second marriage, celibacy, and sex and its negativities.

REVIEWS:
"This book is a gigantic contribution to the discourse and understanding of human sexuality. It is monumental. It turns the entrenched dictates of the Vatican on their head...opens the subject of sex to rational discourse by Christian people, and acknowledges the direction from which the source of light comes—reason and science informed by just love open to all." ...Richard Sipe

"Just Love carries to a new level Farley's analysis of different world-views and cultural systems....As a theologian, Farley gives us a social ethic of sex that incorporates both the biblical "option for the poor" and the orientation of Catholic social thought to the universal common good. As a feminist, she reminds Catholics that their tradition should make its global option for women more consistent, more explicit and more effective, especially in the areas of sex, motherhood, marriage and family." ...Lisa Sowell Cahill, America, Dec 2006

"Farley is best known for her largeness of spirit and for the demanding intelligence she brings to her teaching and writing. Her new book exudes those qualities...Farley's manner is academic but not obscure, and once readers grow comfortable with it, they will reap the benefits of wisdom gleaned from decades of teaching and scholarship...I consider Just Love an important resource and spur for further collaboration among Christians and others on the knotty issues of sexual ethics. Throughout her book, Farley evinces the sort of intellectual modesty that comes from great learning and an open mind....Just Love does not provide all the answers concerning sexual ethics. But it does lay out a serious and solid framework for thinking about them." ...Luke Timothy Johnson, Commonweal
 

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Quarks, Chaos and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion

ISBN: (UK Paperback) 9780281057665 (US Paperback) 9780824524067
Author(s): John Polkinghorne Publisher: SPCK (UK Edn) Crossroad Publishing Co (US)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In a crystal clear discussion of science and religion and their logical friendship in the search for truth and understanding, Polkinghorne draws on discoveries made in atomic physics to make credible the claims of Christianity, and helps refine Christian perceptions through the knowledge that the new science brings. He discusses belief in God, chaos, evolution, miracles, and prayer, and gives an answer to the question: Can a scientist believe?
 

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The Dawkins Delusion

ISBN: 9780830834464
Author(s): Alister McGrath & Joanna Collicutt McGrath Publisher: Intervarsity Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION
World-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: "If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." The volume has received wide coverage, fuelled much passionate debate and caused not a little confusion. Alister McGrath is ideally placed to evaluate Dawkins' ideas. Once an atheist himself, he gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins' critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. His exhilarating, meticulously argued response deals with questions such as:

• Is faith intellectual nonsense?
• Are science and religion locked in a battle to the death?
• Can the roots of Christianity be explained away scientifically?
• Is Christianity simply a force for evil?

The Dawkins' Delusion will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raises — including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning.

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Priests in Love: Roman Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate Friendships

Paperback ISBN: 9780826418302 (UK Edition) | 9781920721177 (AU Edition)
Author(s): Jane Anderson Publisher: Continuum

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In the 1960s and '70s, thousands of Roman Catholic priests left the active ministry to get married. Nothing like this had been seen on this scale since the French Revolution, and before that since the Reformation. Now a different phenomenon seems to be at work: priests who have formed long-term, intimate sexual friendships. These men are not paedophiles or sexual abusers. They are adult, mature men who can no longer find a rationale for a life of obligatory celibacy and enter into responsible sexual relationships. Some of them are straight, some gay. Based on interviews conducted over a nine-year period, with 50 Australian priests, Priests in Love tells the stories of these priests and their friends. It deals with the moral, psychological, and social challenges they face on the less travelled road of social change.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jane Anderson received a PhD in anthropology in 2004. Mother of four teenage children, she lives in Yakamia, Western Australia, where she has been active in Catholic parish life for over twenty years.

REVIEWS:
"No one has captured with greater understanding and insight the personal, human struggles of priests coping with mandated, institutionalised celibacy than Jane Anderson. This moving and compelling book, both gracefully written and grace-filled, is destined to shake the foundations of mandatory celibacy." ...Donald Cozzens, author of Sacred Silence and Faith That Dares to Speak
 

The Catholic Church: A Short History

ISBN: 9780812967623
Author(s): Hans Küng Publisher: Anchor/Random House

BOOK DESCRIPTION
In this extraordinary book, the controversial and profoundly influential Hans Küng chronicles the Roman Catholic Church's role as a world power throughout history. Along the way, he examines the great schisms—between East and West, and Catholic and Protestant—as well as the evolving role of the papacy, the stories of the great reforming popes, and the expansion of a global church infrastructure. The book concludes with a searching assessment of how the Catholic faith will confront the immense challenges posed in the new millennium by those seeking reform of traditional strictures.

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Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik

ISBN:9780195367935
Author(s): Douglas Johnston Publisher: Oxford University Press (US)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
For most of the twentieth century, the most critical concerns of national security have been balance-of-power politics and the global arms race. The religious conflicts of this era and the motives behind them, however, demand a radical break with this tradition. If the United States is to prevail in its long-term contest with extremist Islam, it will need to re-examine old assumptions, expand the scope of its thinking to include religion and other "irrational" factors, and be willing to depart from past practice. A purely military response in reaction to such attacks will simply not suffice. What will be required is a long-term strategy of cultural engagement, backed by a deeper understanding of how others view the world and what is important to them.

In non-Western cultures, religion is a primary motivation for political actions. Historically dismissed by Western policymakers as a divisive influence, religion in fact has significant potential for overcoming the obstacles that lead to paralysis and stalemate. The Incorporation of religion as part of the solution to such problems is as simple as it is profound. It is long overdue.

Douglas Johnston looks at five intractable conflicts and explores the possibility of drawing on religion as a force for peace. It builds upon the insights of Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft (OUP, 1994) — which examined the role that religious or spiritual factors can play in preventing or resolving conflict — while achieving social change based on justice and reconciliation. The world-class authors writing in this volume suggest how the peacemaking tenets of five major world religions can be strategically applied in ongoing conflicts in which those religions are involved. Finally, the commonalities and differences between these religions are examined with an eye toward further applications in peacemaking and conflict resolution.

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Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft

ISBN:9780195102802
Author(s): Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson Publisher: Oxford University Press (US)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Religion plays a crucial role in many international conflicts, yet for the most part, diplomacy either ignores or misunderstands its role. This unified collection of case studies and theoretical pieces attempts to restore this missing dimension to its rightful place in the conduct of international diplomacy. It offers the first systematic account of modern cases in which religious or spiritual factors have played a helpful role in preventing or resolving conflict and achieving nonviolent change. A distinguished roster of scholars provides examples from Europe, Central American, Asia, and Africa. Additional essays bring out the implications of these case studies for foreign policy and for religious communities.

REVIEWS:
"This book brings a refreshing change ... Brings badly needed balance into the discussion of religion and international affairs." ...Foreign Affairs

"Religion and the passion it generates are a major aspect of our humanity, hence a major force not only in the lives of individuals but in the fate of nations. As the various authors of this edifying book keep reminding us, the aphorism that we don't live by bread alone has enormous political and strategic implications." ...Robert Coles, Washington Post Book World

"Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft holds lessons not only for government officials but also for religious leaders willing to take initiatives for peace. It should encourage the growth of diplomatically engaged religion as well as religiously informed diplomacy." ...Peter Steinfels, The New York Times

"Eminently readable, provocative, stimulating for specialists in both foreign affairs and religion, Religion, the Missing Dimension of Statecraft must be read by anyone concerned about conflict resolution, and the positive role religion can play in creating a more peaceful and just world." ...Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies

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The Intolerance of Tolerance

ISBN:9780802831705
Author(s): D A Carson Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

We live in a culture obsessed with the idea of 'tolerance'. Any viewpoint must be accepted—unless it rejects other viewpoints—and whoever is most earnest wins. This idea of tolerance must be thoughtfully challenged, argues D. A. Carson, both for the good of the church and for the good of the broader culture. Otherwise, poorly defined, tolerance drifts ironically toward true intolerance.

Carson examines how the definition of tolerance has changed. It now has less to do with recognizing the right of another to disagree with us, and more to do with not saying that others are wrong. It is impossible to deploy this new tolerance consistently, so that actual practice is often whimsical and arbitrary. Worse, the word 'tolerance' has almost become an absolute good, and 'intolerance' an absolute bad. Tolerance and intolerance have become merely rhetorical terms of approval and disapproval.

Despite many negatives about the new, often ethically silly definitions of tolerance, from a Christian perspective there have been gains as well. In fact, Carson says, the nature of the Christian revelation is such that some tension in our understanding and practice of tolerance is inevitable.

In this extremely readable volume, Carson uses anecdotes and quotes to illustrate his points and ends with practical advice on exemplifying and promoting the virtue of civil civic discourse.

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My Brother's Eyes: The true story of Surviving 16 Years in a Destructive Cult

ISBN: 9781920721923
Author(s): David & John Ayliffe, Publisher: John Garratt Publishing

'My Brother's Eyes' tells the sad but true story of a dangerous religious cult that operated in NSW. David and John Ayliffe wrote the book together as they believe people need to know how secretive religious groups operate and the damage they cause to families.

In fact David was involved with the group from his late teenage years and didn't leave until his early 40's. Called Zion Full Salvation Ministry, the cult began as part of an inner city Anglican Church in Sydney NSW. It was founded by a woman who claimed to have Christ's stigmata and to be the embodiment of God on earth. When the woman died 16 years later, most of the 70 odd congregation had been stripped of their finances and investments and in many cases their self esteem too.

'My Brother's Eyes' is a troubling story but at least it has a happy ending as it tells the story of the separation of the brothers and then their eventual restoration.

Already the book has attracted a lot of media interest.

"True insight into the psychology of a sect both from the inside and the out is very rare. This account by two brothers is illuminating, fascinating and intelligent." ...Bryce Courtenay

"The Ayliffe saga is gripping, baffling, horrifying, and, most importantly, redemptive." ...Phillip Yancey

Listen to David and John being interviewed by Phillip Adams on the ABC Radio National. Click on this link: Radio National

"What makes this book extraordinary is that it is told by two brothers from two perspectives, one from within a cult and the other from without. The soul-baring, honest narrative is often painful to read as it details a brother's despair as his sibling is drawn further and further beyond his reach, entrapped in a net of emotional blackmail, manipulation and greed. It makes for compelling and frightening reading." ...Derek Hansen

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Reach for the Stars: NSW Knights of the Southern Cross (1919-2009) Bold Men of Faith, Hope and Charity

ISBN: 9781921421280
Author(s): Cliff Baxter Publisher: Connor Court Publishing

Did you know?

• The Knights of the Southern Cross of New South Wales are NOT secret "Catholic Masons".
• They once gave a Pope record egg-laying hens.
• Why Catholic schools went on strike.
• How Sir Henry Parkes wore a gun to protect himself against Irish Aussies.
• Why the KSC used passwords and took on Freemasons, bigots, communists, atheists and discriminating capitalists.
• The reasons behind strict secrecy and ritual.
• The Pioneer Knights and how they fought those who held power in politics and business.
• Why the Knights never apologize for defending Pope and Mother Church.
• How they serve Australia.
• Their role in the Labor Party split.

In this history Cliff Baxter lifts the veil of secrecy on the Knights and tells for the first time the stories of the Knights of the Southern Cross in New South Wales over ninety years.

Cliff Baxter B.Ed., author, journalist, broadcaster and adult educator, a native of New South Wales, is a graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney and won the UTS Mechanics Institute Medal in 2003.

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After the Heart of God : The Life and Ministry of Priests at the Beginning of the Third Millennium

ISBN:9781921421228
Author(s): Bishop Julian Porteous Publisher: Connor Court Publishing

What sort of priest is needed for the third millennium? The cultural and ecclesial landscape has changed so dramatically over the past fifty years. There are new and challenging forces at work influencing the direction of culture and many forces bearing in on the Church. The priest is at the cutting edge of the intersection of these forces as they play out in the lives of Catholics. It is timely to look again at the identity, spirituality and pastoral orientation of priests. This book is written firstly for priests, especially diocesan priests. Priests are vital for the life of the Church at the local parish level.

The author has been a diocesan priest for thirty four years. More recently he has been Rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, Sydney. His role as Rector raised the question of the identity and mission of the priest in the contemporary setting. This book is a fruit of living the priesthood and of a reflection on the future of the priesthood as he focussed on the formation of seminarians.

The book begins with an examination of the factors in society and changes in the Church that bear in on priestly ministry. It considers new signs of hope emerging in the Church in recent times and it looks at the way in which the Church itself has responded to some of the challenges that priests have faced. The book then moves to examine the identity and character of the priest, considering the human reality, the pastoral orientation and the spiritual life of the priest.

Bishop Julian Porteous is Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Sydney and former Rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd. He is Episcopal Vicar for Renewal and Evangelisation within the Archdiocese. He has had extensive experience in the area of Evangelisation and has worked closely with the new Ecclesial Movements.