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As the fourth in this series of interviews with Catholic lay and religious
leaders we have pleasure in presenting this extended discussion with Michael
Morwood.
 As
most readers of Catholica would
know Michael was a Missionaries of the Sacred Heart priest for many years
principally working in the field of Adult Faith Education until Cardinal
Pell decided that Michael wouldn't be allowed to discuss his ideas any
further as a priest. His case caused considerable controversy at the time
in Australia and elsewhere.
Interestingly, and coincidentally, during our interview we found out
that February is in the fact the 10th Anniversary of his explusion. We
weren't principally interested in interviewing Michael about that but
the motivation for the interview is that we have become aware that his
books today do generate an enormous amount of interest internationally
from a diverse audience of spiritual seekers who largely seem to be the
audience we are also endeavouring to reach here at Catholica:
those who have become disillusioned with what "the powers that be"
constantly keep trying to serve up to an increasingly disillusioned audience
within the institution.
We have deliberately structured the interview as a more or less set of
self-contained segments of around 10 minutes duration that might serve
as useful "reflection fodder" for the readers of Catholica
on each day we publish them. We will publish the further segments of the
interview on this page on coming Thursdays and eventually this page will
contain the entire set of reflections.
Michael's book can be ordered through
his website www.morwood.org.
During March-May 2008 Michael will be undertaking another of his now regular
speaking tours throughout the United States, including Southern Illinois,
various centres in Michigan and Wisconsin, New Jersey, Phoenix, Tuscon,
Sedona, Florida, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco.
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 Introduction
– why he chose the title "From Sand to Solid Ground"
for his book — some general comments on the state of the Church
today and why so many have become disillusioned — His thoughts
10 years on…
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 1 [10m14s
3.51Mb]
"The institution isn't changing but people are:
[they're thinking] "institutionally you're not speaking to
me any more — ritually, liturgically, you're not addressing
where I am. You're not nurturing my faith, you're not ritualising
my faith anymore."
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The
10th Anniversay of his silencing … the challenges in his personal
journey immediately following his silencing … a life saviour
from Brisbane and new audience in America — the challenges
the institution faces today…
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 2 [12m39s
4.34Mb]
"Let's take the bishops in this country for
example: I wonder how many of them do worthwhile reading? …
a retired archbishop said to me "it's only when I'm retired
that I've got time to do any reading." And I think that's part
of the problem. … I think the lack of exposure to new thinking
is the greatest drawback to change."
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A
more personal part of the conversation where Michael speaks of his
experiences following the ban imposed on him and his journey to
finding new ways of using his talents — Diarmuid O'Murchu —
His book "Is Jesus God?"…
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 3 [9m34s
3.29Mb]
"The point of the
book [‘Is Jesus God?’] is: we have to articulate, as adults,
what our response is — so who is Jesus?"
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This segment of the interview is largely concerned with a discussion on our changing understandings of the nature of Jesus and of the nature of God. Is our picture of an "elsewhere God" or an "everywhere God"?
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![To put it in colloquial terms, I keep saying to people, is what got Jesus of Nazareth out of bed? [pause] What got him out of bed — what was he interested in? What did he want people to believe? If we take a leaf out of Albert Nolan's book, Jesus Before Christianity, what made him 'tick'? What was he on about before the whole "theological stuff" got laid on him?](images/MorwoodQ04_333x333.jpg) |
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 4 [10m21s
3.55Mb]
"I think the biggest question Christians have to face today … is the question of the person 'God' — what do we mean by saying God is 'person'? It seems to me we are using a very human term — a human image; a human reality — and as nice at it is, a lovely as it is, we're putting that on this 'Mystery' we call 'God', and what we've had now for 3,000 years is the God who thinks, who reacts, who intervenes, who plots, who plans, who is male, and even amongst those I would call 'progressive Christians' who would say 'I don't believe in that (concept of) "God" anymore' when I hear them pray, uh-oh, their prayer is addressed to someone who is listening 'out there'."
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The principal focus of this segment of our conversation is on liturgy and prayer — Michael argues the liturgy we experienced growing up worked well but it no longer works today — we have to go back to Jesus for answers
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IF
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 5 [10m06s
3.47Mb]
"We need to re-address the imbalance, I think, that so many of our prayers are addressed to an 'elsewhere God' and so many of us are still caught in the sense that God hears, God listens." |
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In this final segment of our conversation Michael shares his views on prayer, on the inability of the institution to respond to the spiritual needs of the community, his hopes for the future and our sense of 'Catholic' identity
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Michael
Morwood Interview – Segment 6 [8m41s
2.98Mb]
"While, personally for myself, and for many people with whom I relate, there is disillusion with the institutional leadership in the Church, there is appreciation of the Catholic community in general, and Catholic scholarship, and a Catholic 'way of thinking' … but that's obviously been hijacked!" |
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 Husband
and wife team, Amanda (Milly) McKenna and Brian Coyne
are the publishers of Catholica Australia.
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©2008
Catholica Australia. Permission granted for republication provided attribution
given to original source.
[Index to this series of interviews]
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