Three
"very naughty boys"! As part of our on-going series
looking at Catholic Education and the responsibilities we as a community
have towards our young people we present an extended interview with three
young men of approximately 25 years of age, all educated in Catholic primary
and secondary schools who no longer have any significant connection with
the Church. [more]
DANIEL
GULLOTTA...
001 :
01 Jun 2007
The
Problem of Evil Apart from the university lecturers amongst us
whose job it is to be regularly marking student assignments, I expect
this essay from one of Ian Elmer's theology students at ACU National,
Daniel Gullotta, will be of interest
to other readers of Catholica
from two principal points of view. Firstly it enables us to see how a
young person tackles one of the big questions for the first time. Daniel
certainly has tackled a huge canvas for his first essay for Catholica
and I think his condensation of the arguments into less than 1400 words
is commendable. Secondly, and this is one of our main aims in encouraging
the submission of these commentaries from younger writers, is it provides
some insight into the broader perspectives of young people _Ed.
[more]
SPECIAL
SERIES: Perspectives on spirituality by young people...
Introduction
to the series... The editor of Catholica, Brian
Coyne, provides an overview of this series of perspectives written
by young people in their mid-20s to early 30s. The introduction
includes a copy of the briefing note that was sent to the young
people. [more]
1.
Benedict Coyne
001 :
26 Dec 2006
Ben
Coyne...Ben is the eldest son of the editor, Brian
Coyne. He is 28 years old, an arts graduate from Murdoch University,
has this year successfully completed a post-graduate course in counselling
in Perth, and has been accepted to study law at Southern Cross University
in NSW. He has been a leader in many activist endeavours in the
realm of human rights, social justice, sustainability and ecology
in all the States of Australia. He has also travelled extensively
overseas and all his travels and studies have largely been self-financed
through part-time work and by himself living in a very sustainable
and economical way that gives very practical voice to his beliefs.
His extensive commentary gives an excellent overview of his spiritual
outlook and his attitudes towards institutionalised religion and
religiosity. [more]
2.
Phoebe Coyne
002 :
29 Dec 2006
Phoebe
Coyne...Phoebe is the eldest child of the editor,
Brian Coyne. She is 30 years old, and is currently completing an
arts degree at Murdoch University. If Alex Caughey was concerned
about new age ideas and spirituality in his response to Ben's essay
he has even more to contend with in what Phoebe writes. The reality
is that many young people today are disenchanted with the Catholic
way of exploring and explaining spirituality and they are exploring
alternative pathways. Phoebe's essay might help explain at least
some of the disenchantment one young person feels. [more]
3.
Armen Gakavian
003 :
01 Jan 2007
Armen
Gakavian...Dr Armen Gakavian summarises his spiritual
journey in this way: "I have had an Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox)
upbringing, Catholic religious education at school, encounter with
Jesus through a fundamentalist Baptist Church, involvement with
various campus Christian groups, and encounters with radical Christian
communities. At the 'end' (there is really no end) of this process,
I am now what I would call 'evangelical'." His essay is
illuminating not only of his own personal journey but seeks to provide
commentary on why so many of his contemporaries are today distanced
from the Church. [more]
Catholica
34 Martin Place, LINDEN NSW 2778, Australia
editor: Brian Coyne | tel: +612 4753 1226
email: editor@catholica.com.au