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Pope Francis I’s weekend announcement of a new council, the Group of Eight (G8), to advise him on Catholic Church governance and reforming the Church’s central administration (the Roman Curia) has been called the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries” by Church historian Alberto Melloni. The group includes Australian Read more
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Pope Francis has appointed a commission of eight cardinals — including Cardinal George Pell of Sydney — to advise him on governing the Church and reforming the Roman Curia. Observers consider it is significant that the commission includes only one prelate currently serving in the Vatican — Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican city-state Read more
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Australia’s Cardinal at the Papal Conclave in Rome, George Pell has come under fire for remarks he made about pope Benedict, reports Melbourne’s Age. Pell criticised the outgoing Pope, saying that despite being a great theologian and a brilliant teacher, governance and government wasn’t his strong point and that Benedict’s resignation leaves future Pontiffs vulnerable. Pell also Read more
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Cardinal George Pell, has levelled some surprising criticism at Pope Benedict, reports Australia’s Seven News. Pell criticised the outgoing Pope, saying that despite being a great theologian and a brilliant teacher, governance and government wasn’t his strong point. “He’s got to know his theology, but I think I’d prefer… someone who can lead the church Read more
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The new Pope must save the Catholic Church from waning influence amid the evils of modern society – and may well be an Italian – says Cardinal George Pell. Cardinal Pell is one of 117 cardinals who will elect a new pontiff next month and is the only Cardinal from the vast territory in the South Pacific Read more
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On Wednesday Peter McClellan, the NSW Supreme Court Judge leading the royal commission into child abuse in institutions, told the media that the commission’s task will be long and complex. No surprises there. His point was to contain expectations among the media that the commission would be anything other than a hard slog, and that Read more
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The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Australia can only be a good thing for the Catholic Church. It is a chance to account for the betrayal and crimes of priests and other church representatives who committed acts of abuse against the vulnerable, and for the careless, even callous way in which many church Read more
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Politicians, pundits, and even a few dissenting Catholic clerics are calling upon Catholic priests to break the confessional seal in sex-abuse cases. Australian Federal Attorney General Nicola Roxon said that a federal commission investigating sexual abuse would take up the question of whether priests should be required to disclose information from sacramental confessions. Prime Minister Read more
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The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s, decision to establish a royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has received overwhelmingly public support. We know, on the available evidence, that the wide-ranging and expensive inquiry will focus on past crimes and whether people in authority, in Gillard’s terminology, ”averted their eyes” with respect to abusers. Read more
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A growing number of people seem to believe that as long as you claim the label you are as good a Catholic as the Pope. Some decades ago when I was a priest in the country, I blessed many marriages and generally attended the wedding reception. As a priest my presence was acknowledged and welcomed. Read more
