There’s a common saying in faith-based community organising: “Nothing about us, without us, is for us.” It’s also a particularly important axiom to reflect on as we continue the journey through the synodal process. Over the last twelve years as a community organiser, I’ve come to see first-hand how an emphasis on building relationships brings Read more
I’m not telling you anything new when I say that one of the most toxic problems facing Catholicism is clericalism. By ‘clericalism’ I mean the tendency to place priests on a pedestal, to accept their pronouncements as gospel, encouraging them to feel, as Pope Francis says, ‘superior to lay people.’ It begins in seminary training Read more
The Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted on Wednesday when a vote to include women as deacons failed to attract enough support from Australian bishops. As a result, some delegates protested – they refused to take their seats and stood at the back of the meeting room. The Catholic Weekly understands the protest Read more
Radical, unrealistic and even heretical suggestions were part of the conversation background at the New Zealand Catholic Church’s national Synod synthesis group that met at St Catherine’s College, Wellington last weekend. The national Synod synthesis in New Zealand is the latest part of the local Church’s participation in the Pope’s Synodal path to the Church’s Read more
The late Cardinal John O’Connor of New York often said women who had abortions were “invincibly ignorant” — they did not understand what they were doing. He blamed the bishops for not teaching convincingly. The question of abortion may be decided politically, but the real test is if morality is taught. The Supreme Court’s decision Read more
If I had a dollar for every story I have seen about the possibility of the pope resigning, I could take a trip to Rome to watch the pope at work. Why are these stories so popular with journalists? First, the stories are easy to write: Just report the latest whispers from anonymous Roman clerics Read more
Loneliness can be debilitating, especially as we age, and Michael Whitehead wants to do something about it. Mr Whitehead is the Men’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, and recently presented at the Global Action on Men’s Health and the World Congress of Public Health. This week is Men’s Health Week and Read more
Pope John Paul I seems to have favoured artificial contraception in some cases, a document he drafted in 1967 suggests. The man who would become pope – then Bishop Albino Luciani – prepared the document on contraception on behalf of the bishops of Italy’s Triveneto region. It was then was given to St Paul VI Read more
The Catholic Church in Ireland is “moving from maintenance to mission” and needs to renew and refresh itself, Archbishop Eamon Martin says. Martin made the comment after attending Ireland’s national pre-synodal assembly this week. “The question is — what next? “We are still not entirely certain, but we are open to what the Holy Spirit Read more
Guests at the Home of Compassion Soup Kitchen in Wellington were served dinner recently by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. After a health and safety briefing Dame Cindy was one of the team serving guests a hot meal. Her visit coincided with the 187th birthday celebration of Compassion founder Suzanne Aubert. Mother Aubert established the Soup Read more