Comments 0
A Catholic is bound to view every act of apostasy or schism as spiritual suicide, a choice against life. This characterisation is borne out by three recent columns written by Catholics who have left the Church over the sex abuse scandals. None of the authors proposes any higher, truer teaching than the Catholic faith. None Read more
Comments 0
For most of my life, scripture has been a part of daily prayer, and yet there is something new every time I read it. This morning, John the Baptizer’s statement about Jesus as “The one who comes after me,” started a long journey of reflection. John, the wild prophet in the wilderness had always known Read more
Comments 0
No one wants to be the innkeeper in a Christmas pageant. You know the one, the door-slamming landlord who turned away Joseph and Mary before they became the Holy Family. Any other role is better that that one. Even wearing the scratchy sheep costume is better or being the rope pull on the flying angel—anything Read more
Comments 0
The hills around Salzburg are alive, we hear, “alive with the sound of music.” Young and old, the people sing and hum and strum. The water in the brooks laughs as it trips and falls downstream. Church chimes sigh with the breeze. This music, we also hear, has been sung for 1,000 years. Maybe. But Read more
Comments 0
As a cradle Catholic, I never thought I’d get a divorce, but I ended up with one earlier this year. Since we came to the decision, I’ve been dreading Christmas — the decorations, the Santa visits, the holiday cards. Christmas seemed all about perfect families and frameable moments, and this year I didn’t want any Read more
Comments 0
The show trial of Archbishop Philip Wilson has backfired badly. The trial caused hurt to many people, most especially victims of child sexual abuse who thought the law was being rightly applied to put an errant Catholic bishop in the frame. Wilson was charged under a provision of the New South Wales Crimes Act, section Read more
Comments 0
Recently, the heads of six continental Catholic bishops’ conferences issued a rare joint statement. Their subject was climate change. The conferences, including the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, to which Papua New Guinea belongs, decided that climate change warranted the unusual time and attention to develop a globally united statement. The reason is Read more
Comments 0
A survey of sports clubs in New Zealand has revealed nearly two-thirds of them are either losing money or breaking even. And in the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association’s inaugural national survey of clubs, 22 percent of respondents said their memberships had fallen over the past five years. The survey was undertaken by the Association Read more
Comments 0
China is waging an unprecedented war on religion. Over the past year alone, China has detained Muslims because of their faith, forced Buddhists to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, and coerced Christian churches to take down their crosses or shut down. The sinicization of religion The Party, which is officially atheist, has for Read more
Comments 0
A leading expert in cyberpsychology describes a digital culture today in which children and pre-teens have virtually unfiltered access to online pornography, and she predicts that one day parents who fail to monitor their children’s online activity may be found guilty of criminal child abuse. “I can see later down the line that parents or Read more
