In an October 2023 interview, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said that the General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality raised the question of “reimaging” or “revisioning” the diaconate as a whole. It is precisely such a “revisioning” that many historians and theologians of the diaconate have been Read more
“The period over the next few years scares the hell out of me, quite frankly,” says social services expert Professor Michael O’Brien. Poor outcomes predicted “We’ve seen a series of decisions taken around benefit levels, around Working for Families, and if anything that will become more difficult and tighter and meaner, and more poverty-creating. “In Read more
With over 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza– 14,000 of them children – hospitals bombed, churches attacked – including Holy Family Catholic Church – elementary schools and universities destroyed, water and sanitation facilities demolished, ambulance and medical aid convoys fired upon, I ask what else could all of this non-stop Israeli military carnage be called other Read more
Every Sunday, whoever is welcoming the gathered at my parish also welcomes those “joining us online,” before inviting us to stand for the processional hymn. Sometimes, I imagine that these folks are actually in the choir loft, where the camera and streaming laptop actually are. I can’t see them, but for most of Mass, I Read more
It’s been a bruising April for many of Christchurch’s iconic landmarks, venues and events, teetering under the weight of their own financial turmoil. The Arts Centre’s management team continues to sound the threatening drumbeat of insolvency if the ratepayer doesn’t rush to their rescue. (The doom-mongering hasn’t stopped them frittering lavish operational sums on their Read more
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and ethologist and one of the most famous atheists in the world, announced just a few weeks ago that he is a cultural Christian: “I do think we are culturally a Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian.” He said this in an interview with Rachel Johnson for LBC Read more
Many people, and not only Catholics, are talking about the new Vatican document, “Dignitas Infinita,” or Infinite Dignity. It tackles complicated moral ideas, many of them further complicated by current political debates. But many commentaries misunderstand what the Vatican presented, or tried to present, in keeping with the philosophical and theological underpinnings of Catholic teachings, Read more
Each year the eve of Anzac Day is given over to the International Day of Multiculturalism and Diplomacy for Peace. This year the conjunction is particularly apposite at a time when the air is full of wars and rumours of war. Wars – past, present and future Anzac Day recalls the generosity and death of Read more
The nature of power and how the abuse of power has been dealt with in the past and present were the focus of an international conference in Rome attended by about a dozen scholars earlier this month. Experts in history, philosophy, sociology, political science, psychology and education came together at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University April Read more
“Without liturgical reform, there is no reform of the Church,” Pope Francis said emphatically last February during an address to the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. His remarks came around the 60th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy that was issued during Read more