I would venture to say that Pope Francis and the comic genius Groucho Marx could agree on one of Groucho’s famous one liners: “I would never join a club that would have me as a member.” Though the pope may never have heard the line, he would know what Groucho meant. Groucho’s humour had an instinctive Read more
It’s official: the deep Amazonas is more remote than Siberia. In all of the visits I have made to provinces of the Congregation of Jesus (CJ) all over the world, never have I been without a signal for my BlackBerry… until I visited one of our sisters living and working in a community along the Read more
In a recent interview with the world’s media when he was on a flight back to Rome from Brazil last July, Pope Francis answered a question about homosexuality by saying: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” Only God knows the secrets of each human Read more
The Bishops of the Federation of Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania have elected Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby as President of their Conference Federation, and the Vice President is Bishop Robert McGuckin of Toowoomba. There were 82 Bishops from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, the countries of the Pacific, and Australia and New Zealand in Read more
When she was 13 years old in 1960, Marie Collins underwent treatment for a bone infection in a Dublin hospital. In the privacy of a ward cubicle, she was raped by the hospital chaplain, Father Paul McGennis. She did not report the priest until 1995, some 35 years later. When she went public, she says, Read more
The fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday, is my favourite Sunday in Lent, and not just because of the pink vestments that insecure clergy sometimes attempt to convince you are “rose.” So many of the rich images, words, and themes that will recur at the Easter Vigil are hinted in the day’s readings and prayers — the Read more
Let us talk about Catholic priests. Consider especially those who are now in their 60s, after a life of service to their church. They were seminarians in the heady days of Vatican II when everything seemed possible. They managed to survive the aftermath of was Humanae Vitae and continued to preach and counsel, to lead the sacred Read more
The image that surfaces when Sr Teresa Forcades speaks is evocative of spiraling energy, bubbling in spirit, and of being on the ground with the needs of the people of God. Forcades — a Benedictine nun, activist, feminist theologian and physician from Catalonia in Spain — and Francis — a Jesuit pope from Argentina — Read more
It was a gift first thing in the morning. I noticed on my Facebook newsfeed a story about an Sr Cristina Scuccia, an Italian member of the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family, and her stunning performance of “No One” (originally by Alicia Keys) on the Italian version of the popular tv show, The Voice. Her Read more
March is a wet month in Rome. It was raining when Pope Francis was elected on 13 March 2013, and it was pouring raining again when I was back there last week in preparation for his first anniversary. But nothing seems to dampen media enthusiasm for Francis and his approach to what he calls his Read more