Six years after she converted to Scientology to marry actor Tom Cruise, actress Katie Holmes has divorced her high-ranking Scientologist husband and returned to the Catholic Church in which she was raised. Holmes and the twice-divorced Cruise were married in 2006 at a 15th-century castle in Italy, in a Scientology ceremony. They already had a Read more
In this fiftieth anniversary year of the opening of Vatican II, a number of interviews on Eureka Street TV have featured critical reflections from prominent Catholic thinkers and activists on various aspects of the Council. This interview is with journalist, author and broadcaster, Clifford Longley, who is one of the UK’s leading lay Catholics. He was invited Read more
Ultra-traditionalists aren’t the only ones in need of papal ‘solicitude’. On June 26, the Vatican announced the appointment of Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia to a specially created post as “a sign of the Holy Father’s pastoral solicitude for traditionalist Catholics in communion with the Holy See and his strong desire for the reconciliation of those Read more
My high school chemistry teacher’s motto, “The facts are friendly,” applies to a lot more than scientific experiments. The English version of the German magazine, Der Spiegel offers a summary of and explanation for the disarray and confusion at senior levels of the Vatican that have resulted from rivalries, scandals, blunt and even brutal administrative acts, falsification Read more
We find ourselves in a deeply divided church — and society as well. For those who love the church, the many contemporary trials Catholics face cause concern and, for some at least, pain. Some trials, with origins stretching back 400 years, are manifest in an increasingly secularized society. Other trials are more contemporary and play Read more
The Catholic Church is like Fiat-Chrysler. Slumping in Italy and Europe, it is coming back strong in the United States and has its most promising market in the rest of the world. With a clue about who the future pope will be. The nation that has the largest number of Catholics today is Brazil, with Read more
Secrecy — utmost secrecy — is a feature of the way in which the Catholic Church is administered. A natural consequence of secrecy is lack of accountability by Church officials, and, inevitably, the covering up of such evils as sexual abuse, writes Fr. Brian O’Connell. When such evils are uncovered the damage to the Church’s Read more
1. Are you sure members of the Church hierarchy are worse than anyone else? When people cite the pedophilia scandals as a key reason for abandoning the Church, I worry that they’re setting themselves up for deep disappointment. The fact that priests abused children is an idea so horrific that one can hardly bear to Read more
‘Re-imagining the Mission — A Pilgrimage of Faith’ was the title of the keynote address presented by Fr Frank Brennan on 24 May 2012 at the Sandhurst Catholic Education Conference at Catholic College Bendigo. Fr Brennan gave his personal reflections on Catholic education and social justice, Vatican II and Catholic education 50 years on, contemporary faith and “some Read more
As the spokesperson of a Catholic bioethics centre, there are some who discount my message because of my religious affiliation, rather than on the basis of its merits. It’s a classic case of “playing the man instead of the ball”. As two commentators noted in response to comments I recently made about the dangers of Read more