An Inner Music will be launched in Wellington at Connolly Hall at 6 pm on Monday 9 May and in Auckland at the Columba Centre at 6 pm on Friday 13 May. It is a user-friendly book on the mystics by well-known Marist priest Craig Larkin. An Inner Music provides an introduction to 20 mystics Read more
Father Craig Larkin, a well known Marist priest and writer, died on Saturday, in Wellington, after a long illness. After teaching at St Patrick’s College Silverstream for a number of years Craig went on to be involved in a wide range of ministries. For some years he was the director of third order of the Read more
In these last lead-up days to the Conclave, some Cardinals have voiced their opinion on the state of the Church and the qualities required in a leader of the Church for the coming years. The point of view of one voting Cardinal which wasn’t expressed in these days, but was reported at the Synod of Read more
I’ve lived for fifteen years in Rome – though not consecutively. But I’ve had the rather unique experience of being in Rome for the passing of four popes: Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and now Benedict XVI. The atmosphere at each of these moments could not be more different. Paul VI’s funeral Read more
Pope Benedict’s last words and gestures are worth noting. Take four of his last decisions, for example. 1) Nine months after the sacking of the President of the scandal-ridden Vatican bank, he appoints a new President: a lay man and a non-Italian. 2) He appoints a man of promise to a diplomatic post in a Read more
I’ve just returned from St Peter’s Square where I was packed in shoulder-to- shoulder with 150,000 others for Benedict’s final general audience. Saying farewell to a Pope who hasn’t actually died makes this experience of farewell a rather unusual one – at least it hasn’t happened for centuries. Benedict has said clearly that he will Read more
Benedict’s decision to resign left people wondering, “Why at this time?” There seemed to be good reasons for such a decision to be made later. He had initiated a “Year of Faith” in October 2012; it would have made sense to leave his resignation till the end of the year of Faith. He has completed Read more
There are interesting parallels and connections between Benedict XVI and the last pope freely to resign the papacy, over 700 years ago – Pope Celestine V. Celestine, known as Pietro di Morrone was a hermit monk who lived in isolation in the mountains of Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. When Pope Nicholas IV Read more
As days pass since the announcement of Benedict XVI’s resignation, it becomes clear that his decision is one whose profound significance will only gradually become clear. Benedict is a teacher, a writer, a scholar, for whom words are never trivialized. Vatican observers are listening carefully to each of his speeches, and watching every gesture and Read more