Germany’s Synodal Way reform proposals have had some sharp criticism from German theologian cardinal Walter Kasper. He agrees reforms are necessary but says the Church should not become “a mass that can be kneaded and shaped to suit the situation”. The proposal to create a permanent Synodal Council to govern the Catholic Church in Germany Read more
An initiative challenging Bishops to support the evangelising mission and ministries in Catholic schools saw religious education leaders learning together last week. Some participated online, others came together in person. Organised by Catholic Education Auckland in partnership with the Diocese of Hamilton and Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College, the Spiritus Aotearoa NZ 2022 summit responded Read more
Pentecost occurred in a locked upstairs room in downtown Jerusalem. Afraid, Mary and the apostles were hiding, but in complete contrast, the Holy Spirit directs the ‘door be opened’ and redirect the initial Church’s focus outward. New energy dawned with the birth of the Church and the Holy Spirit charged the Apostles and Mary to Read more
Spiritually, we are all called to be pregnant with God and to give birth to Christ in the world. Men and women alike, this is our mission, and the mother of Jesus gives an outline of what that birthing is all about. Scripture doesn’t offer a lot of information about Mary. But if we look Read more
Standup comics hunt for laughter, not applause. A laugh is involuntary; clapping is not. The element of surprise – to which a laugh is a reaction – takes us beyond our sets of ideologies and expectations.—And this is a vital part of what churches are called to do. The lack of it partially explains why Read more
Catechesis is a tradition that is lived from heart to heart, from mind to mind, life to life. Pope Francis made the comments while participants in a meeting promoted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation on Friday. He was following up on the comments he made at St Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava during his Read more
I’ve been thinking about religion, my own relationship to it, and how it shows up when I observe influencers. These dense subjects arose for me after this New York Times op-ed about how influencers have kind of become secular morality preachers was published last week, just as religion came up in a discussion group I’m Read more
On Instagram, I follow 700 people, mostly women. One hundred of those women follow Glennon Doyle, whose memoir “Untamed” has been on the Times best-seller list for 51 weeks. Fans of Ms Doyle’s gospel, an accessible combination of self-care, activism and tongue-in-cheek Christianity (“Jesus loves me, this I know, for he gave me Lexapro”), can Read more
In a pastoral message released in December, Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of the Archdiocese of Quebec announced a dramatic transformation in how the Catholic Church in the province should understand itself. Faced with declining resources and a faithful but increasingly small cohort of weekly Mass attendees—between 2 and 11 percent of the province, according to The Read more
When Amber-Rose Schneider first joined TikTok — the snappy, short-form social media app with more than 1 billion users worldwide — she wanted to see more young teenage creators like herself, who reflected her Catholic beliefs. A self-described “cradle Catholic” and graphic design student at Liberty University, Schneider, now 21, began using her TikTok as Read more