I have been asked at this meeting of the Australian Jesuits and our companions on the journey to explain why I love the Catholic Church despite all the woes we are suffering as a social institution at the moment. I love the Church because it is the privileged space where people can share their deepest Read more
“Faith is no refuge for the fainthearted, but something which enhances our lives,” says Pope Francis in his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith). “It makes us aware of a magnificent calling, the vocation of love,” he says. “It assures us that this love is trustworthy and worth embracing, for it is based Read more
Pope Francis is about to publish his first encyclical, called Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith), which he has said is largely the work of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. “It’s an encyclical written with four hands, so to speak, because Pope Benedict began writing it and he gave it to me,” Pope Francis said. “It’s a Read more
Ronald Knox once quipped that “the study of comparative religions is the best way to become comparatively religious.” The reason, as G. K. Chesterton says, is that, according to most “scholars” of comparative religion, “Christianity and Buddhism are very much alike, especially Buddhism.” But any Christian who does apologetics must think about comparative religions because Read more
Except for the severest of unbelievers, it is rare to find a person who does not relish a tale of spiritual transformation, an account of the soul’s progress from winter to spring. A favorite of mine from this genre involves Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, who is now doing Read more
I read with great interest, and I hope empathy, the story about Beverley Broadbent ending her life. I think I can appreciate her choice to end her life while still able to enjoy living. But it is not a choice that I intend to make. It is, nevertheless, a choice that confronts me. I was Read more
Pope Francis has emphasised the “fundamental” importance of women in the Catholic Church, saying they have a privileged role because of their ability to pass on the faith through love. He said women have always had a special mission in the Church as “first witnesses” of Christ’s Resurrection, and because they pass the faith on Read more
Recently I viewed a YouTube video by Australian performance poetry artist, Joel McKerrow. “God Rid Me of God’ it was called. The poem explores the constraints we put on the nature of God; the shackles we use to confine God. Joel entreats that we stop shaping God in our own image: “God, rid me of Read more
Billed as the Pop Star priest, Chris Skinner, Saturday, helped warm up the crowd at the annual Mission Concert at the Mission Estate, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Fr Skinner was one of the lead in acts for female composer and singing sensation Carole King and the Bee Gee’s legend, Barry Gibb. Chris told the crowd Read more
The Catholic Church is no stranger to criticism from those who disagree with its teachings, but the petition posted recently on the White House Web site to label the church a “hate group” is beyond the pale, even in an age when an aggressive secularism seeks to marginalize the influence of religious belief. The church has long been Read more