Years ago, a man about to be ordained was told by an older priest, “The hardest thing you will find is to be called Father.” The new priest found this was indeed true and he dropped the title, although doing so made some lay people uncomfortable. One parishioner said calling a priest by his first Read more
Cardinal John Dew’s call to drop the “Father” title has received mixed results. As reported by CathNews, Dew first raised the issue of honorifics in an internal church newsletter. Describing the “Don’t call me Father” call as ‘simple’, Dew however hopes that not using the clerical title might go some way to changing the clerical Read more
In his recent Newsletter, the Archbishop of Wellington drew attention to an article written by a priest from France, Jean-Pierre Roche, entitled “Stop calling me Father.” In his article, Roche says that priests may be able to make some small changes to overcome clericalism if they gave up expecting to be called “Father.” “In August last Read more
One benefit of bearing an unusual name is that anybody I meet who knew my father is liable to ask, “Are you any relation to Vaughan Roughan?” Though he was a primary school principal whose career was spent in Southland and Canterbury, his former pupils and colleagues are everywhere. “He was a nice man,” they Read more
Pope Francis has described God as “both father and mother”. In an interview with the magazine Credere, the Pope explained his decision to call a Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Jubilee Year might help the faithful to recognise “the maternal dimension of God”, the Pope observed. He explained that he was speaking of “the tenderness, typical Read more
Prayer is not “magic” and Christians do not pray to a “cosmic God”, Pope Francis has said. “To whom do I pray? To the Almighty God? He is too far off. Ah, I can’t hear Him. Neither did Jesus. To whom do I pray? To a cosmic God? That’s quite normal these days, is it Read more
A Sydney man could be the first Australian sperm donor to have his name forcibly removed from his child’s birth certificate. The man, who has not missed one day of contact with his 9 year old daughter, pleaded before a NSW judge not to agree the request by the birth mother’s lesbian ex-partner. “She knows Read more