In the late 1960s, our theology schools were abuzz with the Second Vatican Council, but that had not yet impinged on confessional practice. Among other things, we had “mock confessions”, in which (in front of everyone else) the ordinands took turns at being confessor while our professor, the redoubtable Paul Brassell, took the role of Read more
The other night I was drinking with an American Catholic nun and her daughter.The mother had been married twice, once to a former priest. She had entered a convent straight out of high school and left to marry her high school sweetheart eight years later. Some time after the second marriage broke down and her Read more
Nearly a week after the Breaking Bad finale aired, the ending of the megahit cable series continues to gratify, infuriate, and above all fascinate the moralists — professional and amateur — who constitute the audience’s fanboy core and who always framed the most vigorous debates about the show. That’s understandable. The series at its dark Read more
A few weeks ago, returning from World Youth Day, Pope Francis made several interesting remarks to journalists, including an implicit appeal for a theology of women. “We talk about whether they can do this or that: Can they be altar boys? Can they be lectors? About a woman as president of Caritas, but we don’t Read more
The Vatican has stalled an attempt by the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, to prevent members of the theology department in the Catholic University of Peru to continue teaching theology. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, is reported to have written to Cardinal Cipriani, lifting Read more
Well-known Marist priest and “defender of the faith” Rev Dr George Duggan died on Sunday at the age of 100. In recent years he had became increasingly frail, and lived in the care of the Silverstream Home of Compassion. Despite impaired hearing, he enjoyed visitors and conversation and happily recounted stories of his many and Read more
While the Catholic Church teaches that “the whole body of the faithful . . . cannot error in matters of belief”, this does not mean Catholic beliefs are open to popular vote, Pope Benedict XVI has told a group of theologians. The Pope said an authentic “sensus fidei” (“sense of faith”) can come only when Read more
The board of the largest membership organization of U.S. theologians issued a statement of support Thursday afternoon (June 7) for Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley, a member in their ranks who was the subject of harsh criticism from the Vatican just days ago. Writing that it considers Farley’s work “reflective, measured, and wise,” the leadership of Read more
Spice up your sermons, is the message Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is giving to priests. Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said that priests who used theological language that was formulaic and boring risked making the gospel irrelevant. Grey, dull and flavourless sermons need to be livened up with graphic stories and scandal contained within the Bible, Read more
After the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine had delivered its criticism of Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God by St. Joseph Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, theologians and boards of theological societies in the United States contested the content of the criticism and protested the manner of its formulation (NCR, Read more