The Jesus I know is no cold, hard Iron-Christ; nor does Jesus deserve to be reduced to smug, glib and uncompassionate irrelevancies when the real meaning of His love is what people need so desperately.
“Who is Worthy?” Ted Kennedy
Hi, it is hard to believe we will soon enter the second half of 2005. … Continue reading
What can you do when your parish is subjected to the unwelcome attentions of a group like the Neocatechumenate?
Here are a few ideas drawn from the Church Mouse’s observations of the St Vincent’s experience.
Last week one of our parishioners was asked to visit the Parish priest with a view to discussing the use of the Parish hall (which is now very difficult to access because of the Neocat services). When he fronted, he was ambushed by the Parish priest and his assistant in that they wanted to know who the leader of this dissenting group was, where did we all meet, what was spoken of and so on. When he refused, he … Continue reading
A Mass of Thanksgiving
for the life of
Fr Ted Kennedy
27 January, 1931-17 May, 2005
THE BLOCK, REDFERN
Tuesday 24 May, 2005
St Irenaeus
Celebrated by Bishop David Cremin
I have been pondering as to what to share. You have stories; you have experiences as rich as or even richer than mine.
“The Motorcycle Diaries”, a film currently showing in Sydney, is the template I want to work with. It was Che Guevara’s journey around a continent. It started with a call to adventure and it became the hero’s journey. In being human we are all heroes. The film was about a bike, two persons, road accidents, arguments, injury, being penniless, hunger, sadness, exposure to injustice, spontaneous generosity, romance and death—life itself. The story of Che … Continue reading
Karol Jozef Wojtya, known as John Paul II since assuming the office of pope in October 1978, will be remembered as one of the most significant, though certainly not the most progressive, figures in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope John XXIII, who preceded Wojtya as head of the Church by two papacies, is still revered by many Catholics for radically reorienting the church by convening the Vatican II Council, which directly fed the growth of what is known as “liberation theology”. From Vatican II the democratic notion emerged that the whole church — laity and clergy … Continue reading
Written by Morris West for the Sydney Morning Herald, April 4, 2005.
The late Morris West wrote numerous novels about the Catholic Church, including The Shoes of the Fisherman. This is an edited version of an article West wrote exclusively for the Herald in 1997, to be published on the death of the Pope.
Let us pray for a man of courage
In the Society of Jesus, there is an interesting practice. When a superior’s term of office expires, his colleagues are asked to submit, in writing, a portrait of the man they think should replace him.
On issues that are important to women, John Paul turned a deaf ear, writes Veronica Brady for the Sydney Morning Herald, April 4, 2005.
Dr Veronica Brady is a Loreto sister and an honorary senior research fellow in the Department of English, University of Western Australia.
Any attempt to assess the significance of the long pontificate of John Paul II as far as women are concerned is a tricky business.
To an outsider, the Roman Catholic Church probably seems like a large and formidable institution, globalised long before the present era of globalisation. … Continue reading
Gripped with Easter fervour, Prindiville and Sudla have this week indulged themselves in a little church redecorating. Their redoubtable DIY skills may be admired, not so much on the wall behind the altar where they focussed their attention, but in the paint splashes and smudges on the sacred Kiko carpet, and even, to Naoami Myers chagrin, outside the church on the Aboriginal Medical Service’s path and plants.
Obituary for Bob Bellear, Australia’s only Aboriginal judge. Written by community member Peter Manning for the Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 2005.
Australia is called a classless society. But Bob Bellear, who has died at 60, did what few other Australians have done: he rose from the very bottom rung to the very top. Not just from working-class and rural origins but from Aboriginal deprivation to become Australia’s first indigenous judge.