Category Archives: Worthy

Reviews of Fr Ted Kennedy’s book

WHO IS WORTHY? Ted Kennedy (Preface by Prof Tony Coady), Sydney: Pluto Press, 2000, pb, 152pp, ISBN: 1864030879.
A radical call for major and profound change in the Australian Catholic Church, as well as a direct challenge to the conservatism epitomised by the Archdiocese of Sydney Cardinal George Pell.
Comment
Father Ted Kennedy describes himself as “a sample of that endangered species – an Australian Catholic priest”. He is that, but he is more and even rarer. For what speaks to the reader in this book is the authentic, singular voice of prophecy, a voice seldom heard in the Australian Church. – Professor Tony Coady
Detailed Description
An insightful and provocative book that challenges the new conservatism in the Australian Catholic Church epitomised by Cardinal George Pell was released in April 2000
Father Kennedy speaks as a pastor of 40 years experience including 30 years as the parish priest of Redfern. He is angry about what he sees as a dangerous return to the closed mentality which he experienced in his youth.
Father Kennedy examines how the Church in Australia has corrupted the basic teachings of Christ and has become a church of exclusion rather than inclusion. He is concerned about two groups – each marginalised, each oppressed by the church – gay people and Indigenous Australians.
Father Kennedy’s plea is for a radical reformation which would return the Church to the original message of the gospels.
Source: http://www.unireps.com.au/isbn/1864030879.htm

Book Review – Labour History

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Book Review – Labour History – 1/05/2002

Ted Kennedy, Who is Worthy? The role of conscience in restoring hope to the church.
Pluto Press, Sydney, 2000. pp. 151. $27.95, paper.

One of the many stories in this small book tells of an exchange between the author and the Sydney Archdiocesan secretary in 1968. Kennedy had failed to insist that the Protestant partner in a forthcoming mixed marriage promise to raise any children from the marriage as Catholic. This was less an act of defiance than a response to the fact that the bridegroom … Continue reading →

Sydney priest tours rainbow church

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St Mary’s Church in South Brisbane is well known for pushing the boundaries of convention in theology and politics. On Tuesday, 22 August, the church filled with the curious, the converted and the faithful to celebrate the Brisbane launch of Ted Kennedy’s book, Who is Worthy?

Ted sat among many Murri friends. The Watson family, singer Dermot Dorgan and the Brisbane Lesbian and Gay Pride Choir combined for an evening of storytelling song and celebration.

Tony Robertson, a self-styled holy irritant and host for the launch invited Ted to cut a cake baked for the occasion. The rousing chorus of … Continue reading →

Ted Kennedy weighs up Irish Christian heritage

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On 21 July, at the Melbourne launch of his book about radical Christianity and the views of Archbishop George Pell, Who is Worthy?, Ted Kennedy, parish priest of Redfern in Sydney’s inner city, gave the following address. From Tain Volume 8, September 2000.

I remember as a boy making a trip to Melbourne to visit my aunts, getting off the Cotham Road tram at Studley Park Road, Kew. At its lower end I would see what seemed even then an anachronism – an old cabman with his horse drawn Hansom Cab waiting for a fare to the Kew Asylum. … Continue reading →

Sydney priest challenges Archbishop George Pell

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What is modern? what is traditional?

Editor’s comments from Tain Volume 5, June 2000

A wise person will be both modern and traditional, as Terry Eagleton pointed out. While reevaluating the tradition, one can also insist on assessing the latest developments in the light of ancient wisdom. Those who have a strong knowledge of their traditions are equipped to analyse and assess the various developments of the modern world. We are not rootless, we have some points of reference.

Three contributions in this issue point towards some of those anchors, the article on the Tain, that on the Book … Continue reading →

Outlook Book Reviews

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WHO IS WORTHY?

Ted Kennedy (Preface by Prof Tony Coady), Sydney: Pluto Press, 2000, pb, 152pp, ISBN: 1864030879, $24.95.

Those like me who have admired Fr Ted Kennedy for years have keenly awaited this book. The fruit of many years in his double role as Parish Priest working amongst Aborigines in Redfern and as support and guide to educated laity gravitating to his Masses there, it draws together ideas that have informed his thinking and marked his preaching for a long time.