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Keywords: Pope Benedict

  • RELIGION

    Morris affair contains lessons for Church hierarchy

    • Frank Brennan
    • 25 January 2012
    57 Comments

    Just because there is no legal remedy to the denial of natural justice to former bishop Bill Morris, that is no reason for the senior hierarchy not to reflect acutely on their treatment of him. Respectful dialogue with Toowoomba's church leaders would be a good start. 

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  • RELIGION

    Beyond Catholic corporate spin

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 19 January 2012
    8 Comments

    The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Great Britain last year prompted an interesting experiment. The Church asked for lay volunteers to deal with media enquiries. At first glance this could be construed as an exercise in corporate spin with a focus on persuasion and not on truth.

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  • RELIGION

    Sharing the journey with agnostics and Qantas

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 03 November 2011
    27 Comments

    The Pope believes agnostics and Christians are on a shared journey, committed to peace and human dignity. The concept of the shared journey has consequences for the life of the Church, as in the Bishop Bill Morris saga, but also for events such as the Qantas controversy.

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  • RELIGION

    Making friends not foes of rights and religion

    • Frank Brennan
    • 13 September 2011
    5 Comments

    The Church of the 21st century should be the exemplar of due process, natural justice and transparency. While there can be little useful critique of the final decision of Pope Benedict to force the early retirement of Bishop Bill Morris, there is plenty of scope to review the processes leading up to it.

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  • RELIGION

    Pope's theory on clergy sex abuse

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 16 June 2011
    33 Comments

    Benedict uses large theoretical constructs to reflect on the condition of Western societies and the Church. This can simplify complex realities and provide a focus for reflection and conversation. But the weaknesses of this approach are revealed when he blames bad moral theory for sexual abuse by the clergy.

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  • RELIGION

    Papal power in Toowoomba

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 05 May 2011
    54 Comments

    Modern societies rightly put much weight on transparency. Its absence is taken to discredit the institutions in which it is lacking. After the forced resignation of Bishop Morris it will be even harder for Catholics to win a hearing on issues that affect the public order.

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  • RELIGION

    Pope's guide to social networking

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 02 February 2011
    9 Comments

    Benedict's World Day of Social Communications address shows how an elderly, intelligent man might reflect on the massive changes in social communication. He associates social networking with the young, and trusts in their freedom to use it well.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Condoms only a possible first step to AIDS prevention

    • Paterne Mombe
    • 26 November 2010
    1 Comment

    Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the relative moral value of a prostitute showing concern for protecting others by using condoms. But it is far from being sufficient. For him, it is not really the way to promote HIV prevention. One would say: the finality does not justify the means.

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  • RELIGION

    Pope models condom conversation

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 23 November 2010
    14 Comments

    Pope Benedict's remarks on condoms have offered rich pickings. Speculation arose whether his statement heralds the collapse of Catholic condemnation of contraception. But the Pope's words were less significant for their content than for their style.

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  • RELIGION

    Geoffrey Robertson's Catholicism for dummies

    • Paul Collins
    • 11 October 2010
    26 Comments

    Robertson may be a celebrity QC, but historian he is certainly not. He touts the notion that the Vatican is not a real state and that as a consequence Benedict XVI should not be granted immunity from prosecution for his alleged responsibility in covering up clerical sexual abuse.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Pope-hate in broken Britain

    • Michael Mullins
    • 20 September 2010
    12 Comments

    Social commentator Frank Furedi wrote that the Pope's UK visit provided Britain's cultural elite with 'a figure that it is okay to hate'. We might regard the angst as a manifestation of the growing pains that are to be expected in a world of emerging pluralism.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Ain't that what religion is for?

    • Marlene Marburg and Edith Speers
    • 14 September 2010
    13 Comments

    Come as you are, Marilyn Manson ... that's how I want you, Peter Kennedy ... Trust me again, Germaine Greer ... Don't run away, Catherine Deveney ... Nothing can change, Pope Benedict ... the love that I bear you, George Pell

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