Keywords: Pope John Paul Ii
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RELIGION
- Bill Uren
- 04 September 2024
6 Comments
The Synod on Synodality begins its second session in October. And while the synodal process may involve consultation, Pope Francis is keen to remind those hoping for reform that teaching authority remains with the Pope and bishops. As the Pope has insisted on a number of occasions, the Church is not a democracy, and the synod is not a parliament.
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 28 August 2024
5 Comments
As Pope Francis embarks on a demanding tour, skipping Australia to visit smaller marginalised Catholic communities in Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, he is demonstrating the priority of the Church in reaching out to those on the margins.
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RELIGION
- Julian Butler
- 26 August 2024
3 Comments
Gerry had a wonderful way of making people feel welcome. He wanted to see people at their best and his company allowed others to be so. Gerry’s life was peopled by some of the most significant figures in the global Church, and in political and cultural society more broadly, but he wore those connections lightly.
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RELIGION
- Miles Pattenden
- 23 July 2024
6 Comments
Schism is an entrenched idea within Church History. What should we make of Pope Francis’ very modern schism: a decision by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to declare Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of ‘public statements resulting in a denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church’ and to excommunicate him?
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RELIGION
The recent Vatican instruction terminating the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral is a prime example of Vatican officialdom overriding local episcopal authority. Let us hope that in a more decentralized Church some traditional obstacles to ecumenism may be removed without respective ecclesiastical loss of face on the part of the contributing Churches.
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RELIGION
In a 60 Minutes interview, Pope Francis was asked whether there would ever be the prospect within the Catholic Church of a woman being ordained as a deacon. The Pope’s reply was a blunt ‘No’. This negative response came as a surprise to many Vatican watchers.
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RELIGION
- Bill Uren
- 30 January 2024
8 Comments
As Australia adopts voluntary assisted dying nationwide, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference addresses ethical challenges for end-of-life care in this new legal landscape. What is to be done when a terminally ill Catholic patient requests access to the sacraments when their intention is to embark on assisted suicide?
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RELIGION
- Brian McCoy
- 11 January 2024
Fifty years ago, the Aboriginal Liturgy was the first attempt by the Catholic Church in Australia to re-shape the Mass, and was the first time we had witnessed and experienced Aboriginal people expressing their Catholic faith in ways that were culturally different from our own.
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RELIGION
- Bill Uren
- 16 November 2023
7 Comments
Just two days before the opening of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, five senior Cardinals — German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, United States Cardinal Raymond Burke, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen and Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Ìñiguez — brought to public notice the five ‘Dubia’ (Doubts).
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RELIGION
- Bruce Duncan
- 01 November 2023
3 Comments
Pope Francis' cautious remarks on the Ukraine war have stirred a complex blend of admiration, confusion, and criticism as he finds himself straddling the line between moral authority and geopolitical pragmatism. The challenge for Francis is how to uphold ethical standards while effectively engaging in the nuanced world of global diplomacy.
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RELIGION
- Bill Uren
- 15 September 2023
3 Comments
As society grapples with evolving concepts of gender, and as the Catholic Church has maintained a stance in conflict with modern gender theory, recent statements by American bishops spotlight the chasm between doctrine and contemporary gender theories. Can these differences be resolved?
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 17 August 2023
4 Comments
Despite taking place 250 years ago, the Jesuit Suppression remains a deeply felt experience. Today, as exiles shape headlines, this chapter in Jesuit history poses a resonant question: How does a faith community endure and evolve when its very existence is challenged by the authority it holds sacred?
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