Eureka Street

Keywords: Vatican

RELIGION

A controversial graduation address
- Bill Uren
- 11 December 2024
A contentious graduation speech at Australian Catholic University laid bare divisions between traditional Catholic values and modern sensibilities. The backlash, marked by audience walkouts, underscores broader challenges facing the Church.
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RELIGION

All religion is local
- John Warhurst
- 03 December 2024
2 Comments
The Synod of Bishops may mark a turning point for the Catholic Church, but the real work now begins — locally. From diocesan councils to parish communities, the challenge lies in translating synodality into action. In Australia, divergent episcopal views and a patchy history of reform raise critical questions about the Church’s future.
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RELIGION

How the Synod quietly redefined disability in the Church
- Justin Glyn
- 30 November 2024
2 Comments
The Synod on Synodality has quietly rewritten the Church’s relationship with disability, shifting from a legacy of marginalisation to a vision of equality and dignity. This historic move acknowledges past failings while championing the rights of disabled people as full participants in faith and society. But does the rhetoric match reality?
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ENVIRONMENT

How Laudato Si’ inspired a global movement for sufficiency
- David Ness
- 28 November 2024
2 Comments
As the climate crisis deepens, there's an urgent need for a global shift toward fairness, equity, and living well within our planet’s limits. Drawing from Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’, sufficiency thinking offers a critical, overlooked pathway to global equity and sustainability.
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RELIGION

Astute stewards: Implementing the Synod
- Bill Uren
- 20 November 2024
7 Comments
Will the recommendations of the Synod on Synodality inspire lasting change or risk losing momentum? With bishops balancing tradition and reform, the coming year will determine whether this moment becomes one of true transformation.
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RELIGION

Pope Francis' challenge to become a synodal Church
- Bruce Duncan
- 14 November 2024
14 Comments
The Synod is possibly the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council. And despite its focus on internal Church reform and participation, can it effectively address broader social and moral issues in the world while still promoting a more inclusive and accountable Church?
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RELIGION

The quiet revolution in women's roles in the Church
- Joanna Thyer
- 07 November 2024
3 Comments
At the World Synod in Rome, four women joined to advocate for ordaining women as deacons. Though the topic remains off the table officially, the message highlights the Church’s internal conflict between traditional values and growing calls for inclusion and change.
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AUSTRALIA

Sweet dreams and haunted histories
- Danielle Terceiro
- 30 October 2024
6 Comments
As Halloween starts to become a staple in Australian neighbourhoods, for most people its ghosts mean little more than costumes and candy. But from haunted churches to eerie local legends, Halloween says something about us and the way we carry snatches of unresolved history.
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RELIGION

Francis’ Church may be more transparent and accountable, but don’t call it democratic
- 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

In future Church governance, hierarchy meets partnership
- John Warhurst
- 03 September 2024
8 Comments
Lay-led organizations, once marginalised, are now ascendant in the Church, challenging traditional hierarchies and redefining what church might look like in future. Ministerial Public Juridic Persons (MPJPs) have a growing influence, and for some, hold the potential for a more inclusive, lay-led Church.
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RELIGION

When the Pope drops by
- 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

Gerry O'Collins: Seeking the good, true and beautiful
- 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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Keywords: Vatican