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Keywords: Newman College

  • RELIGION

    Astute stewards: Implementing the Synod

    • Bill Uren
    • 20 November 2024

    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

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

    • Bill Uren
    • 04 September 2024

    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

    Vatican document focuses on process, not problems

    • Bill Uren
    • 30 July 2024

    The Vatican's new Instrumentum Laboris outlines the path forward for the Synod on Synodality, but with a heavy emphasis on process over substance. While it acknowledges the need for greater women's involvement, it firmly reinforces the authority of the Pope and bishops, raising questions about the true potential for change.

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  • RELIGION

    The Bishop of Rome and universal jurisdiction: An ecumenical obstacle?

    • Bill Uren
    • 11 July 2024

    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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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Joycepoem

    • Peter Steele
    • 16 June 2024

      'From window and doorface painted in carnival, and / your foxing spirit here for a term / becoming again and again the flambeau it carries, / dear dirty Dublin a thing of fire.' A poem recollecting visits to the Jesuit-run Belvedere College, in the north of Dublin, where James Joyce completed most of his secondary schooling. (From 2007)

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  • RELIGION

    Women deacons: A closed book?

    • Bill Uren
    • 11 June 2024

    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

    Where does Infinite Dignity meet finite reality?

    • Bill Uren
    • 24 April 2024

    The recent Vatican declaration 'Dignitas Infinita' aims to provide a response to pressing bioethical and social issues, from abortion and euthanasia to gender theory and the rights of migrants. But does it effectively bridge the gap between doctrine and the lived experiences of the marginalised?  

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  • RELIGION

    Why did the Vatican take a new stance on blessing 'irregular' relationships?

    • Bill Uren
    • 07 March 2024
    4 Comments

    In December, the Vatican issued ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ (‘Supplicating Trust’), licensing priests to bless partners in same-sex and other ‘irregular’ relationships (divorced and remarried couples, couples ‘living in sin’, etc ) when they are approached in good faith.  

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  • RELIGION

    Ministering to euthanasia patients

    • 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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  • AUSTRALIA

    Best of 2023: Can we curb misinformation while retaining freedom of expression?

    • Frank Brennan
    • 11 January 2024

    As the government drafts legislation to stem the rising tide of misinformation circulating online, the nation debates: will these measures sufficiently regulate online content and curb potential harms or threaten freedom of expression? This moment is a critical test for the integrity of Australia's public discourse.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Best of 2023: Bringing the country with us

    • Frank Brennan
    • 04 January 2024

    As Australia approaches a pivotal referendum, voters face a critical choice: endorse a new chapter in the Constitution providing a 'First Nations Voice' or leave it untouched. Whichever way the vote goes, we will be left with a Constitution not fit for purpose in the 21st century.

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  • RELIGION

    Unearthing hidden gems of reform following the synod

    • Bill Uren
    • 12 December 2023
    2 Comments

    The Synod on Synodality raised possible Church reforms like expanding communion to non-Catholics in interchurch marriages and reevaluating the stance on divorced and remarried members. This raises the question: Can the Church reconcile longstanding traditions with emerging calls for inclusivity and ecumenical openness?

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