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Keywords: Ritual

  • RELIGION

    Old rituals, new revelations

    • Geraldine Doogue
    • 02 April 2024
    5 Comments

    Each year, the Stations of the Cross liturgy affects me more than I had planned. Annually, I am left wondering: why does this ritual work? Well, it has much to offer: a narrative with exposition, climax and denouement; characters big and small; blood, gore, politics, virtue, cowardice and a pointer towards mystery.

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  • RELIGION

    What connects the Voice and the Synod of Bishops?

    • John Warhurst
    • 18 October 2023
    9 Comments

    This month we navigate the dual milestones of a failed constitutional referendum and the First Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Seemingly disparate, these events converge in debates over tradition, leadership, and discourse. Their outcomes promise to shape the nation's spiritual and secular contours for generations.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Can spirituality help assuage the youth mental health crisis?

    • Adrian Rosenfeldt
    • 29 September 2023
    12 Comments

    Amid the rise of 'no religion' among young Australians, there is a nuanced narrative of spirituality with demonstrated potential to alleviate some mental health concerns. With a prominent strain of individualism pervading today's culture, might revisiting spiritual connectedness provide young people with a needed respite?

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  • ECONOMICS

    Our greatest threat isn't climate change or AI. It's Moloch

    • Daniel Simons
    • 14 September 2023

    In a world increasingly governed by algorithms and AI, the ancient deity Moloch emerges as a haunting metaphor for our tech-driven sacrifices. Drawing parallels from historic rituals to present-day digital dynamics, ancient fears offer insight into today's most pressing existential challenges. 

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  • RELIGION

    What do we want our relationships to be?

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 07 August 2023
    5 Comments

    Ten years after Pope Francis asked, 'Who am I to judge?' the question lingers in the Church's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. By exploring one young man's spiritual journey, we consider the universal quandary of love, acceptance, and the balance between embracing others and maintaining tradition.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Hidrellez: The green saint who straddles faiths and cultures

    • William Gourlay
    • 11 May 2023
    2 Comments

    The celebration of Hıdrellez in Turkey unites secular, urbanized communities to honor the arrival of spring on 6 May. Marked by rituals rooted in diverse traditions, the mythical figure of Hıdrellez blends Islamic and Old Testament influences fusing cultures, religions, and customs in yearly observance.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    ‘A spiritual notion’: The Voice and the yearnings of our hearts

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 05 May 2023
    1 Comment

    Recent books Statements from the Soul and An Indigenous Voice to Parliament explore different perspectives on the Uluru Statement, including the relationship between the land and Indigenous people and the legal impact of the proposed constitutional change, while demonstrating the need to appeal to hearts and minds in rallying support for an Indigenous Voice.

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  • RELIGION

    From dust to life

    • Simon Smart
    • 04 April 2023
    3 Comments

    In a culture that shies away from ageing and death, the annual ritual of Ash Wednesday is a sobering reminder of our vulnerability and mortality. However, it also invites us to reflect on our failures and fallibility, and to recognize that life is not all about us, but about how we relate to others and contribute to their betterment. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Son of the West: A tribute to Peter Haffenden

    • Arnold Zable
    • 01 February 2023
    1 Comment

    Peter’s playful, profound love of life ranged from the earth to the skies, and from the oceans to the great mysteries of the universe. It was a love that was grounded in family and community rituals. 

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  • RELIGION

    Best of 2022: Distinctive Catholic voices in the election campaign

    • John Warhurst
    • 12 January 2023

    The Church must speak up to be relevant, but those who seek to ‘speak for the church’ must be brave. They risk exposing themselves to claims of bias unless they stick to a very narrow agenda and speak in extremely measured terms. Yet if they are too bland they risk being irrelevant to the sharp end of political debate and their intervention becomes little more than a symbolic ritual.   

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  • RELIGION

    Praying for convergence?

    • Tracey Edstein
    • 14 September 2022
    6 Comments

    There is no doubt that the institutional Catholic church has lost ground in the last few decades. But unlike the institutional Catholic church, the parallel church is thriving. As people seek to engage with their beliefs and live their lives of faith more deeply, many have come to embrace a spirituality which, framed by authentic Catholic tradition, encompasses an expanded array of practices.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    ‘True womanhood was motherly’: The social role of Mother’s Day

    • Kerrie Handasyde
    • 03 May 2022
    7 Comments

    Mother’s Day was a religious event, as was the older English tradition of Mothering Sunday in which worshippers returned home to their ‘mother church’. But as this new celebration of Mother’s Day spread around the English-speaking world, it preserved in public and private ritual a particular idea of womanhood. It asserted that true womanhood was motherly. 

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