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The final gift of Ted Kennedy to the nation was to pass the torch of liberalism to Barack Obama. It was breathtaking to see this Irish Catholic embrace a black man as his political heir.
Opposition presents the Liberal Party with a rare opportunity to recover its conservative soul and abandon Labor's vapid brand of politics. The only way forward is for the Party to replace Malcolm Turnbull with Tony Abbott as its leader.
Fr Ted Kennedy's work with Indigenous Australians brought him conflict with police, landowners, parishioners and church authorities. If you live at the margins, you will be marginalised. How best to handle this marginalisation?
Kennedy is not portrayed as a saint. Imperfections such as his unpredictable temper, his occasional liking for a drink and his initial insensitivity to Aboriginal Australians reveal that he, like us, was a man of flesh and blood.
Last week, Pope Benedict gave Kevin Rudd a copy of his new encyclical Caritas in Veritate. Rudd gave the Pope a copy of the National Apology. I wonder what the radical Redfern priest Ted Kennedy would have made of this exchange of literary gifts.
Bloggers are being hunted and jailed in countries such as Burma and Iran. In Western nations they are incurring the wrath of disgruntled mainstream journalists. The plight of St Mary's South Brisbane holds a useful metaphor for this crusade on free speech.
The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be remembered for Obama's pledge to 'seek a new beginning with Cuba'. He could be the statesman to end the Cuban embargo, the foreign policy blunder that has caused much pain to Cuba and its people.
From the time Jesus decried the Pharisees for their adherence to rules over freedom and love, the leaders of radical Christian ministries have found themselves in bitter contention with their superiors. Peter Kennedy is no exception.
Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's book is an invitation to put fear behind us. Given the treatment it has received by people who should have known better, it has become an icon; a call to conversation without fear.
One of the strongest accusations you can make against Christians is that they deny the divinity of Christ. This accusation was made, far too hastily, against Fr Peter Kennedy, on the basis of his appeareance on the ABC's Q&A.
Bishop Bathersby and Fr Kennedy are pastoral, down to earth men. If there had been more dialogue between them, and between Cardinal Pell and Bishop Robinson, the Catholic Church would be more the Church Jesus would want it to be.
The parish acts as a beacon in social justice and inclusion. It is hard to see why they can't do this without breaking the Church's rules. Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker Movement managed to marry social activism with a conservative religious life.