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Cardinal Pell, with whom I have voiced disagreement, preached superbly at the mass of thanksgiving after the canonisation of Mary MacKillop. 'She does not deter us from struggling to follow her.' As we wrestle with the common good, let's make a place for all our fellow citizens.
Gillard was photographed looking up to Cardinal George Pell with an admiring glance, and attended a fundraiser for expenses associated with October's Mary MacKillop canonisation in Rome. She offered $1.5 million in government money, but much more than that in flattery to Catholic electors.
Christians rarely agree on what they want from government. The Australian Christian Lobby jumped the gun last week with its forum for political leaders to address Christian voters: the elevation of Julia Gillard means it now needs to engage afresh with a new Prime Minister.
It is becoming clear that we are probably not going to avert cataclysmic forms of climate change. The foundational Greek and Hebraic imaginaries, the mythical narratives that frame western civilisation, can no longer contain, inform and explain what we experience. We need new stories.
I clearly remember what I was doing the day Nelson Mandela walked free from prison. The behemoth apartheid state shifted so thoroughly and so smoothly that even the erratic events of the past 20 years have done little to diminish South Africa's reputation as a miracle nation.
Reports regarding Mary MacKillop's miracles have provoked the ire of those who see miracles as evidence of the irrational character of religious faith. Another angle on this debate may be found in an apparent oddity in the processes of saint making.
The Australian Christian Lobby never claims to represent the views of all Christians any more than the Greens represent the views of all tree-lovers or Fr Brennan represents the views of all Catholics — just ask Cardinal Pell!
Some Aboriginal languages do not distinguish the unvoiced and voiced consonants 'b' and 'p', 'd' and 't', and 'g' and 'k'. Julia Gillard's push to provide 'English as a second language' training to teachers in remote communities can address such language obstacles and help lift levels of Indigenous education.
The original UK Masterchef is the pinnacle of reality TV. Masterchef Australia is the theme park version, sacrificing excellence to entertainment. It may be a different beast to its predecessor, but it's not all bad, either.
The policy of assimilation made an inhumane idea more important than human beings. Redfern Pastor Bill Simon recovered from his own oppression under Government policies. It's shameful that a miracle was required.
Jones' working life has been devoted to stories. In Through A Glass Darkly, she tells of her father's death. Her account questions the experiences behind modern medical miracles, and acts as a guide for understanding suffering and grief.
An overweening trust in military muscle has led Israel into this campaign; it is hard to overlook the parallels with the Shock and Awe curtain-raiser to the Iraq debacle. It seems there is an unspoken assumption that Palestinian lives are not so important as Israeli ones.