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Keywords: Lay Leadership

  • RELIGION

    Catholics and freedom of religion

    • John Warhurst
    • 13 October 2022
    13 Comments

    Freedom of religion, a matter of national interest still to be resolved successfully in the Federal Parliament, has yet again become a focus for the nation’s football codes. The Essendon controversy has demonstrated how it is issues with a religious-cultural component, not economic issues, which most polarize our society and are the most difficult for politics to resolve harmoniously. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Is the Essendon saga evidence of faith under siege?

    • Chris Middleton
    • 10 October 2022
    18 Comments

    It is highly doubtful that the Essendon Football Club appreciated the reaction that would occur when it presented its new CEO, Andrew Thorburn, with the option of giving up his role as a lay leader in the City on a Hill Anglican Church or resigning from his role with the Club. Even if many were uneasy about how the issue was caught up in the culture wars, it caused widespread concerns amongst people of faith.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Life and death in the Cathedral

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 10 October 2022
    8 Comments

    Two weeks ago, Bishop Hilton Deakin died. My memories of him are inextricably tied to the Mass he celebrated in 1999 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, certainly the most emotionally charged event that I have seen there, following the violence orchestrated by the Indonesian military following the Referendum on Independence in East Timor. During the struggle for Independence, many East Timorese had joined the Catholic Church. 

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Sadness and forgetting: Queen Elizabeth II, monarchy and empire

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 20 September 2022
    7 Comments

    When more nuanced commentary around the passing of Queen Elizabeth II came to the fore, it was hard to avoid the difficult realities of the British monarchy and an institution that has not, through its history, delighted those conquered in its name. With Elizabeth II, it was notable that she let an opportunity to engage the topic of empire in Britain’s collective memory go begging.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Is social media harmful? A Roundtable

    • David Halliday, Beth Doherty, Tim Dunlop, Matthew Howard
    • 26 August 2022

    When former Facebook employee Frances Haugen released a trove of documents revealing internal research on the negative effects its social media products were having on mental health, the darker side of social media became hard to ignore. So how might the harmful effects of social media be mitigated into a social benefit for a saner, more coherent society? 

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  • RELIGION

    Catholic Schools and Church renewal

    • John Warhurst
    • 23 August 2022
    18 Comments

    The successful implementation of the spirit and the letter of the Plenary Council must involve the Catholic education sector. Catholic schools, meaning students, parents, staff members and governing bodies, are one of the most vital sectors of the church along with the health sector. They must be convinced to engage with and support the reform outcomes of the Plenary Council. 

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  • RELIGION

    After the Plenary

    • Geraldine Doogue
    • 27 July 2022
    7 Comments

    What did the Plenary mean exactly, and what is next for the church? Secretary to the Council, Fr David Ranson, offers a rich and bracingly realistic set of observations about the Plenary Council. As secretary, Fr David was deeply absorbed in the lead-up, in the events of the week itself and now in assessing what comes next. He might surprise you with his judgements. They're delivered by a man with an acute sense of Church procedures but also with an eye to possibilities. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Reducing flood risk in Lismore starts with better data

    • Jerry Vanclay
    • 19 July 2022

    How is it that Lismore, one of the most flood-prone towns in Australia, can be so ill-prepared and so badly affected by floods this year? Flood frequency is critical information, so you might expect that such guidance was based on the best available data – but this does not appear to be so.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Born to rule and crowned in prison

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 14 July 2022
    3 Comments

    The leaders of the past are often referred to as a measuring stick for evaluating the present. Australian prime ministers are routinely compared to John Curtin or Robert Menzies. This coming week calls to mind another leader against whom we might measure others. July 18 marks Mandela Day, an annual international day in honour of  Nelson Mandela, the first Black President of South Africa. Mandela had the quality, rare today, of being born to rule.

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  • RELIGION

    Towards inclusivity: Can the Church learn from the Federal election?

    • Anne Walker, Emma Carolan
    • 30 June 2022
    8 Comments

    Last month’s Federal election has delivered what is being considered as the most progressive parliament that Australia has witnessed for some time. Such a change represents a shift in values, experiences and priorities held by everyday Australians. As the Australian Catholic Church continues its process of self-examination through the Plenary Council, what can it discern from this election result?

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  • RELIGION

    A Vatican-inspired theological revolution

    • Paul Collins
    • 28 June 2022
    7 Comments

    A basic principle was laid down in the pope’s recent Apostolic Constitution entitled Praedicate evangelium that is profoundly important with far-reaching consequences for the whole church. This principle states that any baptised Catholic ‘can preside over a dicastery,’ that is run a Vatican department. Previously only ordained clerics could do this.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The grace of courtesy

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 23 June 2022
    7 Comments

    Since the Federal Election one of the most refreshing features has been the new Prime Minister’s connection with people. Whether it is shown by riding a bamboo bicycle with the Indonesian President, expressing sympathy for the Nadesilingam family for their prolonged ordeal before returning to Biloela or agreeing with Jacinda Ardern, herself a model of public empathy, about the unreasonableness of expelling to New Zealand people who had never lived there, his actions displayed a readiness to listen and to enter the experience of other people.

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