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Keywords: Pastoral Care

  • AUSTRALIA

    Malaysia's migration paradox

    • Joachim Francis Xavier
    • 15 February 2012
    3 Comments

    A large segment of Malaysian society and the government in particular is clearly xenophobic. Yet Malaysia has thrown its arms wide open to asylum seekers heading to Australia. What is the motivation underlying Malaysia's sudden love affair with refugee swap deals?

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  • RELIGION

    A Catholic Social Teaching perspective on the Intervention

    • Frank Brennan
    • 22 November 2011
    1 Comment

    Text from the 4th Annual Gerald Ward Lecture 'How do we design a dignified welfare safety net without becoming a Nanny State? — Lessons from Catholic Social Teaching', presented  by Fr Frank Brennan SJ at the National Library of Australia, 18 November 2011.

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  • RELIGION

    Homily for John Eddy

    • Frank Brennan
    • 11 November 2011
    5 Comments

    Asked 'How are you?', John would caress his scalp, straighten his hat, adjust his cuffs, massage his moustache, purse his lips, and answer, 'I'm headed for Grand Central. But I don't know when this service is due to arrive.' He never did meet Stalin, but thought he had met just about everyone else of significance on the planet.

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  • RELIGION

    Aussie priest's theology of the scrub

    • Frank Brennan
    • 09 November 2011
    10 Comments

    I had time to spare, so I grabbed a bite to eat and found a bench in the park opposite the cathedral. I was approached by four young Aboriginal people. I told them I'd come for a funeral: 'You might have known him, Father Mick Hayes?' 'He, that tall grey one? He knew me when I was a little fella.'

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  • RELIGION

    Closing the case of Bishop Bill Morris

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 25 October 2011
    86 Comments

    The issues raised by Bishop Bill Morris' dismissal were not about the Pope's right to act, but about the transparency of the process. The Australian Bishops' letter about the matter is an act of closure. But troubling questions remain. 

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  • RELIGION

    What difference does it make now that Mary MacKillop is a saint?

    • Frank Brennan
    • 14 October 2011

    Mary visited Rome as a young religious woman when she was being persecuted by local bishops for being too independent. She got a good hearing from the Pope and great assistance from Fr Anderledy who became the Superior General of the Jesuits. If only Bishop Bill Morris could have received the same sympathetic hearing.

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  • RELIGION

    Making friends not foes of rights and religion

    • Frank Brennan
    • 13 September 2011
    5 Comments

    The Church of the 21st century should be the exemplar of due process, natural justice and transparency. While there can be little useful critique of the final decision of Pope Benedict to force the early retirement of Bishop Bill Morris, there is plenty of scope to review the processes leading up to it.

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  • RELIGION

    Health and equality

    • Frank Brennan
    • 24 August 2011
    1 Comment

    'We need to break down the silo mentality between health, welfare and education. This exists in church agencies as much as elsewhere in society. We must be committed to providing first rate health care to our patients, but also to creating a more equal society.' Text from Frank Brennan's MercyCare Oration.

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  • RELIGION

    Human rights and Christian lawyers

    • Frank Brennan
    • 18 July 2011
    5 Comments

    When I appeared on Q&A with Christopher Hitchens, a young man asked whether we can 'ever hope to live in a truly secular society' while the religious continue to 'affect political discourse and decision making' on euthanasia, same-sex unions and abortion. Hitchens was simpaticao. I was dumbstruck.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    When 'sorry' is not enough

    • Mark Green
    • 26 May 2011

    The US Catholic Bishops' pastoral letter 'Economic Justice for All' says the extent of the suffering of the poor 'is a measure of how far we are from being a true community'. It is difficult to imagine how justice can be done for the Stolen Generations without compensation, redress and reparation.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    School chaplains and pink batts

    • Michael Mullins
    • 23 May 2011
    32 Comments

    One religious group has described the National School Chaplaincy Program as a ‘God-given opportunity to go and make disciples’. Religious agnostics with a broad knowledge of religion could be better suited as mentors for young people coming to terms with their spiritual identity.

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  • RELIGION

    No justice for Toowoomba's shepherd

    • Frank Brennan
    • 17 May 2011
    31 Comments

    I have known Bill Morris as priest and bishop for 30 years. He is a good man — no flash academic but the most down to earth pastoral guy you could meet. His forced departure from Toowoomba has been some years in the coming. He is right to claim that he has been denied natural justice.

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