Keywords: Synod
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RELIGION
- Elizabeth Young
- 15 August 2024
12 Comments
Copious research has demonstrated the historical existence of women deacons, including St Phoebe, the only person in scripture with the descriptor Deacon. So how far off is Australia from ordaining women deacons?
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RELIGION
- John Warhurst
- 01 August 2024
14 Comments
In a troubling sign for Catholic reform in Australia, the National Council of Priests faces a dire membership crisis. Founded in 1970 to embody Vatican II's spirit, the organization now struggles to attract younger clergy. This decline mirrors broader challenges in the Church and may imperil efforts toward synodality and renewal.
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RELIGION
The Vatican's new Instrumentum Laboris outlines the path forward for the Synod on Synodality, but with a heavy emphasis on process over substance. While it acknowledges the need for greater women's involvement, it firmly reinforces the authority of the Pope and bishops, raising questions about the true potential for change.
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RELIGION
- Miles Pattenden
- 23 July 2024
6 Comments
Schism is an entrenched idea within Church History. What should we make of Pope Francis’ very modern schism: a decision by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to declare Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of ‘public statements resulting in a denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church’ and to excommunicate him?
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RELIGION
The recent Vatican instruction terminating the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral is a prime example of Vatican officialdom overriding local episcopal authority. Let us hope that in a more decentralized Church some traditional obstacles to ecumenism may be removed without respective ecclesiastical loss of face on the part of the contributing Churches.
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RELIGION
None of us — even those experiencing vulnerability, whether temporary or resulting from a permanent infirmity of some kind — should be perceived as an object of protection; instead, each one of us is a collaborator in our own care, and in the care of others.
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RELIGION
In a 60 Minutes interview, Pope Francis was asked whether there would ever be the prospect within the Catholic Church of a woman being ordained as a deacon. The Pope’s reply was a blunt ‘No’. This negative response came as a surprise to many Vatican watchers.
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RELIGION
- John Warhurst
- 29 May 2024
29 Comments
We are now witnessing a changed dynamic within the movement for church reform. The balance within its component parts has changed towards a more pessimistic view. A minority is still hopeful; a few even remain optimistic, but most are struggling.
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RELIGION
- Julian Butler
- 15 May 2024
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. What lessons might our contemporary democratic community take from the Church over that period that might that help our common conversation?
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RELIGION
- John Warhurst
- 09 April 2024
12 Comments
Timothy Radcliffe has a hopeful vision for the Church, yet noting the slow pace of institutional change in his recent visit to Australia, he presented a sort of optimism that eschewed any hope for immediate outcomes. The basis for Radcliffe’s optimism seems to be his assumption that it is acceptable for the Church to take its time.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Recent years have made clerical child sexual abuse a badge of shame within Australia’s Catholic hierarchy, and rightly so. But Anne Manne’s new book, Sins of the fathers, will give pause to those who blame these offences on the rule of hieratic celibacy.
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RELIGION
- John Warhurst
- 13 March 2024
7 Comments
The Vatican's decision to let priests bless couples in 'irregular relationships' has sparked diverse reactions within the Australian Church, revealing the complex interplay of faith and cultural diversity within Australia’s Church communities.
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