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Section: Religion

  • RELIGION

    The two Francises model climate justice

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 18 September 2019
    12 Comments

    Pope Francis has insisted that the urgent need to care for the natural world of which we are part is not a disputed question but a Christian duty. He has appealed to the legacy of St Francis of Assisi, whose name he took when he became Pope; that saint of the 13th century who is popularly known best for his love of nature.

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  • RELIGION

    Lay community key to reforming Catholicism

    • Paul Collins
    • 04 September 2019
    42 Comments

    Anyone in the past who called attention to these issues was accused at best of exaggeration'. Getting Back on Mission points out that until the church accepts good governance characterised by accountability, transparency, inclusion and a recognition of the equality of women, it will continue its culture of clericalism and secrecy.

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  • RELIGION

    Athletes model anarchic cooperation

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 19 August 2019
    6 Comments

    The story illustrates the way in which sport, like so many other areas of life, has allowed itself to be defined as a business whose sole reason for existence is to make people compete against others. To refuse to compete, even if an athlete falls in front of you, is anti-competitive behaviour that must be penalised.

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  • RELIGION

    Hiroshima and Transfiguration

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 13 August 2019
    23 Comments

    One event, recalling the revelation of Jesus' relationship to God, is a feast of light; the other, recalling man's inhumanity to man, speaks of darkness. Both are pointers to possible human futures: one of glory and the other of annihilation. The history of nuclear weapons and recent developments present this choice more starkly.

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  • RELIGION

    Plenary Council rocket science a matter of trust

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 05 August 2019
    48 Comments

    The inclusive and consultative processes in the early stages of preparation for the Plenary Council are a vast improvement on previous practice. They express the desire to involve Catholics in the council. If they are simply dropped on completion and not kept alive in the church, however, the trust they have engendered will be lost.

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  • RELIGION

    Father Page versus the Bolsheviks

    • Nick Brodie
    • 26 July 2019
    15 Comments

    This year marks the centenary of British forces landing in Russia to fight the Bolsheviks. Now, Russia is generally agreed to be interfering in liberal democracies around the globe. A Jesuit priest serving as a chaplain to the British forces helps illuminate this oft-neglected story, and reveals a bit of how the Church was adapting.

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  • RELIGION

    Defend inclusiveness at Catholic Plenary Council

    • John Warhurst
    • 24 July 2019
    80 Comments

    Whatever the legitimate logistical and financial challenges, the Australian church leadership should move heaven and earth to put on an event in which delegates and observers, bishops, religious and laity, traditionalists and reformers are free to mingle and interact in the best spirit of collegiality and joint discernment about the future.

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  • RELIGION

    Jack baptised himself

    • Julie Perrin
    • 16 July 2019
    10 Comments

    The first time Jack came to the church he baptised himself. The font was new, the water inviting, and he dunked his ten-year-old head right in. The font had recently been installed in the foyer on a sculpted piece of redgum. The brief for the designers was to make it accessible to all ages. They were delighted to hear of its instant appeal.

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  • RELIGION

    Joan Chittister's humility

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 15 July 2019
    28 Comments

    Some have portrayed Chittister as a feminist, secular warrior in religious dress. But those familiar with her writing on social, cultural and political issues recognise that it is fed by her life as a Benedictine Sister, and particularly by her deep, lived reflection on the Rule of St Benedict.

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  • RELIGION

    Vatican still talking at, not to, LGBTQI+ people

    • Neve Mahoney
    • 20 June 2019
    22 Comments

    'Male and Female He Created Them' could have addressed how Church teachings could better coexist with LGBTQI+ experiences to benefit LGBTQI+ students. But that can't work if the document's authors don't listen to LGBTQI+ voices and when the foundational argument is to problematise LGBTQI+ people's existence.

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  • RELIGION

    Flaws, fancy in Vatican homosexuality book

    • Michael Furtado
    • 14 June 2019
    34 Comments

    Martel's work cannot be ignored because it is published at a time when the Church is engulfed by several sexual scandals of global magnitude. Reviewing Martel's book provides an opportunity to critically examine the narratives of accusation and defence that surround such accounts, so that onlookers can make sense of them.

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  • RELIGION

    The thick and thin of Courtney Herron's death

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 12 June 2019
    7 Comments

    Courtney should not be treated as a cipher in arguments made about these issues, but be seen as a person, both acting and acted on in the thick network of her personal and social relationships. Her death matters because she is a person of unique value who commands respect, not for the circumstances of her death, but for who she is.

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