Month: February 2018

An interesting article from The Huffington Post that asks a very pertinent about evangelical christianity - and I hasten to add about the particularly American version of evangelical christianity - that needs to be answered...because it doesn't look like any form of Christianity that I recognise. The evangelical Christian message is loud and clear. They care… Continue reading Sociopathic Christianity

This week's Friday Filing is, if you will indulge me, another more personal reflection... Grant that all the faithful of the Church, looking into the signs of the times by the light of faith, may constantly devote themselves to the service of the Gospel. Keep us attentive to the needs of all that, sharing their… Continue reading Friday Filing: A Night of Mixed Emotions

In his latest article in Commonweal, Massimo Faggioli reflects on the significance of what he now observes as the entrenched bi-ritualism of the Catholic Church's Latin Rite, as represented by the existence of the Ordinary Form (often referred to as the novus ordo) and the Extraordinary Form (the 'old' Mass in Latin from before Vatican II). It… Continue reading It’s Not Just About Language and Liturgy

This afternoon has seen a slightly revised version of Emma Alberici's 'controversial' analysis on the supposed benefits of proposed corporate tax rates reappear on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's website. I say 'controversial' deliberately not because of the content - most economists seem to support the analysis put forward by Alberici - but because of the… Continue reading That Troublesome Tax Analysis

As he usually does, Massimo Faggioli takes a slightly different approach to the way in which the Church is called to respond to the scourge of child sexual abuse within the Church, and the even greater scandal of the Church's woefully deficient response to that scourge, as it continues into the future. The argument put… Continue reading An Ecclesiological Response Required

The recent debacle - and that's the only word that accurately describes it - surrounding the way in which the Australian Broadcasting Corporation kowtowed to various other media players and political pressure by pulling an analysis by their chief economics correspondent, Emma Alberici, on the supposed benefits of the proposed corporate tax cuts. The analysis,… Continue reading When Facts Are No Defence

I have been appalled, but not surprised, by the way in which many politicians and public organisations in the United States have responded to the (most) recent school-based mass shooting event in that country. Many, including the President of the United States himself, have offered 'thoughts and prayers' to those directly impacted and the town… Continue reading If Not Now, Then When?

An interesting article written by Jack Bentz SJ in America touching on how poorly we, as the Church, make visitors to our churches welcome despite blurbs in the bulletin, greeters at the door, etc etc. And all because we occupy the end of the pew seats... There's something worthy of reflection here. I was raised Catholic.… Continue reading A Move to the Middle Please

There have been a few media reports during the week now coming to an end of various submissions made to the current government instigated review of religious freedom in Australia headed by the former Commonwealth Attorney-General - and now Mayor of Hornsby - Philip Ruddock. Many of the media reports have focussed on the various… Continue reading Friday Filing: Religious Freedom and Secularism