Christmas begins with fragility rather than power. The story of Jesus’ birth places vulnerability, dependence and shared humanity at its centre. (more…)
Bill Uren
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‘Total war’
I was just nine when World War II ended. I still have quite vivid memories of that Wednesday in August 1945. (more…)
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The Thereafter
A few years ago, approaching Christmas, I received a phone call from a gentleman named Mark Feary. He was the curator of the Silvershot Gallery in Flinders Lane at the back of St Paul’s Cathedral in central Melbourne. (more…)
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A Christmas meditation: ‘Subtle is the Lord’
On September 16th, 1919, the already world-famous physicist, Albert Einstein, was conducting a seminar with graduate students at Princeton University in the United States. Suddenly one of his colleagues in the Physics Department burst into the room brandishing a telegram. It was from the Royal Society in London, from his friend and fellow physicist, Hendrik Lorenz. (more…)
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A controversial graduation address
On Monday, October 21st, Joe de Bruyn, trade union heavyweight, former National President of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, former member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party, committed Catholic, was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Australian Catholic University. As is customary, he was also invited to deliver the occasional address to the students, their parents and their guests at the graduation ceremony. (more…)
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Herod: Benjamin Netanyahu’s 1st Century predecessor
After the birth of Jesus, there was the flight into Egypt. Benjamin Netanyahu’s 1st Century predecessor, Herod, had decreed the slaughter of all the male children under the age of two – not Gaza this time, but West Bank Bethlehem. (more…)
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A Christmas Homily
On September 16th, 1919, the already world-famous physicist, Albert Einstein, was conducting a seminar with graduate students at Princeton University in the United States. (more…)
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Two meetings: Frascati and the Vatican
Catholics who are hoping for a more inclusive, less dogmatic and open Church will have been heartened by reports of two recent meetings. (more…)
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Catholics for renewal: August 10th, 2022
In early December, 1998, John Bathersby, then Archbishop of Brisbane, addressed the priests of the Archdiocese at their annual meeting at the local seminary. He had just returned from Rome where, with fourteen of his Australian episcopal colleagues, he had completed his ad limina visit to the Vatican. He said that the meetings between the bishops and the officials of the various Roman congregations had been cordial and mutually enlightening. (more…)
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The Vatican and the German Synodal way
The recent (21.7.22) unsigned “Statement” of the Roman Curia/Apostolic See should send shivers down the spine of those Catholics who are hoping that, under Pope Francis, there would be a more synodal approach to Church governance even among the Vatican bureaucracy. (more…)
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The Catholic Plenary Council: A suggested preamble
Convoking a Plenary Council as an instrument for Church renewal and reform in Australia has both advantages and disadvantages. (more…)
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Three Catholic Archbishops: A viral infection
One would hope that, at a time of crisis, archbishops would be careful not to lend their authority in a way that could be construed as supporting anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown sentiments.
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The Plenary Council: Consulting the faithful
The episcopal and clerical members of the Australian Plenary Council should be particularly attentive to the voices of the laity when they address the council’s agenda.
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Singing outside the chorus on “Fratelli Tutti”
I suspect that I may be singing outside the chorus, but I must confess that I was a little disappointed in the recent Encyclical of Pope Francis, “Fratelli Tutti.” (more…)
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The Catholic Church and Modern Science: From Contraception to the Covid Vaccine
In a letter to the Prime Minister on August 20th, co-signed by the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, and the Greek Orthodox Primate, Archbishop Makarios, Archbishop Fisher suggested that the use of a Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine might cause a crisis of conscience for some recipients because cell lines derived from a 1973 aborted foetus were involved in its production. (more…)