Opus Dei is a sect. Its spirituality doesn’t free the spirit, but enslaves it.
Paul Collins
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The Pell memorandum must be confronted
We’ve all had far too much George Pell lately, but his so-called “Memorandum” on Pope Francis’ papacy is about much more than the present papacy and needs to be confronted. (more…)
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Cardinal George Pell
The media reaction to the death of Cardinal George Pell is extraordinary. But his contribution to Australian Catholicism is very much a mixed blessing. (more…)
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Reflecting on the Ratzinger papacy
Benedict XVI’s life and papacy was a mixed blessing for Catholicism. (more…)
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Christmas: war and peace
As we end 2022, we seem besotted with rumours of war. In contrast, the central message of Christmas is God’s gift in Christ of peace, justice, humility and joy. (more…)
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One established church is enough
Just now we all need a rest from royalty. But what’s gone unnoticed in media is how intimately connected the monarchy is to the Church of England. (more…)
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How to become a Catholic bishop
The fundamental crisis of Australian Catholicism is one of leadership and bishops are at the heart of this crisis. (more…)
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Christianity: a dismal future?
The future for religion in Australia, especially Christianity, looks rather bleak following the 2021 Census. But is the future really that dismal? (more…)
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Paul Collins: Pope Francis keeps them guessing
For a week or so the Vatican rumour mill has been in overdrive. How sick is Pope Francis? Will he resign? Where next for the papacy? (more…)
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A mixed blessing for Catholicism
The man who effectively ran the papacy in the late-1990s and the early-2000s during declining years of John Paul II died on Friday 27 May. His career was a mixed blessing for Catholicism. And sixteen new voting cardinals just appointed. (more…)
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Christ’s Resurrection in 2022
In the gospels Jesus challenges the religio-political establishment, hostility to him grows, and he is convicted on trumped-up charges and dies as a common criminal on the cross. His life seems over. (more…)
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Putin, the Pope and the Patriarch
While the invasion of Ukraine is fundamentally strategic, religion, faith and history also play a major part. (more…)
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Pope Francis is 85. Insiders are already thinking about the future leader of Catholicism’s 1.34 billion adherents
If it reaches a deadlock someone from left field might emerge. But here are my tips. (more…)
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What motivates Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? Don’t underestimate history and religion
There is a theory that he has an almost mystical notion of Russia of which Ukraine and particularly Kiev are integral parts. (more…)
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The fundamentalist take-over of ‘Christianity’
The Religious Discrimination Bill debate got taken-over by religious extremists with the mainstream wedged in the middle (more…)
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Population decline isn’t happening fast enough to save planet
By 2050 we will consume three earths per year. Degradation of land and the oceans, biodiversity loss and global warming are the direct results.
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The Plenary Council has been a masterclass in avoiding the real problems in the Catholic Church.
The present model of the Catholic Church has far outlasted its relevance. The time has come for all Catholics to tell Rome loudly and clearly: the monarchical model isn’t fit for purpose and has to go.
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History lessons for critiques on Christianity
Before we worry too much about school students, it’s the adults who need remedial history lessons if two recent articles are anything to go by. (more…)
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Hans Kung: a theologian for everyone
Hans Küng died last Tuesday aged 93. I had the honour of knowing him as a friend. He was a rare breed: a theologian who spoke to people of diverse beliefs and none.
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Joe Biden’s Catholicism
With the exception of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, religion has not been a big deal for recent US presidents who were, at best, nominal Christians. For Joe Biden faith is central to who he is. (more…)
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George Pell could comment ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you’
Sensational news stories about Vatican finances are two-a-penny. But for the first time Australia features in a scandal with claims that since 2014 €1.4 billion (A$2.3 billion) of Vatican money ended-up in the Great South Land. (more…)
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Faith when matter really matters
Christmas is not about Santa Claus, consumerism, or even happy families. It’s about God’s radical entry into humanity in the person of Jesus. (more…)
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The Beginning of the End?
Is Pope Francis running out of steam? Will we ever see an end to Vatican financial scandals? And where is George in all of this?
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Archbishops, vaccines and COVID-19
The recent letter of the Sydney-based Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox archbishops on the ethics of the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine has left many believers and the general community gobsmacked. (more…)
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Population ‘Bomb’ Already exploded
Like many commentators before him, Kevin Bain’s ‘Prospects for refugees and migrants if the population bomb goes bust’ (Pearls and Irritations, 23/7/20) assumes that population is a future problem, ignoring the fact that the world is already over-populated. (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. First Step to a Better Church?
I must admit up-front that I’m not a fan of committee reports. They’re usually pedestrian and repetitious, even at the best of times. So, to be honest, I didn’t approach the 200-page Governance Review Project Team (GRPT) report The Light from the Southern Cross with much enthusiasm. (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. Back to Nature
It is five years this week since Pope Francis published perhaps the most radical and important papal encyclical ever issued, Laudato si’, mi’ Signore (‘Praise be to you, my Lord’) on ‘care for our common home.’ (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. Meditating with J.S. Bach
There is no better way to meditate this week leading up to Easter than with J.S. Bach (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. COVID-19. A chance to rethink the deeper moral and human issues
We are part of nature and the most important lesson of COVID-19 is that it reminds us of our sheer vulnerability. (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. A New Era of Fire Part 2
Never before have we experienced fires like the present. They challenge us to re-assess our whole approach to living in Australia. With global warming a reality, we now face some pretty stark options. (more…)