1 November 2020. The new social encyclical of Pope Francis is a cry for those oppressed by poverty, hunger, and exclusion, protesting against the injustice of a world with so much wealth failing to do enough for everyone to have the opportunity for a reasonably good life. Not surprisingly, Francis drew from the parable of […]
1 November 2020. Many of us working in the criminal justice sector were dreading, but not surprised by, the arrival of positive cases of Covid-19 in prisons in mid-July. Covid was already a reason we were using for people to be released on bail and for having sentences reflect the increasingly harsh prison environment brought […]
Bruce Duncan. Pope Francis is challenging powerful sectional interests sharply in his new social manifesto to be released on 4 October. The new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers and Sisters), will outline his vision of a just, peaceful, and sustainable world, and call vigorously for renewed commitment to universal wellbeing and solidarity. We already have […]
Review : To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today. The Australian Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement 2020 The ideology of neoliberalism which has enthralled Western governments in particular for some three decades or so, has managed to redefine the meaning and purpose of society. Mutual attachments and obligations, the interdependence which […]
Pope Francis has repeatedly challenged us to ‘make some noise’ about the serious issues of climate change, as well as about poverty and extreme inequality. He summarised his concerns in his social encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home’, which he signed on Pentecost Sunday 24 March 2015. This is not just any […]
2 July 2020 Photo Save the Amazon. Daniel Arrhakis. flickr cc. Australia faces some surprisingly similar issues to the Amazon, especially the rapid impact of climate change from increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, felling vital forests, unsustainable farming and mining practices, growing inequalities between rich and poor, and the excessive influence of domestic and foreign […]
4 June 2020. I was intrigued when invited to review Mary Burke’s My Cry is to All That Live: Voices of Women & Earth in the Gospels, as the book moved outside my normal interests. I don’t often explore an ecofeminist point of view, and I wasn’t sure I would find this book relatable. Yet, […]
7 May 2020 The coronavirus pandemic came swiftly and without warning to turn our lives completely upside-down! It didn’t discriminate between those it infected, and has proven that noone is immune to it. The routine of our lives is very different now from previously. However, one group of people is experiencing this pandemic particularly acutely […]
Posted 7 April 2020. A response to the film. Terrence Malick’s latest film, A Hidden Life, provides an account of the life and death of Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian Catholic family man and farmer who refused to fight in Hitler’s war. The film portrays Franz, his wife Franziska (Fani), and their three daughters as important […]
Posted 7 April 2020 The photo spoke volumes – Pope Francis speaking on 27 March to the completely empty square in front of St Peter’s in Rome. Isolated and alone, like so many others due to the coronavirus outbreak, he epitomised the dilemmas we face as the crisis spreads everywhere. An estimated 11 million people […]
Stefan Gigacz 26 January 2020 Catholic Outlook ParramattaPosted 10 March 2020 On 27 January this year, the world will commemorate the liberation by Soviet troops of the infamous camp at Auschwitz, where so many people perished during the Second World War. Sadly, this was not the end for all camps. Many people would continue to die […]
