Depressing church news over the past two months has led me to pick up and start reading a book which has been on my shelves some time, but which I have previously only dipped into. The removal of excommunication of…
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Gay Lovers in Church History
At a time when some Catholic bishops are actively intervening in the political process to prevent gay marriage and gay adoption, it could be helpful to remember that in the long history of the Christian faith, outright hostility to same…
Holy Spirit at Work? – James Alison
In a penetrating article on his website, noted theologian James Alison examines the recent furores in the Church over matters gay, and reaches what he calls a ‘suprising’ conclusion. There is a huge amount of meat in here, which…
More ‘Cross-Dressing Saints’
Today and tomorrow the church commemorates two more of the band of ‘transvestite saints’ – women who disguised themseves as men to live out their lives in male monasteries. Wednesday 11th February is the feast of St Euphrosyne ( later…
The Church’s Changing Tradition.
The CDF’s famous (or infamous) letter “On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” makes the claim “Thus, the Church’s teaching today is in organic continuity with the Scriptural perspective and with her own constant Tradition” , and later states “Scripture…
“Sex As God Intended” (Book Review)
John McNeill, Lethe Press 2008. I have just two small niggles about this book, so let me get them out of the way now. First, I was initally disappointed to find that this is not all new wrting by McNeill. …
More Book News: Bullet Proof Faith
Bullet Proof Faith, Candace Chellew Hodge. I have noted before that I have no personal knowledge of this book other than the author’s own determined self-publicity, but I like the title and what it implies. Now I have a review,…
John McNeill: Dignity Address
How Should Lesbian and Gay Catholics Respond to the Hierarchy’s Decision to Bar Gays from the Seminaries and the Priesthood? On Sept 21st, I read in the New York Times that the Vatican, under Pope Benedict, the former Joseph Ratzinger…
Support Vatican II
Just in: “A group of theologians and Christians in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have launched a petition for the full recognition and implementation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council. They have been spurred to action by the controversial…
Changing the Church.
I have commented several times on John McNeill’s thesis that we my be in a ‘Kairos Moment’ in which the Holy Spirit intervenes to change the direction of the Church. Against the background of extraordinarily strong reaction to recent statements…
