Events in Egypt are dominating the headlines all around the world. It is always dangerous for outsiders to comment too definitively on the internal politics of foreign countries, but inevitably many of us will have thoughts of our own, and…
Tag Archive for Dissent
On Dialogue, Disagreements and Dissent in Church
I frequently come across Catholic writers and commenters (the rule-book Catholics) complaining in horror on-line at the existence of Catholic “dissenters” who insist on calling themselves Catholic, even while flouting the teaching of the church. As I am one of…
Archbishop Nichols, on Catholic Priorities & The English Church
At Bilgrimage, Bill Lindsay has a depressing (but accurate) assessment of the ten “essential articles of creed”, as espoused by card-carrying Catholics. (“Who Knew? What Reading Newman Did Not Prepare Me for When I Became Catholic“) In summary, these are…
James Martin SJ on the “Future Church”: Sympathetic, Free of Fear?
To kick off my proposed series of discussions of the Patheos collection on the future of the Catholic Church, I begin with the vision of James Martin, SJ. Martin begins with a discussion of the problem of disagreement and dissent…
“Orthodoxy is Overrated”
One of the blogs I like to follow is “Prickliest Pear”‘s Far From Rome: Orthodxy is Overrated. (The prickly pear, Opuntia spp., grows in arid climates, has vicious thorns, but also produces beautiful flowers and delicious fruit. Quite an appropriate…
Reclaiming Our Consciences
At NCR Online, Joan Chittister has a thoughtful reflection on the Irish Bishops’ Vatican visit – from a perspective inside Ireland. After noting that there are fundamental differences between the responses of people in Ireland and America, where the response…
Sheep Leading Shepherds: Lay Theological Literacy
Who holds ultimate power in the Catholic Church? No, it’s not the Vatican. In a useful comment to a recent post, Norma Villareal, puts the question: “The only way to deal with the problem is to change the system.” That…
The Impotent, Violent Hierachy.
In an interesting observation on the disgraceful Vatican investigation, Mercy Sr Theresa Kane describes as a sign not of the power of the hierarchy, but of its impotence: Referring to the Vatican investigation of U.S. women religious initiated last December…
Some Faithful Dissenters
Investigating further the question of the sensus fidelium and Catholic dissent, I came across two notable articles on the subject. (Here I acknowledge thanks to the magnificent archives of Michael Bayley at the Wild Reed, where I first came across…
On “Catholic Teaching”: Housekeeping notes.
On my Catholic Teaching page yesterday, Ignatius Benedict posted a comment which drew a response from me, leading to further exchanges from each of us. Ignatius Benedict has his own blog In the Roman Catacombs, which I respect but often disagree…
