Peter Day reviews the possibilities for a church claiming the vision Pope John XXIII once held.
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was an old man, but at 77 years decided that things had to change. He loved his church. He knew it inside out – warts and all. He had been a faithful Catholic from birth. But something was missing.

Recently members of St Leonard’s Parish Pastoral Leadership Team, Glen Waverley, received a reply from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to their concerns for the Australian Church. They felt the bishops’ response was inadequate. This general letter to parish teams outlines the concerns and invites others to join them in advocating for reform. It was designed as a lead up to the bishops’ ad limina visit and even though the ad limina visit has passed, parishes may still want to follow up this initiative.

The National Conference of the TEAMS Movement held in Adelaide in early October was well attended by 172 participants, mostly from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. There was a great array of speakers including Bishop Geoff Robinson, Fr Richard Leonard SJ, Michele Simons (a university professor with a long history of involvement in marriage education), Penny and Peter Cahalan who spoke on sexuality in marriage and Michael and Anne Mangan on music, drama and marriage.

David Timbs reflects on the trouble with the Vatican II theology of “People of God”. He asks if it has ever been accepted fully and argues that the growing centralisation of power by the Pope and the Curia has produced a marginalisation of everyone else.

Is it not time for the resurgence of true ‘humilitas’ in the world of business, sport, politics and the Church, asks Clare Condon SGS in this article taken from The Good Oil, October 2011, the ‘Good Samaritan’ monthly e-magazine.

This is an extract from Peter Wilkinson’s long and scholarly article which outlines the history of Synods. It is useful at this time as we think about the implications of church governance at a national, regional and global level. The full article with references can be found on The Swag website as an online extra.

Brian Vale SSC reports on the important initiative to assist those priests and religious joining us in ministry in the Australian cultural context. It certainly seems to be one way ahead.

NCP Committee Member Bill Burt SVD reflects upon the contribution of Ian McGinnity who will conclude his term as NCP Chairman at the end of 2011.

Patty Fawkner sgs, an Australian Good Samaritan Sister, is an adult educator, writer and facilitator. She is on the leadership team of her congregation. Though her ministries have been diverse, Patty sees a connecting thread of making the riches of our Catholic tradition accessible to the women and men of our time. She has an abiding interest in questions of justice and spirituality. Her formal tertiary qualifications are in arts, education, theology and spirituality.

This year’s Australian Catholic Bishop’s Social Justice Statement, Building Bridges, Not Walls: Prisons and the justice system, asks Australians to think about the conditions in our prisons, and to ask who are most likely to find themselves there and why.