Author Archives: Schütz

My local parish is making use of the talent in the pews to put on a short (FREE!!) three night course on the Nicene Creed for the Year of Faith. Here are the details: CREDO – I believe A Year … Continue reading →

Chris Shea, of the Caroline Chisholm Library committee, asked me to give their CCL Fundraising Dinner in Melbourne a bit of a plug. I am happy to do so. He writes: The Caroline Chisholm Library, located in the Melbourne CDB, … Continue reading →

Sydney Carter wrote this song in 1974. This paper suggests that he was thinking of Jesus as a kind of ‘pied piper’ – although I have always found it a song that makes me think of the effect of the … Continue reading →

I was delighted to be invited to provide the text for the Catholic Adult Education Centre/Mustard Seed Bookshop INFORM pamphlet on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Lumen Fidei”. You can order it by clicking this link: https://www.mustardseed.org.au/catalog/inform-light-faith-pope-francis-p-3511.html

There is an interesting article in First Things about Pope Francis’ first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, by Nathaniel Peters “Where’s the sin?”. He notes that the word “sin” does not appear anywhere in the entire encyclical – at least, not in … Continue reading →

John L. Allen Jnr recently had a piece on the current season of “hype” in the media covering the Vatican. Here is another classic example from CNN. You have to ask: is this a good thing or a bad thing? … Continue reading →

Still on the topic of television, I have received a couple of tweets notifying me about the fact that Channel Nine (does anyone still watch that channel?) is airing the first program of “The Bible” series tomorrow night (Tuesday) at … Continue reading →

The Catholic Herald reports: Pope Francis revealed that it pains him when he sees a nun or priest driving an expensive car, and he praised the beauty of the bicycle, noting his 54-year-old personal secretary, Msgr Alfred Xuereb, gets around … Continue reading →

I was very struck by Friday’s ceremony in the Vatican Gardens, when Pope Francis, in the present of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, consecrated a new sculpture of St Michael in the gardens of Vatican City. What really struck me was … Continue reading →

Since receiving an internet-capable “smart TV” for Christmas, our household has hardly used the video recorder, and have relied instead on catching programs on the ABC’s excellent iView. Cathy and I just finished watching tonight the third episode of the … Continue reading →