Author Archives: Schütz

At last! As of a couple of hours ago, we have a date for the start of the conclave. I stayed up for the 11pm (1pm Rome time) press conference and was disappointed when nothing emerged, but then woke to … Continue reading →

On the ABC Religion and Ethics website, edited by Scott Stephens, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane began by saying what I said here in a comment about “crisis” being a perennial condition in the Church and also implying “judgement”. But … Continue reading →

I am getting a lot of emails from people informing me that my yahoo email address has been hacked. I know. It has also resulted in that email address being locked down by Yahoo – I can receive your emails … Continue reading →

During Lent (and I think we will be doing it again in Advent) at St Philip’s Blackburn North, we are using the Gregorian chant Mass XVII setting for the ordinary of the mass. It is going quite well, I think. … Continue reading →

In the combox on an earlier post, commentary table member and Lutheran blogger, Pastor Mark Henderson, made this comment: There you go, David – you don’t mention it. The pope’s resignation is not the crisis, my friend – it’s symptomatic … Continue reading →

Here is a hymn written by one of my favourite Lutherans – Pastor Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) – a contemporary and fellow-countryman of Danish Lutheran philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855). I think it is a perfect hymn for … Continue reading →

Do you, like me, now have several empty picture frames about the house? In the state of, let us say, “frame vacante”? Well, here is the perfect picture of His Holiness, Benedict XVI*, Roman Pontiff Emeritus, for you to put … Continue reading →

From the last public audience of Pope Benedict XVI: When, almost eight years ago, on April 19th, [2005], I agreed to take on the Petrine ministry, I held steadfast in this certainty, which has always accompanied me. In that moment, … Continue reading →

On 22nd February, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, the president for the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, announced that Benedict XVI will, after his abdication takes effect, be referred to as the “Bishop Emeritus of Rome”. We wrote about that at the time … Continue reading →

I have been asked to pen a few words for my wife’s parish newspaper on Benedict XVI’s papacy. I thought I would focus on his relationship with Luther and the Lutherans. I hope the editor of the magazine does not … Continue reading →