Editorial

Many matters in need of attention

Peter Westmore

Contents - Apr 1999 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Many matters in need of attention - Peter Westmore Adelaide Archdiocese on the brink over general absolutions - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World What the census statistics on religious affiliations reveal - Michael Gilchrist How an American diocese promotes individual confession Bishop Heaps' book: a mistaken view of the Catholic Church - Stuart Rowland Presenting Catholic apologetics to a wider Australian public - AD2000 Report Bringing the Faith to life for children - Matthew Greenrod BSJ Extending general absolution: why such a move is out of the question - Fr Peter Joseph A new R.E. consultancy service for the Church No living together before marriage: new research supports Church teaching - Mary Kenny 1999 Thomas More Summer School: another resounding success Why modern Biblical scholarship affirms the Resurrection - Richard Dunstan

While the controversy over general absolution continues, there is a real danger that the challenges facing the Church in Australia, outlined in the joint Statement of Conclusions issued last December, will be ignored.

The statement reiterated that there are a number of challenges facing the Church in Australia, including a crisis of faith, manifested in the growth of the number of people with no religion and the decline in church practice; the rise in extreme individualism, which "elevates the individual conscience to the level of an absolute"; a rejection of the hierarchical Church, and a denial of legitimate authority.

Among other things, it

• highlighted the important role of bishops in upholding orthodoxy;
• called for continuing formation of priests to develop their spiritual life;
• strongly encouraged the active promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life;
• demanded that associations of priests and religious superiors accept the Church's magisterium;
• called for an end to abuses, especially at Mass and in the Sacrament of Penance; and
• called for the strengthening of the Catholic content of Catholic education.

All these issues are equally deserving of attention.

In the meantime, urgent prayer - particularly before the forthcoming Bishops' Conference - is needed for a satisfactory resolution of the current impasse over the Third Rite of Reconciliation.

Peter Westmore: Publisher (email - freedom@connexus.net.au)

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 12 No 3 (April 1999), p. 2