Enneagram Workshop

Contents - Nov 2000 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Pope John Paul II on the Eucharist - Michael Gilchrist Canonisation of 120 Chinese martyrs: has much changed under communism? - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World Enneagram Workshop Toowoomba's 'Creating Our Future' - or a recipe for further decline? - Michael Gilchrist Irish missionary sisters combat AIDS in Africa Fr Francis Harman RIP: bioethicist of distinction - Dr Joseph Santamaria The right to work: central to the Catholic Church's social teaching - Patrick Byrne The Great Jubilee: reaffirming the spiritual power of indulgences - Catherine Cavanagh New lay apostolate: Confraternity of the Holy Name of Jesus - Barry O'Brien Science and Christianity: can they co-exist in the new millennium? - Stephen Hitchings Books: 'Lourdes: The Original File by a Skeptic Turned Believer' by J.B. Estrade - Katie Lindorff (reviewer) Books: A CD-ROM 'Virtual Tour' of St Peter's Basilica - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer) Books: Casta Meretrix: An Essay on the Eccesiology of St Ambrose, Cardinal Biffi - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Hungry For God: Practical Help in Personal Prayer by Ralph Martin - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Martyrs And Saints In Catholic Liturgy by K.G. Mortensen - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Reflection: Brother Andrew (1928-2000): returning to spiritual basics - Brother Andrew

In his book Catholics and the New Age, Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ concludes, in a chapter titled, "Occult Roots of the Enneagram", that "there are serious theological problems with the notion of salvation in the Enneagram system. In general, these ideas are inconsistent with Christianity. Thus, they should not be taught in retreats or parish workshops" (p. 122).

However, Muriel Leith of the Toowoomba CEO recently promoted an Enneagram Workshop that was conducted by Sister Delphine O'Shea MSS in the Mater Dei School Library on 21-22 October.

Under the heading, "Discovering Our True Selves Before God", the promotional leaflet stated: "Study of the Enneagram can lead towards a new self-understanding - helping us to know our personal giftedness, and name the shape of our struggles and particular unfreedoms. This understanding can be a catalyst for self-acceptance, an at-homeness with our gifts and compulsions, light and darkness, overflowing into a deeper appreciation and acceptance of others. It shows the movement towards life and towards death within each personality type - it calls to conversion. Enneagram learning is a way of helping us come to a greater authenticity before God. The wisdom of the Enneagram helps us touch the truth about ourselves - the truth that can set us free."

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 13 No 10 (November 2000), p. 6