News in Articles

Ideas that the Faith should be built on

Ideas that the Faith should be built on

by: Editorial -The Tablet - 05/11/15 in Articles,

What does a merciful Church look like, not just from the papal balcony overlooking the Piazza San Pietro but at the grass roots? Some answers to this question were beginning to emerge at a three-day conference at Durham University few week ago, held as the high point of this year’s celebrations of The Tablet’s 175th anniversary. 

“I come not to bring peace but a sword,” Jesus once said.

“I come not to bring peace but a sword,” Jesus once said.

by: Giles Fraser - The Guardian in Articles,

I wonder. Would the current government’s crackdown on non-violent extremism have silenced the founder of Christianity? How difficult would it be to construct a case against him in terms of the new counter-extremism strategy? Not that hard, I suspect.

We’re not as selfish as we think we are.

We’re not as selfish as we think we are.

by: George Monbiot - The Guardian in Articles,

Do you find yourself thrashing against the tide of human indifference and selfishness? Are you oppressed by the sense that while you care, others don’t? That, because of humankind’s callousness, civilisation and the rest of life on Earth are basically stuffed? If so, you are not alone. But neither are you right-

Caring for our soul

Caring for our soul

by: Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I. in Articles,

Jesus taught that and, I suspect, we generally don’t grasp the full range of it meaning. We tend to take Jesus’ words to mean this: What good is it if someone gains riches, fame, pleasure, and glory and then dies and goes to hell? What good is earthly glory or pleasure if we miss out on eternal life?

Do you believe in angels?

Do you believe in angels?

by: Sara Maitland - The Tablet in Articles,

Last week, as though to console us for the passing of summer and to fortify us against the winter, the Church offers not one but two cheery celebrations, albeit ones that sit a little oddly in contemporary culture. On Tuesday last week, we had the feast of the three named archangels (Michael, Gabriel and Raphael) and on the Friday it was the turn of our guardian angels. 

Catholic schools understand that religious education is not just a subject; it is a way of being

Catholic schools understand that religious education is not just a subject; it is a way of being

by: Lauren Nicholson-Ward - The Tablet in Articles,

In religious studies, students can either undertake a full course or a short course. The top results for full-course entries were slightly below the overall average, with 6 per cent achieving A or A* grades. In the short course, 8 per cent of students achieved an A or A*. To give an idea of the standard required, most examination boards require 80 per cent for an A grade and 90 per cent for an A*. The short course results in particular should be a cause for celebration.

Pope's challenge is not just for Europe

Pope's challenge is not just for Europe

by: Father William Grimm, - UCAnews in Articles,

How many Catholics in other countries will open their doors to refugees? A favorite pastime among Catholics is to declare what the pope should do. Lately, I've heard from a couple of people who thought Pope Francis should speak out about certain domestic situations in their countries. 

A Point of View: Does atheism have to be anti-religious?

A Point of View: Does atheism have to be anti-religious?

by: John Gray - BBC in Articles,

In recent years we've come to think of atheism as an evangelical creed not unlike Christianity. An atheist, we tend to assume, is someone who thinks science should be the basis of our beliefs and tries to convert others to this view of things. In the type of atheism that's making the most noise today, religion is a primitive theory of how the world works - an intellectual error without human value, which we'd be better without.

Asylum seekers

Asylum seekers

by: Laura Gascoigne - The Tablet in Articles,

Between 1933 and 1945, more than 300 Jewish artists took refuge in Britain: painters, sculptors, graphic artists and designers, several with established careers in Germany and Austria. Many were forced to flee after blacklisting by the Reichskulturkammer set up by Joseph Goebbels in 1933.

Right to life versus the right to privacy

Right to life versus the right to privacy

by: The Tablet in Articles,

In a sense the Tunisian gunman Seifeddine Rezgui was Everyman. He was not known to be a particularly devout Muslim; an internet video shows this healthy young engineering student demonstrating his break-dancing; he wore a Real Madrid shirt. Yet he has murdered 38 innocent holidaymakers.

The Hero-Complex

The Hero-Complex

by: Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I. in Articles,

Several years ago, the movie Argo won the Academy award as the best movie of the year. I enjoyed the movie in that it was a good drama, one that held its audience in proper suspense even as it provided some good humor and banter on the side. But I struggled with several aspects of the film. 

Migrants enrich national identity

Migrants enrich national identity

by: The Tablet in Articles,

It was politically courageous of David Cameron, in the middle of an election campaign where controlling immigration was a key issue, to order the Royal Navy into action alongside the Italians and others to rescue migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe. 

Why I’d Rather Be a Hypocrite Than a Cynic

Why I’d Rather Be a Hypocrite Than a Cynic

by: Henry Longbottom, SJ - The Jesuit Post in Articles,

The UK is preparing for a general election in May, and apathy is on the rise.  The three main parties — Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal Democrats — are failing to inspire voters, especially the younger ones.  They all seem to be pretty much the same.  There’s a feeling that nothing will change whoever forms the new Government.  The mood among voters, in other words, is sadly… “whatever.”

That God of Stephen Fry doesn't exist

That God of Stephen Fry doesn't exist

by: Giles Fraser - The Guardian in Articles,

I don’t believe in the God that Stephen Fry doesn’t believe in either. There’s bravery in the entertainer’s imagined confrontation with God – but in describing it he shows that he misunderstands the nature of Christianity

After the Paris attacks: It’s time for a new Enlightenment

After the Paris attacks: It’s time for a new Enlightenment

by: Pankaj Mishra - The Guardian in Articles,

“What would happen, if religious language were to be taken more seriously in secular Europe and the preventable deaths in the global South of millions from hunger and war was to be denounced as ‘blasphemy?’” Jürgen Habermas: the “substance of the human” can only be rescued by societies that “are able to introduce into the secular domain the essential contents of their religious traditions”

The plague of fundamentalist violence

The plague of fundamentalist violence

by: Fr William Grimm - UCAnews in Articles,

The assassination of journalists in Paris, beheadings by Islamic State and the enslavement of children by Boko Haram in Central Africa all draw justly shocked reactions. Less prominent in global media is the persecution of Christians and others by fundamentalist Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of Asia.

Understanding and Appreciating Our Differences

Understanding and Appreciating Our Differences

by: Ron Rolheiser, OMI in Articles,

What if what separates us, what if what makes other persons, churches, and faiths seem foreign and strange is also a grace, a difference intended by God?  Can we think of our differences, as we think of our unity, as a gift from God? Most religions, including Christianity, would answer affirmatively.

Being Ready for Christmas

Being Ready for Christmas

by: Ron Rolheiser, OMI in Articles,

Moreover and more seriously, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that in our preparations for Christmas, we, in fact, make very little space for the spiritual, for Christ to be born more deeply in our lives.

The whole point of Christianity is to create a deeper form of humanism

The whole point of Christianity is to create a deeper form of humanism

by: Giles Fraser - The Guardian in Articles,

Christians make better humanists. That could be the top line of a report just out from the thinktank Theos. And I suspect the timing – just in time for Christmas – is no coincidence. After all, the story of God becoming a human being is one of the deep wellsprings of European humanism.