Can the Church Reform?
Denis Bradley appeals for a greater trust in the moral authority of the ordinary Church member.
Celibacy and the Current Crisis
John Garvey insists that celibacy is a sign of the Kingdom to come, and that it suffers from being legalistically linked with priesthood.
And, of course, Women …
Mary T. Malone sees many Church structures as male constructs and surveys the special contribution women mystics make to our understanding of the Gospel.
A New Evangelisation, a New Emancipation in Ireland today
Joe Egan argues for a move away from naïve or shrewd approaches to Church policy towards a prophetic model of evangelisation. In a wholehearted conversation which is neither forced nor contrived, all would learn together to be Church. This would enable the Church to answer the call to a deeper emancipation.
What Can Post-Catholic Ireland Learn from France?
Eamon Maher suggests that the Church could again find an authentic voice and would again be heeded if it took to heart the insight of the French writer Jean Sulivan: ‘Like the storm clouds of the exodus, the Church’s face is more luminous now than when it seemed to rule. It has found glory in its humiliation.’
Theology for All
Fáinche Ryan looks to a time when serious theological education will be readily available in Ireland, when research will be respected, and when the work of lay theologians will be honoured.
All You Need Is Love?
Cathriona Russell reviews ‘A Theology of Love’, by Werner G. Jeanrond
New Directions for a Church Astray
Mary Troy reviews ‘What Being a Catholic Means to Me’, edited by John Littleton and Eamon Maher.
Editor: Bernard Treacy, O.P.