Worth
Reading
Paul Collins, Believers. Does Australian Catholicism have a future? Foreword
by Geraldine Doogue. UNSW Press:
University
of
New South Wales
, 2008. ISBN:978 0868 40 831, 175 pages with notes, pb.
This book is certain to ruffle feathers even if it shouldn’t. Paul
has stuck his neck out again in the cause of a renewed
Australian
Church
, something that would resonate with Catalyst members
(and Catalyst does get a paragraph’s mention). As any discerning member
of the Church knows, Paul has been a champion for renewal, be that from
addressing the environment or Church treatment of those
Rome
doesn’t agree with or in this latest book, the need
for the
Australian
Church
to renew itself and grow to its God-entrusted
challenges.
Paul
quotes liberally from research, Australian-based and other research, but
he relies most heavily on his own knowledge of history and theology to
make his points. He bemoans the treatment of women, the current
impossibility of their being ordained, compulsory male celibacy, the sway
of a few bishops, the lack of transparency, and the decline in numbers of
active clergy, to name a few of his targets.
It is easy to see that he will be in hot water with some – again
– but Paul’s heart and mind are focussed on wanting a Church living up
to its potential.
Yet
Paul Collins is essentially an optimist, a believer that the Church has a
great future if only the essential issues were addressed openly and
honestly. Yes, he is critical of Rome’s (read John Paul 11’s and a
hint of Benedict XV1’s) inaction over the sexual abuse scandals, but the
greatest scandal is the likelihood of people being deprived of sacramental
and liturgical life unless something radical is not done about the decline
in number of priests. He is careful to acknowledge their increasing age,
tiredness, the assistance from non-Anglo overseas priests; yet he also
writes that we must acknowledge that there is a huge untapped resource
unused and denied by the Church: women, former priests in good standing,
to name two.
The
easy response to critiques offered by Paul and others is to tell him to
get out if he’s dissatisfied. Well, Paul’s not going.
Peter-Damien
Belisle, The Language of Silence.
The Changing Face of Monastic Solitude. Orbis Books:
New York
, 2003. ISBN: 1-57075-486-1, 172 pages with notes and
further reading, pb.
Stephen
Chase, Contemplation and
Compassion. The Victorine Tradition. Orbis Books:
New York
, 2003. ISBN: 1-57075-473-X, 154 pages with notes and
bibliography, pb.
John
Anthony McGuckin, Standing in
God’s Holy Fire. The Byzantine Tradition. Orbis Books:
New York
, 2001. ISBN: 1-57075-382-2, 154 pages with notes,
bibliography and short glossary, pb.
John
Chryssavgis, Light Through
Darkness. The Orthodox Tradition. Orbis Books:
New York
, 2004. ISBN: 1-57075-548-5, 142 pages with notes and
suggested further reading, pb.
These four books are in the Traditions
of Christian Spirituality Series and are written by authors of various
Christian faiths. The series editor, Philip Sheldrake, writes that common
to all books in this series are three things: Christian spiritualities are
derived from Scripture, especially the Gospels; spiritual traditions
derive from attempts to live out the gospel values in a positive yet
critical way in specific historical and cultural circumstances; and the
spiritualities are concerned with the whole of life’s experiences seen
within a conscious relationship with Christ.
Not
only are the traditions different, there are also differences within a
tradition. For example, Belisle demonstrates the differences within the
monastic tradition, between the Carthusians, Benedictines and the
Cistercians; he also shows the differences between Charles de Foucauld,
Dorothy Day and other modern day contemplatives. There
is no sense that there is competition; as the series editor has indicated,
there are different historical and cultural circumstances that lead to the
different traditions. Stephen Chase writes of the importance of what
nowadays might be called outreach as a means of living out the Victorine
tradition which developed from the Abbey of Saint Victor in
Paris
in the twelfth century.
Reading
these books or even one gives credence to what is often spoken about,
namely, the tradition of spirituality that exists within the Church.
Each book is essentially introductory to the tradition it describes
and thus the importance of the notes, glossary and further reading
suggested.
For
those starting out on the discovery of the tradition most commonly seen as
Catholic, Belisle’s would be the best starting book as there are better
known referents, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, and the
religious orders such as those mentioned earlier in this brief outline.
