Champagnat: an International Marist Journal of Education and Charism January–March 2010 Volume 12 Number 1 in THIS ISSUE … Joinsigns Our of Conversation the Times On

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Champagnat: an International Marist Journal of Education and Charism January–March 2010 Volume 12 Number 1 in THIS ISSUE … Joinsigns Our of Conversation the Times On Champagnat Champagnat : : an International Marist Journal of Education and Charism January–March 2010 12 Number 1 Volume an International Marist Journal of Education and Charism Volume 12 Number 1 January–March 2010 Signs of the times Constance Lewis Desmond Connelly Charles Gay Bill McCarthy Alice Williams Verity Guiton IN THIS ISSUE … JoinSigns our of conversation the times on Featuring Constance Lewis on Mary MacKillop's legacy Desmond Connelly on charism's progress Charles Gay on the definitions of sin Bill McCarthy on Maryanne Confoy's book ORDER FORM PLEASE PHOTOCOPY OR DETACH THIS SECTION AND MAIL TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS NO. OF COPIES NO. OF COPIES REQUIRED REQUIRED GOD OF SURPRISES CD $25* ALBUM $20* DARE TO DREAM (1994) CD $20* ALBUM $15* SING SPIRIT-SING LIFE (1996) CD $20* ALBUM $15* NAME: ADDRESS: NB: Please send no money. An invoice will be enclosed with the goods. *Postage not included Champagnat An International Marist Journal of Education and Charism Volume 12 Number 1 January–March 2010 COMMENT 3 Beginnings John McMahon 8 Joining the dance in South Africa Ambrose Kelly 10 Our contributors FEATURED ARTICLES 12 Song without words: Desmond Connelly reflections on charism 28 Mary MacKillop and the founding of the Josephites Constance Lewis 68 What is sin? Charles Gay REVIEW (BOOK) 80 Priestly people Bill McCarthy REVIEWS (FILM) 84 Precious much Alice Williams 86 Virtual virtues, real crimes Verity Guiton REVIEW (TELEVISION) 90 Getting the horrors Juliette Hughes J ANUARY –MARCH 2010 CHA M PAGNAT 1 Champagnat: An International Marist Journal of Education and Charism aims to present information on research, educational practice and policy-making in the field of Marist Schools Australia Melbourne and other associated areas in a format that is accessible to both researcher and practitioner, within and beyond the international Marist network. Qualitative and quantitative data, case studies, historical analyses and more theoretical, analytical and philosophical material are welcomed. The journal aims to assist in the human formation and exploration of ideas of those who feel inspired by a charism, its nature and purpose. In this context, charism is seen as a gift to an individual, in our case Marcellin Champagnat, who in turn inspires a movement of people, often internationally, across generations. Such an educational charism encourages people to gather, to share faith, to explore meaning, to display generosity of spirit and to propose a way forward for education, particularly of the less advantaged. Consequently, this Journal endeavours to discuss the relationship between charism more generally, and education. Publisher John McMahon fms Paul Herrick; Juliette Hughes; Editor John McMahon fms Lucille Hughes; Madeleine Laming; Assistant editor Juliette Hughes Jenny Burke. Creative designer Lucille Hughes Champagnat: An International Marist Subscriptions Officer Jenny Burke Journal of Education and Charism, Contributing editor ISSN 1448-9821, is published four New Zealand: Alan Parker times a year by Marist Schools Australia Melbourne, 7 Tuscany Rise Editorial Board Dr Desmond Templestowe VIC 3106. Connelly, Melbourne; Dr Richard (PO Box 753)Ph: (03) 9846 1633; Cotter, University of Melbourne; Fax: (03) 9846 5354. Emeritus Professor Joseph Donders, Email: [email protected] Washington DC, USA; Brendan Geary Responsibility for editorial content is fms, Ushaw College, Durham, UK; accepted by John McMahon fms Michael Green fms, St Augustine’s 7 Tuscany Rise Templestowe VIC 3106 College, Cairns; James Jolley fms, Printed by Doran Printing, Geneva, Switzerland; Dr Helga 46 Industrial Drive, Neidhart, Australian Catholic Braeside VIC 3195 University; Dr Bernadette O’Keeffe, © Marist Schools Australia Melbourne 2010 Von Hügel Institute, Cambridge; Unsolicited manuscripts are Dr Paddy Walsh, University of London. welcomed and will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed Management Committee envelope. Requests for permission to Chairperson: John McMahon fms. reprint material from the journal should Desmond Connelly; Berise Heasly; be addressed in writing to the Editor. 2 CHA M PAGNAT JANUARY –MARCH 2010 an EDITO R’S this & that of ‘secular Sunday’, proposing a suggested rise in atheism. These conflicting paradigms highlight the importance of theme of this edition of our Journal: signs of the times. How do we read such signs and, more profoundly, what is our contemporary reality? During the 1960s, Pope John XXIII recognised the great changes the world was undergoing at that time. He could see these transfor- Beginnings mations bringing with them great technological advantages, as well as the potential for a great loss of a sense of the spiritual. These were among the reasons that led him to convoke the Second Vatican Council1: he Apollo image of Earth In the face of this twofold spectacle depicted on the cover of – a world which reveals a grave state this, the first edition of of spiritual need and the Church of our Journal for 2010, is surely Christ, still so vibrant with vitality Tstunning. It reminds Christians of – we, from the time we ascended the absolute beauty of God’s crea- to the supreme pontificate … felt tion and the wonderful advances at once the urgent duty to call in technology which enable us to our sons [and daughters] together be able to see this beautiful reality. in order to enable the Church to Pertinent to this image also, is its contribute more effectively to the focus on Africa, the birthplace of solution of the problems of the humankind, with both its richness modern age. and its poverty. In his opening address to the While we Christians witness Council, in October 1962, he went the beauty of God’s creation, here further: in Melbourne at the beginning of It is one thing to have the sub- 2010, we are being informed of a stance of the ancient doctrine of the forthcoming seminar on the topic depositium fidei but quite another J ANUARY –MARCH 2010 CHA M PAGNAT 3 Beginnings to formulate and reclothe it – and Dr Constance Lewis appears it is this that must – if need be once more, this time with her with patience – be held of great study of Mary MacKillop and the importance, measuring everything foundation of the Sisters of St according to the forms and propor- Joseph of the Sacred Heart. In tions of a teaching of pre-eminently a year which may well see the pastoral character2. canonisation of their founder, the This call to ‘reclothe’ required Josephites have retained a strong an accurate reading of the signs and vibrant sense of their original of the times. We are told this, in charism. The story of the founding turn, led to the phrase ‘Signs of of the Josephite congregation is one the times’ becoming a mantra at with which many of our readers Vatican II3. may well be familiar. The Pope’s challenge is still The extract that we present here before us today with all its pastoral was originally published in 1989. responsibilities. How do we read In it we find several contemporary the signs of the times in 2010? references to the research being Irish theologian David Power con- undertaken at that time by Fr tends this involves a twofold task:4 Paul Gardiner SJ. His book Mary First is to read the world in such MacKillop was published five years a way as to know its ambitions, its later in 1994: it is the definitive desires, its capacities for good, as biography that became a bestseller well as its flaws and indeed deeply read by many of us. ingrained sin. Reading Dr Lewis’ article we Second is to be observant of the are again impressed with the rigour signs of the times in the sense that and originality of her research and Jesus gave this expression, that is, to the meticulous attention she pays see in the world the signs of God’s to the working of the Josephite gracious presence, of God’s advent, charism in 1989. of God’s benevolent love, in the It is a long article, well worth midst of human distress. savouring at leisure. The chroni- cle of her difficulties with hostile … the secular society bishops at times reads as vividly as in which we live has a a thriller. great deal to tell us if we In 15,000 words Constance Lewis has managed to give life, can hear. scholarly research and socio-his- 4 CHA M PAGNAT JANUARY –MARCH 2010 John McMahon torical context to Mary MacKillop How do we read the signs and her congregation. of the times in 2010? How a charism can hold its essential character while still being reviewer for this issue, presenting a flexible enough to adapt to the profound and perceptive analysis of signs that the times give us is Maryanne Confoy’s splendid book Desmond Connelly’s concern in Religious Life and Priesthood. Part ‘Song without words: reflections on of the Paulist Press’ Rediscovering charism’. We lead with this article Vatican II series, her book revisits because it crystallises our theme: key document and is a reminder Desmond’s cogent and profound of the optimism and openness of observations can be applied to those times. One of his most tell- every other article in this issue ing comments comes at the end of the Journal. His treatment of of his review as he notes that the concept of charism is deeply not everyone will be pleased by interesting as it examines the Maryanne’s approach, noting that effect of secular as well as religious she ‘is critical of fearful Catholics heroes: Gandhi, John F. Kennedy who have a vigilante mentality’. and Aung San Suu Kyi come under In this issue our media reviews are his scrutiny and the comparisons of a particular relevance to urgent are enlightening. contemporary issues, reminding us Bearing all this in mind, Charles that the secular society in which Gay’s article ‘What is sin?’ confronts we live has a great deal to tell us us with the need for discernment if we can hear.
Recommended publications
  • James Quinn First Catholic Bishop of Brisbane
    LATE RIGHT REV. JAMES O'QUINN, V .t FIRST BISHOP OF BRISBANE Taken faom CaAdinctf. Motion’6 Hl&to/uj oX the CcuthotLc. Chwmh ST. STEPHEN'S CATHEDRAL 'in AuA&ialaAjji. ' ’ JAMES QUINN FIRST CATHOLIC BISHOP OF BRISBANE Yvonne Margaret (Anne) Mc La y , B.A., M.Ed . A THESIS SUBMITTED AS PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Queensland Department of History University of Queensland Br i s b a n e . December, 197A To My Mottvlk and Vathun and to St&tin. M. Xav2,ntuJ> 0 ' Vonogkue [teacher, i^tznd, and ^zllow-hlktonian) ABSTRACT OF THESIS Title: "James Quinn, First Catholic Bishop of Brisbane". Y.M. (Anne) McLay. Now - as in his lifetime - Bishop James Quinn is a controversial, and to many an unattractive, though highly significant figure of the foundation years of the Catholic Church in Queensland. My interest was aroused in discovering his true personality through my work in the history of Catholic education in this State, especially that of Mother Vincent Whitty and the first Sisters of Mercy. After several years of research I am still ambivalent towards him. I feel, however, this ambivalence is due to the paradoxes inherent in his personality rather than to any deficiency in my research. I have tried to show in this thesis the complexity of his character that these paradoxes caused. Bishop Quinn died in 1881, but the foundations of his work in Queensland were laid by 1875. To appreciate the shape of the Church that soared grandly from these foundations, to understand the conflict and the turmoil that surrounded the man and his creation, the bishop must be first seen in his original environment, Ireland and Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Cullen Collection Is the So-Called "New Collection" (4 Archival Boxes); Not Under Discussion Here
    Archival list PAPERS OF PAUL CULLEN, IRISH COLLEGE ROME - CORRESPONDENCE 1821-1879 – - SUPPLEMENTS 1824-1849 – ARCHIVES PONTIFICAL IRISH COLLEGE, ROME Papers of Paul Cullen (Rome, Armagh, Dublin) CUL/, CUL/OCO/, CUL/AME/, CUL/TBG/ Table of Contents Preface and Identity statement i CORRESPONDENCE 1821-1879 Introduction 1 List 4 SUPPLEMENTS 1824-1849 Introduction 354 Letters from Michael O'Connor, Rome and Pittsburgh (1834-1847) 357 'American letters' – correspondence from North American churches (1824- 369 1849) Trinidad and British Guiana- letters and reports (1837-1848) 390 ARCHIVES PONTIFICAL IRISH COLLEGE, ROME DOCUMENTS OF PAUL CULLEN, IRISH COLLEGE ROME (Collection 1) PREFACE The following archival list sketches the content of the primary collection of papers pertaining to Paul Cullen held at the Pontifical Irish College, Rome; Cullen was rector of the Irish College from 1832 to his call to Armagh in 1850. These documents, mostly incoming letters, precede his rectorship by over ten years, and also contain papers from his periods as Archbishop of Armagh (1850-1852) and of Dublin (1852-1879). The other, secondary collection of papers ('New Collection') is treated separately. IDENTITY STATEMENT Title: Papers of Paul Cullen, Irish College Rome (Collection 1 with 3 subseries) Covering Dates: 1821-1879 Collection Codes: PICR Archives CUL/, CUL/OCO, CUL/AME, CUL/TBG Collection Size: 10 boxes Finding Aids: descriptive list Description level: item i DOCUMENTS OF PAUL CULLEN, IRISH COLLEGE ROME - CORRESPONDENCE 1821-1879 - Introduction The following is meant to serve as a basis for approaching the papers. Within the parameters of an archival catalogue, this is built mostly on the papers themselves, not on further archival research, and the bibliography is merely meant to indicate the points of references available to the writer.
    [Show full text]
  • The Catholic Church in Dubbo
    The Catholic Church in Dubbo … a brief history The Wiradjuri people have lived on this land for countless generations - possibly as long as 60,000 years - and their gentle spirit still permeates the Dubbo region and our parish. The first known Europeans to travel in the Dubbo area were the explorer John Oxley, the Surveyor General, and his party of 16 men on 11th June 1818. In 1824 permits were issued for the occupation of land for grazing, thus beginning a clash of cultures that has had ramifications to the present day. Robert Dulhunty selected "Old Dubbo" station in 1829, three miles south of the current city. Dubbo village was gazetted in November 1849. The 1851 census recorded 28 males and 19 females in the village with 7 houses and 1 partially built. Aboriginal people were not recorded in any census in Australia until 1967. The pioneer's cemetery just off the Old Dubbo Road contains graves from the 1830's and 40's. The First Churches Official Catholic history in the Dubbo area begins with Father Michael McGrath of Kings Plains (near Blayney) who made the first recorded visit of a priest when he baptised Catherine, the daughter of William and Anne Smith, on the 10th October 1847 at Dubbo. In 1854 the first attempts were made to build a Catholic Church in Macquarie Street, between Bultje and Cobra Streets. This was a slab building with a shingle roof which could hold twenty to thirty people. Father Patrick White of Wellington regularly celebrated Mass here from 1856 until the church was blown down in a storm.
    [Show full text]
  • Murray the Man. to All Intents and Purposes James
    21 Chapter Two 'I felt encouraged and consoled beyond measure'1: Murray the Man. To all intents and purposes James Murray was an only child. His origins lay in Co. Wicklow on Ireland's east coast directly to the south of Dublin. Named after its principal town, the county stretches 40 miles north to south and 33 miles from east to west. It has three distinct regions: the low lying strip along the east coast, the mountains and valleys of the centre and west and the southern less mountainous area. The largest topographical area in the county is the central western region of mountains, rivers, lakes and valleys. The rugged beauty of these uplands and the contrasting lowlands have contributed to Wicklow's name, the 'Garden of Ireland'. The mountain range is intersected diagonally by a number of great glens most notably Glendalough, Glenmalure and the Glen of Imaal. It is in these highlands and their lakes that some of the most renowned rivers in the county rise. The Kings River joins the Liffey in the north at Blessington Lakes while in the south at the Meeting of the Waters, the Avonmore and Avonbeg form the Avoca, a place of celebrated romantic beauty. 2 When trying to describe his new home and country to friends in Ireland, Murray aptly likened the Paterson River near Maitland to the Vale of Avoca, which lay on the road between Glendalough and Arklow .3 The mountains of Wicklow have harboured men and women of vastly divergent interests. During the middle ages ascetics and hermits found spiritual fulfilment in the caves and glens of the mountains.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Catholic Church Communities' Lands Act
    ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMUNITIES' LANDS ACT. Act No. 23, 1942. An Act to make certain provisions relating to pro- perty real and personal held upon any trust for or for the use, benefit or purposes of certain orders, congregations, communities and associations of the Roman Catholic Church in New South Wales; and for pur- poses connected therewith. [Assented to, 18th November, 1942.] HEREAS property real and personal held on trust for or for the use or benefit or for the Wpurposes of certain orders, congregations, communities and associations of the Roman Catholic Church in New South "Wales is vested in many different bodies of trustees, and, owing to deaths and other causes, the necessity for the appointment of new trustees frequently arises: And whereas it is expedient that bodies corporate be created for the purpose of holding, managing and dealing with property so held, that provision be made for the vesting in bodies corporate to be created by this Act of real property so held, and that conveyancing transactions in respect of property so held be facilitated and rendered less expensive: Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the "Roman Catholic Church Communities' Lands Act, 1942." (2) This Act shall commence upon the first day of December one thousand nine hundred and forty-two. 2. "Bishop" means the person for the time being administering a diocese, whether as Archbishop or Bishop, Coadjutor Archbishop or Coadjutor Bishop, Vicar Vicar Capitular or Administrator, Vicar-General or Priest with Extraordinary Faculties.
    [Show full text]
  • And the Sisters of St Joseph
    SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH: THE TASMANIAN EXPERIENCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH IN TASMANIA 1887-1937 Submitted by Josephine Margaret Brady B Ed. (UTAS), Grad Dip Admin (ACU), M. Min. (MCD) A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Religious Education Faculty of Education Australian Catholic University Research Services Locked Bag 4115 Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 Australia 2004 STATEMENT OF SOURCES This thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. All research procedures reported in the thesis received approval from the appropriate Ethics/Safety Committees. ………………………………………. Signature ii ABSTRACT This thesis reports on and analyses the first fifty years, 1887-1937, of the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s ministry in Tasmania. The design of the study is qualitative in nature, employing ethnographic techniques with a thematic approach to the narrative. Through a multifaceted approach the main figures of the Josephite story of the first fifty years are examined. The thesis attempts to redress the imbalance of the representation of women in Australian history and the Catholic Church in particular. The thesis is that as a uniquely Australian congregation the Tasmanian Sisters of St Joseph were focused on the preservation of the original spirit and tradition articulated at their foundation rather than on the development of a unique Tasmanian identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Six Behind the Veil: Power and Authority, a Delicate Balance
    143 Chapter Six Behind the Veil: Power and Authority, a Delicate Balance. The people were essential to, and the priests pivotal in, the making of the Maitland Diocese. But, in the most pervasive aspects of daily life, it was the religious women who were to perpetuate and maintain the structures established by Lynch and extended by Murray. Priests were indispensable to the sacramental church but their small numbers and the vastness of the diocese limited what they were able to do. Religious women, on the other hand, because of their numbers and functions, were able to extend their influence to every level both within the Catholic community and beyond. Although their goals were similar to those of Murray and the clergy, namely to spread and consolidate formal Catholicism in the diocese, they operated in a different way, exercising agency for the same ends but using different means. The sisterhoods reflected and perpetuated the class structure of the diocese and that structure became part of their power base as they contributed to the making of the diocese and the moulding of its people. Women religious were numerically the largest single group within the formal hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Despite their unique position, however, submission, with its assumed powerlessness, underpinned popular as well as ecclesiastical attitudes to religious sisterhoods. Maureen Purcell's investigation of women religious in the Maitland Diocese explores their submission as an abdication of power. 1 A Dominican sister and mediaeval historian, Purcell considered that the Christian faith and religious life were potentially the most liberating forces of all.
    [Show full text]
  • Second Australian Provincial Council, 18-25 April 1869
    1 Second Australian Provincial Council, 18-25 April 1869 PETER WILKINSON Published in The Swag, Vol. 26, No. 1, Autumn 2018, pp. 7-13 This third article in the series on the seven particular councils held in Australia between 1844 and 1937, examines the 1869 2nd Australian Provincial Council which addressed five main issues: Catholic education, marriage, the formation of priests, clerical support and temporal goods, and the evangelization of Australia’s indigenous peoples. Introduction Between the 1844 and 1869, 33 particular councils (provincial and plenary) were convened in several ‘mission territories’ across the English-speaking world: 18 in the US, 7 in Ireland, 3 in England, 5 in Canada, and 2 in Australia. The 2nd Australian Provincial Council, scheduled for 1847, was deferred until 1862, but when only 4 of the 7 bishops turned up, it failed to gain official approval (recognitio). Another 5 years passed before Archbishop Polding could be persuaded to plan another council, but when Pope Pius IX announced plans in June 1868 for the 1st Vatican Council in December 1869, Polding urged another postponement. However, at a bishops’ meeting in August 1868, he agreed to hold a provincial council in early 1869 with an agenda that included Catholic education, marriage, support for the clergy and administration of temporal goods, the formation of priests, and evangelization of the Australian Aborigines. Polding convoked the Council on 15 March 1869. Council opening The 2nd Australian Provincial Council opened on 18 April 1869 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, attended by clergy, religious and laity. 2 Image: St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne, venue for the 2nd Australian Provincial Council, in 1869.
    [Show full text]
  • Monastic Regime at Banyo Seminary
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Southern Queensland ePrints Monastic Regime at Banyo Seminary An Oral and Social History of the Pius XII Seminary, Banyo (1941 - 2000) Submitted by James John Madden B.A., M.Ed.St., Dip. Ed. for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Southern Queensland September 2010 Abstract This history of the Pius XII Provincial Seminary (1941 – 2000), frequently called Banyo, discusses the preparatory training of Catholic priests. In the strict rule-regulated regime of 1941 – 1964, priests trained in a monastic setting for a traditionally cultic role based on the celebration of the Eucharist. In the years 1965 – 2000, following the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 1965), Banyo reoriented its training to preparing priests as presbyters or ministers, emphasising their roles in the proclamation of God‘s word and a ministry of service as well as presiding at Eucharistic gatherings. This thesis shows how Erving Goffman‘s construct of a ‗total institution,‘ pervaded the monastic structure of the preparation of priests through the seminary system in the 1941 – 1964 period; it then examines the attempts to modify seminary training for preparing presbyters, an adaptation that destabilised but did not destroy the ‗total institution‘ character of the seminary. During changing times before Vatican II, the ability of a restrictive seminary system to provide appropriate preparation for cultic priests in the conditions of the local church was questioned. After Vatican II, attempts were made to develop an effective preparation program for the emergent model of presbyter as priest, prophet, and servant leader for the Queensland Church.
    [Show full text]
  • CATHOLIC ADELAIDE, 1868-1873 Brian Condon the Priest Walked The
    A CHURCH IN ENTROPY: CATHOLIC ADELAIDE, 1868-1873 Brian Condon The priest walked the hundred yards or so from the Bishop's House to the convent. He announced himself, and asked to see the Mother Prioress. He was held at the door. Eventually it was the Sub-Prioress who appeared at the door, and then only to tell him that the Mother Prioress was still not willing to see him. His warning that he now felt compelled to report to the Holy See the continued insubordination of the sisters attracted the rejoinder that he might please himself what he did. He retraced his steps and wrote his report1 to Alessandro Cardinal Bamabd, Prefect of the Holy See's Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (in more contemporary terms, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Foreign Missions), foregrounding his fear of anarchy in the convent, but stressing also the iniquities of the local cabal still intriguing against him. The priest was Christopher Augustine Reynolds. Only six months before, he had been officially confirmed for the first time as Administrator of the diocese of Adelaide pending the appointment of a bishop to succeed Lawrence Bonaven- ture Sheil OSF, who had died nine months before, on 1 March 1872 ('passed to a better life,' as Rome put it, with no doubt unconscious irony). '[Officially confirmed for the first time...' This seeming over-fastidious ness about the sureness of Reynolds's authority is in fact a totally accurate representation of the uncertainty and dislocation of the Adelaide diocese over the preceding several years: unresolved tensions between power of the de iure and de facto types.
    [Show full text]