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Editorial: New Guidance from Rome
Editorial:
01.09.20
New Guidance from Rome
FAITH magazine hails the arrival of the new Directory of Catechetics. This is important – indeed essential – for our Catholic schools. It updates and affirms the previous Directory, and issues some useful and practical guidelines for those charged with teaching the Catholic Faith.
In particular, the Directory tackles a topic much discussed in the West today. Are men and women different? Should we speak of the two sexes as being different from one another? Are we allowed to teach the facts of biological differences between males and females?
The New Evangelisation: how are we to do it?
Article:
01.09.20
The New Evangelisation: how are we to do it?
Philip Trower explores ways of communicating the Faith
Some of the things our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been saying since he became Pope about the way the faith should be presented and taught as a preamble to the new evangeliation have unquestionably ruffled a few feathers. However, I have increasingly come to think that there would be less misunderstanding if more people were aware of a development that has been taking place in the Church’s thinking and teaching on this subject over the last fifty years. This development seems to have begun at the time of Vatican Two, and, in a modified form, has been accepted by subsequent popes and episcopal synods. But only, I would say, in the last few years have a significant section of the theologically-minded faithful become aware of it.
Holloway on The “Dignity of Womanhood”
Article:
01.09.20
Holloway on… The Apostolic Letter “Dignity of Womanhood” - Part 1
In this Editorial from the January/February 1989 issue of FAITH, Fr Holloway admires Pope St. John Paul II’s landmark document on womanhood but identifies a lack of a coherent theology of the sexes. In Part 2 of the Editorial, which will be published in our next issue, he suggests a further theological development.
Book Review: China and Christianity
Article:
01.09.20
China and Christianity
China in Life’s Foreground by Audrey G. Donnithorne, Australian Scholarly Productions, 435pp; paperback £25.00, Kindle version £7.66 reviewed by Joanna Bogle
At a time when China is so much in the news – the Coronavirus, trade wars, the West’s recognition of China’s growing
global power and influence – a book with the title China in Life’s Foreground seems an all too appropriate read.
The Faith Movement
Article:
01.09.20
The Faith Movement
Father Roger Nesbitt produced an account of the Faith Movement some years ago, published by the Catholic Truth Society as part of a series on the New Movements in the Church. We offer an updated version here for a new generation attending Faith Movement events and discovering the Movement and its message.
Book Review: A voice for the voiceless
Article:
01.09.20
A voice for the voiceless
One Word of Truth: The Cold War Memoir of Michael Bourdeaux and Keston College by Michael Bourdeaux, Darton, Longman and Todd, 328pp, £15.99 reviewed by Alenka Lawrence
Interview: Father Guy Nicholls
Article:
01.09.20
Interview: Father Guy Nicholls
Father Guy Nicholls’ book Unearthly Beauty: The Aesthetic of St John Henry Newman was published this year. FAITH magazine asked him about how he came to write it.
Booke Review: A wife’s intellectual apostolate
Article:
01.09.20
A wife’s intellectual apostolate
When Silence Speaks by Jennifer Moorcroft, Gracewing, 196pp, £15.99 reviewed by Emily Dytor
Book Review: Good and evil in the interior life
Article:
01.09.20
Good and evil in the interior life
Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits by Dan Burke, Sophia Institute Press, 128 pp, £10.99 reviewed by Pravin Thevathasan
The word “discernment” is very much in vogue in some Catholic circles currently. But what does it mean? In this concise, readable and thoroughly enjoyable work, Dan Burke, founder and president of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, gives us the orthodox Catholic answer.
Book Review: Holiness by embracing your life
Article:
01.09.20
Holiness by embracing your life
Domestic Monastery by Ronald Rolheiser, Darton Longman and Todd, 112pp, £6.99 reviewed by Kristina Cooper
Ronald Rolheiser OMI is a respected, insightful spiritual writer, known for his books and newspaper columns; thus I was really looking forward to receiving this book, as I admire his writing and the topic interested me. Before I even started reading it, however, I was put off and irritated by its presentation and cost - £6.99 – for what is basically a pamphlet/ lecture rather than a proper book (only 7,000 words). The text has been padded out with endless, not very appealing, black and white illustrations, as the publishers have sought to make it into something it is not.
Fr Dermot O'Gorman: First Mass
Article:
01.09.20
Fr Dermot O'Gorman: First Mass
Rev Dermot O'Gorman, longstanding member of the Faith Movement, was ordained priest at St George's Cathedral,
Southwark, on Sunday July 26th and celebrated his First Mass at his home parish of St Elphege's, Wallington, the
following day. Fr Dermot was educated at the John Fisher School, Purley and Mr Daniel Cooper, who has run the "Faith Club" there for many years, was among the congregation. Mgr Patrick Burke preached and Fr Dermot's brother Fr Matthew was among the concelebrants.
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Editorial: New Guidance from Rome
New Guidance from RomeFAITH magazine hails the arrival of the new Directory of Catechetics. This is important – indeed essential – for our Catholic schools. It updates and affirms the previous Directory, and issues some useful and practical guidelines for those charged with teaching the Catholic Faith.In particular, the Directory tackles a topic much discussed in the West today. Are men and women different? Should we speak of the two sexes as being different from one another? Are we allowed to teach the facts of biological differences between males and females?The truthThe Church defends and upholds the truth about the human person, male and female, and in doing so defends the dignity and rights of her sons and daughters. The new Directory states clearly: “God is the initial and ultimate reference of life, from its conception to natural death; the person is always unity of spirit and body; science is at the service of the person; life must be accepted in any condition, because it is redeemed by the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ.”And on the topic of “gender identity,” the document critiques the belief which does not accept gender as an “original fact which man must accept and fill with meaning” but considers it only “a social construction that is decided independently, totally free from biological sex.”Sexual identityThe Directory goes on to explain that the Church “is aware that, in a perspective of faith, sexuality is not only a physical fact, but a personal reality, a value entrusted to the responsibility of the person.” It emphasises “In this way, sexual identity and existentialliving will have to be a response to God’s original call.”And this is the truth that must be taught in Catholic schools. This needs to be emphasized. Catholic schools in Britain receive public funds, and in doing so have full freedom to teach the Catholic Faith and morals, and to operate as Catholic communities. In discussing human relationships, Catholic schools are not – repeat not – obliged to conform to a current fashion that ignores biological truth or obliges children to repeat fashionable mantras that contradict the Church’s teaching on marriage and family life.FreedomThis is a matter of religious freedom, and also of the specific contribution that Catholic schools make to the common good.The Church defends religious freedom. This is important for us in Britain – and of even greater importance in countries with despotic governments. That includes China. Vatican negotiations and a “China agreement” spell danger if they include any sort of commitment to allowing the Chinese government to appoint Bishops. The Church understands that a nation is more – much more – than its government. The Church’s primary relationship is not with any government and indeed a healthy distance can ensure the best practice. The great St John Paul grasped this truth and taught it to the world. The Communist governments of Eastern Europe and the USSR did not represent the sum total of the lives of the people of those territories. The Church can and must speak to people with the voice of truth. The Pope's task is to “confirm the brethren” in faith and to be the rock on which the truth is upheld.CourageThis needs courage – and not just from Peter. Our Bishops here at home need our support and prayers as our Catholic schools re-open this Autumn. It seems possible that imposition of the newest Relationships Education scheme has been delayed because of the coronavirus lockdown. More time may be allowed for discussions with parents and teachers and all involved. That means there is time to ensure that the material used in our Catholic schools – and the training given to teachers – is truly and authentically steeped in the full truth of the Catholic Church. The new Directory has come at a providential time.Pope Francis has said that gender theory has a "dangerous" cultural aim of erasing all distinctions between men and women, male and female, which would "destroy at its roots" God's most basic plan for human beings: "diversity, distinction. It would make everything homogenous, neutral. It is an attack on difference, on the creativity of God and on men and women."
