I was commenting yesterday about the Church’s proud history of standing up for the rights of workers and efforts to ensure that those living in poverty and those struggling to find work are given a hand up to improve their place in the world. I cited comments from Pope Francis and from Australian Bishop Christopher Saunders. Well, I doubt I can take credit for today’s development, but Bishop Denis Browne in Hamilton, New Zealand, has today spoken clearly on the … Continue reading →

The Church has a long history of advocating for the rights of workers, the right to unionise and the just treatment of people who are struggling to find work or need assistance. It’s one of the Church’s countless pursuits of social justice that are often not known about and possibly not spoken about clearly enough. Well, it’s been a big week for the Church in this regard, with Pope Francis speaking out about the need to bring an end to … Continue reading →

The @Pontifex Twitter account, or more accurately the nine @Pontifex accounts in nine different languages, are surely among the fastest growing accounts on the microblogging website. The combined total across those accounts is now more than 6 million, with the English account making up almost 2.5 million of that total. In just seven weeks or so, Pope Francis has managed to increase the number of Twitter followers by about 80 per cent, or 60,000 new followers each day. As Vatican … Continue reading →

A couple of months ago, I was invited to write a chapter for an eBook that would be titled “Word Made Flesh and Shared Among Us” and look at the Church’s use of social media and new technology. A few weeks ago, I got around to writing the chapter. And today, that eBook was published on the feast of Catherine of Siena — and also my birthday. Regular readers of The Soapbox will be aware of the deep gratitude I have … Continue reading →

Okay, I know I’ve been a terrible blogger for the past three weeks or so. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. While it’s not an “excuse”, really, the reason for my hiatus from The Soapbox has been work-related. I had the pleasure and challenge of spending 11 days accompanying three officials from the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, including its president, in a visit to Australia that took in a conference, visits to Catholic hospitals and aged care … Continue reading →

Well, YOU may not be an extremist, but I am. According to someone who gave a presentation to US soldiers, at least. Why? Well, it could have been because I was a member of Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims or the Nation of Islam. Though, I think even some members of those groups would not shy away from their characterisation as extremists. But what if you were an Evangelical Christian? Or a Catholic, like me? Would … Continue reading →

Some news outlets and blogs are stating that Pope Benedict is fading fast and may not have long to live, but I’ll continue to frame it as a question for the moment. Damian Thompson, the excellent blogger and columnist from The Telegraph, says he tossed up whether or not to repeat what he had read elsewhere on the Pope’s failing health and decided to go ahead — for good reason (emphasis mine). I think all of us were distressed by the … Continue reading →

American readers in particular will be familiar with the famous Jeff Foxworthy gags that concluded with the punch line “you might be a redneck”. You know the ones: “If you have a working TV sitting on top of a non-working TV, you might be a redneck.” Or “if your family tree has only one branch, you might be a redneck”. And so on and so forth. There have been a number of variations on the theme. You might have been … Continue reading →

Having just passed my eighth anniversary as a journalist, commentator, blogger and podcaster with a specific focus on the Catholic Church, I must say it’s been a very interesting period and a period of great growth for me both personally and professionally. On a personal level, my understanding of the faith of my childhood has been significantly deepened. On a professional level, thanks to good friends and mentors, I’ve been lucky enough to be dragged — kicking, but not screaming … Continue reading →

One of my work colleagues — one of those work colleagues we genuinely consider a friend, too — was reading my blog the other day. While we get along well and work together well, we come from different theological standpoints, so it wasn’t surprising to learn that my blog wasn’t exactly their proverbial cup of tea. The fact they’d spent time reading was surprising enough, but I listened carefully to the critique and explanation as to why The Catholic Soapbox … Continue reading →